At the onset of World War II, a young Polish girl, Frida, is challenged by the selfless compassion shown by her best friend the Rabbi who inspires his community by beginning each encounter with a heartfelt greeting… including for their enemy Herr Muller, the neighborhood German policeman.

In time, Frida and her Jewish community are forced to live in a ghetto; conditions are terrible, life tests them in every moment. And Herr Muller is now in charge.

When Frida loses her father in a senseless act of violence, she cannot understand how the Rabbi’s compassion that comforts her also embraces Herr Muller, the man ultimately responsible for her father’s death. Frida rebels against this idea. She disrespects Herr Muller in a way that banishes any compassion between them.

The day comes when Frida and the Rabbi arrive at the gates of a concentration camp. She notices that a doctor decides whether the people entering the camp are useful and will be put to work or not useful and given their terminal fate. Time has taken its toll on the Rabbi’s spirit and body…  Frida fears his fate is sealed. But Frida is beyond hope when she sees that Herr Muller is the overseer for the camp.

Facing her most difficult hour, Frida watches Herr Muller. For the first time, Frida sees the humanity in him and that this indeed may be Herr Muller’s most difficult hour as well. Frida experiences the profound grace of unconditional compassion. When she speaks up to give Herr Muller a heartfelt greeting she inspires the spark of humanity inside him, and in doing so, saves the life of her dear friend.

My name is David and I am the son of a Holocaust survivor. Like most second generation survivors I have carried my ancestors’ trauma with me. And, like them, I have learned to be resilient and praise life above all. Our film The Fast Runner is a profound part of this journey.

As a student I read Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust by Yaffa Eliach, a Lithuanian Holocaust survivor. Her book helped me understand this sweeping generational trauma that I was experiencing and inspired a long healing odyssey.

In 1995 I volunteered for the Shoah Foundation interviewing Holocaust survivors. I heard heroic stories of survival, horror stories of death and loss, and stories where hope and compassion were never lost. I realized that I am part of this story, I am born of it.

I knew I needed to make The Fast Runner to heal, educate and make a positive impact.

We began filming on a beautiful September day in 2023. When I arrived at our Ghetto set on the second day of the shoot the emotion was overwhelming. I broke down as I walked through the set. I felt I had stepped back in time and was walking through the ghetto with my father. A volunteer approached me and asked if I was the director. She thanked me as tears rolled from her eyes. She told me the story about her non-Jewish grandfather during the Holocaust finding a group of Jews hiding in a warehouse and how he had to keep their existence secret while bringing them food.

There I was, embracing and crying with a perfect stranger at 5:30am. Here I found the compassion, kindness and the cathartic experience I hope to inspire with The Fast Runner.

We finished shooting on October 1st. 2023. The tragic attack on Israel one week later and the events that followed threw an urgent lens on our film and Holocaust Education. The drastic rise of antisemitism and all hate crimes has crystallized our purpose.

Hate knows no color, creed, culture or religion… we need to educate about tolerance and kindness to be a voice against hatred. We need Holocaust education now more than ever. The Fast Runner is my banner of compassion.

My sincerest hope is that people who experience The Fast Runner leave the theater with a ray of hope in their hearts and a personal commitment to work hard at ending hatred and racism while promoting compassion and kindness. To quote Rabbi Abraham Kook: “I don’t speak because I have the power to speak; I speak because I don’t have the power to be silent”.

Has this film healed me? I am not sure. But I can tell you that making The Fast Runner has made me more hopeful and committed to a brighter and kinder tomorrow.

Love, Light and Gratitude,

David Bercovici
Director, The Fast Runner.