Harvey Weinstein’s statement about my criticism of “The Reader” was an obfuscation.
I never said he and the producers of “The Reader” were Holocaust deniers. And Ron Rosenbaum never said that.
Ron said they were exculpating German citizenry. And Marc Frydman and I are saying there are so many historical inaccuracies in “The Reader” that it will give weaponry to Holocaust deniers.
I respect the filmmaking of Stephen Daldry. Every one of his movies have been nominated for best picture. This is no attack on him. But Marc Frydman, my producing partner, had a grandmother who was in Auschwitz. He watched this movie with me, and I could see the anxiety he went through.
Here’s a good example: In the movie there is a report that the SS has written up about the incident in question. Although records were kept, the SS never wrote about their atrocities in way we did about My Lai or Abu Ghraib.
So young people watching this movie will say, "Oh, at least they policed themselves.” This is historically inaccurate. It makes it seem as if when the SS committed an atrocity, they investigated it. This is inaccurate.
I think there are no bad intentions from anyone. Harvey is an important pillar of the Jewish community. But that doesn’t mean mistakes were not made.