Thomas WILL'S most recent trip to inspect a Nazi concentration camp took him to Płaszów in Poland, now a wooded rocky site with rusting train tracks and weather-beaten watchtowers still in place. Just before the 63-year-old German arrived, there happened to be a memorial service for the thousands of forced laborers who died at Płaszów, including those stalked for sport by the camp's commandant, Amon Göth. The villa where Göth once lived still exists. So do offices, jail cells. Visitors guided through on Schindler's List tours tend to cover the grounds in a few hours before moving on to a quarry where Spielberg filmed exteriors for his famous movie centered on the camp. Will wasn't so interested in the Hollywood aspect. Instead he lingered at windows, wondering about sight lines. He looked out over undulating land and asked himself, Who witnessed what, who ignored what? He was there not as mourner or as tourist but as investigator. Where others might have seen Płaszów as a place consigned to history, Will saw a crime scene, one that remains active even today.
He is one of the last in a long line of Nazi hunters, the chief of a German bureau created decades ago to investigate historic atrocities and to track down aiders and abettors of the Holocaust-those few that remain. All these years after the collapse of the Third Reich, many of the suspects that Will tries to bring to justice die on him. "After we have found them alive, after we have forwarded their cases to prosecutors.... People die while they are on trial," he would tell me. "It has become normal in our work. It is our work."
Bu hikaye GQ India dergisinin October - November 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye GQ India dergisinin October - November 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
In Haider We Hope
The role of a fashion designer is one usually forged in chaos and fired down by “creative differences”. But on the eve of a new Tom Ford directorship, Haider Ackermann has never felt more free.
VIVA VARUN
Varun Dhawan on balancing fatherhood and film shoots, and the pressure of making the right choices.
PRATIK GANDHI'S QUIET EUPHORIA
The actor―who delivered a knockout performance in Madgaon Expresson the high of a hit and the pressure of sustaining success.
THE COMEBACK KID
Buoyed by his performance in Singham Returns, Arjun Kapoor doubles down on creativity.
SCRIPTING STARDOM
Vicky Kaushal on the thrill and terror of stepping onto a Sanjay Leela Bhansali set, charting an unconventional career, and making sense of the money game.
A TRYST WITH STARDOM
Triptii Dimri segued from her left-field roots straight to the animal park. The gamble has paid off.
WALKING A TIGHTROPE
Following the monster success of Stree 2, Rajkummar Rao opens up about navigating artistic fulfilment and box-office glory.
THE MAHARAJA OF MEHRAULI
It's been an action-packed year for Tarun Tahiliani, the emperor of Indian couture.
LONE WARRIOR
Kartik Aaryan on why, in an industry that only watches out for its own, he has to blow his own trumpet.
HITS AND HEARTBREAKS
Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali talks about redeeming himself with the extraordinary Chamkila, dealing with star-studded setbacks, and why we've forgotten to make love stories.
