“In [1939], I became a Jew and looked on the world with Jewish eyes.” —Ben Hecht, A Child of the Century
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More about: Arts & Culture, Ben Hecht, History & Ideas, Holocaust
The Hollywood Legend Who Mobilized the English Language on Behalf of the Jews of Europe and Israel
Ben Hecht invented the gangster movie. He also prodded Roosevelt into saving thousands of Jews from the Nazis, and marshaled reluctant American Jews into becoming Zionists.
Ben Hecht in 1946. Eileen Darby/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images.
