LOS ANGELES — Christoph Meili, the former Swiss bank security guard, visited with Steven Spielberg last week while touring the filmmaker’s Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, a spokeswoman for Spielberg has confirmed.
Meili has been under fire from many of his countrymen since January, when he found sensitive Holocaust-era documents in the shredding room of the Union Bank of Switzerland and turned them over to the Swiss Jewish community.
Meili has said he felt impelled to act a few months after watching Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List,” so a meeting with the film’s creator held special meaning for both men.
Spielberg apparently found Meili’s story of great interest, but a spokeswoman for the director said there were no plans or discussions regarding a future film concentrating on Meili’s action.
Meili recently left Switzerland for the United States with his wife and children, saying their lives were threatened. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R-N.Y.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee that held hearings on Swiss dealings with Nazi Germany and Jewish assets in Swiss banks, is trying to win U.S. citizenship for Meili.