Born in a Death Camp: The Survivor Giving Voice to Johansson's New Movie

Scarlett Johansson's directorial debut, Eleanor the Great, is leveraging the profound authenticity of real-life Holocaust survivors, most notably Rita Zohar, to anchor its narrative.

Zohar, 81, a childhood survivor who was born in a concentration camp in Ukraine, plays Bessie Stern, a survivor whose death drives the film's plot. For Zohar, the role was deeply personal. "This role in this movie has given me a voice," she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, adding that the acting allowed her to "verbalise" her connection to the historical trauma.

The Plot's Core Conflict

The film stars June Squibb as Eleanor Morgenstein, a woman seeking connection after Bessie's death. Morgenstein joins a survivors' support group where, under pressure, she begins to falsely recount Bessie's story as her own.

Crucially, the film avoids showing the lie. Instead, when Morgenstein begins to speak, the narrative shifts, and the story is told by Zohar herself. Scriptwriter Tory Kamen confirmed this choice was intentional: "That story should only be told by Bessie."

A Personal and Historical Mission

Johansson, whose family perished in the Warsaw Ghetto, collaborated with the USC Shoah Foundation to ensure authenticity. She hopes the film encourages audiences to "ask questions of their relatives and to keep their stories alive."

Zohar, who survived the concentration camp by being hidden as an infant, defended the film's complex narrative about stolen identity. She believes Morgenstein's act echoes a Jewish tradition of empathy, citing the Passover seder: "We always say it as if we were there."

As the Holocaust survivor generation declines, Zohar stressed the urgency of her work. "There will come a time that there will be no survivors, and who will tell our story?" she asked.