A Witness for the Prosecution: An Israeli Filmmaker's Reflections on Adenauer's New Germany.

A unique collaboration between West German television journalists and the Israeli journalist Vera Elyashiv led to the production of the documentary film Mit den Augen einer Israeli: Beobachtungen in der Bundesrepublik (1962, Through the Eyes of an Israeli: Observations on the German Federal Republic). I argue that this hitherto neglected film conveys an exceptional image of West Germany toward the end of the Adenauer era that challenges the concept of "the new Germany." This article explores the film in the historical-political context of its production and screening, focusing on Elyashiv's decision to maintain the ambiguity of her biography as a Holocaust survivor while formulating an indictment of contemporary German society and its political leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]