>>> A NEW PROJECT IN AMHERST AIMS TO TELL A LESSER KNOWN SIDE
OF THE HOLOCAUST: HOW MEMBERS OF A SMALL TOWN IN CONNECTICUT,
LARGELY CHRISTIANS, HELPED JEWISH HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS FIND
COMMUNITY AFTER THE WAR. AND THAT PROJECT WILL HELP
INFORM A NEW HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM IN AMHERST AND
POSSIBLY STATEWIDE.
I SPOKE WITH SIMON LEUTZ, A TEACHER AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPER
AT AMHERST PELHAM REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL FOR DETAILS.
>> SO I WAS APPROACHED BY A WOMAN, 93 OR 94 YEARS OLD, WHO'S
FROM DANIELSON, CONNECTICUT, THE COMMUNITY WHERE THE SYNAGOGUE OR
THE TEMPLE WAS BUILT, TEMPLE BETH ISRAEL.
APPROACHED BY HER BACK IN SEPTEMBER BECAUSE SHE HAD BEEN
CONNECTED WITH A STUDENT IN MY HOLOCAUST CLASS, I'M A LONG-TIME
TEACHER OF THE HOLOCAUST COURSE AT AMHERST HIGH SCHOOL.
AND SO ELSIE GOT MY NAME THROUGH A FORMER STUDENT, AND WHEN ELSIE
WAS LOOKING TO HAVE A CURRICULUM SORT OF GUIDE BUILT AROUND THE
FILM, SHE FIRST APPROACHED ME AND FIRST ASKED ME IF I WOULD BE
INTERESTED IN HAVING THE FILM SHOWN, LIKE HOSTING A VIEWING OF
THE FILM AT AMHERST HIGH SCHOOL.
AND I SAID ABSOLUTELY.
AND THEN ALSO IF I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN HELPING OUT WITH
THE PROJECT, THE CURRICULUM GUIDE.
SO THAT'S HOW I WAS PULLED IN BY ELSIE WHO'S SORT OF THE DRIVING
FORCE BEHIND THIS WHOLE PROJECT.
>> SHE'S BEEN WORKING FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, SECURED AN
EARLIER GRANT FOR THE FIRST FILM TO BE CREATED.
HAVE YOU SPOKEN WITH HER ABOUT WHY SHE'S SO PASSIONATELY
PURSUING BRINGING THIS STORY OF DANIELSON, CONNECTICUT, TO OUR
REGION?
>> NOT NECESSARILY EXPLICITLY, BUT I THINK IT'S A POWERFUL,
POWERFUL STORY ABOUT COMMUNITY AND ABOUT A COMMUNITY THAT
OPENED ITS ARMS TO REFUGEES, AND THE SORT OF UNLIKELY COMMUNITY
TO SOME DEGREE TO HAVE DONE THAT AND REALLY A STORY THAT SHE HAS
THIS HERSELF A POWER CONNECTION TO, GIVEN THAT SHE WAS FROM THIS
TOWN AND PART OF THE SMALL JEWISH COMMUNITY THAT HAD BEEN
IN THIS TOWN EVEN PRIOR TO THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
AND SO SORT OF I THINK HER PRIDE AND ATTACHMENT TO THE COMMUNITY
AND TO THE STORY OF THE COMMUNITY, BUT ALSO THE FACT
THAT THIS IS A STORY THAT RESONATES SO POWERFULLY IN OUR
OWN TIME WHEN IT COMES TO THINKING ABOUT HOW WE IN OUR OWN
TIME OPEN OUR ARMS TO PEOPLE WHO ARE IN NEED OF HELP AND HELP
THEM REBUILD THEIR LIVES AND MAKE THEM FEEL APART AND
CONNECTED TO A NEW PLACE.
I THINK THAT'S REALLY THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND ELSIE AND
ALL THE OTHERS WHO ARE PART OF THE FILM AND HAVE BEEN PART OF
THE PROJECT ALONG THE WAY THAT THIS IS REALLY A STORY THAT CAN
HAVE SOME REAL MEANING AND LESSONS FOR STUDENTS TODAY.
>> AS I UNDERSTAND IT FROM READING REPORTING IN THE DAILY
HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE, SHE WAS AMONG THE FIRST JEWISH FAMILIES TO
LIVE IN DANIELSON, HER FAMILY OWNED A BUSINESS THERE.
SO SHE HAS A VERY STRONG STORY TO TELL ABOUT WHAT IT WAS LIKE
TO BE AMONG THE FIRST FAMILIES IN THAT AREA, AND AS AGAIN, THE
HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE HAS REPORTED, THE COMMUNITY IN CONNECTICUT
REALLY WORKED TO EMBRACE MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH FAITH AS THEY
STARTED TO MAKE THEIR COMMUNITY THERE, WHICH WASN'T NECESSARILY
THE STORY ELSEWHERE IN THE COUNTRY.
>> YEAH, AND IT CERTAINLY WASN'T NECESSARILY THE STORY,
ESPECIALLY BEFORE THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
ESPECIALLY IN THE 1930s, THE STORY OF JEWISH REFUGEES IN THE
UNITED STATES IS REALLY QUITE A SAD ONE.
JUST AS, YOU KNOW -- ESPECIALLY AS NAZI PERSECUTION OF JEWS
ACROSS GERMANY, BUT LATER, ACROSS OCCUPIED PARTS OF EUROPE
INCREASED INTO THE LATE 1930s, UNFORTUNATELY, THE UNITED STATES
WAS AMONG ONE OF THE MANY COUNTRIES THAT MADE ENTRY INTO
THE UNITED STATES, A SAFE HAVEN FOR JEWS, MADE IT HARDER AND
HARDER TO COME BY. AND SO TO SOME DEGREE, THE STORY
OF WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE WAR IS EVEN MORE REMARKABLE, GIVEN WHAT
WAS HAPPENING JUST IN, YOU KNOW, A DECADE BEFORE, PRIOR TO THE
U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN THE WAR AND THE END OF THE WAR, THAT IT WAS
SO HARD FOR JEWISH REFUGEES TO FIND PLACES OF SAFE HAVEN AND
THIS SMALL COMMUNITY IN NORTHEASTERN CONNECTICUT WAS
ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT SANCTUARY AFTER THE WAR, I THINK WHAT
TOUCHES ME ABOUT IT IS IT'S SORT OF A -- IT'S A SMALL STORY
THAT'S PART OF A MUCH LARGER, BIGGER WORLD HISTORICAL KIND OF
PATTERN, THIS SORT OF SMALL VERY UPLIFTING STORY THAT FITS INTO
THIS LARGER NARRATIVE OF THE HOLOCAUST AND ESPECIALLY THE
POSTWAR STORY OF JEWISH REFUGEES.
>> SO FOR YOU IS BUILDING THE CURRICULUM THE STARTING POINT
FOR THIS?
OR HOW ARE YOU APPROACHING WORKING THIS BEAUTIFUL STORY
INTO A CURRICULUM?
>> YEAH, SO I TEACH A COURSE ON THE HOLOCAUST.
I COULD IMAGINE THAT THIS FILM MIGHT FIT INTO OTHER COURSES AS
WELL, A COURSE ON U.S. HISTORY AND THE AFTERMATH OF THE SECOND
WORLD WAR.
I SPEAK A COURSE SPECIFICALLY ON THE HOLOCAUST.
I SEE THIS FILM FITTING INTO THE AFTERMATH OF THE HOLOCAUST, AS
WE TALK ABOUT ISSUES LIKE THE WAR CRIMES TRIALS, BUT
ESPECIALLY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HOLOCAUST VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS
PUTTING THEIR LIVES BACK TOGETHER AND THE STRUGGLES THAT
THEY FACED.
IT WASN'T ALWAYS EASY.
THIS IS AN UPLIFTING MOMENT IN THAT STORY, BUT IT CERTAINLY
WASN'T ALWAYS EASY FOR HOLOCAUST VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS TO REBUILD
THEIR LIVES.
I REALLY WANT TO USE THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW STUDENTS THE
SORT OF -- AN UPLIFTING MOMENT IN THAT CHAPTER OF THE
HOLOCAUST, HOW IN THIS TIME, AND IN THIS SPECIFIC PLACE, THIS
SMALL COMMUNITY OF AMERICAN JEWS, OF JEWISH REFUGEES, AND OF
THIS -- THE NON-JEWISH COMMUNITY OF THE DANIELSON REGION, WERE
ABLE TO COME TOGETHER AND REALLY CREATE AND REBIRTH THIS NEW
COMMUNITY AND CREATE SOMETHING NEW AND A NEW PHYSICAL STRUCTURE
TO HOUSE THAT COMMUNITY.
I WANT TO USE IT AS A MOMENT.
THERE'S A LOT OF -- IN MY COURSE, THERE'S A LOT OF REALLY
HEAVY, VERY DIFFICULT EMOTIONAL CONTENT WHEN WE LOOK AT
ESPECIALLY THE FINAL SOLUTION AND THE DEATH CAMPS AND MURDER
OF EUROPEAN JEWS.
THIS FINAL COMPONENT OF THE COURSE IS SORT OF A MOMENT TO
EXHALE AND TO FIND SOME UPLIFTING MOMENTS IN THIS STORY.
I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THOSE.
>> IN TERMS OF MAKING THIS A STATEWIDE CURRICULUM, WHAT'S THE
PROCESS THERE?
HOW'S THAT GOING TO WORK?
>> THE OBJECT OF THE GRANT IS TO BUILD THIS CURRICULUM GUIDE TO
USE ALONG WITH THE FILM, AND THEN TO HAVE AS MANY SCHOOLS AS
WE CAN, SORT OF RECRUIT SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS ACROSS THE STATE TO
COMMIT TO SHOWING THE FILM AND USING THE CURRICULUM GUIDE IN
THEIR CLASSROOM.
SO WE'RE WORKING ON, YOU KNOW -- I THINK WE HAVE -- I DON'T KNOW,
TENS OF SCHOOLS ALREADY THAT HAVE EXPRESSED INTEREST AND SORT
OF PLEDGED TO SHOW THE FILM IN THEIR CLASSROOM AND THE OBJECT
OF THE GRANT IS TO EXPAND THAT FURTHER AND FURTHER AND FURTHER
AND DISSEMINATE THE FILM AND THE CURRICULUM GUIDE AS WIDELY AS WE
CAN.
>> I THINK YOU POINTED OUT IN THE GAZETTE, TOO, AN OPPORTUNITY
FOR US TO TAKE LESSONS FROM THE PAST AND APPLY THEM TO THIS
MOMENT, WHERE AMERICANS ARE REALLY BEING FORCED, AND NOT IN
A NEGATIVE SENSE, BUT ASKED TO CONFRONT THE INEQUALITY, THE
SYSTEMIC RACISM THAT HAS BEEN A PART OF THIS COUNTRY'S HISTORY
AND HOW DO WE CONFRONT THAT TODAY IN A WAY THAT'S HONEST, IN
A WAY THAT CREATES CHANGE?
SO ARE YOU LOOKING AT THE PAST AS INFORMATION FOR THE PRESENT
IN THIS PARTICULAR SITUATION AS WELL?
>> ABSOLUTELY.
THERE'S A CONCEPT IN HOLOCAUST EDUCATION CALLED FACING HISTORY
THAT'S IN BROOKLINE.
THEY CALL IT YOUR UNIVERSE OF OBLIGATION OR YOUR UNIVERSE OF
RESPONSIBILITY THAT I THINK IS REALLY A POWERFUL CONCEPT.
THE IDEA THERE IS WE CAN LOOK AT THE STORY OF THE HOLOCAUST, BUT
OBVIOUSLY, IT'S MEANT TO HAVE RESONANCE IN OUR WORLD AND OUR
LIVES TODAY.
AND CONFRONTING INJUSTICE AND LOOKING TO EMBRACE THOSE
SUFFERED INJUSTICES THAT, YOU KNOW, DURING THE HOLOCAUST, JEWS
WERE DEFINED OUT OF, ESPECIALLY ACROSS EUROPE, BUT ESPECIALLY IN
NAZI GERMANY, WERE DEFINED OUT OF PEOPLE'S UNIVERSE OF
OBLIGATION, THOSE THAT WE HAVE RESPONSIBILITY TO HELP, TO AID,
AS MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY.
AND IN THIS STORY OF DANIELSON, I THINK WE REALLY SEE A
COMMUNITY DEFINE ITS UNIVERSE OF OBLIGATION, ITS UNIVERSE OF
RESPONSIBILITY REALLY BROADLY TO INCORPORATE PEOPLE THAT HADN'T
BEEN PART OF THAT UNIVERSE.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS I REALLY WANT TO USE THE CURRICULUM GUIDE
TO HELP DEVELOP AND HELP STUDENTS THINK ABOUT IS HOW DO
WE DEFINE OUR UNIVERSE OF OBLIGATION OR BROADLY?
HOW DO WE BRING IN PEOPLE THAT HAVEN'T BEEN OR MAY HAVE BEEN
DEFINED OUT OF THAT UNIVERSE?
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO PUSH THE SORT OF ENVELOPE OF THAT
UNIVERSE OF APPRECIATION WIDER AND WIDER AWAY FROM THOSE SORT
OF -- THE INDIVIDUALS IN YOUR LIVES THAT ARE SORT OF OBVIOUS,
YOUR IMMEDIATE FAMILY, YOUR EXTENDED FAMILY, YOUR FRIENDS,
HOW DO WE PUSH THAT UNIVERSE OF OBLIGATION EVEN FURTHER AND WHAT
DOES THIS STORY OF DANIELSON HAVE TO TEACH US ABOUT HOW AND
WHY PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO DO THAT? ♪
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