Life Will Smile

Summary

LIFE WILL SMILE is based on the incredible true story of an entire Jewish community surviving WWII, thanks to the brave actions of the people on the Greek island of Zakynthos. When SS officer Kommandant Lutt arrived on the island of Zakynthos in 1943 to implement “The Final Solution,” the fate of the island’s 275 Jewish inhabitants rested upon the shoulders of the Island’s young Mayor, Lucas Karrer, and Bishop Chrysostomos. They were given 24-hours to hand over a detailed list with all the names, addresses, and possessions of the island’s Jews, who were destined for deportation to the Nazi extermination camps. By tricking the SS, together with the rest of the Zakynthiots, they ultimately saved the entire Jewish population. This is widely accepted to be one of the few Jewish communities in the whole of Europe to survive the Holocaust intact, without losing a single one of its members. For their courage, Mayor Karrer and Bishop Chrysostomos received Yad Vashem’s honor of “Righteous Among the Nations” in 1978, and Zakynthos was given the affectionate name of “the Island of the Righteous.” Exclusively narrated by one of the Jewish survivors of Zakynthos, Haim Konstantini, who was a 9-year-old boy at the time, the dramatic events are seen through his innocent eyes. A suspenseful, emotionally charged journey of salvation, where ordinary people defy the odds and survive, LIFE WILL SMILE brings home the powerful message that solidarity, tolerance, and courageous leadership are, once again, needed today as much as they have ever been.