The Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida is partnering with the Global Peace Film Festival to bring two award-winning Holocaust documentaries to Central Florida this Sunday, Sept. 25.
The Holocaust Center will screen Forgotten Transports To Estonia at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 25, and Forgotten Transports to Poland at 2 p.m. that day. They will be shown at the Holocaust Center, 851 N. Maitland Ave. The public is welcome to attend free of charge.
Written and directed by Lukáš Přibyl, both films feature Holocaust survivors who share details about their experiences. They explain how vital it was to rely on their wit, friendships and sheer determination in order to escape death under the Nazi regime.
“We are honored to partner with the Global Peace Film Festival this year, and feel that these films emphasize our common messages of diversity and peace,” says Pam Kancher, executive director of the Holocaust Center. “While it is sometimes heart-wrenching to listen to survivor testimonies, these films remind us how important respect is in order to maintain a unified community.”
Forgotten Transports to Estonia focuses on a tightly-knit group of girls who acted almost like a close-knit family in order to survive. Their camaraderie, youthful optimism, humor and naivety enabled them to ignore their surroundings and overcome unspeakable hardships on their dramatic journey through concentration camps until liberation.
Forgotten Transports to Poland deals with the difficult choices for people escaping Nazi ghettos, labor and death camps in the Lublin region of Poland. These painful decisions were made in order to adapt and survive in utter extremity, on the run, in hiding – choices with a great deal of ingenuity, much humor and tremendous optimism.
Mitch Bloomer, resource teacher at the Holocaust Center, will facilitate a discussion about life in the concentration camps including a question-and-answer session between screenings. The center’s museum will also be open to visitors. More information is available at www.holocaustedu.org or by calling the Holocaust Center at 407-628-0555.
