The Righteous: Saving Marc Chagall from the Nazis

Marc Chagall once remarked that if he had not been Jewish, he might not have been an artist. His faith greatly influenced his works such as “The Praying Judah,” for example, and the unprecedented work Chagall gave to his granddaughter, Bella Meyer.

“He’s telling the story of Shabbat, from his memories,” Meyer said of the painting.

He remembers watching his grandfather work: “I watched him paint, and I loved him. I loved him.”

But his grandfather’s faith also got him into trouble. In Russia where he was born, Chagall was arrested for not having Jewish residency papers. He later moved to Paris. “France, for him, meant freedom,” Meyer said — freedom, that is, until the Nazis entered Paris in 1940.

“To him he was French, not Jewish,” said Meyer.

The Nazis didn’t see it that way. They look at Chagall’s work “degenerate art.” In 1941, Vichy police found him in Marseilles in the south of France and arrested him again. If it weren’t for the bravery of strangers – non-Jews in particular, who risked their lives to help smuggle him and his paintings to safety – that wouldn’t be the last we’d hear of Marc Chagall.

Yad VashemIsrael’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, bears the name of such nurses: Righteous Among the Nations. There were not so many good rescuers, however; it is easier to reduce horror with blind eyes than with open eyes. Compared to the six million Jews who were killed, less than 30,000 non-Jews were recognized for helping.

Using recorded and transcribed interviews from the US Holocaust Museum, filmmaker Nick Davis presents 45 extraordinary stories of non-Jews he did help in life.

“One of them said, you know, he didn’t care if they were Jews or Catholics or Eskimos; they were persecuted people, and you had to help,” Davis said.

His film is called “This Ordinary Thing.”

“We pay enough attention to the bad people – Hitler, Himmler, Göring – and we don’t think enough about the good people who help us.” – Tina Strobos, Netherlands

“On some kind of high level, I felt like, ‘Uh, haven’t we seen enough Holocaust movies?'” Davis said. “But when I look at the stories we’re going to tell, the real beauty is what you do when no one is watching.”

Oscar winner Hellen Mirren voices the self-sacrifice of Irene Gut Opdyke, from Poland, who is forced to become the wife of an elderly SS officer to buy his peace after discovering that he was hiding Jews in his home.

“I can’t tell you it was easy. Not only because he was an old man, but I knew that the lives of 12 people depended on me… I never talked about what I did during the war. And I wouldn’t have talked, if I hadn’t read that article in the newspaper that said the Holocaust never happened.” – Irene Gut Opdyke

Alex and Mela Roslan shelter three Jewish brothers in Warsaw. They could not call a doctor if things were bad for fear of being discovered. What happened to them, and so many others, is played by Jeremy Irons:

He says, ‘I would feel better if you held me.’ I lifted him up, he died in my arms. We buried him in the basement sitting up, because someone told me that was the way to bury a Jew. “- Alex Roslan, Poland

Dwork believes that whatever the motivation of the rescuers, in the case of the Holocaust, the end often justified the means.

I asked, “So, there really isn’t a line that connects them all, other than the fact that they must have had good souls?”

“Sometimes they didn’t even have good souls!” Dwork said. “Sometimes selfishness motivates them. And I say three of happiness because of selfishness, because because of selfishness they put their lives at risk, or put themselves at risk.”

His latest book, “Saints and Liars: The Story of Americans Who Saved Refugees from the Nazis” (WW Norton), is about American aid workers who helped save Jewish refugees. Most Americans you’ve probably never heard of. “Think about it: The most famous person in America is Varian Fry, and very few people know about him,” he said.

Varian Fry brings us full circle, because he helped arrange Marc Chagall’s escape from France. He was the first American to be given the title of The Righteous Among the Nations. His son, James, accepted the honor on his father’s behalf.

Asked why he thought his father was no longer seen, James Fry replied, “I think the country wanted to move on, and focus on rebuilding, getting life back to normal. People didn’t want to remember, I think.”

Varian Fry rarely talked about his time during the war, although Chagall’s paintings sometimes mysteriously appeared in the Fry family, perhaps as thanks.

Looking back, James says his father suffered from righteous anger, so much so that he believes his father’s courage may have come from his bi-polar status. “I think he used his power to do something that a lot of people would think was not worth trying,” he said.

And it is that – the part that is not worth trying – that plagues any discussion of these Righteous Among the Nations. What can it be you what did i do

Nick Davis said, “I have a wife and two wonderful daughters, and I don’t know that I would put their lives in danger for a complete stranger. Let me get that straight: I know I’m not going to put their lives in danger for a complete stranger.”

Bella Meyer said, “I wish I had the guts to do even a little bit of it.”

We will never know how many there were – those Jews who hid in basements or cellars or swimming pools rarely survived their generosity. But those who do that, do more than save lives; they create opportunities for life, art, and beauty for many years to come.

Asked what he would say to Varian Fry if he could have a conversation with him now, Chagall’s grandson replied, “I’ll just hug him, thank him for his presence.”

To watch the trailer for “This Ordinary Thing” click the video player below:

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Story produced by Amiel Weisfogel. Editor: Steven Tyler.

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