A Child of the Century

Ben Hecht

1954

The Readers Digest Magazine broke the American silence attending the massacre of the Jews in February, 1943. It printed my article called “Remember Us,” based on Dr. [Hayim] Greenberg’s data. Reading it in the magazine, I thought of a larger idea and set out to test its practicality. [ . . . ]

It was a pageant about the Jews to be called “We Will…

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Creator Bio

Ben Hecht

1894–1964

Screenwriter Ben Hecht was born in New York City and grew up in Racine, Wisconsin. Often uncredited, Hecht helped write some of the classics of American film including The Front Page (1931), Some Like It Hot (1939), Gone with the Wind (1939), and His Girl Friday (1940). His screenplay for Underworld (1927) received the award for best original story at the first Academy Awards in 1929. In addition to his work as a journalist, director, playwright, and novelist, Hecht was active in bringing the plight of European Jewry to the attention of the American public in the 1930s and 1940s and was a member of the so-called Bergson Group. His fundraising for the establishment of the State of Israel resulted in his being blacklisted by the British film industry.

Related Guide

Jewish Writing in the Postwar United States

1945–1973

Jewish American writers gained mainstream success writing about immigrant experience, assimilation, and the trauma of the Holocaust.

Related Guide

Jewish Culture in the Postwar United States

1945–1973

American Jews entered a "golden age" of cultural expression and self-confidence after World War II, with declining antisemitism and increasing political and cultural representation.

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