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A Jewish producer of ‘All Quiet On The Western Front’ sees his family history in the Oscar-nominated Netflix film
(JTA) — The film producer Daniel Dreifuss has only one surviving photo of a distant relative: his grandfather’s cousin, who fought for Germany in World War I and died in combat two days before the war’s end.
He has a few more photos of his grandfather, who also wore the German uniform in WWI — only to be rounded up by the Nazis two decades later during Kristallnacht and thrown into a concentration camp, as even the Jews who had fought for their country were not safe from its campaign of race extermination.
Dreifuss, who was raised in Brazil after his surviving ancestors fled the war to Uruguay, held up these weathered black-and-white photos to his Zoom camera as he spoke to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency from his home in Los Angeles. One shows his grandfather’s cousin in his military uniform, the other shows his grandparents posing together, between the wars.
“Twenty years later, your country, that you just gave your health for and your cousin for and your family for, sends you to a camp,” he said. “It’s a lot of trauma to have to go through in one lifetime.”
These family stories echoed through Dreifuss’ mind when he first read the script for a proposed modern take on “All Quiet on the Western Front,” the classic 1928 novel about the German army’s hellish experiences during World War I. Nearly a century later, author Erich Maria Remarque’s descriptions of trench warfare and of the utter lack of heroism, valor or patriotism felt by its soldier protagonists resonated with Dreifuss.
“I said, ‘I know these people,’” he recalled. “Not because they are some distant relatives that I’ve heard of, but because I am the grandson of one of those kids who were in the film.”
Dreifuss’ parents met at a Jewish youth group in Rio de Janeiro in the 1960s. “My father was my mother’s madrich,” he recalled, using the Hebrew word for a youth group counselor. After they were later married, they moved to Israel partially to avoid Brazil’s military dictatorship and became left-wing political activists. They left Israel just before the Yom Kippur War and relocated to Scotland, where Dreifuss was born, before returning to Brazil to raise him.
Dreifuss had his bar mitzvah in the city of Belo Horizonte before later moving to Rio, which has a much larger Jewish community. “My family was never at all religious, but culturally Jewish,” he said, recalling Passover celebrations and gefilte fish recipes. He did not have many Jewish friends growing up, but his Brazilian friends were interested in Judaism and would attend his family’s Jewish events.
Daniel Dreifuss, a producer of Netflix’s “All Quiet on the Western Front,” holds up a photo of his grandfather Max Dreifuss from 1919, recovering from his German military service in WWI. Max was sent to a concentration camp once the Nazis took power. (Courtesy of Daniel Dreifuss)
This global upbringing is reflected in Dreifuss’ interest in international film. It took a decade for him to mount his remake of “All Quiet,” which was eventually set up with a German production company and released by Netflix this past fall amid another endless military conflict in Europe. No one, he said, wanted to fund a resolutely anti-war film that refused to glorify its combatants, a film that was “never a hero’s journey, not the story of someone who came, you know, beat 1,000 people with their bare hands, triumphs and looks down on top of a hill at the end with some sweeping score.”
But that journey has been validated by the film’s impressive Oscar total, which surprised industry observers. At the nomination ceremony last month, “All Quiet” received nine total nods, the second most of any film this year, including for best picture — which the novel’s original 1930 Hollywood adaptation, directed by Jewish filmmaker Lewis Milestone, won. (This year’s Academy Awards will be held March 12.)
Considering the Nazis had once led a campaign of book burning against the source material and terrorized German movie theaters that showed the original movie adaptation, accusing it of being a “Judenfilm,” Dreifuss sees the new film’s success as a historical victory, too. “I love that my name will be associated with a story that was deemed degenerate by that regime,” he said.
When he was first presented with an early draft of the new “All Quiet” script, in 2013, Dreifuss was coming off of the success of another international historical film he had produced. “No,” a 1980s-set Chilean political drama, starred Gael Garcia Bernal as an ad executive tasked with convincing his country to vote the dictator Augusto Pinochet out of office. The film netted Chile’s first-ever Oscar nomination for international feature film, although Dreifuss himself is not Chilean.
In researching “No,” Dreifuss said, the film’s team had trouble finding Chileans who would admit to having cast their real-life vote in Pinochet’s favor — even though 40% of the population did so. “We couldn’t find one single person who supported him,” he recalled. “At some point, years later, no one wanted to say, ‘I supported it, I voted, I was on that side.’” He saw a parallel to the history of geopolitics in the run-up to WWII, when many Western countries — including his family’s adopted homeland of Brazil — were initially sympathetic to the Nazis.
When Hollywood studios turned down the proposed remake of “All Quiet,” forcing Dreifuss to turn to European financing, he saw an opportunity to mount the first-ever German adaptation of the property, which would allow the film to open up a “historical perspective” on how the aftermath of WWI led to the rise of the Nazis and the Holocaust.
German filmmaker Edward Berger, who also helmed several episodes of the espionage miniseries “Deutschland 83,” stepped into the director’s chair, and he also has a co-writing credit. German star Daniel Brühl, who has played many historical villains to the Jewish people in films ranging from “7 Days in Entebbe” to “The Zookeeper’s Wife,” took a key supporting role as the lead negotiator for the armistice agreements — the sole figure in the movie trying to find a peaceful resolution for his country. (The historical figure Brühl portrays, Matthias Erzberger, was vilified as a traitor by the German right and assassinated in 1921 by antisemitic nationalist radicals who were precursors to the Nazis.)
Though there are no explicitly Jewish characters in the film, Dreifuss believes it still speaks to the fate that would soon await Europe’s Jews.
“We know what followed in the decade in Germany,” he said. “So we could bring that to the film in subtle ways.”
He pointed to the armistice plotline that foreshadows how the Treaty of Versailles left Germany in a deeply disadvantaged position, creating an opportunity for Hitler’s brand of national populism. There are also scenes in which thoughtless German generals, driven by nationalistic fervor and wounded pride, send entire squadrons to their deaths mere minutes before the armistice is set to take effect. In one sequence, the film’s lead, the soldier Paul (Felix Kammerer), steals a goose from a French farming family of non-combatants and says: “It’s a hatred of the other, of not understanding, of being raised to have an enemy.”
Dreifuss is dipping into a different chapter of world Jewish history with his next project: a Showtime miniseries produced with the co-creators of the Israeli Netflix series “Fauda” that explores CIA operations in the Middle East and is partially set during the Lebanon War in which Israel had a heavy, and oft-criticized, military presence. The series will air this summer.
He has also been pitched a host of WWI and WWII-related projects in the wake of the success of “All Quiet.” But, he joked, “I would love for people to not only think of me as the war guy, or as the dictator guy.”
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Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square is transformed by cautious optimism — and gratitude for Trump
(JTA) — TEL AVIV — The mood at Tel Aviv’s upscale Gindi Fashion Mall was divided between anticipation and disbelief on Thursday afternoon, in the wake of news of a hostage deal that could end the Gaza war and bring the remaining hostages home.
At a kiosk across from a Chanel boutique, fruit vendor Amit Bonen said she had learned not to trust good news too quickly. “I have optimism, but it’s filled to the brim with pessimism,” she said. “I won’t believe anything until I see it with my own eyes.”
Her colleague, Rinat, nodded in agreement. “You can’t trust those terrorists,” she said. “Who knows what trick they have up their sleeve?”
But Or, en route to a cosplay event, dismissed the caution. “Why not celebrate?” he said. “The hostages will come home. They’ll leave people in Gaza alone. What’s not to love?”
A few blocks away, Hostages Square looked transformed. For nearly two years it had been a gathering place for families of hostages and their supporters and for vigils marked by grief. On Thursday it was filled with songs that had become the soundtrack of wartime resilience — “Am Yisrael Chai,” “Machshavot Tovot,” “Ve’od Yoter Tov.” Impromptu circles of dance formed. American flags fluttered beside effigies of Donald Trump and handmade posters thanking the American president, who helped broker the agreement. Children leaned over folding tables, coloring “welcome home” notes for returning hostages.
Ariel Vinter, from Jerusalem, led the crowd in singing. The past two years had strengthened her faith, she said, which she leaned on to cope with the loss of her cousins, Ofir Tzarfati check sp and Tchelet Fishbein, who were killed on Oct. 7 at the Nova festival and Be’eri, respectively.
“I haven’t digested what happened to them. I don’t think I ever will,” she said. “But I know the families will only be able to heal when Eviatar and Guy are back,” referring to Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa Dalal, who were with Tzarfati when he was killed and who were taken hostage to Gaza.
Michel Illouz, whose son Guy was abducted from the Nova festival and later confirmed killed in Gaza, harbored no doubts about the news.
“I 100% know we are ending this war,” he said. “Everyone must understand that the only option is by peace and not war. For the Israeli side and Palestinian side.”
He would only find peace, he said, once he saw his son’s body. “I want to touch him. I want to make this closure.”
He added: “From this trauma, from this holocaust, we will have a great future for all our nation,” he added.
“We would never be here right now without him,” referring to Trump.
Nearby, well-wishers lined up to embrace relatives of the hostages. A woman who asked to hug Meirav Gonen, mother of freed hostage Romi Gonen, told her, “All along you were the source of strength for all of us to fight for you.”
Afterward, she told JTA: “They’re so strong. Why shouldn’t we be? It’s a matter of hours now. Nothing else matters. We can finally return to life.”
Gonen said the families were united by a shared determination. “Of course we’re holding our breath,” she said. “But this time it’s different. Everyone is together on this. You can feel it. Everything is aligned for this to happen.”
Her daughter’s release during a January ceasefire had not ended her own sense of obligation for the hostages.
“It’s a hole that hasn’t been filled,” she said. Like others, she credited Trump: “We couldn’t have done this without him.”
Among those taking part in the celebrations was Anat, a founding member of Bo’u, a volunteer movement formed in late 2024 to push for a hostage-release deal.
“For the first time, I feel I can breathe,” she said. “But it was all down to us — the Israeli people. We made Trump understand that most Israelis wanted the war to end — that our values, unlike the government’s, are about responsibility to one another. We were all partners in bringing them home.”
Some people came to the square for the first time. Doron Katz, who was freed from captivity with her daughters in the first hostage deal in November 2023, said she had stayed away until now. “It was too hard before,” she said. “But now, seeing people smiling and dancing — it’s very moving.”
Nechamit, who traveled from Netanya with nine friends, called it “a historic day.” Her friend, Ariella, described the atmosphere simply as “celebratory.”
“We’re ready to give Trump the Nobel Peace Prize for this,” she said.
Nearby, Tova Gohar waved a giant American flag. She said she came to “thank Trump for forcing Israel and the Arab countries into signing the deal. He’s a businessman, he knows how to do deals.”
Activists planned to sustain activities in the square in the coming days, as Israeli lawmakers sign off on the deal and the public awaits the hostages’ return. Prayers will be held in the square on Shabbat, and the public is invited to bring their Friday night dinners to create a communal experience.
Fourteen-year-old Noam Salame, from Karnei Shomron, said he was thinking about what the hostages would experience when they returned.
“I’m just imagining Bar Kupershtein seeing his father speak for the first time,” he said. Bar’s father, Tal, was left unable to speak after a stroke five years ago and has since regained his voice — a recovery he said came from determination to bring his son home, after Bar was abducted from the Nova festival.
“And of Ziv and Gali Berman watching Maccabi Tel Aviv’s ascent in the [Euroleague],” he added, referring to the 27-year-old twins, both avid soccer fans, who were kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
The post Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square is transformed by cautious optimism — and gratitude for Trump appeared first on The Forward.
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Jewish groups welcome ceasefire plan as a step toward a ‘lasting regional peace’
(JTA) — Jewish organizations across the ideological spectrum offered cautious optimism following the announcement of the first phase of a Gaza peace agreement, expressing profound relief at the planned return of hostages living and dead and tentative hopes that the plan might lead toward lasting regional peace.
As for what such a last peace might look like, only groups that have consistently advocated for a two-state solution offered a specific vision, putting their hopes in a solution that is implicit in the Trump administration’s 20-point peace plan, but which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects adamantly.
Nearly all the organizations noted that the war began with Hamas’s deadly attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and urged “vigilance” that Hamas would uphold its side of any agreement.
“This development represents a hopeful step toward resolving the conflict, securing the release of all hostages, and establishing the conditions for lasting peace and security in the region,” read a statement by Betsy Berns Korn and William C. Daroff, the chair and CEO, respectively, of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “This moment demands unity, resolve, and the moral clarity to ensure that peace and security endure and every hostage returns home.”
Federations similarly welcomed the deal for its humanitarian implications, with the Jewish Federations of North America saying “our prayers are answered — not completely, for the pain of loss remains — but with the long-awaited promise of healing, renewal, and hope.”
Groups also thanked the Trump administration for brokering the deal. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee said in its statement that it “applauds President Trump and his negotiating team for this tremendous achievement and for working together with Israel to broker this peace plan.”
AIPAC also framed the last two years as an affirmation of the “enduring partnership between the United States and our ally Israel,” despite cracks that showed during the Biden administration and to a lesser extent under Trump.
A lobbying group that tends to reflect the policies of the sitting Israeli government, AIPAC also spoke in brief of what some are calling “the day after,” saying that the peace deal “creates a tremendous opportunity to forge a better future for Israelis, Palestinians, and people across the Middle East.”
J Street — the advocacy group often described as the progressive counterpart to AIPAC — did not mention the two-state solution in a statement by its president, Jeremy Ben-Ami. But Ben-Ami did urge the parties to take steps toward realizing the “full US-backed 20-point plan — one that ensures Israel’s security, ends Hamas’s reign of terror, delivers a massive surge of humanitarian aid and sets the region on a path toward a comprehensive and permanent peace.”
In the 19th point of its 20-point plan, the White House suggested without making any pledges that “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognise as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.” And while a number of key European allies recently recognized a Palestinian state, the idea has been effectively stalled and faces formidable obstacles on the ground, including strong opposition by both the current Israeli government and key segments of the Israeli and Palestinian publics.
Other groups were more explicit in reiterating the two-state solution. The Israel Policy Forum, founded to advance the idea of two states, said it hoped the agreement might pave the way for “rekindled Israel-Arab diplomacy, a reformed Palestinian Authority with new, empowered, and legitimate leadership, an eventual expansion of the Abraham Accords that advances Israel’s integration in the Middle East, and the pursuit of a viable political horizon to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on two states.”
The Reform movement, in a statement signed by the leaders of its rabbinical, congregational and seminary arms, also hoped the ceasefire would create the conditions for renewing a solution which the statement acknowledged “feels remote at this point.” Nevertheless, according to the statement, “a two-state solution in some configuration must remain the worthy, long-term goal for Israelis and Palestinians as they contemplate a future with safety, dignity, and hope for all.”
Further to the left, Jewish groups welcomed the return of the hostages but also reiterated their criticism of Israel’s prosecution of a war whose death toll, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry, surpassed 67,000.
Partners for Progressive Israel called the agreement “a victory for the hostage families in Israel and their supporters” as well as “the many international bodies who have sought to hold Hamas and this Israeli government accountable for the war crimes perpetrated in the last two years.”
While few right-leaning groups commented on the deal in the hours after its announcement, which also coincided with the end of the first two days of Sukkot, Religious Zionists of America-Mizrachi welcomed the news, calling it “a potentially hopeful step toward restoring calm and securing the release of Israeli hostages.”
RZA-Mizrachi’s president, Steven M. Flatow, whose daughter Alisa Flatow was killed in a suicide bombing near a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip in 1995, also warned that “Hamas’s word is worth little.” He cautioned that any plan’s success “depends entirely on whether Hamas and its supporters can be trusted to abide by their commitments—a lesson history teaches us to approach with clear eyes.”
The post Jewish groups welcome ceasefire plan as a step toward a ‘lasting regional peace’ appeared first on The Forward.
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In National Book Awards finalist, Jewish trans boy and golem team up to save the world
(JTA) — Jewish author Kyle Lukoff’s latest novel, “A World Worth Saving,” was named one of the finalists for this year’s National Book Awards in the Young People’s Literature category.
The novel, which is aimed for middle-grade readers, features a young Jewish transgender boy who teams up with a golem, a creature from Jewish folklore, to save the world from demons that feed off of pain and suffering, including the one haunting his conversion therapy program.
It is Lukoff’s second National Book Awards finalist nod. In 2021, he was also a finalist in the Young People’s Literature category for “Too Bright to See,” a novel about a transgender boy living in a haunted house.
“I’m shortlisted for the National Book Award!!!! (again). I could not be more thrilled, and am excited to read the other finalists,” wrote Lukoff in a post on Instagram. (He also celebrated the award with a feast of Ashkenazi food.)
Lukoff, who is transgender, told blogger Kyle Ranson-Walsh that the concept behind “A World Worth Saving” first came to him from a librarian friend who messaged him: “You should write a book about a golem that protects trans kids.”
While researching Jewish mythology for the novel, Lukoff, who was born in Skokie, Illinois, and graduated from Barnard College, came across “Spirit Possession in the Jewish Traditions: Case Studies from the Middle Ages to Today” by Matt Goldish.
“I realized that I could stay within Jewish mythology for this story. Everything I needed I could find from that lore,” Lukoff told Ranson-Walsh. “That allowed the book itself to become more deeply Jewish, because I didn’t have to go outside that lane to find ways to make it work.”
Lukoff is also the author of “Call Me Max,” a picture book about a young trans boy that has been banned at several school districts around the United States, as well as “My Little Golden Book About Pride.”
The post In National Book Awards finalist, Jewish trans boy and golem team up to save the world appeared first on The Forward.