A 16-year-old American girl with an apathetic view towards her Jewish family history finds herself pulled through time into 1941 to a small Polish village where the Nazis have just begun their genocidal propaganda.
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Title: The Devil's Arithmetic (TV Movie 1999)
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3 wins & 6 nominations.
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Kirsten Dunst | ... | Hannah Stern | |
| Brittany Murphy | ... | Rivkah | |
| Paul Freeman | ... | Rabbi | |
| Mimi Rogers | ... | Leonore Stern | |
| Louise Fletcher | ... | Aunt Eva | |
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Lilo Baur | ... | Mina |
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Nitzan Sharron | ... | Ariel |
| Shelly Skandrani | ... | Leah | |
| Daniel Brocklebank | ... | Shmuel | |
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Kirsty McFarland | ... | Yetta |
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Rachel Roddy | ... | Esther |
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Ieva Jackeviciute | ... | Miriam |
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Philip Rham | ... | Commandant Krieger |
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Daniel Rasch | ... | Officer Steinbach (as Daniel Rausch) |
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Polina Soloveicik | ... | Sarah (as Paulina Soloveicik) |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
Another telling of the Holocaust, this time from the perspective of a modern teenage girl who only grudgingly accepts the Jewish traditions, but when she is asked to "open the front door" as part of the Seder feast discovers that she has been whirled into the 1940s and stepped into the life of a prisoner in one of the German death camps, where she experiences its horrors firsthand. Written by BOB STEBBINS <stebinsbob@aol.com>
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Rivkah: What do you mean?
Hannah Stern: I had a history teacher who spent a whole semester talking about the Jews during the war, you know what I was doing? I was writing notes to my friends. I have no idea what my teacher said. The only thing I remember is that no one paid any attention to all of this.
Rivkah: You have a very vivid imagination, and it is causing you much needless pain.
Hannah Stern: I wish that was true.
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Did You Know?
Trivia
This movie is based off the book "The Devils Arithmetic" written by Jane Yolen. See more »Goofs
The rabbi says it's October 26 5703 and then Rivka says the Christian year is 1941, but the Hebrew year 5703 began in September 1942. Fall 1941 should be 5702. The rabbi also says October. He should've said Cheshvan. The date should've been either 5 Cheshvan 5702 or 15 Cheshvan 5703. See more »Quotes
Hannah Stern: I was thinking about how much help I could be to all of us.Rivkah: What do you mean?
Hannah Stern: I had a history teacher who spent a whole semester talking about the Jews during the war, you know what I was doing? I was writing notes to my friends. I have no idea what my teacher said. The only thing I remember is that no one paid any attention to all of this.
Rivkah: You have a very vivid imagination, and it is causing you much needless pain.
Hannah Stern: I wish that was true.
See more »
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
28 March 1999 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
The Devil's Arithmetic See more »Company Credits
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I believe that this movie was well acted as well as well thought out. The Question really is;"How do I tell young people about this terrible tragedy without being to graphic and still holding their attention. I think that the movie answered that question admirably. Kirsten Dunst is a great actress that showed her ability to tell a serious story with a sense of lightheartedness. Let's not forgot Brittany Murphy. She is a highly underrated actress who just barely broke the surface of what she can do in this movie. overall, if your looking to tell/show a group of preteen/teens the story of the holocaust without the brutality then this is the ONLY movie to show them.