A Guide for Educators to the Film REFUGE: Stories of the Selfhelp Home Prepared by Dr. Elliot Lefkovitz This publication was generously funded by the Selfhelp Foundation. © 2013 Bensinger Global Media. All rights reserved. 1 Table of Contents Acknowledgements p. i Introduction to the study guide pp. ii-v Horst Abraham’s story Introduction-Kristallnacht pp. 1-8 Sought Learning Objectives and Key Questions pp. 8-9 Learning Activities pp. 9-10 Enrichment Activities Focusing on Kristallnacht pp. 11-18 Enrichment Activities Focusing on the Response of the Outside World pp. 18-24 and the Shanghai Ghetto Horst Abraham’s Timeline pp. 24-32 Maps-German and Austrian Refugees in Shanghai p. 32 Marietta Ryba’s Story Introduction-The Kindertransport pp. 33-39 Sought Learning Objectives and Key Questions p. 39 Learning Activities pp. 39-40 Enrichment Activities Focusing on Sir Nicholas Winton, Other Holocaust pp. 41-46 Rescuers and Rescue Efforts During the Holocaust Marietta Ryba’s Timeline pp. 46-49 Maps-Kindertransport travel routes p. 49 2 Hannah Messinger’s Story Introduction-Theresienstadt pp. 50-58 Sought Learning Objectives and Key Questions pp. 58-59 Learning Activities pp. 59-62 Enrichment Activities Focusing on The Holocaust in Czechoslovakia pp. 62-64 Hannah Messinger’s Timeline pp. 65-68 Maps-The Holocaust in Bohemia and Moravia p. 68 Edith Stern’s Story Introduction-Auschwitz pp. 69-77 Sought Learning Objectives and Key Questions p. 77 Learning Activities pp. 78-80 Enrichment Activities Focusing on Theresienstadt pp. 80-83 Enrichment Activities Focusing on Auschwitz pp. 83-86 Edith Stern’s Timeline pp. 87-90 Maps-Auschwitz p. 90 Paula Tritsch’s Story Introduction-Jewish Children During the Holocaust pp. 91-98 Sought Learning Objectives and Key Questions p. 98 Learning Activities pp. 99-100 3 Enrichment Activities Focusing on Jews in the Kovno Ghetto and in Nazi Occupied France pp.100-106 Paula Tritsch’s Timeline pp. 106-110 Maps-Escape from German-occupied Europe; France p. 110 Hal Strauss’ Story Introduction- American Liberators of Nazi Concentration Camps pp. 111-116 Sought Learning Objectives and Key Questions p. 117 Learning Activities pp. 117-120 Enrichment Activities Focusing on Nazi Concentration Camps and pp. 121-123 their Liberators Enrichment Activities Focusing on the Postwar Employment of Nazi p. 124 Scientists Hal Strauss’ Timeline pp. 124-129 Maps-Dora-Nordhausen p. 129 Selfhelp Home History Introduction pp. 130-134 Sought Learning Objectives and Key Questions pp. 134-135 Learning Activities pp. 135-139 Glossary pp. 140-147 Resources p. 148 Message from the Film’s Director-Ethan Bensinger pp. 149-151 Information on the Study Guide’s Author - Dr. Elliot Lefkovitz p. 152 4 Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank the Holocaust survivors residing at the Selfhelp Home who graciously shared their stories. Their resilience, strength of character and accomplishments in this country are truly inspirational. The founders of Selfhelp shown in the film, fall under the survivor rubric, and they deserve a great deal of admiration for their vision and determination in establishing the Selfhelp organization and the home. Their decades-long commitment to and engagement with Selfhelp is remarkable. The Selfhelp residents deserve thanks, as well, for permitting the use of their photographs and personal documents in this Study Guide. A special word of thanks goes to the Board of Directors of the Selfhelp Home for underwriting the preparation of this Study Guide. Hedy Ciocci, Executive Director of the Selfhelp Home, offered valuable insights and observations about this outstanding institution, especially concerning current developments. Thanks also to Lisa Pevtzow, and Elizabeth Bensinger who helped edit the Study Guide. I especially want to express my appreciation to Ethan Bensinger, who created and directed the documentary “Refuge: Stories of the Selfhelp Home,” which so movingly tells the important story of this last generation of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Central Europe. The commitment and dedication he displayed regarding the film, promoting its use, and the study guide are truly commendable. Dr. Elliot Lefkovitz i 5 Introduction to the Study Guide “Refuge: Stories of the Selfhelp Home” is a documentary film that teaches some key aspects of the history and the lessons of the Holocaust through the stories of six of its last survivors. The stories of these then young men and women, who were saved through luck, resiliency and forethought, illustrate the human tragedy behind the statistics of the Holocaust--the annihilation of approximately six million Jews and millions of others by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933-1945. The sheer variety of their accounts demonstrate that it is really only possible to understand the scope of the Holocaust “story by story” and that there is no “typical” survivor. The warmth, courage and deep humanity of the survivors in the film also provide the student with an insight into individuals with whom they can emotionally connect and empathize. This facilitates openness to learning more about the world in which the survivors lived and about the losses they endured. The film also explores how, after losing many in their families, their homes, their possessions, their innocence and in reality their entire world, a number of survivors created new lives in a new country. Although the traumas they endured remain permanently embedded in their memory, the survivors nevertheless were able to build productive post- Holocaust lives in the United States. Their stories reflect the resilience and fortitude with which human beings are endowed and which can be called upon to overcome severe challenges and obstacles in life. The survivors’ postwar lives in the United States also are a vivid testament to the opportunities this country can provide. The survivors express profound gratitude for the liberty and freedom they found in America. The film seeks as well to tell the story of the creation and growth of Selfhelp. This not-for- profit organization started as a mutual aid society in Chicago in the late 1930s for German Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, helping them to learn English, and to find housing and employment. Beginning in the early 1950s, the organization opened the Selfhelp Home, a residential community that has provided a caring and nurturing environment where Central European survivors and refugees could spend their last years. Through the decades, the Selfhelp Home has been a home to more than 1,000 Jewish victims of Nazi persecution from Central Europe. Selfhelp owes a great deal to the many devoted local volunteers who gave of themselves, enriching both the lives of those they helped as well as their own lives. Further on in this Introduction, there are several suggestions for activities before students view the film. These activities will help the student understand the film’s context, as well as help them develop empathy for the men and women who are telling their stories. The main portion of the study guide focuses on each of the six survivors. Each survivor account begins with a brief historical overview of a key aspect of the Holocaust (e.g., Kristallnacht, Auschwitz, American liberators of concentration camps) found in the study guide. The 6ii survivor stories come next. The stories of survival begin with Horst Abraham. Mr. Abraham endured six extremely trying and at times terrifying years in Nazi Germany before fleeing to Shanghai, China, the entry in which was, controlled by Imperial Japan. A brief historical narrative about Kristallnacht, which he vividly speaks about in the film, begins his story. Marietta Ryba’s account is next. At age 13, Mrs. Ryba escaped from Czechoslovakia to England, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, on the Kindertransport, the British rescue of nearly 10,000 mainly Jewish children. She did not realize as she said goodbye to her parents at a Prague railroad station that she would never see them again. Information on the Kindertransport introduces Mrs. Ryba’s story. The guide goes on to recount the story of Hannah Messinger. Mrs. Messinger and her husband were transported to the Czech ghetto of Theresienstadt before being deported to Auschwitz. Mrs. Messinger was liberated by Soviet troops from a forced labor camp. Her husband was killed on a death march just prior to the war’s end. A historical overview of Theresienstadt begins her account. The next story is that of Edith Stern, Mrs. Ryba’s sister. Mrs. Stern, a Czech Jew like Mrs. Messinger, was deported to Theresienstadt with her family and then to Auschwitz. Mrs. Stern, like Mrs. Messinger, survived Auschwitz, but her parents were both killed. She was liberated in eastern Germany by Soviet troops. Her story is preceded by historical information concerning Auschwitz. Paula Tritsch’s story follows. Mrs. Tritsch, her husband and their small son survived the Holocaust in France, on the run from the Nazis and their Vichy French collaborators for three years. They lived in constant fear of being caught, the penalty of which would have been detention and transportation to a concentration camp. As was the case with other Jews who survived through escape and hiding, she, her husband and young son, had a number of close calls. Observations on the fate of Jewish children during the Holocaust precede Mrs. Tritsch’s story. The final survivor story addressed in the study guide is that of Hal Strauss. Mr. Strauss and his family escaped from Nazi Germany in 1937 and settled in Monroe Louisiana. He returned to Germany with the American Army as one of the famed “Ritchie Boys” who interrogated captured German soldiers and German civilians, providing valuable information to the armed forces of his adopted country. Mr. Strauss was at the Dora-Nordhausen concentration camp just after its liberation. His story is preceded by information on GI liberators.