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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.
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.
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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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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.
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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…)
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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.
The Sousa Mendes Foundation presents a five-part film series created in partnership with Portuguese television. The series, called Visas for Life, traces the stories of numerous families saved by the Portuguese Consul General in Bordeaux, France, Aristides de Sousa Mendes. Join us each week for a new episode.
Not to be missed! See the film that won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2023. Learn about Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader and political prisoner who stood up to Putin. Meet our stellar panel of guests.
Eberhard and Donata Helmrich, from Berlin, were anti-Nazis throughout the Nazi period. A major in the German army, Eberhard was the commander of a large farm in Drohobycz, Poland, supplying the German army with food. Almost two-thirds of his 300 workers were Jews from the nearby ghetto, and thanks to his efforts many of them were saved from arrest or the periodic roundups. Donata saved women by finding housekeeping jobs for them in Berlin under false identities. When asked for the reason of their help at great risks to themselves, the Helmrichs responded, “We figured that once we saved two people we’d be even with Hitler if we were caught, and every person saved beyond that would put us one ahead.” Eberhard and Donata Helmrich were honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.
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Join Samuel Freedman and Jane Eisner as they discuss Freedman’s new book, Into the Bright Sunshine: Young Hubert Humphrey and the Fight for Civil Rights. Their discussion will focus on Humphrey’s fight against antisemitism in post-World War II America.