 Created in 1936 in an effort to inspire German Jews under Nazi rule to make Aliyah, Hatikvah: The Hope is at once a documentary on the earliest period of Zionist history and an artifact from it. The film was made three years after the Nazis rise to power, at the narrow juncture in history when flight from Germany was both imperative and still possible. The unique footage focuses on some major personalities in the Zionist movement, the constructive work carried out in Palestine by the first waves of immigration, and the religious life of Jews from a diverse spectrum of backgrounds.