Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War
Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War
PBS/Ken Burns
This documentary tells the story of an American couple who in 1939 embarked on a secret mission in Eastern Europe to save refugees and dissidents from the Nazis. The producers have partnered with two education organizations -- Facing History and Ourselves and the Holocaust Educators Network -- to make this project useful to teachers. See the lesson plans at www.facinghistory.org/defying-nazis.
The 90-minute film tells the story of Waitstill and Martha Sharp, a Unitarian minister and his wife from Wellesley, Massachusetts, who left their children behind in the care of their parish and boldly committed to multiple life-threatening missions in Europe. Over two dangerous years they helped to save hundreds of imperiled political dissidents and Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazi occupation across Europe.
The story is “one of the most incredible tales of compassion, sacrifice, and heroism that I have ever heard, and I was completely unaware of it until five years ago when Artemis Joukowsky first shared it with me,” said Ken Burns. “Nearly three years before America as a nation became involved in the Second World War, these two unassuming, so-called ‘ordinary’ Americans gave up everything they knew and loved and risked their lives to become involved in a war 4,000 miles away because they knew there were people in grave danger who needed help.” To learn more, see:
* The film review in the September 2016 issue of Social Education by Laura Tavares of Facing History and Ourselves, pp. 240-241, www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation
* The trailer at www.pbs.org
* The website www.defyingthenazis.org/education.html.
This documentary tells the story of an American couple who in 1939 embarked on a secret mission in Eastern Europe to save refugees and dissidents from the Nazis. The producers have partnered with two education organizations -- Facing History and Ourselves and the Holocaust Educators Network -- to make this project useful to teachers. See the lesson plans at www.facinghistory.org/defying-nazis.
The 90-minute film tells the story of Waitstill and Martha Sharp, a Unitarian minister and his wife from Wellesley, Massachusetts, who left their children behind in the care of their parish and boldly committed to multiple life-threatening missions in Europe. Over two dangerous years they helped to save hundreds of imperiled political dissidents and Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazi occupation across Europe.
The story is “one of the most incredible tales of compassion, sacrifice, and heroism that I have ever heard, and I was completely unaware of it until five years ago when Artemis Joukowsky first shared it with me,” said Ken Burns. “Nearly three years before America as a nation became involved in the Second World War, these two unassuming, so-called ‘ordinary’ Americans gave up everything they knew and loved and risked their lives to become involved in a war 4,000 miles away because they knew there were people in grave danger who needed help.” To learn more, see:
* The film review in the September 2016 issue of Social Education by Laura Tavares of Facing History and Ourselves, pp. 240-241, www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation
* The trailer at www.pbs.org
* The website www.defyingthenazis.org/education.html.