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Claude LanzmannFrench journalist and documentary filmmaker.
Date of Birth: 27.11.1925
Country:  France |
Content:
- Early Life and Education
- Resistance and Philosophy
- Collaboration with Sartre and de Beauvoir
- Political Activism and Writing
- "Shoah" and Other Documentaries
- Recognition and Honors
Early Life and Education
Claude Lanzmann was born into a family of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. During World War I, they were persecuted in Paris as "Germans." In 1940, Claude and his siblings were forced into hiding in the village of Overn during the German occupation.
Resistance and Philosophy
In 1943, Lanzmann co-founded a resistance group at the Lycée Blaise Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand. He subsequently joined the maquis (French guerrilla fighters) in Overn. After the war, he studied philosophy in Tübingen and taught philosophy and French literature at the Free University of Berlin.
Collaboration with Sartre and de Beauvoir
In 1952, Lanzmann met Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir at the Free University of Berlin. He became an active contributor to their journal, "Les Temps Modernes" ("Modern Times"), and eventually became its editor-in-chief.
Political Activism and Writing
Lanzmann signed the "Manifesto of the 121" against the Algerian War. He wrote extensively on the Arab-Israeli conflict. From 1970 onwards, he devoted himself almost entirely to documentary filmmaking.
"Shoah" and Other Documentaries
Lanzmann's most famous work is the nine-hour documentary "Shoah" (1985), about the Nazi death camps. The film, which relies solely on eyewitness testimony, had a profound impact worldwide and generated significant literature on the Holocaust. It won numerous awards and remains a groundbreaking cinematic achievement.
Lanzmann's subsequent documentaries include "The Karski Report" (1985), "The Living and the Dying" (1997), and "Sobibor, October 14, 1943, 4 p.m." (2001).
Recognition and Honors
Lanzmann has received numerous awards, including the Medal of Resistance, the Legion of Honour, and the National Order of Merit. He is an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Amsterdam, and Adelphi University (USA).
