Reckonings

Light reception begins at 6:00 PM, screening at 6:30 PM. The film will be followed by a panel discussion, featuring Elazar Barkan, Gabriel Goldstein, Karen Heilig, and Anton Klix.

They met in secret to negotiate the unthinkable – compensation for the survivors of the largest mass genocide in history. Survivors were in urgent need of help, but how could reparations be determined for the unprecedented destruction and suffering of a people? Reckonings explores this untold true story set in the aftermath of the Holocaust.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Roberta Grossman, Reckonings recounts the tense negotiations between Jewish and German leaders. Under the constant threat of violence, they forged ahead, knowing it would never be enough but hoping it could at least be an acknowledgement and a step towards healing.

Watch the trailer here.

About the Speakers

Elazar Barkan is a Professor of International and Public Affairs and the Director of the Human Rights Concentration at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. He was the founding director of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR) in The Hague. Barkan served on ISHR’s board of directors before becoming ISHR’s co-director in 2007 and director in 2008. Previously, Barkan served as chair of the History Department and the Cultural Studies Department at the Claremont Graduate University, where he was the founding director of the Humanities Center. Barkan is a historian by training and received his PhD from Brandeis University. 

Gabriel Goldstein is Interim Director and Chief Curator of the Yeshiva University Museum. Since 2020, he has also served as a Curatorial Consultant – Exhibition Project Director for the Claims Conference. Goldstein previously served as YUM’s Associate Director for Exhibitions and Programs (2003-2011) and as Curator and Assistant Curator (1989-2003). He is a former President (2008-2010) of the Council of American Jewish Museums and is Founder and Director of Re-Imagining Jewish Education Through Art, which, among multiple initiatives, established museum immersion and professional development and student workshops integrating fine arts and biblical and rabbinic text study. Since 2002, he has been Consultant Curator of Judaic Art at the North Carolina Museum of Art.

Karen Heilig is the Producer for Reckonings. Heilig also serves as the Assistant Executive Vice President of the Claims Conference and General Counsel. Since 1999, she has participated in negotiations between the Claims Conference and the German Government, the Austrian Government and negotiations on unpaid Holocaust era insurance policies. She broke ground as the first female representative for the Claims Conference in negotiations. Understanding 70 years of compensation agreements from a personal, legal and historical perspective, inside the negotiating room and interacting with those who negotiated the Luxembourg Agreements, Heilig was uniquely positioned to help bring this important film to life.

Anton Klix currently serves as head of the political section at the Consulate General in New York. Klix holds a law degree from Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg im Breisgau. He completed parts of his legal clerkship at an international law firm in Munich and the German office for International Cooperation in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Prior to his transfer to New York, Klix served in the Department for Human Resources, as desk officer for Mali and the Sahel region, and in the International Criminal Law Division in the Federal Foreign Office.