940.53

DANIEL’S STORY  (1993)

Dan

Created for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, this film shows the events of the Holocaust from the perspective of a Jewish child growing up in Nazi Germany. The story is fictional, but is based on a composite of actual experiences of German Jewish families. The film is narrated with a child’s voice, telling his story in the first person, and uses documentary film footage and photos to illustrate the events. A powerful way to convey a Jewish child’s perspective of the war—especially to children. Study guide available. Note: The study guide says that this tape was created for ages 8-13. We recommend it for ages 10-14. Teachers should preview, know their school’s policy, and use their discretion. An accompanying novel, Daniel’s Story by Carol Matas, can be used in conjunction with the film.

B&W. 18 min.  AGE: 10 to Adult

JHVC

940.53

Danzig, 1939  (1980)

Dan

In July of 1939, ten crates of ritual objects arrived at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. The objects, many antique and extremely valuable, came from the Great Synagogue of Danzig, Germany, a magnificent temple which had boasted 1,600 congregants. The sale of these objects, arranged by the League of Nations, enabled the Jews of Danzig to buy passage out of Germany. They were the only community to do so, and the artifacts they sold to buy their freedom comprise the only such collection to escape the Holocaust. Many current and former residents of the city are interviewed in Danzig, 1939. They tell of a liberal, mixed Jewish community made up of native Germans and Russian and Polish refugees. Many of the people interviewed—among them Rabbi Iwan Gruen of the Great Synagogue—remember little anti-Semitism before Hitler. Yet all were forced to confront the tide of hate that Hitler summoned, and their escape, along with the sale of their collection of artifacts, is one of the unique tales of survival to come out of the Holocaust.

30 min.  AGE: 12 to Adult

940.54

DARING TO RESIST (2000)

The true stories of three courageous teenage Jewish girls who resisted the Nazis during the Holocaust. Barbara Rodbell was born in Berlin until her family moved to Holland. She became a ballerina in Amsterdam and delivered underground newspapers for the Resistance, as well as helping to secure food and transportation for Jews in hiding. Shulamit Lack, born in Budapest, helped to acquire false papers and a safe haven for Jews trying to escape Hungary. Faye Schulman, born in Poland, became a photographer and partisan fighter in the forests of Poland. Includes photographs and documentary film footage.  Interspersed throughout are interviews in which all three women describe their experiences.  Note: A valuable classroom tool for showing students how young people – in this case, young women – can fight injustice and actively make a difference in the lives of others.  Study guide available.

Color/B&W.  55 min.  AGE:  12 to Adult

JHVC

940.53

Dear Kitty  (1987)

Dea

This video uses the story of Anne Frank's remarkable diary to teach preteens about the Holocaust. The film weaves a brief but thorough history of the Nazi era into the story of the Franks' life in Germany, their flight from the Nazis into Holland, their experiences hiding in an attic during the war, and Anne's eventual death in Bergen-Belsen. Anne's words in her diary, which she called "Kitty," allow young viewers to identify with her feelings of fear, confusion, and hope, and reflect on her fate and that of the many other Jewish children who perished in the war. Passages in the diary that describe Anne's desire to become a writer and the need she felt to record her experiences for posterity are highlighted, giving children a sense of the importance of personal history.

Color/B&W. 25 min.  AGE: 12 to Adult

940.53

THE DEATH MARCH OF THE JEWS FROM THE CONCENTRATION CAMP AT

Dea

FLOSSENBÜRG  (1997)

Fifty years after Liberation, former Jewish inmates of the Flossenburg Concentration Camp (the third largest Nazi concentration camp in Germany) meet to commemorate their freedom. Through archival film footage, diaries, illustrations and interviews with survivors, we learn what daily life was like for Flossenburg inmates. Special attention is paid to the eight day “Death March” in April of 1945 when the Nazis marched their Jewish prisoners mercilessly through terrible conditions as the American liberators approached. Many Jews died or were killed along the way. This day-by-day account of the death march is derived from the diary of a survivor, recorded in June 1945. Note: Includes graphic film footage of dead bodies.

Color/B&W. 45 min.  AGE: 16 to Adult

940.53

DEBAJO DEL MUNDO (Under the Earth) (1987)

Extremely powerful film based on the true story of a Polish family who evade Nazi orders for all Jews to report when the German army invades. Instead, they dig a shelter and move underground – living in the country and sleeping under the earth. For the next two years, they move around and live both in underground and makeshift settings, stealing, borrowing and scrounging around for food and supplies. The family constantly faces danger from German soldiers, Nazi collaborators and illness. The film is a monument to the enduring power of family and love and the will to survive. Note: Rated R. Includes brief violence and scenes of sexual content.

In Spanish with subtitles.  1 hr. 40 min.  AGE:  17 to Adult

940.54

A DEBT TO HONOR: ITALY  (1995)

Deb

During the Holocaust, 30,000 Jews—nearly 80% of the Jewish population—evaded the Nazis in Italy. This happened with the help of many “ordinary” Italians. Holocaust filmmaker Sy Rotter focuses on these rescuers, including interviews which allow them to tell their stories. Priests, nuns, and “regular” Italian citizens who aided Jews are interviewed. In 1994 in Rome, over 100 Italian Righteous Gentiles were honored by a group of Roman Government officials, leaders of the Jewish community, and Italian Holocaust survivors.

29 min.  AGE: 12 to Adult

JHVC

940.53

The Devil Is a Gentleman  (1983)

Dev

Fifteen years after the end of World War II, Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi chief of Jewish affairs, was abducted by Israeli intelligence agents in Argentina and taken to Jerusalem. From April to December 1961, Eichmann stood trial for his role in administering the "Final Solution of the Jewish Problem." Eichmann was found guilty and executed for crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The Devil Is A Gentleman, a 12 minute segment from the CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes,” reviews Eichmann's career in the Nazi party and subsequent trial in Israel in an attempt to examine the nature of his character. Drawing upon interviews with people who knew Eichmann, including the prosecuting attorney, a former SS colleague, a psychiatrist, and a Holocaust survivor, the program raises fundamental questions about judgment and responsibility.

Color/B&W. 12 min.  AGE: 12 to Adult

940.53

THE DEVIL’S ARITHMETIC  (1999)

Dev

Powerful Holocaust drama based on the young adult novel by Jane Yolen, which approaches the Holocaust from a unique angle. Hannah Stern is a modern teen of the 1990’s who is apathetic towards Judaism and doesn’t relate to the Holocaust experience her relatives survived. At a family Passover Seder, Hannah opens the door for Elijah and finds herself back in time in 1940’s Poland, where people recognize her as “Channa.” Before long, the Nazis deport Hannah and the Jews around her to Auschwitz, and since Hannah is from the future, she tries to warn the others about what will happen. She experiences the horrors and starvation of the camp with those around her, and by the end of the film, Hannah is forever transformed. Produced by Mimi Rogers and Dustin Hoffman, who introduces the film. Study guide available. Note: This film must be previewed. It includes a few graphic scenes such as a hanging of inmates, inhumanity towards a mother and child, and the gas chambers. Also, the film can be emotionally quite upsetting as it brings viewers close to the characters, all of whom will not survive. An excellent teaching tool for Holocaust education for modern teens.

1 hr. 35 min.  AGE: 14 to Adult

940.53

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK  (1959)

Dia

The original black and white movie version of the story of Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl hidden with her family and others for two years in Nazi occupied Holland. The tension of two families cramped into close living quarters—constantly fearing for their lives—is well captured in this adaptation of her actual diary. The film won three Academy Awards and stars Millie Perkins and Shelley Winters.

B&W. 2 hrs. 31 min.  AGE: 12 to Adult

940.53

DIARY OF THE LAST HEROES: THE WARSAW GHETTO UPRISING 1943  (1993)

Dia

Documentation of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and events leading up to it as told by six survivors. They tell the history, in alternating testimonies, with historical film footage interspersed throughout.

1 hr.  AGE: 12 to Adult

940.54

DIPLOMATS FOR THE DAMNED (1996)

This documentary, part of the History Undercovered Series (for the A&E Network) takes a closer look at four government officials, diplomats, who refused to follow orders and saved lives - many of them Jewish - during World War II. The four individuals profiled are Aristedes de Sousa Mendes, Harry Bingham, Carl Lutz and Georg Duckwitz. Mendes was the Portuguese consulate in Bordeaux; Bingham was the American Vice Consul in Marseilles; Lutz was the Swiss diplomat in Hungary and Duckwitz was a German attaché to Denmark. Mention is also made of American journalist Varian Fry, who was sent by the Emergency Rescue Committee to rescue prominent Jews and enemies of Hitler from France to safety in America. Includes documentary footage as well as interviews with grown children of the diplomats, individuals who were saved by them, and comments by historian, Eric A. Saul. The end of the program describes what became of each of these individuals and their careers after the war. An important film to reaffirm the powerful impact that one person can make.

Color/B&W.  45 min.  AGE:  12 to Adult

Award winning Czechoslovakian drama based on the true story of a couple in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia who agree to hide a young male Jewish neighbor in their home. Josef and Marie Cizek live in a small apartment and are experiencing marital tensions due to Josef’s sterility and to the political climate of the war. Their Jewish neighbors were deported to Theresienstadt but David, the teenage son, managed to escape and sought refuge with them. The situations becomes more complicated as the Cizeks must deal with frequent visits from Horst, an acquaintance of theirs who has always had a lecherous interest in Marie and is now a Nazi collaborator. When Marie rejects his advances, Horst tries to move a Nazi clerk into their home. To avoid a situation that would lead to David’s discovery and their ruin, Marie claims she is pregnant and needs the extra space. Josef and Marie’s solution to this dilemma demanded heroism and self-sacrifice. Rated PG-13 for some violence and sexual content.

In Czech with subtitles.  2 hrs. 2 min.  AGE:  14 to Adult

940.53

THE DOUBLE CROSSING: THE VOYAGE OF THE ST. LOUIS  (1992)

Dou

Documentary about the luxury liner St. Louis, which left Nazi Germany in 1939 with over 900 Jewish refugees and was refused entrance into Cuba, and later the U.S. The film includes documentary footage as well as interviews with a number of the actual passengers who describe their experiences. These refugees all had visas for entrance into Cuba and most had quota numbers for eventual admission into the U.S. The video ends with the survivors of the St. Louis giving their opinions about what can be learned from this historical travesty of justice. Produced by the Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois and Loyola University of Chicago.

29 min.  AGE: 12 to Adult

940.53

THE EIGHTY-FIRST BLOW  (1974)

Eig

Produced by Beit Lohamei Haghetaot—The Ghetto Fighters’ House in Israel, this film opens with Golda Meir talking about the importance of knowing what occurred during the Holocaust and preventing anything similar from happening again. The title for this film comes from an incident where a Jewish boy was whipped eighty times by a Nazi and survived—the “eighty-first blow” came after the war, when no one believed his story. This Academy Award-nominated film focuses on what happened to the Jewish people during the Holocaust. It uses archival photographs and documentary footage shot by the Nazis during World War II, and is narrated by survivors who gave testimony at Eichmann’s trial. Note: Contains very graphic footage and testimony.

In Hebrew and Yiddish with subtitles. B&W. 1 hr. 55 min.  AGE: 16 to Adult

940.53

ELIE WIESEL GOES HOME (2002)

This touching documentary follows Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel on his journey to revisit Sighet, Romania, the village where he grew up prior to the Holocaust. Sighet was part of Hungary during World War II. Wiesel shares his remembrances with a few friends as he walks through the town and finds the house he lived in. The film alternates between footage of Sighet today and archival still shots of Jewish life before the war. Wiesel also takes viewers to Auschwitz/Birkenau, the site of the concentration camp in which he was imprisoned during the Holocaust. There he discusses his experiences in the camp and talks about liberation. Additional features include interviews with Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Dr. Bernard Goldberg, Director of the American Jewish Cultural Studies Program at West Los Angeles College. William Hurt provides narration and reads excerpts from some of Wiesel’s books, including Night. Note: Teachers may wish to show this to classes who read Night.

1 hr. 48 min.  AGE:  14 to Adult

JHVC

F

Enemies, A Love Story  (1989)

Ene

Memories pursued Holocaust survivors when they tried to reestablish their lives after World War II. For many who came to America, the vast differences between their new lives and what they had experienced created problems that were difficult to resolve. Enemies, A Love Story, based on a novel by Isaac Bashevis Singer, follows the intertwined affairs of Herman Broder, a writer haunted by nightmares as he tries to settle into his new life in New York. Married to Yadwiga, the Polish woman who saved him, he has a Jewish mistress, fellow survivor Masha. His life and deceptions become even more frenetic as his first wife, Tamara, arrives in New York, having also survived. Ron Silver, Anjelica Huston and Lena Olin all give superb performances in this compelling movie.

2 hrs. 1 min. Rated R.  AGE: Adult

940.53

ESCAPE FROM SOBIBOR  (1987)

Esc

Dramatization of the heroic uprising that took place in Sobibor—a Nazi death camp in Poland where over a quarter of a million Jews were annihilated. A Russian Army officer is captured by the Nazis and sent to Sobibor. Seeing the horrors of the Holocaust, he organizes resistance and a successful escape. Stars Rutger Hauer and Alan Arkin. Study guide available. Note: Portrays violent acts.

2 hrs.  AGE: Adult

940.54

EUROPA, EUROPA  (1991)

Eur

This film is based on the true story of Solomon Perel, a German-Jewish teenager during World War II, who fled from the Nazis and concealed his identity—only to find himself drafted into Hitler’s army.

In German and Russian with subtitles. 1 hr. 55 min. Rated R.  AGE: 14 to Adult

956.94

EXODUS 1947: THE SHIP THAT LAUNCHED A NATION  (1996)

Exo

Outstanding documentary of the Aliya Bet ship Exodus 1947, secretly financed and crewed by American Jews. In the summer of 1947, this dilapidated steamer took aboard 4,500 Holocaust survivors in Southern France and sailed for Palestine. Unable to run the British blockade, the immigrants battled the British and were sent back to Displaced Persons Camps in Germany—a horrendous destination for survivors of the Holocaust. Publicity and newsreels of this episode helped gain international support for the creation of the State of Israel. Includes fascinating interviews with former crew members and passengers. Narrated by Morley Safer. Study guide available.

1 hr.  AGE: 12 to Adult

956.94

EXODUS TO ISRAEL  (1987)

Exo

Documentary which follows major events which led to the establishment of the state of Israel and includes the 1948 War and its aftermath. The first half of the film covers the birth of Zionism, the Dreyfus Affair, Theodore Herzl, Chaim Weizmann and the Zionist Congress, World War I, and the Balfour Declaration. The second half focuses on the aftermath of the Holocaust and on the ship Exodus—which carried 4,000 Jews escaping from the Nazis in 1947 and was sent back to Europe by the British upon reaching the shores of Palestine. Note: The film Exodus 1947 offers a stronger presentation about the ship. Includes explicit footage of the liberation of the camps about halfway through the film.

B&W. 55 min.  AGE: 14 to Adult

305.8

THE EYE OF THE STORM  (1970)

Eye

Award-winning documentary of an experiment in prejudice conducted in 1968 in a third grade all-white classroom. Students were taught to discriminate against classmates based on eye color. One group was arbitrarily assigned privileges, while the other had rights restricted. The children’s behavior and abilities changed based on whether they felt superior or inferior. Study guide available. Note: Film is a bit dated, but still has value. It can be used with Holocaust units, or to discuss how prejudice and scapegoating can escalate, even among children.

25 min.  AGE: 9 to Adult