On Sunday 22 November 2009 at 3pm we are privileged to bring you the inaugural screening in Australia of 'Elisabeth of Berlin', a documentary which is about Kristallnacht and about the efforts of a spiritually committed woman to overcome the effects of Kristallnacht from 1938. She was not known because of the anonymity of her work which was necessary for her safety, until recently, hence the movie.

From an interfaith standpoint and a social justice focus, it is about standing up against injustice and inhumanity and doing what you can do and making it count.

From the documentary directorship of Steven Martin at Vital Visuals comes this  acclaimed documentary, one of three documentaries by Mr Martin on this and related subjects.

The film will also be the subject of a  discussion led by Dr Paul O'Shea, noted educator, historian and author. Paul is well known to the Jewish community as a historian and educator with many years of experience in interfaith dialogue (with a special interest in the Holocaust and its roots). He is a founding director of the Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

This groundbreaking film was created especially for the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Nazi’s so-called “Night of Broken Glass,” which many mark as the beginning of the Holocaust. After witnessing the violence of this pogrom against Germany’s Jews, Elisabeth Schmitz knew that life could no longer continue normally: her Christian faith compelled her to put her own life at risk in order to live on behalf of others.Her most important writing was a twenty-four page memorandum that described, in detail, hardships endured by Jews across Germany. It was written to church leadership in order to urge them to take action. Because writing something like this was illegal in those days, she wrote it anonymously. Although it was well-known after the war was over, an archivist attributed it’s authorship to someone else.Elisabeth Schmitz was forgotten until her handwritten draft was discovered in a dusty church basement.

This film is part biography, part historical narrative, and part detective story. It has brought fascination and inspiration to adults and children alike. Above all this film shows us the importance of always broadening our circle of friendships, especially during dangerous times.

Of course there were exceptions such as the police officer Wilhelm Krützfeldt, who with the help of some of his colleagues saved Berlin’s Neue Synagoge from destruction. Or the Protestant Elisabeth Schmitz, who drew up a memorandum against the persecution of the Jews. In protest against Nazi ideology in the classroom she later resigned from her post as a teacher of history, German and religious education. She, too, was an exception, she chose to speak out.

-German Chancellor Angela Merkel, at the Berlin Neue Synagogue, November 9, 2008

At a time when spokesmen for the church were asserting that Adolf Hitler’s rise to power was a ‘gift of God,’ a courageous woman tried to get her fellow Christians to act to save the Jews. ... Elisabeth of Berlin, tells her story. ... and highlights the story of a woman who died in obscurity, but lived a life now celebrated by leading Christian thinkers. Scholars of the anti-Nazi resistance are astonished by what Elisabeth Schmitz did and the risks she took—she fits, one says in the film, “the Protestant definition of a saint.” But until 2004, not only were her life and work largely unknown but her most remarkable act had been mistakenly attributed to someone else.

Where? Emanuel Synagogue, 7 Ocean St, Woollahra
When? Sunday 22 November 2009 at 3pm
Who to contact? Below:

Attendance is free. To attend, contact either of the following and let us know (for catering and seating purposes): William Szekely, President of CCJNSW on 9290.3222 or 0418-464056 or by email to: szeklex@szeklex.com.au    OR

The administration office at Emanuel Synagogue on 9328.7833 or by email to: info@emanuel.org.au