Teaching History Matters

This newest trailer for our upcoming film, showing the uniting of a World War II medic and a Holocaust survivor for the first time, was filmed just one month ago near the 74th anniversary of the liberation of the Train Near Magdeburg.

Judah Samet (also a survivor of the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue shooting last October) and his daughter traveled to Scranton, PA, to meet Walter Gantz, the medic who saved as many sick and emaciated people as he could from the train, though Judah’s father was one of the many who succumbed shortly after liberation. Walter’s daughters were present as well, and I was there as to pull things together. Mike Edwards and his film crew and I were fortunate to have been able to align all the moving parts, and here is the result. We did a group hug!

To complete the film, we have a letter of intent with the major distributor to PBS and now we need to get to Europe to finish filming at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and the liberation site, and interview more people, including German eyewitnesses, before it is too late. We want to have this film ready for the spring 2020 75th anniversary of the train liberation.

Walter is 94 and one of the few remaining soldiers left who had something to do with the liberation of this train of 2500 souls, the descendants of whom probably now number in the tens of thousands because of the actions of the American soldiers like Walter. And we would love to bring him over to Germany with us! We would love to introduce him to more survivors and their families, and also to German schoolchildren, at least one of whom he is exchanging letters with at a school near the liberation site, kids who now want to make a difference themselves in being part of memorializing and remembering what happened not far from their schoolhouse door.

Watch the moving trailer below. At 2:10 mark of embrace, you will notice a white wristband Walter has worn since 2011 when I sent it to him, a memento for students from our high school soldier-survivor reunions. It reads, “Repairing the World”.

WHAT YOU DO MATTERS. Seek to do good and repair the world– Tikkun Olam.

Thanks to all who have helped us thus far, and have shared this message of healing and hope! To become a part of our efforts to “Repair the World” to finish filming, or to learn more, head to the following link.

https://squareup.com/store/augusta-chiwy-foundation

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