Nobody Wants Us

In 1940, a ship called the S.S. Quanza left the port of Lisbon carrying several hundred Jewish refugees to freedom. Most of them held life-saving visas issued by the Holocaust rescuer Aristides de Sousa Mendes. But events went terribly wrong, and the passengers became trapped on the ship when no country would accept them. Nobody Wants Us tells the gripping true story of how Eleanor Roosevelt stepped in to save the passengers on board. Other heroes of the Quanza were the lawyers Jacob and Sallie Morewitz and members of the National Council of Jewish Women. This is an episode in American history that everyone should know!

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SEE THE TRAILER

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THE SCHEDULE

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⇒ February 26-29, watch Laura Seltzer-Duny‘s film Nobody Wants Us on your home device. A link will be provided to all who register.

⇒ Sunday, February 28 at 4:00 p.m. US Eastern Time, tune into the program with our panel of guests.  A link will be provided to all who register.

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MEET THE PANEL

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Laura Seltzer-Duny is an award-winning PBS filmmaker who has a special interest in producing documentary films about communities and unsung heroes. She is drawn to the topic of migration and has produced numerous stories about the plight of refugees and their stories of resettlement. Laura is based in the Washington, DC area and will travel around the globe for a cause she believes in. Her work has aired on PBS, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, NBC and The Discovery Channel. She has produced films for the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Education. She is a member of the Educational Initiatives Committee of the Sousa Mendes Foundation. 

Blanche Wiesen Cook is a Distinguished Professor of History and Women’s Studies at the John Jay College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.  She is the author of the three-volume definitive biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. Volume One was awarded the 1992 Biography prize from the Los Angeles Times. NPR included the third volume in its “Best books of 2016.” Cook co-founded the Freedom of Information and Access Committee of the Organization of American Historians and was chair of the Fund for Open Information and Accountability.

Rebecca N. Eichler is an immigration attorney and refugee advocate. She lives and works in Mexico, advising deportees from the U.S, migrants in transit, and asylum seekers at the US border. In fall 2018, she spearheaded central Mexico’s legal aid response to the migrant caravans, providing consultations and know-your-rights presentations to hundreds of migrants on what to expect at the border. She holds a J.D. from William & Mary Law School and a Masters of Law in International Human Rights from the University of London.

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Registration for this program is closed.