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The Waldheim Waltz
11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK
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Ruth Beckermann‘s film The Waldheim Waltz is about truth, lies and how a dishonest man can rise to power. The film documents the process of uncovering former UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim’s wartime past. It shows the swift succession of new allegations by the World Jewish Congress during his Austrian presidential campaign, the denial by the Austrian political class, the outbreak of anti-Semitism and patriotism, which finally led to his election. Created from international archive material and what Beckermann shot at the time, the film shows that history repeats itself time and time again. Winner of the Berlin International Film Festival.
The Freedom Line
1 PM LOS ANGELES • 4 PM NEW YORK
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Compared to Casablanca by The Washington Post, this is a page–turning story of a group of resistance workers who rescued downed Allied fighter pilots and spirited them through France and into safety in Spain during World War II.
A Protest to the World: The Dramatic Story of Szmul Artur Zygielbojm
1 PM LOS ANGELES • 4 PM NEW YORK
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Szmul Artur Zygielbojm was a Polish Jewish socialist politician and member of the Polish Government-in-Exile in London during World War II. A lifelong activist, he is most famous for his final act of protest to the world against the indifference of the Allies to the fate of Europe’s Jews. In this richly multimedia and life-affirming film-and-discussion program, Dr. Jud Newborn interweaves his thrilling discovery of Zygielbojm’s lost artifacts with an elegy to the lost world of the Jewish shtetl.
Remembrance in Germany Today — Stories of Hope
11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK
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Nowadays, 90 years after Hitler seized power, Germany has a vibrant remembrance culture aimed at raising public consciousness about the crimes of the past and the importance of standing up against bigotry and in support of democracy. Much of the most meaningful work is being done by unsung volunteers in towns and villages across the country.
Yankee Resistance: The Story of a Small Connecticut Town that Challenged the Nazis and Won
1 PM LOS ANGELES • 4 PM NEW YORK
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In 1937 the German-American Bund bought land in Southbury, CT with plans to build Camp General Von Steuben, a Hitler-Youth style camp. However, the residents of the small town chose to find a way to stop this from happening. The newspapers across the country picked up the story about the small town of 1300 residents who were ready to fight against the seemingly powerful Bund, which many believed was controlled directly by Hitler.
Into the Arms of Strangers
11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK
This prizewinning film tells the touching and heartwarming stories of Jewish children from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia saved in England in 1938-39 under the Kindertransport program, prior to the onset of World War II.
Besa — The Promise
11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK
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This is the true story of an American photographer determined to record the bravery and compassion of Albanians who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. It is also the story of an Albanian Muslim who must fulfill a promise his father made to the Jewish family they sheltered. Their meeting sets in motion an extraordinary and unexpected drama that bridges generations and religions … uniting fathers and sons, Muslims and Jews.
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Sally Noach — The Angel of Lyon
11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK
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This program tells the story of the Jewish hero Salomon “Sally” Noach, who is remembered as the “angel” of the city of Lyon, France. He acted at great personal risk to rescue Jews who had been already captured by the Gestapo. See a new film about him that will touch your heart, and then meet his son along with one of the people that he saved.
Wilfrid Israel, Holocaust Hero
11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK
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Wilfrid Israel, a Berlin department store magnate and art collector, was German Jewry’s “secret ambassador” to England from 1938-43. He worked with the British diplomat/spy Frank Foley, Righteous Among the Nations, to secure life-saving British visas for thousands of German Jews and was the “essential link” in the establishment of the Kindertransport operation. He also was a key benefactor of the Youth Aliyah movement and was a co-founder of Kibbutz Hazorea. Time and again, he had opportunities to remain safe in England or Palestine, and yet he kept going back to Germany to rescue more Jews. On his last rescue mission, Wilfrid Israel was shot down by the Wehrmacht over the English channel. Albert Einstein said of the businessman, “Never in my life have I come in contact with a being so noble, so strong and as selfless as Wilfrid Israel.” A fascinating and multilayered life! (more…)
“We Must Save the Children” — The Newly-Uncovered Story of the Heroic Railway Workers of Lille, France
11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK
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On September 11, 1942, a spontaneous rescue action occurred in Lille, France. On that day, the Jews of Lille were arrested and brought to the railyard, from where they awaited deportation. The rail workers, realizing what was happening, created an instant rescue network to remove as many Jews as possible from the railyard, particularly the children, and spirit them to safety, right under the noses of the Nazi guards. The film Sauvons les enfants tells that remarkable story for the first time. In 2020 the station master was named Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.