Broward Jewish Journal (Florida, USA)
October 19, 2006

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"In the documentary Once They Were Neighbours, director Zsuzsanna Varga has taken a new approach toward the Holocaust. Instead of focusing on victims and survivors, Varga is curious about the eyewitnesses: what was the experience of the bystanders, of those who were neighbors of the deported Jews? The citizens of Kőszeg participating in the interviews are surprisingly willing to share their memories, yet clearly distance themselves from any personal, emotional connection. In some cases, this distancing may be the only way they can finally confess to the reporters the terrible burden they have carried for more than 50 years. Once They Were Neighbours, however, deals not only with the past; it also draws attention to the persistent, present-day denial of Hungarian society's responsibility for the Holocaust. In the film, declarations blaming the Germans for the crimes serve to spotlight current attitudes: enduring anti-Semitism lends an edge to every word and gesture concerning the Jews. The reminiscences, the troubling question of "What would I have done in their place?", and dramatic denials are juxtaposed with present-day attitudes toward the Holocaust, and the mixture results in some bizarre and affecting moments. The debate at a local patriotic men's club over whether a gas chamber ever existed; the small-mindedness surrounding the construction of the Holocaust memorial; the obsessiveness of the man bent upon excavating the mass graves: these scenes all serve to underscore the fact that this community's experience of dealing with the past remains contradictory and incomplete."

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"Zsuzsanna Varga: Once They Were Neighbours - A brave and very sensitive film, in which the filmmaker is able to depict the everyday nature of horror, in which horror's totality builds up from the seemingly weightless gestures of our small betrayals and our tiny helplessnesses."

Interview with director Zsuzsanna Varga
(click here for the translation)

At the Last Minute - Interview with Zsuzsanna Varga
by Emese Szlanárs
(click here for the translation)

Klubrádió (Hungarian commercial radio channel)
2005. 07. 30.

Klubdélelott (Cultural Talk Show) - Interview with Zsuzsanna Varga

Zsuzsa Kun and Kristóf Németh
(translation to come)