Mel Gibson is no stranger to controversy. E!Online reports that the Oscar-winning star, whose The Passion of the Christ came under fire for anti-Semitism, is developing a TV movie about the Holocaust.

The story will be adapted from the memoir of Flory A. Van Beek, a Dutch Jew who escaped with her life but lost family members to concentration camps.

In her book, Flory: Survival in the Valley of Death, Van Beek writes about fleeing Holland with her husband Felix. They escaped on a passenger ship bound for Chile that was sunk by a German mine and they finally managed to return to their homeland in 1940. With the help of his friends, Felix, a Christian, was able to hide Flory from the Nazis for three years.

Gibson, who is currently in Mexico shooting his Mayan epic Apocalypto, is also reportedly developing another film set in the Holy Land. It’s about the Maccabees, Jewish freedom fighters who rebel against their Roman occupiers.

“I don’t know him, all I know is he’s a staunch Catholic and the people who saved our lives are Catholic,” says Van Beek, who is now in her early 80s.

It’s unknown how long the movie will run, but network executives reportedly want to turn the project into a miniseries.






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