Steven Spielberg's Sister Films a Movie about Jewish-American Pilots Who Fought for Israel in 1948
"The tremendous historical, unbearable clash of the Holocaust and the birth of the state of Israel, and the loud cacophony that happened between those two events, shook these pilots into a Jewish identity that they might not have otherwise had." –Roberta Grossman, film director
(Israel)—Not as famous as director Steven Spielberg is his sister Nancy, the filmmaker. Lesser known than the Israeli's who fought for their country's independence were the American pilots who secretly joined that fight. ...The new documentary "Above and Beyond" is fusing those two unsung elements. (Photo via United With Israel)
In 1948, just three years after the liberation of Nazi death camps, a group of American Jewish pilots answered a call for help. In secret and at great personal risk, they smuggled planes out of the US, trained behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia, and flew for Israel in its War of Independence.
As members of the Machal—"volunteers from abroad"—this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war, but also embarked on personal journeys of discovery and renewed Jewish pride. Winning audience awards from Florida to West Virginia, "Above and Beyond" presents their story.
A businesswoman, fundraiser, and philanthropist, Nancy Spielberg has in recent years turned her energy and talents to producing documentary films. She served as consultant on the Oscar-winning documentary "Chernobyl Heart" and is executive producer of "Elusive Justice: The Search for Nazi War Criminals," which aired nationally on PBS. She also produced a film project for the Israeli government, "Celebrities Salute Israel's 60th," which was featured in New York City's Time Square on the NASDAQ stock exchange screens for one month.
Spielberg says she first became attracted to the American Jewish pilots' story after reading an obituary of Al Schwimmer, who is regarded by many as the father of the Israeli Air Force. Schwimmer worked for the now-defunct TWA airline and was a flight engineer for the U.S. Air Transport Command in World War II. Upon learning of the need for aircraft for the new nation of Israel, he smuggled 30 surplus planes to the Jewish state in 1948. He also recruited pilots and crew-members from the U.S. (Photo via United With Israel)
After the war, Schwimmer was indicted for violating the US Neutrality Act and lost his citizenship. He stayed in Israel and founded Israel Aerospace Industries. In 2001, he was pardoned by US president Bill Clinton.
Nancy Spielberg calls Schwimmer the key figure in the story of "Above and Beyond."
"He was the man that everybody respected," she said. "People ran to help him. He was a quiet, soft-spoken guy, but when he walked in a room he had an air about him where everyone listened. He was a natural-born leader in many ways. He called upon his contacts at TWA and Pan Am (Pan American World Airways) and got the ball rolling."
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