“Life
Will Smile” is a 40-minute documentary based on the incredible true story of an
entire Jewish community surviving the Second World War, thanks to the brave
actions of the people on the Greek island of Zakynthos.
When SS kommandant Lutt arrived on the island of Zakynthos in 1943 to
implement “The Final Solution,” the fate of the island’s 275 Jewish inhabitants
rested upon the shoulders of the island’s young mayor, Lucas Karrer and Bishop
Chrysostomos. They were given 24-hours to hand over a detailed list with all
the names, addresses and possessions of the islands’ Jews, destined for
deportation to the Nazi extermination camps.
They ultimately trick the SS and together with the rest of the
Zakynthiots, manage to save the entire Jewish population. This is widely
accepted to be the only Jewish community in Nazi-occupied Europe to survive the
Holocaust intact, without losing a single one of its members.
For their courage, the mayor and bishop were recognized by Yad Vashem’s
honor as “Righteous Among the Nations” in 1978 and Zakynthos was given the
affectionate name of “the Island of the Righteous.”
The award-winning documentary “Life Will Smile” is narrated by one of
the Jewish survivors of Zakynthos, Haim Konstantini, who was a nine-year-old
boy at the time. The dramatic events are seen through his innocent eyes. It is
a suspenseful, emotionally charged journey of salvation, where ordinary people
defy the odds and survive.
“Life Will Smile” brings home the powerful message that solidarity,
tolerance and courageous leadership are, once again, needed today as much as
they have ever been.
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