New DVDs in the Library!

Recently we have added the following  DVDs to our library:

"The Last Survivor: Four Tragedies. Four Journeys. One Purpose."

The Last Survivor is an award-winning documentary that explores the idea of genocide in the 21st century.  Following the lives of the survivors of four different genocides and mass atrocities -- The Holocaust, Rwanda, Darfur, and Congo -- the film presents the stories of Survivors and their struggle to make sense of tragedy by working to educate, motivate and inspire a civic response to mass atrocity crimes. Offering real world examples of Survivors who have become powerful agents of change, The Last Survivor presents a unique opportunity to learn from the lessons and mistakes of our past in order to have lasting social impact on how we act collectively in the face of similar issues today.
92 min.

"Hitler's Children"

 

Hitler had no children, but what about Goering, Himmler and Frank? "Hitler's Children" introduces us to descendents of these infamous men. Niklas Frank, son of Hans Frank and godson of Hitler, has spent his adult life vehemently speaking out against his father and the Nazi regime. Bettina Goering, grandneice of Hitler's second in command, Hermann Goering, lives in voluntary exile in Santa Fe. These, and many others, discuss how they have coped with the fact that their last names are equated with terror and genocide. 
83 min.

Bonus Short Film:
"Kun 65"

A painting found on the street leads to an inspirational journey from Israel to Budapest while revealing the fascinating personal story of a holocaust survivor.
24 min.

"The Story of Human Rights"

 

Human rights are the basis of everything people value about their way of life. In their absence, lasting happiness is impossible, because there is no personal security, no freedom and no opportunity. Yet it took a world war and the deaths of tens of millions of people to bring the leading nations together to create a truly universal charter of rights -- the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Today's grim reality, however, is one of many nations deeply involved in torture, human trafficking, starvation, injustice, and discrimination and other human rights violations. These countries are in flagrant noncompliance with the Declaration. So who will make sure human rights are respected?
9:30 min.

Bonus features: 30 award-winning public service announcements that illustrate each of the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and an award-winning UNITED human rights music video.

New Film in Library!

A new film from Disney Education Productions, "They Spoke Out: American Voices Against the Holocaust 1938-1945" is now available and in our library! 

In the tradition of WWII-themed graphic novels such as Maus, six remarkable motion comics tell the dramatic stories of the brave people who raised their voices to advocate for Jewish refugees victimized by the Nazis.  The series aims to inspire today's youth to speak out in the face of injustice.

Intended for grades 6-12
Running Time: 76 Minutes

New Books in the Library!

We are happy to announce the inclusion of four new books and a DVD to our library collection!  These items are part of The Azrieli Series of Holocaust Survivor Memoirs.

The new books include:

Gatehouse to Hell by Felix Opatowski, recipient of the 2012 Independent Publisher Book Award



Tenuous Threads/One of the Lucky Ones by Judy Abrams/Eva Felsenburg Marx
 

Little Girl Lost by Betty Rich


If Home is Not Here by Max Bornstein


The DVD is a collection of short films based on each of the books.

The Azrieli Series of Holocaust Survivor Memoirs was "established to preserve and share the written memoirs of those who survived the twentieth-century Nazi genocide of the Jews of Europe and later made their way to Canada."  For more information about The Azrieli Foundation and their series, please visit http://www.azrielifoundation.org/memoirs/

Survivor testimonies

All of our survivor testimonies are now online! We added four sets of new videos to our website: Steve, Henry, Magda, and Eva. They can all be seen here on our website.

Comcast Newsmakers

Click the text to watch our Director of Education, Ilana Cone Kennedy, on Comcast Newsmakers!

With My Own Eyes - DVD

300 classrooms around the state of Washington will use the Holocaust Center's new short documentary this year.

Want a free copy? Email us! (Please include your mailing address.)

Using the film in the classroom - We have two teacher trainings coming up at which we will be offering a session on how to use the film with your students.

• Bellevue on January 20


• Bellingham on February 17

More information can be found on our website at www.wsherc.org/news.

Irena Sendler - WWII Warsaw Women Outfox the Nazis SUNDAY on PBS

IRENA SENDLER

In the Name of Their Mothers

In the bombed debris of WWII Warsaw, young Polish Catholic women fight to save the most vulnerable of Poland's Jews -- the children.


Don't miss the moving story of Irena Sendler and a group of young Polish Catholic social workers who smuggled thousands of Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto and kept them safe until the end of the war. Seven years in the making, this film features the last long interviews Irena Sendler gave before she died in 2008 at the age of 98 in Warsaw.

WINNER
2010 UK Jewish Film Festival Audience Award
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Cinequest International Film Festival 2011

..it is the profoundly committed artistry of filmmaker Mary Skinner that brings the horror, sadness and magnitude of Sendler's story so overwhelmingly to light...appealing not just to the mind, but to the soul..

- Charlie Cockey, Programmer

Seattle Times calls Nuremberg film a "must-see"

NUREMBERG - THE FILM

Show dates extended dut to popular demand.

Seattle Times calls it a must-see!

Varsity Theater, 4329 University Way NE, Seattle. Running Time - 78 minutes. Showing until March 10.

One of the greatest courtroom dramas in history, Nurmeberg shows how the international prosecutors built their case against the top Nazi war criminals using the Nazis' own films and records. presented by the Holocaust Center in conjunction with Schulberg Productions and Metropolis Productions. For more info about the film, visit http://www.nurembergfilm.org/. For show times and location, call the Varsity Theater at 206-781-5755.

Movie review: Into the Arms of Strangers

Although made in 2000, I just recently watched the film Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport. The Kindertransport refers to the rescue operation of 10,000 Jewish children in 1938-1939. These children that were facing Hitler's persecution were allowed to leave German-occupied territories and travel by train to Great Britain. There, they were placed in foster homes or hostels.

Into the Arms of Strangers interviews a few of these child survivors. They recount their memories of being separated from their parents and welcomed into a foreign country. Poignant moments are when the survivors recall the joy of knowing that non-Jewish peers would play with them, feeling love from their foster parents, or being reunited with their families. Of course, many of the parents who could not leave Germany perished in concentration camps and the film shows the sadness of the children who, only after years of separation, realized that they would never see their parents again.

Into the Arms of Strangers won a 2000 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, and it is easy to understand why. The archival footage alone makes the film worth seeing. A free study guide to the film can be found at http://www.intothearmsofstrangers.com/studyguide. This DVD is available in the Holocaust Center's library.

-Lauren Bianchi, Office Manager & Speakers Bureau Coordinator