At the beginning it's nothing more than conjecture: Did the man, one who built a middle-class existence for himself as a watch and jewellery dealer, turn to his experience of guerrilla warfare as a means of exercising vigilante justice and eliminating war criminals from the Baltics? When their own investigations appear to have reached a dead end, his sons employ the services of a detective who time and again uncovers new leads and sources of information.
In this montage of encounters and historical footage Danny Ben-Moshe reconstructs the life story of a man who was anything but an open book. In the process however more than a remarkable chapter of Jewish history is reconstructed, as fundamental questions are posed: Were perpetrators protected by secret services in the post-war period? Can vigilantism be justified when the justice system fails? And can revenge ever bring about historical justice?
Text: Rainer Mende
English: Peter Rickerby
