March 2011

The Federation has a collection of films on DVD and VHS available for loan at no cost. Call the office if you are interested at 515-1182 or e-mail altfed@atlanticbb.net.

A Journey to Darfur, DVD, 30 minutes. In April 2006 veteran journalist Nick Clooney was asked by his son, George, to accompany him to the troubled region of Darfur. This documentary is an account of their journey, the stories of unimaginable violence that have befallen the Darfurians and the courage of the aid workers who struggle to provide relief to 200,000 refugees.

American Lives - Jewish Stories, VHS, 46 minutes. Personal stories are used to explore the challenges and joys of being Jewish in America. There are 3 vignettes with a discussion guide.

Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust in Arab Lands , DVD, 60 minutes. Robert Satloff, head of a respected Washington policy center, set off in the wake of 9/11 on what would become an eight-year journey to find an Arab hero whose story would change the way Arabs view Jews, themselves and their own history. Along the way, Satloff found not only the Arab heroes whom he sought, but a vast, lost history of what happened to the half-million Jews of the Arab lands of North Africa under Nazi, Vichy and Fascist rule. Robert MacNeil narrates.

Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century, The Resurgence, DVD, 60 minutes. There has been an increase in anti-Semitic incidents since the year 2000, particularly in Western Europe. In addition, there is an alarming increase of anti-Semitic rhetoric in many Arab and Islamic communities, especially in the mainstream media. What is fueling it and what threats does it pose?

A Sacred Duty, DVD, 59 minutes. This documentary addresses the environmental crisis now facing humanity. With global warming threatening catastrophic impacts, it is imperative that we respond quickly to help shift our imperiled planet to a sustainable path. The message of the film is founded upon the ancient teachings of the Torah and other Jewish scriptures.

Black Fox: The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler, DVD, 87 minutes. This is a revealing film story of Adolf Hitler's ambition, his passion, his demonic will, his million-fold murders. The picture is also a study in-depth of those tragic rivers of history which made Hitler's rise possible and which came to confluence in an apocalypse of 50 million dead and a large part of the world in anguish and ruin. Narrated by Marlene Dietrich, this video won the 1962 Academy Award for best Documentary Feature.

Blessed is the Match, DVD – 2 versions, 85 minutes and 45 minutes. The life and death of Hannah Senesh, poet, early Zionist and freedom fighter.

Bonhoeffer, DVD, 90 minutes. This documentary sheds light on the little-known efforts of the German resistance. It brings to a wide audience the heroic rebellion of Bonhoeffer, a highly regarded Lutheran minister who actively opposed Hitler and the Nazis. He could have kept his peace and saved his life on several occasions but instead paid the ultimate price for his beliefs. The Nazis hanged him on April 9, 1945, less than a month before the end of the war.

Constantine’s Sword, DVD, 95 minutes. Former priest, James Carroll confronts what he considers “persecution and violence in the name of God – today and in the church’s past,” beginning with the Emperor Constantine’s vision of the cross as a sword and a symbol of power and continuing to the rise of genocidal anti-Semitism to modern day conflicts sparked by religious extremism.

Courage to Care: Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust. VHS, 28 minutes. These are interviews with ordinary people who refused to succumb to Nazi Tyranny. They fed strangers, kept secrets and provided hiding places.

Escape from Auschwitz, DVD, 60 minutes. This 2008 PBS feature tells the incredible story of two young Slovak Jews who managed to escape by hiding in a woodpile for three days and then fleeing across enemy territory.

Ever Again, DVD, 74 minutes. This film examines the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe and its connection to international terrorism and Islamic extremism. It points out the shift from the traditional anti-Semitism of the right to that of the extreme left.

Genocide, DVD, 83 minutes. This is a powerful and sad look at the Holocaust, "The Final Solution" by the Nazi evil to exterminate the Jewish race. With a fantastic narration by Orson Welles and Elizabeth Taylor, and a dramatic score by Elmer Bernstein, "Genocide" is both a documentary about the time when a lack of humanity almost eliminated an entire race from European soil, and a film that cries for people to remember the six million lives taken by the powers of evil.

Great Jewish Achievers, VHS, 55 minutes.The goal of the film is to help instill pride in Jewish children through celebrating the contributions of Jewish people to all phases of life. Target audience is children ages 11 and older. A discussion guide is included.

Hitler’s Pawn, VHS, 60 minutes, English.Tells the story of Margaret Lambert, a Jewish athlete whose dreams of competing in the 1936 Olympics were crushed by Hitler’s regime, even as it used her to avoid an American boycott of the games.

I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal, DVD, 105 minutes. Wiesenthal, a Holocaust survivor who lost 89 family members, helped track down 1,100 Nazi war criminals and dedicated six decades to fighting anti-Semitism and prejudice against all people.

Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust, VHS, 90 minutes. Hollywood was reluctant to peer into the darkness of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism. It is only in recent years that the realism of the concentration camp has been depicted.

In Search of Peace – Part 1 1948-1967, DVD, 112 minutes. The documentary chronicles the first two decades of Israel’s existence offering new insights into the origins of the Middle East conflict.

Israel, Appointment with Destiny, DVD, 47 minutes.This is a historical portrayal of the Jews and Zionism and Israel produced by Christians, reflecting on their sometimes unfair and discriminatory treatment of Jews.

Jerusalem: Center of the World, DVD, 120 minutes. This documentary about the 4,000 year history of Jerusalem was just shown on PBS. It explores the convergence of the world’s three major monotheistic religions in this holy city.

Making Trouble (A project of the Jewish Women’s Archive), DVD, 85 minutes. A journey with three generations of funny Jewish women. Defying cultural expectations and changing the rules. Molly Picon, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, Wendy Wasserstein and Gilda Radner and Joan Rivers successfully went from vaudeville and the Yiddish theater to Broadway, from Ziegfeld’s Follies to Saturday Night Live.

No. 4 Street of Our Lady, DVD, 95 minutes. This is a remarkable, yet little known story of a Polish-Catholic woman who rescued 15 of her Jewish neighbors during the Holocaust. The film draws on excerpts from a diary kept by one of the survivors, Moshe Maltz, whose granddaughter, Judy, a Penn State Professor, is one of the filmmakers.

Out of Faith, DVD, 82 minutes. This is the story of how marriage outside of the faith places stress on three generations of a Chicago area Jewish family. It gradually becomes a portrait of the Welbel family’s iron willed matriarch Leah, whose survival of Auschwitz and Birkenau makes her strong, but defines her for the rest of her life.

Paperclips, DVD, 84 minutes.The students in a Tennessee middle school studied the Holocaust as a way of learning about intolerance and diversity. In 2001, their paperclip project culminated in a unique memorial.

Rape of Europa, DVD, 117 minutes. This astonishing and timely documentary tells the epic story of the systematic theft, deliberate destruction and miraculous survival of Europe’s art treasures during the Third Reich.

Refusenik, DVD, 117 minutes. The epic story of freeing the Soviet Jews is told in this documentary. What began as a fledgling gathering of students and housewives forty years ago grew into a human rights movement that eventually freed one and a half Soviet Jews and cracked the seemingly impenetrable wall of Soviet Communism.

Shanghai Ghetto, DVD, 95 minutes. Thousands of European Jews were shut out of country after country while trying to escape Nazi persecution in the late 1930’s. A beacon of hope materialized in an unlikely place, Japanese-controlled Shanghai, where refugees sought a new home.

Tak for Alt, Survival of the Human Spirit, VHS or DVD, 60 minutes. This award-winning documentary is the life story of Judy Meisel, Holocaust survivor and civil rights activist.

The Devil Came on Horseback, DVD, 85 minutes. An uncompromising look at the crisis in Darfur using the testimony of a former U.S. Marine, Brian Steidle. The film shows the genocide and Steidle’s advocacy since his return to the USA.

The Forgotten Refugees, DVD, 49 minutes. The history and destruction of Jewish communities in the Middle East and Northern Africa – some of which existed for 2500 years. These “forgotten refugees” number about 800,000 and were forced to leave Arab countries due to the creation of the State of Israel.

The Jewish Americans, DVD, 6hours, PBS series. It traces 350 years of Jewish American history from the arrival of the first Jews in 1654 up to the present day.

The Jewish People: A Story of Survival, DVD, 90 minutes. From slavery to the loss of their homeland; from exile to anti-Semitism; form pograms to near annihilation in the Holocaust, how did they endure while so many other communities have vanished?

The Journalist and the Jihadi – The Murder of Daniel Pearl, DVD, 80 minutes, narrated by Christiane Amanpour.The film tracks the parallel lives of Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl and Jihadi, Omar Shrekh. Both are highly educated individuals from priviledged backgrounds, but there the similarities end.

The Long Way Home, DVD, 115 minutes. This Academy Award winner examines the post World War II plight of tens of thousands of Jewish refugees and then attempts to get to the Jewish homeland.

Watermarks, DVD, 77 minutes, English, Hebrew and German/English subtitles. A heartwarming film that narrates the story of the champion women swimmers of the legendary Vienna sports club. Hakoah – it is a tale of survival and friendship.