| Skokie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Written by | Ernest Kinoy |
| Directed by | Herbert Wise |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Ralph Berliner |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Robert Berger |
| Cinematography | Alex Thomson |
| Editor | Stephen A. Rotter |
| Running time | 125 minutes |
| Production company | Titus Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | November 17, 1981 (1981-11-17) |
Skokie is a 1981television film directed byHerbert Wise, based on a real life controversy inSkokie, Illinois, involving theNational Socialist Party of America. This controversy would be fought in court and reach the level of the United States Supreme Court inNational Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie.
The film premiered in the US on November 17, 1981. It was shown on the Israeli Educational television in the 1980s and onGerman television on March 3, 1997.
The peace ofSkokie, a comfortable suburban village located just north ofChicago, is threatened whenFrank Collin, a politically astuteneo-Nazi organizer, selects the place as the site of his next rally. Close to 40 percent of the village's population isJewish, and many of them are survivors of theHolocaust. They see the march as a warning and reminder of their days asconcentration camp prisoners.
The Jewish community decides to stand against the rally at all costs to make sure that the Holocaust will never be forgotten or allowed to happen again.
Moderate leaders Bert Silverman and Abbot Rosen advise the Jewish community to ignore the neo-Nazis; the strategy they put forward is "quarantine", isolating the meeting by totally ignoring the neo-Nazi presence and refusing to be provoked. They see their logic as simple: if the Jewish community refuses to acknowledge the rally and thus refuses to feed the media any publicity, the meeting will be futile and eventually forgotten.
However, one citizen challenges their argument. AHolocaust survivor, Max Feldman, says that he was told to ignore theNazis nearly 40 years ago inGermany, and before he knew it he was in a concentration camp. He says this time he will take action, and he is ready to shed blood if necessary. Led by this de facto spokesman, most members of the community agree to protest.
The film intermixes real and fictional characters and events, including fictionalizing aspects of some of the main characters. For example,American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU) lawyer "Herb Lewisohn" (played by actorJohn Rubinstein) is fictional, apparently based on attorney (and later law professor)David A. Goldberger who argued the case in real life,[1] while ACLU national lawyerAryeh Neier (played by actorStephen D. Newman) is a real person. Similarly, Holocaust survivor "Max Feldman" is fictional, while Holocaust survivorSol Goldstein (played by actorDavid Hurst) is a real person.[2]