Directed by Jake Paltrow, June Zero begins with the news that Adolf Eichmann has been sentenced to death by an Israeli court. This is not, however, a film about Eichmann or his trial. Rather it is a set of three stories that are on the periphery of that historical event. The different stories remind us that such histories are multi-faceted with many meanings for many people.
The central (and most rounded out) story involves eleven-year-old David (Noam Ovadia), from a family of Libyan Jews who has only recently come to Israel. He’s different from the other children in school, not feeling as though he belongs. His father gets him a job at a factory because he is small enough to crawl inside the ovens they build for use in kubutzes. The government, for various reasons, decided that after hanging Eichmann, they would cremate the body, then scatter the ashes in the Mediterranean. Since there were no crematoria in Israel, the factory was tasked with making an oven based on the plans of an Auschwitz oven.
Another story follows Haim (Yoav Levi), the prison guard charged with Eichmann’s security. He is chosen because he is a Moroccan Jew. Only non-European Jews are involved with his security because there are too many who would want to seek their own idea of justice. Haim’s job is to make sure he lives to be hanged. He makes sure Eichmann doesn’t have a chance to commit suicide, and that no one harms him. He even watches a new barber give him a haircut, approving each clip before it is done.
Micha (Tom Hagi) is a Holocaust survivor who took part in the Eichmann investigation. That isn’t his story here, though. We see him on a trip with a group of Jews who return to Poland to visit the Warsaw Ghetto. There he tells them his story. He prefaces it with an acknowledgement that it isn’t the worst story of the Holocaust, but it is his story. It is almost unbelievable. In fact, when he told it to after the war, few believed him—until one man who witnessed it verified it. He and a young Jewish woman later debate the value of such “Holocaust tourism”. What does it mean to “Never forget”?
Some of the themes have to do with belonging and identity. Both David and Haim are part of Israel, but still something of outsiders. They see this as their home, but they are aware that they are different from most.
It also looks at what history means, and who gets to claim to be a part of it. In a coda, David, many years later, seeks to have his name included in a Wikipedia page about the building of the oven, but without verification, isn’t believed. This is similar to Micha’s unbelievable story from the Ghetto. When history is written, how many stories are left out—stories that have their own import, especially for those involved. Those who know that they are a part—even though a small part—of a bigger story.
Most of us live in the peripheries of history. It is going on all around us. We may or may not notice. But even on the edges, our little stories can have an important effect of the world around us, even if we aren’t recognized for it.
June Zero is showing in select theaters.
Photos courtesy of Cohen Media Group.
