PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host two more films in its series Remember the Past to Build the Future on Wednesdays, April 24 and May 1, featuring films connected to the Holocaust during and after World War II.
The series kicked off with a showing of “Karski & the Lords of Humanity” on April 17, and continues with “Bogdan’s Journey” on April 24 and “Blinky & Me” on May 1; films begin at 5 p.m. in the Campus Center Multi-Purpose Room. All are invited to attend these free events.
Dr. Tomasz Herzog, UMPI professor of social foundations of education and social studies education, put together the film series after connecting with Slawomir Grunberg, an Emmy Award-winning, New York City-based Jewish Polish film director. Grunberg directed and produced “Karski & the Lords of Humanity” and founded LOGTV, LTD, a nonprofit that researches, distributes, and produces educational documentary films and educational programming with a special emphasis on themes connected to Jewish life, history and identity, as well as the history of World War II and the Holocaust. Through LOGTV’s connections with the Polish Film Institute, the three film screenings are able to take place in Presque Isle.
“This series is an effort to share information about this part of world history,” Herzog explained. “There are many studies that show a growing lack of knowledge about the Holocaust both in America and across the world, especially among young people. In the U.S., two-thirds of millennials do not know what Auschwitz was, half cannot name one concentration camp, about 40 percent believe that fewer than 2 million Jews were murdered, and 20 percent are not sure if they have ever heard of the Holocaust.”
Herzog said the series came together because of his longtime interest in and contributions to the field of Holocaust education in the U.S., Poland and Israel.
“Grunberg, whose documentaries have received many awards and have been shown around the world, invited me to screen the movies at no cost at our University,” Herzog said. “It’s our belief that the movies will help the viewers learn from the past in order to prevent it from happening again.
“It’s very symbolic that the last of the movies will be screened on our campus on May 1, one day before Holocaust Remembrance Day, known in Hebrew as Yom Hashoah, which marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising,” he added.
“Bogdan’s Journey” follows the story of a man who aims to raise awareness about anti-Semitism and violence against Jews in Poland. This film shows the power of one courageous person pursuing the belief that through dialogue, people can grapple with truths of the past and communicate to create a better future.
“Blinky & Me” is the untold story of Australian animator Yoram Gross. The film follows the artist and his family through his childhood in Nazi-occupied Poland, in Israel, where he began creating animated art films, all the way to Australia, where he found his fortune and happiness through children’s animated features and the popular film series “Blinky Bill.” Gross died in 2015 at 88; the film is told with the participation of his teenage grandchildren.
For more information about this film series, contact Herzog at 207-768-9429 or email tomasz.herzog@maine.edu.
Submitted by the Community and Media Relations Office of the University of Maine at Presque Isle.
