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Izak Szewelewicz was born in the Bergen Belsen Displaced Persons...
Reportage by Getty Images TumblrIzak Szewelewicz was born in the Bergen Belsen Displaced Persons Camp in 1945 and sent to Israel as an orphan. Not until he was 10 did he learn his foster family were not his biological parents. They confessed the truth to him and, two years later, he found his real mother, Aida, living in Canada. She had been searching for him for years. He was eager to also learn about his father, but Aida simply said he was a good man who died in the war. “That’s all you need to know.”
In this documentary, directed by Reportage filmmaker Shaul Schwarz and his brother Alon Schwarz, family secrets and generations of history unspool in a story that begins with World War II and culminates in an emotional 21st-Century family reunion. Questions of identity, compassion and the plight of displaced persons are brought to light as Izak confronts his family history, from Israel to Germany to Canada.
The film premieres tonight at the Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto. Showtime is 7pm at the Hart House Theater. Additional screenings are on Thursday and Saturday. Purchase tickets here.
You can learn more about the film on its Facebook page.