| | Published April 24th, 2013
| Czech Children Saved from Nazis Documentary screening at Orinda Library Theater to shed light on 1939 rescue
| | By Laurie Snyder |  | | Mother taking out her child from the train at the Wilson station in Prague. Photo provided
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"The important thing is that one should not become indifferent to the suffering of others. That one should not stand by and just raise one's hands and say, 'There is nothing I can do. I'm just one little person.' Because I think that what every one of us does matters."
Commentary by Holocaust survivor, Margit Meissner, in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum video, Why We Remember the Holocaust
The Orinda/Tabor Sister City Foundation will present a special screening April 28 of a film about a time when there was indisputable evil in the world - before and during World War II. But, unlike so many films and books which recount the horrors of this era, "Nicky's Family" is an inspiring story about one ordinary man's compassion and bravery in response to the genuine wrongs being committed around him.
Produced by Menemsha Films (www.menemshafilms.com), this acclaimed documentary details the 1939 rescue of more than 600 Czech and Slovak children by Nicholas Winton, a young British citizen, following Germany's annexation of the Sudetenland.Winton's heroism remained unknown until the discovery in the attic by his wife, nearly 50 years later, of a suitcase containing photos and transport plans for the children. Although many of the children's parents perished at Auschwitz, the little ones Winton saved grew up to work for the World Monetary Fund, government agencies, universities, and the media. One, Ben Abeles, invented propulsion systems for the Voyager and Cassini rockets.
The film screening could not come at a better time. April was designated as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month by the California Legislature in 2010. It was also recently the time of Yom Hashoah with Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance days scheduled across the globe.
Students and families are particularly encouraged to attend the screening of "Nicky's Family," which begins at 5 p.m. The cost is $5 per person. Proceeds will benefit Orinda's Sister City program, which was initiated to help the residents of Tabor in the Czech Republic to strengthen their emerging democracy. For information about the screening or the Orinda/Tabor Sister City Foundation, please contact Bobbie Landers: (925) 254-8260.
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Yom HaShoah - Days of Remembrance Resources
Learn more about the Holocaust and what you can to do help end genocide and other
mass atrocities worldwide:
Digital/Web Resources:
- Enough Project: www.enoughproject.org/
- The Righteous Among the Nations (YadVashem database of rescuers):
http://db.yadvashem.org/righteous/search.html?language=en
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Online Exhibitions:
www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/
- USC IWitness (USC Shoah Foundation video testimonies of Holocaust survivors and other
materials for teachers of students ages 13 to 18): http://iwitness.usc.edu/SFI/About.aspx
Books: - "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy," Eric Metaxas
- "Man's Search for Meaning," Viktor E. Frankl
- "Night," Elie Wiesel
- "The Last Jew of Treblinka: A Survivor's Memory 1942-1943," Chil Raichman
- "The Nazi Persecution of the Gypsies," Guenter Lewy
- "The Pink Triangle: The Nazi War Against Homosexuals," Richard Plant
- "The Reawakening," Primo Levi
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA