Chaiflicks commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day with 6 free historical films
Published January 25, 2022
In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th, ChaiFlicks will be offering six complimentary films on the platform to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
The six movies, 5 features, and one documentary were chosen to educate and inform about the atrocities our ancestors faced as well as honor the brave souls that survived. The collection of films represents a cross-section of the history of World War II. This commemorative day is a reminder of the capacity of the human spirit and a teachable moment about bigotry and antisemitism.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
“Four of the six films are true stories and the other two are fictional, one an adaptation of a short story and the other an adaptation of a popular novel,” said Neil Friedman, founder of the Jewish-focused distribution company Menemsha Films. “The films will be available on Wednesday, January 26 starting as early as 12:01 AM EST through Friday, January 28th at 7:00 PM EST.
True Life
The four true-life events are “Fanny’s Journey” (Based on Fanny Ben-Ami’s real life escape over the French border to Switzerland as a 13 year old young woman), “La Rafle” (the Vel d’Hiv Roundup of Jews in Paris by the French police (NOTE Not by the Gestapo) on July 16, 1942), “Nicky’s Family” (the true story of Sir Nicholas Winton’s saving of 667 Czech Jewish children by kindertransports to the UK just prior to the start of the war on September 1, 1939) and “The Rape of Europa” (the Oscar shortlisted documentary of the history of Nazi pilfering of art from Jewish families of Europe).
Adapted stories
The film “1945” is an adaptation of a fable written as a short story by Award-winning Hungarian Jewish writer Gabor T. Szanto. The setting for this film is immediately after the war between the time of the surrender of the Germans and the installation of the Russians into power in Hungary.
The film “Run Boy Run” is an adaptation of book written by popular Polish novelist Uri Orlev
“Each of these six films are Award-winning films,” said Friedman. “1945” has a 97% favorable Rotten Tomatoes rating from critics, Rape of Europa was shortlisted for Documentary Academy Award, Fanny’s Journey was won a record breaking 23 Audience Awards from Festivals and each of La Rafle and Nicky’s Family have won 15 Audience Awards each from festivals.
Links to Movies and Film Recaps
Fanny’s Journey – Based on the true story of Fanny, a Jewish girl in a French orphanage in 1943. When she and her friends are no longer safe from the Nazis, they try to flee to Switzerland. After their guide disappears, Fanny has to take the lead and help the other kids make it over the mountain.
La Rafle (The Roundup)–Based on the true story of a young Jewish boy, the film depicts the mass arrest of Jews by French police who were accomplices of Nazi Germans in Paris in 1942.
Nicky’s Family-The true story of Sir Nicholas Winton’s saving of 667 Czech and Slovak Jewish children just before the outbreak of World War II.
The Rape of Europa– Narrated by Joan Allen, this documentary is the story of the theft, destruction and miraculous survival of Europe’s art treasures during WWII.
Run Boy Run– The film is an adaptation of the novel based on the life of Yoram Fridman, who as an eight-year-old Jewish boy in 1942, escaped the Warsaw Ghetto and survived, largely on his own, for the next three years in rural Nazi German-occupied Poland.
1945 – One summer day in 1945, two Orthodox Jews return to a Hungarian village during a wedding, and are met with fear, suspicion, and a shred of remorse in this critically acclaimed film.
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