Why would a young person choose resistance rather than submission during Hitler's reign of terror while her world was collapsing around her? In this gripping documentary, three Jewish women answer this question by recalling their lives as teenagers in occupied Holland, Hungary and Poland, when they refused to remain passive as the Nazis rounded up local Jewish populations. Defying her family's wishes, each girl found an unexpected way of fighting back — Barbara Rodbell, as a ballet dancer shuttling Jews to safe houses and distributing resistance newspapers; Faye Schulman, as a photographer and partisan waging guerrilla war against the Germans; and Shulamit Lack, as a leader in an underground Zionist group smuggling Jews across the border. Enriched by home movies, archival footage, and previously unpublished photographs, the women's varied and vibrant stories provide a unique look at Jewish resistance to Nazism, a subject all too often consigned to history's footnotes.
"Women's roles during the Third Reich have received little attention in monographs and films; even less work has been done on the contributions women made to resistance under Nazism. [This] film will begin to fill in information on this much neglected subject." Mary Johnson, Facing History & Ourselves
"A powerful example for young people, especially young women, of how to take a stand and make a difference in their lives and those of others." Joyce Apsel, Anne Frank Center USA
"What really impressed me, in addition to the women's narratives and warm, lively manner, was the professionalism of the editing. This is such important work." Claudia Koonz, Department of History, Duke University
"Given the lack of focus in existing materials on what women were doing to resist, not just what women suffered under Nazi power, this video should receive wide reception and use in schools and synagogues and churches." John C. Raines, Department of Religion, Temple University
History;
Holocaust Studies;
Human Rights;
Jewish Studies;
Religion;
War;
Young Women
Keywords
Barbara Rodbell,Faye Schulman,Shulamit Lack,Holocaust Studies,War,Feminism,Zionism,Nazi,Nazis,Nazi Germany,Holocaust,World War II,World War 2,Judaism,Jewish,Zionist,Anti-Semitism,Anti Semitism,Holland,Hungary,Poland; "Daring to Resist"; Women Make Movies
Distributor: Women Make Movies
Length: 57 minutes
Date: 1999
Genre: Expository
Language: English / English subtitles
Grade: College, Adults
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Not available
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