“Carla the Rescuer” is a documentary about Spokane Holocaust survivor Carla Peperzak and how she helped the resistance. The documentary was made in Spokane. Poster courtesy.
Kristallnacht’s anniversary will be noted in this area with a community interfaith commemoration, which will include a showing of the film “Carla The Rescuer” on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. in Page Hall on University at Albany downtown campus, 135 Western Ave., Albany. The commemoration is free and open to the public.
“The Kristallnacht Interfaith Confronting Bigotry Commemoration of the Capital Region, was created to unite the community against prejudice,” according to Shelly Shapiro, director of the by Holocaust Survivors and Friends Education Center. The Kristallnacht commemoration will feature Holocaust survivors and representatives of faith groups from throughout the entire region.
On Nov. 9-10, 1938, the Nazis staged vicious attacks or pogroms against Jews in Germany and Austria in riots that came to be known as Kristallnacht or “Night of Broken Glass.” It would later become known by many as the “Night the Holocaust Began.” On that date hundreds of synagogues and businesses were destroyed, and 30,000 Jewish men and boys were arrested and sent to concentration camps.
“Carla The Rescuer” is based on the true story of Carla Peperzak, a Jewish member of the Dutch resistance during WWII. As a teen in Amsterdam, She aided fellow Jews, forging ID cards and providing shelter from Nazis and their collaborators. Peperzak witnessed the Holocaust, enduring the loss of three-quarters of her extended family. The documentary relates her life through interviews with four generations of her family. It also tells of her continuing efforts after the war to fight injustice.
The 90-minute documentary was directed by Clement Lye.
Information may be obtained by contacting Shapiro at 518-783-7800.
The program is sponsored by Holocaust Survivors and Friends Education Center, the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York, and the Judaic studies program of the University at Albany.
