ABC follows up Code of Silence
J-Wire
23 October 2015
Zephania and Manny Waks
Breaking the Silence, a one hour COMPASS special, follows the journey of Australian Jew Manny Waks who was, until recently, the only survivor of child sexual abuse within Melbourne’s Jewish community to speak publicly…Waks meets with an abuser and confronts one who abused him.
The sequel to the Walkley Award winning COMPASS special of 2014 Code of Silence will air on Tuesday evening on ABC-TV.
The sequel begins with Manny Waks as he gives evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse, during which two ultra-Orthodox Jewish institutions are accused of covering-up and protecting perpetrators in the 1980s and 90s. Over two explosive weeks inside Melbourne’s County Court, viewers will witness, for the first time, those rabbis and officials accused of the cover-ups take the stand and be grilled.
For the first time, it is also revealed that Manny was not the only member of the family who was abused; Manny’s father Zephaniah Waks reveals two other sons were abused by a Yeshivah Centre teacher, David Kramer in the 1990’s. He had tried to have the abuse handled by community leaders but was subject to an ancient code of silence that forbids Jews from speaking about the allegations involving other Jews, to the police. The result was that Zephaniah and his wife were virtually excommunicated and feeling isolated, they decided to relocate to Israel. Now his other son Yanky agrees to speak on camera for the first time.
The Royal Commission also hears from another abuse victim (known as ‘AVB’) who was abused in Melbourne and Sydney. AVB has maintained the Ultra-Orthodox religious faith and wants to stay inside the tight-knit ultra-Orthodox community. If he reveals himself, he fears he will suffer the same shunning as the Waks family. In the fallout of the Royal Commission some of Australia’s most senior rabbis fall on their swords and resign.
After the hearings, Manny travels to the United States to confront one of the two men who he claims abused him. The film’s climax follows Manny to Los Angeles, where he meets a convicted paedophile who was given a suspended sentence for abusing AVB in Sydney in the 1980s. It’s a powerful moment between victim and abuser that delivers an unexpected conclusion.
Will Manny’s confrontation with the man he claims abused him give him peace of mind? And will his meeting with the convicted paedophile give him a crucial sense of resolution?
Originally published at J-Wire.
The sequel to the Walkley Award winning COMPASS special of 2014 Code of Silence will air on Tuesday evening on ABC-TV.
The sequel begins with Manny Waks as he gives evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse, during which two ultra-Orthodox Jewish institutions are accused of covering-up and protecting perpetrators in the 1980s and 90s. Over two explosive weeks inside Melbourne’s County Court, viewers will witness, for the first time, those rabbis and officials accused of the cover-ups take the stand and be grilled.
For the first time, it is also revealed that Manny was not the only member of the family who was abused; Manny’s father Zephaniah Waks reveals two other sons were abused by a Yeshivah Centre teacher, David Kramer in the 1990’s. He had tried to have the abuse handled by community leaders but was subject to an ancient code of silence that forbids Jews from speaking about the allegations involving other Jews, to the police. The result was that Zephaniah and his wife were virtually excommunicated and feeling isolated, they decided to relocate to Israel. Now his other son Yanky agrees to speak on camera for the first time.
The Royal Commission also hears from another abuse victim (known as ‘AVB’) who was abused in Melbourne and Sydney. AVB has maintained the Ultra-Orthodox religious faith and wants to stay inside the tight-knit ultra-Orthodox community. If he reveals himself, he fears he will suffer the same shunning as the Waks family. In the fallout of the Royal Commission some of Australia’s most senior rabbis fall on their swords and resign.
After the hearings, Manny travels to the United States to confront one of the two men who he claims abused him. The film’s climax follows Manny to Los Angeles, where he meets a convicted paedophile who was given a suspended sentence for abusing AVB in Sydney in the 1980s. It’s a powerful moment between victim and abuser that delivers an unexpected conclusion.
Will Manny’s confrontation with the man he claims abused him give him peace of mind? And will his meeting with the convicted paedophile give him a crucial sense of resolution?
Originally published at J-Wire.