The extermination of Jews during World War II changed the way we perceive the world and its history. But although it fostered the very term "genocide" and the international convention to prevent and punish such crimes, it was not the last genocide, as we all know. Clearly, each of these crimes has its own specifics, but all seem to share monstrous similarities which emerge from the views of historians. These resound particularly strong from the mouths of witnesses and in the ears of those who were acutely touched by the Holocaust. Aleksander Edelman, son of Mark, filmed "Hashmadot" with Anne Agranat upon being invited to Kigali to a conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. In this personal film with first-person narration, he juxtaposes his father's and historians' reflections with the shocking accounts of survivors from the Rwandan hell of 1994. He talks with locals as well as expats, lay people and clergy without eschewing any difficult truth nor trivializing any heroism. Fully aware that absolutely everything here is important and eternally valid. 

Maciej Nowicki