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Interview:EdetBelzberg,DirectorOf'WatchersOfTheSky':NPR

< M '' p
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B 18, 2014

5:07 PM

ARUNRATH,HOST:
Itmaybeasadcommentonhumanhistorythatsomanyofusarefamiliarwiththe
wordgenocide.Butitwasn'talwaysso.Nottosay,sadly,thatthecrimeisnew,butthe
wordgenocidedidn'texistuntil1943.LawyerRaphaelLemkincoinedtheword,
pairingtheGreekgenos,forraceorpeople,withtheLatincidere,forkilling.Lemkin
spenthislifecampaigningtomaketheworldacknowledgeandprosecutethecrime.
EdetBelzbergisthedirectorofanewdocumentary,"WatchersOfTheSky,"which
tellsLemkin'sstory.
EDETBELZBERG:EverydayhewasgoingtotheU.N.andhoundingpeople.Andthis
wasamanwhodidn'tspeakEnglishverywell.Hedidn'trepresentacountry.Hedidn't
representaninstitution.Hebarelyhadahome.Hebarelyhadfood.Andyethewas
thereeveryday,lobbyingthedelegatesandtheambassadorstomakethisacrime.
RATH:RaphaelLemkinwasborninPolandin1900andhispassionforjusticewas
evidentinhisyouth.Inhisteens,hebecameobsessedwithwhatwasthencalledthe
ArmenianMassacres,theOttomanEmpire'scampaigntoexterminateitsArmenian
population.LemkinbecamefixatedonthestoryofoneArmenianmanwholosthis
entirefamilyinthekillingsandwentontoassassinateoneoftheleadersresponsible.
Themanwasarrestedandputontrial.
BELZBERG:Lemkinreadaboutthis.Andatayoungagehesaidtohimself,whyisthe
killingofanindividualagreatercrimethanthekillingofmillions?Andthatreallyset
himonhispath.Andhedecidedthathewasgoingtobethepersonwhowoulddevelop
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andcreatethelawtostopthisfromhappeningagain.
RATH:Andhowdidhecomeupwiththewordgenocide?Andcanyoutalkalsoabout
whyhethoughtthewordwasimportant?
BELZBERG:Hebelievedthatifhecouldfindtherightword,ifhecouldfindtheword
thatwouldunitepeople,thatwouldignitepeopletocometogethertostopthese
crimes.Hewasverygoodatlanguages.Hespokeaboutsevenlanguages.Andhe
thoughtthattherewasn'tawordthatdescribedthehorrorofthiscrime.Andsoheset
offonapathtodothat.
RATH:Andlet'sgobackalittlebitto,youknow,priortoWorldWarII.Whenhewas
firsttryingtokindofproselytizethisnotionofmakingthemurderofmillionsacrime,
whatwasthereactionthathegot?
BELZBERG:Ithinkthatpeoplesawhimasapest,assomeonewhowasrelentlessin
hiscause.Ithinkthatmanypeoplehopedthathewouldstopandgoaway,andthenhe
didn't.Andasmuchashedidn'tbeforeWorldWarII,hewasevenmorepersistent
followingthewar.
RATH:Ashortwaysintothefilm,youhavethiskindofnauseatingsensationwhere
you'redealingwiththeearlierpartofhislifewherehe'sestablishingthisideaof
genocide.Andyourealizethathe'saPolishJew.
BELZBERG:FortyninemembersofhisfamilywerekilledintheHolocaust.Hetried,
ofcourse,topersuadehisfamilytoleavewithhimin1939.Heknewwhatwascoming
andhetriedtopersuadehisfamilytogowithhimtoAmerica.Andtheysaidthatthey
wouldbefine.Andalthoughhewasthinkingaboutthesecrimesbefore,afterthathe
wasthinkingmyGod,therehastobesomethingthatpeoplewouldoutragepeoplein
thesamewaythathewasoutragedbythis.
RATH:Canyoutalkaboutwhathisrolewasastheworldwentintothoseprosecutions
afterWorldWarII,aroundNuremberg?
BELZBERG:Afterhavingcoinedthisword,hewenttoNuremberg.AndinLemkin
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formwasequallypersistentatthattimeandwasgoingtoNurembergtotryandget
themtousethisword.Genocidewasnotacrimeatthattime.Sotheycouldn't
prosecuteforgenocide.ButBenFerencz,who'sinthefilm,whoisoneofthechief
prosecutorsduringtheNurembergtrials,didusethewordgenocidebecausehewas
movedbyLemkinandhebelievedthatthatwordheldtheweightnecessarytodescribe
whatwasgoingon.
(SOUNDBITEOFARCHIVEDRECORDING)
BENFERENCZ:Killingofdefenselessciviliansduringawarmaybeawarcrime,but
thesamekillingsarepartofanothercrimeagraveroneifyouwillgenocide.
BELZBERG:SobecauseNurembergtheycouldn'tprosecuteforgenocide.Thatleft
Lemkincompletelyheartbroken.
RATH:BecausebytheNurembergstandard,itwasacrimeifitwastakingpartduring
war,so
BELZBERG:That'sright.
RATH:Ifyouhadgenocideinsideyourowncountry,nobodycoulddoanything.
BELZBERG:Exactly.Andheunderstoodthattherewasaflawinwhatwashappening,
thathadHitlernotinvadedPolandandhadhekilledalltheJewsinGermanyatthat
time,hewouldn'thavebeencommittingacrimethatcould'vebeenprosecutedby
Nuremberg.That'swhatreallyenragedLemkin.Hefeltaleadershouldn'thaveto
crossaborderinordertobeheldaccountablefortheircrimes.Hefeltthatcrimes
againsthumanityandwarcrimesweren'tenough.Andsohecontinuedhiscauseand
hethentookittotheUnitedNationsandhecontinuedlobbyingtheleadersthereto
makethisaninternationalcrime.Andhecontinueduntilhisdeath.
RATH:Thisfilmcoversreallyanincrediblerangeofmaterial,youknow,theArmenian
genocidein1915,theHolocaust,Rwanda.Darfurtakesupalotoftime,what's
happeninginSyria...
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BELZBERG:OhGod,Idon'tthinkpeoplearegoingtoseethisnow.
RATH:Well,Iwillsay,foratwohourfilmaboutgenocide,it'sverywatchable.How
areyouabletogetthroughallofthatmaterial?
BELZBERG:Thatwasthebiggestchallengeofhowtointerweaveallofthesedifferent
storiestogether.Wehadabout800hoursoffootage,5,000stillsandthat'snoteven
includingthearchivalmaterial.Anditwashowtointerweavethesestoriesina
coherentandlyricalwaythatpeoplecanbetakenfromonestorytothenextandnot
befatiguedbutbeenrichedbyit.Changetakestime.Itdoesn'thappenovernight.And
ittakesthepersistenceofindividualsovertimeuntilwecanseetheresults.
RATH:EdetBelzbergisthedirectorofthedocumentary"WatchersOfTheSky."Edet,
thankyousomuch.
BELZBERG:Thankyousomuchforhavingmehere.
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