JHVC

940.53

A Painful Reminder  (1985)

Pai

Efforts to document the Holocaust began while it was still happening. A Painful Reminder is a documentary filmed by a unit of the British Army's psychological warfare division in the spring of 1945; Alfred Hitchcock helped shape the raw material. Considered too controversial at the time, it was not publicly viewed until the 1980’s. The film sketches Hitler's rise to power, then provides gruesome details of concentration and extermination camps such as Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, Buchenwald and Auschwitz. Besides on-the-scene comments by British troops, A Painful Reminder follows the stories of several Jewish survivors, and carefully shows German municipal officials and citizens at the death camps. The film addresses the post­war political considerations that led to its being shelved for so many years. Note: Includes extremely graphic material. The 1945 portion of this documentary occurs in the first 45 minutes.

1 hr. 9 min.  AGE: Adults Only

940.54

PARTISANS OF VILNA  (1985)

Par

Witnesses and archival footage recall the Jewish resistance in the Vilna Ghetto of Lithuania during World War II.

Color/B&W. 2 hrs.  AGE: 12 to Adult

940.53

THE PAWNBROKER  (1965)

Paw

Rod Steiger plays Sol Nazerman, a Holocaust survivor of the death camps where his children were killed and his wife was violated in front of him. A broken and disillusioned man, he runs a pawnshop in Harlem, where his faith in humanity is again tested in this powerful film. Note: Christian symbolism at the end may be problematic for some viewers.

B&W. 2 hrs.  AGE: Adult

940.53

THE PIANIST (2002)

Academy Award winning drama based on the true story of Holocaust survivor, Wladyslaw Szpilman. Szpilman was a well-known pianist and composer in Poland who escaped annihilation with the help of friends who hid him during the war. First, Szpilman lived with his family members in the Warsaw ghetto, exposed to poverty, suffering and humiliation. He managed to escape deportation to the concentration camps. Szpilman survived both through the aid of the Polish resistance and through the help of a German officer. Note: The film is either criticized or praised for being somewhat impassive and detached. Viewers see what happens to the Jews of Poland through the eyes of a Jewish witness – one who is not particularly active in the resistance but one who survived partially to being in the right place at the right time and having the right connections. In this regard, the film offers a somewhat different lens through which we see the Holocaust. The Pianist succeeds particularly well in both illustrating the brutality of the Nazis and portraying the sense of helplessness of the victims. Stars Adrian Brody, who won an Academy Award for his performance as Szpilman. Roman Polanski received an Oscar for Best Director. Contains scenes of graphic violence. Rated R.

2 hrs. 30 min.  AGE:  17 to Adult

951.042

THE PORT OF LAST RESORT: A REFUGE IN SHANGHAI  (1998)

Por

Shanghai became a safe haven for nearly 20,000 Jews who fled Nazi occupied Europe in the years 1938–1941. Jews were allowed entry as Shanghai was considered a free port. Fortunately for these refugees, there already existed a small Jewish community of Russian and Baghdadi Jews in Shanghai who helped them to resettle. This remarkable documentary brings alive Shanghai of the 1930’s and 1940’s, highlighting Jewish life. The film includes interviews with four former refugees who describe their experiences, and interspersed throughout are readings from the writings of refugees and amazing footage from archival films and home movies. An enlightening film about how a group of determined Jews built a flourishing community in a most unusual setting.

1 hr. 19 min.  AGE: 14 to Adult

940.53

PRESERVING THE PAST TO ENSURE THE FUTURE  (1989)

Pre

A somewhat disjointed short film which focuses on Yad Vashem and on the 1.5 million children lost during the Holocaust. The film opens by showing the reactions of people from varied backgrounds to Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Museum, especially its Children’s Memorial. Children’s voices narrate poetry written by children from the camps, while the screen shows artwork of children who died and documentary footage. The film points out what the world is deprived of with even the loss of one child. Could this happen again today? Scenes of the Ku Klux Klan, skinheads, Cambodia and South Africa flash across the screen. The words “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to relive it” appears on the screen. A powerful and moving experience for both young and old viewers. Note: This film is best used as an introduction to the subject of the Holocaust to lead to further study or discussion. It does not, however, include enough historical background to be used as a primary source of study.

15 min.  AGE: 12 to Adult

F

PUNCH ME IN THE STOMACH  (1995)

Pun

Jewish comedienne Deb Filler transforms herself into 36 different Jewish characters—most from her own family—in this triumphant one-woman show (which appeared off-Broadway). Much of the performance focuses on the character of her father—a Polish-born concentration camp survivor. She also addresses how it feels to grow up as the child of a survivor. Filler travels back and forth throughout the performance between her native New Zealand, New York, and back to Poland to visit Auschwitz with her father. Through her talent at mimicry, she presents many familiar types of Jewish characters and delivers a comedic, bittersweet performance that will touch most viewers.

1 hr.  AGE: 12 to Adult

Short documentary that presents the true story of the Kusserow family, a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses who were persecuted under the Nazis in Germany. Five members of the family discuss growing up in Germany and how their lives were affected under Nazism. There were approximately 20,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany in the 1930’s. Hitler considered their ideology to be an invalid and rival ideology which must be destroyed. Franz and Hilda Kusserow, the parents of eleven children, were arrested in 1936. They were reunited briefly in 1937, but the family was never to be whole again. One brother talks about being beaten, and the others were executed by the Nazis for their beliefs. Then members of the family, like many Jehovah’s Witnesses, were sent to concentration camps and forced to wear purple triangles on their uniforms (they were sent to Ravensbruck). During the war, Jehovah’s Witnesses could secure their releases from prisons and concentration camps by signing a declaration that they abandoned their faith. The film stresses how the Kusserow family maintained steadfast faith throughout the war and refused to compromise their beliefs.

25 min.  AGE:  13 to Adult

F

QB VII  (1974)

Qbv

Riveting made-for-TV drama based on the Leon Uris novel about a hypothetical Nazi war crime trial. The plot concerns a lawsuit between Sir Adam Kelno and writer Abraham Cady. Kelno is suing Cady because Cady’s best-selling book on the Holocaust accuses Kelno of being a Nazi collaborator who conducted medical experiments in a Nazi concentration camp. To support his case, Cady must locate witnesses who were with Kelno at the Jadwiga camp in Poland. The drama covers a 27-year period, delving into the past of both men. Cady had totally negated his Judaism until the death of his father and a trip to Israel. Kelno was knighted for his hard years of medical work among Bedouins. Throughout the trial, horrors of the Holocaust are revisited as the two men battle it out until the final verdict.

5 hrs. 13 min.  AGE: 13 to Adult

F

THE QUARREL  (1992)

Qua

Fictional story of a deeply emotional encounter between two old friends/enemies from Bialystok who meet by chance 15 years after being separated by the Holocaust—where both lost their families. One man became a Hassidic rabbi and leader of a Yeshiva—the other is a very secular Jewish writer and newspaper columnist. The two revive the quarrel that drove them apart in their youth—arguments about faith and Jewish identity. Based on a short story written by Yiddish novelist Chaim Grade. Note: This is a wonderful trigger to discussions of Jewish identity and faith (specifically after the Holocaust).

1 hr. 25 min.  AGE: 14 to Adult

940.53

THE RAILS TO AUSCHWITZ AND BACK  (1999, 1985)

Rai

David Bergman, a Holocaust survivor, created this video primarily for educational and school usage. The film includes the personal testimony of Bergman, who was taken to Auschwitz at age 12. The bulk of the film provides basic Holocaust background in a question-and-answer format in which the actual questions are printed on the screen and answers are given with accompanying photographs and film footage. Some of the questions answered in the film include: What was the Holocaust? Was there a basic difference between the persecution and murder of Jews and the persecution and murder of Christians? What was a ghetto? Nazism? The Gestapo? An extermination camp? What is meant by anti-Semitism, and what were some of the anti-Semitic decrees imposed upon the Jewish people in Europe? What happened to the victims when they arrived in a death camp, and to the victims the Nazis deemed unfit? Was there a resistance by the victims? This film provides core Holocaust background in a thorough and organized manner with an intent to personalize the Holocaust for young people. Note: The creator of this film was the only member of his extended family in Europe to survive the Shoah. He previously wrote a book called Never Forget and Never Forgive, and this film reflects that tone. The final sequence of the film shows actual footage of Auschwitz and Dachau, focusing on the children, with a background song called “Never Forget”. Teachers must preview to determine suitability for their purposes. Accompanying booklet available.

Color/B&W. 30 min.  AGE: 14 to Adult

940.54

RAOUL WALLENBERG: BETWEEN THE LINES  (1985)

Rao

Documentary about Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat whose fight against the Nazi campaign to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Budapest saved the lives of 100,000 Jews. His heroic efforts and wrongful imprisonment by the Russians after the war is told through interviews with colleagues, Holocaust survivors, newsreels and rare footage.

Color/B&W. 1 hr. 25 min.  AGE: 14 to Adult

940.53

RESCUE IN OCTOBER  (1993)

Res

Short documentary about how Danish citizens rescued 8,000 Jews from the Nazis in October of 1943—the Nazis planned to arrest and deport them on Rosh Hashanah. Includes interviews with Danish rescuers as well as with a few of the Jews who were saved.

15 min.  AGE: 14 to Adult

940.54

RESCUE IN SCANDINAVIA  (1994)

Res

Narrated by Liv Ullmann, this film documents the rescue of Jews in Norway and Denmark by their fellow citizens during the Holocaust. Archival film footage and many interviews flesh out a picture of how many ordinary citizens risked their lives to save the lives of Jews. The film also shows how Sweden assisted Jewish refugees and how Finland helped to keep their Jews safe. Study guide available.

55 min.  AGE: 14 to Adult

940.54

RESCUERS: STORIES OF COURAGE

Res

A three-part drama featuring the true life stories of ordinary people who saved the lives of Jews in World War II. This film trilogy was co-produced by Barbra Streisand and is based on the book Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust by Gay Block and Malka Drucker. Each part is approximately 2 hours in length and contains two separate stories of Righteous Gentiles. The films are of top quality and star many well-known actors and actresses. Note: Study guides available. Teachers may wish to show students the real-life photographs and stories of these Righteous Gentiles from the book.

TWO WOMEN  (1997)

1 hr. 45 min.  AGE: 12 to Adult

Mamusha stars Elizabeth Perkins as Gertruda, a Polish Catholic housekeeper who works for a Jewish family in Warsaw and takes care of Mickey, their 3-year-old son. When the Nazis invade Poland, Gertruda follows Mickey and his mother to Vilna. When Mickey’s mother dies of a stroke, Gertruda promises to protect Mickey and raise him as a Jew. She hides and protects Mickey during the war and takes him to Palestine, living there herself until her death.  (50 min.)

Woman on a Bicycle is the story of a Christian woman, Marie-Rose Gineste, who works for a Bishop at a Diocesan organization in France. When the Nazis take over, she finds herself helping him in the Resistance movement, forging identity documents for Jews and distributing an underground paper. She later helps to hide 19 Jews from the Gestapo, and continues helping the Resistance even after the Bishop is imprisoned by German police. Marie-Rose Gineste is played by actress Sela Ward.  (55 min.)

TWO COUPLES  (1997)

1 hr. 50 min.  AGE: 12 to Adult

Aart and Johtje Vos takes place in 1940 Holland, during the Nazi invasion. A young couple, Aart and Johtje Vos (played by Martin Donovan and Dana Delany) find their love tested on the day of their marriage when Nazis interrupt their wedding to search for three missing Jews. The Voses eventually harbor 35 Jews, artists and political dissidents over the course of the war—sacrificing the privacy of their family. The film focuses on how they managed to sustain and even increase their love amid such difficult circumstances.  (55 min.)

Marie Taquet concerns a husband and wife who are schoolmaster and schoolmistress at a boarding school for Belgian sons of German POWs. The two have a loveless marriage which changes after they harbor two Jewish brothers at their school during the war. They continue to help three more Jewish boys, as well as becoming involved in the Resistance and a dangerous mission. They find that their love and respect for each other is rekindled in the process.  (55 min.)

TWO FAMILIES  (1998)

1 hr. 45 min. Rated PG-13.  AGE: 13 to Adult

Malka Csizmadia is about a young Hungarian woman in 1944 who finds that a Jewish ghetto has been constructed in her backyard. She begins to help Szarany, one of the young Jewish men in the ghetto, by smuggling letters from the Jews to the Resistance. Eventually, she enlists the aid of her sisters and mother to help this young man and his friends dig a tunnel leading out of the ghetto. Malka falls in love with Szarany—only to find out he has fallen in love with her sister. In a selfless act, she helps the two of them to escape.  (55 min.)

We Are Circus stars Daryl Hannah and Tim Matheson as a married couple who run a traveling circus in Nazi Germany. At great risk to themselves and the circus, they choose to hide Jews—the wife and daughters of their electrician. They even use one of them as a performer on an elephant, until a member of the circus informs the authorities.  (50 min.)

940.54

RESISTANCE  (Witness to the Holocaust, Vol. 4)  (1980)

Wit

Part four of a seven-part series on the Holocaust in which interviews with survivors provide the narration for documentary footage and photographs. This segment, narrated by resistance fighters, explores both spiritual and armed resistance: the keeping of faith and Jewish practice, the continuation of educational and cultural activities, and partisan fighting in revolts such as the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Study guide available.

Approx. 20 min.  AGE: 12 to Adult

940.53

RESISTANCE: UNTOLD STORIES OF JEWISH PARTISANS (2002)

Well-made documentary about the Jewish partisans, primarily young people who fled from the Nazis and escaped to the forests of Eastern Europe during World War II. This film highlights 11 men and women, now in their 70s and 80s, who describe their struggle both to survive and to fight the Nazis. Many tell how they witnessed the deaths of loved ones and how they survived brutal winters outdoors. Some also describe attempts to ambush German soldiers and dynamite bridges. Archival film footage and still shots, sometimes of the partisans themselves, accompany their words. The gripping stories of these individuals stand as testament that there was organized Jewish resistance during the Holocaust. One of the resistance fighters, Miles Lerman, survived to become the founder of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. 

Color/B&W. 60 min.  AGE:  13 to Adult

940.53

THE REVOLT OF JOB (1983)

Heartbreaking story of an elderly Jewish couple, Job and Roza, who adopt an 8-year-old gentile boy in Hungary right before the Nazis take over. Job is a prosperous farmer, and he and Roza have lost all of their seven children (primarily to illness). The couple knows what will happen when the Nazis invade. They wish to keep their heritage and memory alive, and to pass on their possessions to someone they love. Most of the film follows their relationship with Jacko, the young and rebellious boy they adopt who learns to love and trust them. Inevitably, the Nazis invade at the end of the film and the three must face what fate has dealt them. Note: Contains two brief scenes with partial nudity.

In Hungarian with subtitles.  1 hr. 36 min.  AGE:  17 to Adult

943.8

ROUTES TO ROOTS: A TIME TO GATHER STONES TOGETHER  (1994)

Rou

We follow a group of Holocaust survivors and genealogists—led by genealogist Miriam Weiner—who return to Poland and the Ukraine in 1992 to search for their roots. The group is on a 10-day visit touring towns of family origin, synagogues and cemeteries. They search for family records in state and local archives and are granted access to previously inaccessible materials. Note: Useful for individuals interested in genealogy as well as those who wish to see what has become of some of the previously Jewish areas of Poland and Russia.

29 min.  AGE: 13 to Adult