Prosecuting Evil, which is currently streaming on Netflix, was greeted with widespread acclaim following its premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival and its theatrical release on Feb. 22, 2019, and it currently stands at 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Born to Orthodox Jewish farmers in Transylvania, Ferencz, at just nine months of age, was brought to America by his parents aboard a ship, passing the torch of the Statue of Liberty. («That light, I’m afraid, has gone out, and I very much regret it,» he says in reference to the Trump Administration’s attitudes towards today’s immigrants.) He grew up in poverty and around crime, but studied hard and gained admittance to City College of New York and then Harvard Law School, where he decided to pursue a career in crime prevention and studied with one of the world’s leading experts on what we now call war crimes, Prof. Sheldon Gluck. After graduating and passing the Bar, he entered the U.S. Army in 1943, starting in artillery and then moving to the judge advocate’s section of Gen. George S. Patton’s army. One of Ferencz’s most gut-wrenching assignments during his time in the service was to witness the liberation of numerous concentration camps and seize evidence for future war crimes trials against Nazis. «Anybody who says it didn’t happen,» he says in regard to Holocaust deniers, «they won’t say that didn’t happen to me.»

Ferencz spent the rest of his career as a highly respected and successful lawyer. He was instrumental in the creation of the International Criminal Court in the Hague in 2002. And he continues to write and speak about war crimes to this day, just months shy of his 100th birthday. What is his secret? «There is no secret,» he insists with a chuckle. «I’ve lived a wholesome life. This morning I did my usual 75 pushups, among other things. I used to do 100, but they told me to slow down. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke.» He continues, «But what really drives me, if I want to confess my weaknesses, is the trauma. I had a discussion with God, at one point. I’d been to several of the camps, and it was really quite horrible. And I said, ‘God, how did you let this happen? How did it happen? Where are you still? And it’s still happening. I’m still waiting for an answer.’ But I didn’t wait for an answer. I said, ‘Benny, try to change it.’ And so I’ve spent my life trying to change it.»

While Ferencz feels that much progress has been made in the 75 years since World War II, he is far from satisfied. «Hitler’s happening again and again all around the world,» he laments. «I can look in the White House and pick a few out for you. John Bolton [until recently Pres. Trump’s National Security Advisor] is not a far cry from Hitler.» Ferencz feels particularly strongly about the Trump Administration’s separation of parents and child at the southern border. «That’s a crime against humanity,» he says, noting, with regard to Pres. Trump, «I would welcome them putting him on trial.» Would he himself like to again serve as a prosecutor at such a trial? «The ball is now passing to younger hands,» he demurs. «I have three pieces of advice: one, never give up; two, never give up; and three, never give up. The ball is yours. Never give up, kids.»