Chat Ed : Right then, we'll get cracking any second.
Simcha Jacobovici : Hello I'm here!
Cyndi Lauper Tea Bag : Halo0o0o0o Simcha, Welcome to C4 Chat :)
jacqui : will you go on looking endlessly for the Struma?
sally : So where do you go now? Will there be further searches for the Struma?
Simcha Jacobovici : I'm a film-maker, so I wasn't the one searching for the Struma. It was Greg so it's really up to him if he keeps looking. We do have some new clues as to where it might be and it will be up to Greg to follow it up, if he does I will be there to document the effort.
Paul Rosser : does anyone know why the Turkish authorities still wont give the coordinates of the Struma?
Simcha Jacobovici : There are 2 different issues. One is the co-ordinates of the boat that they thought was the Struma and the other is the co-ordinates of the actual Struma. We now know the co-ordinates of the boat that they thought was the Struma and we now know that it is not the real Struma. As it turns out they don't actually know them, but when they thought they did they didn't want the issue to re-surface. They thought that if they declared that it had been found it would undermine the search and the documentary itself. They didn't want to see a film made about it as it wouldn't make them look too good, I don't think. At this point I don't think the Turkish Government knows where the Struma is.
Bad Cam : Did you ever find out what ship it was that the divers claimed was the Struma, but was far too big?
Simcha Jacobovici : Yes. We believe we know. I can't remember the exact name at the moment. It was a Turkish vessel. It was probably hit by Russian artillery fire from a submarine gun. That's why it is in such good shape. A torpedo would have done much more damage. Also the crew had a chance to escape and that's why there are no human remains down there.
Paul Rosser : Are the Russian reports of the sinking trustworthy?.
STRUMA FAN : Can you trust the russians about the sinking information
Simcha Jacobovici : Yes. They had no reason to falsify this information. Also my co-producer Felix Golubov is Russian originally, so it's hard to fool him. Anyway, we had a good look at the material and we have copies of it and there is no question in our minds that it's the real thing.
Paul : What was the intention behind the film? The final comment alluded to British atrocities... does he lay the blame on British shores?
Simcha Jacobovici : Well, certainly Britain bears some of the responsibility. In fact, after the boat was sunk David Stoliar, the sole survivor, sat in that Turkish jail while Sir Harold McMichael refused to give him an entry visa into Palestine, even though 769 of his fellow passengers had died. Clearly, he couldn't have been concerned about the impact on the war effort of issuing a single visa to Palestine. If we look at the whole history of the White Paper it was Britain's policy to stop Jewish immigration to Palestine, no matter what the circumstances. In fact, at the time the Struma was docked in Istanbul there were still hundreds of visas to be given out under the White Paper quarter. The irony is that when David Stoliar was finally permitted to enter Palestine the first thing he did was join the British Army and fight against Germany. Whatever excuses one comes up with for the British policy, they are all undermined by the following fact: After Britain's mandate in Palestine was over and after the birth of modern Israel in 1948 Britain continued, with no jurisdiction whatsoever, to hold 60,000 holocaust survivors as prisoners in Cyprus. My Father was one of them. Having said all of this, I don't think the intention of the film is to go after Great Britain, so to speak. After all, in this particular incident, Turkey was involved, Romania was involved, Germany was indirectly involved and the Soviets ultimately pulled the trigger. The intention, at least in part, was to document the miracle of a grandson searching for his grand parents' grave and against all odds reminding the world of a time when there was no room on its surface for 769 Jewish refugees.
Dr Arin Bayraktarog : Did you check the public records of the Turkish Parliament to see why action was not taken for Struma? I know that at the time there was a session on this topic in the Parliament.
Simcha Jacobovici : We spoke to various experts on Turkish policy. It's virtually impossible to get any kind of original material from the Turkish side though. The matter is still considered classified and people who have had access to the archives tell me that even if it was de-classified the archives are in such a mess that it would take years to locate anything. I think that the reason they have kept this matter secret is because the documents would reveal that Britain's decision to give 50 children visas triggered the Turkish decision to tow the ship out to sea. Also Turkey may not have been aware of who was shooting at boats in the Black Sea i.e. Germany or the Soviet Union. However they were certainly aware that the mouth of the Bosphorus had become a shooting gallery. In fact the day before the Struma was towed out the Turkish vessel named The Chankya had been sunk so they knew what they were doing.
SuzanneO : How long did it take you to put the documentary together?
Simcha Jacobovici : One year.
Fozz : what was the pricture at the end of the programme? the underwater object?
Simcha Jacobovici : It's certainly a piece of wooden debris and it is significant because it's in an area where the Struma might have sunk. But, as we suggested in the programme, it isn't conclusive. What is important about it, is that it gave the families a meaningful spot to have a memorial ceremony. Clearly however, more diving has to take place before one can say with certainty if the debris is part of the Struma.
Tom : Mr Jacobovici where did you get the footage shot on the Struma?
Simcha Jacobovici : As we said in the programme the footage that stands in for the Struma comes from the Pan Crescent - a ship that sailed along the same route 6 years later, almost to the day. The Pan Crescent made it, the Struma did not. So we used the Pan Crescent footage to stand in for the Struma, since nothing survived the torpedo attack except for David Stoliar.
Chat Ed : Our half hour with Simcha is up now, so last two questions now, thanks....
Ann : Do you think the programme will get aired in Turkey or Russia?
Simcha Jacobovici : I'm not sure. I'll certainly try. But even if they don't air it on TV, I have a longer (90 minutes) theatrical version that I will enter into film festivals in both countries and in Romania also. I hope the screenings at these festivals will trigger local media attention and cause people to re-assess the past.
Dr Arin Bayraktarog : Please contact NTV for Turkish airing. I`m sure they will be interested.
Simcha Jacobovici : Dr Arin thanks for the tip!
sally : What other documentaries are you working on?
debusol : Do you have any future plans for more documentaries about refugees??
Simcha Jacobovici : Sally, I don't really have a kind of topic in my mind which I follow e.g. refugees, rather I have certain interests. When the right story comes around I seize on the story to explore the larger issues which I am interested in, so it's entirely possible that I will make other films on refugees. I have made films on African refugees and the project I am working on now has to do with the biblical exodus and matching the archaeological evidence to the biblical narrative.
Chat Ed : Just one very last question:
jacqui : is there a Struma fund for further research?
Simcha Jacobovici : That's a question that's better asked of Greg Buxton and he has a Struma website. I don't know the address off by heart but it will come out in a search engine.
Chat Ed : That's it! Thanks for coming Simcha, that was fantastic. And thanks for all your questions, folks.
shlomo : Thank you for your time to do this chat & follow up
Julian : Good luck for the future Simcha
Paul Rosser : Thanx for an enlightening film
jacqui : God bless you
jacqui : shalom
gerry : Thank you for an interesting documentary
Tom : Good luck to you Mr Jacobovici
Simcha Jacobovici : Thanks all.
STRUMA FAN : THANK U SO MUCH
martin : fantastic
Saul : thank you Simcha - shalom
Simcha Jacobovici : It was a pleasure.
