He was murdered for what some would consider "playing God," determining which Hungarian Jews to save from extermination during the Holocaust. Like Oskar Schindler, Kasztner negotiated with the Nazis to save lives. Unlike Schindler, however, Kasztner's actions and motives were questioned by Hungarian Holocaust survivors whose family were not included in the select group of Jews to be saved.

     In 1955, Malkiel Grunwald, a 70-year-old Israeli journalist, attacked Kasztner's character in a self- published newsletter. The libelous pamphlet led to a lawsuit against Grunwald which then exploded into a public debate about what should have been the appropriate actions taken by Jews in the Holocaust. Fifty years later, the moral dilemma remains: Was the saving of a selected number of Jews an act of righteousness or an act of collaboration?

     There is no question, however, that to act in the face of that dilemma took the courage of a hero.

     A new film on the The Kasztner Affair and the Rescue of Hungarian Jews is currently being planned by the award-winning documentarian, Gaylen Ross.

     Gaylen Ross is Producer/Director of Dealers Among Dealers, the critically acclaimed film of New York's 47th Street diamond district that was shown on PBS and To Russia For Love, a documentary on Russian mail-order brides and the American men who marry them (A&E Television).

     If you or your family had any involvement with this extraordinary chapter of Holocaust history, please contact us with your story.