ECHOES THAT REMAIN - A Special Screening for Tisha B’av by Carol Kaufman Segal

            

Echoes That Remain is a documentary that was filmed in 1991 by award winning filmmakers Arnold Swartzman, (director, writer), Rabbi Marvin Heir (writer), and Richard Trank (producer).  In conjunction with the Jewish Holiday of Tisha B’hav, a special screening of Echoes That Remain was held at the Museum of Tolerance on Sunday, August ll.  

           

Narrated by Martin Landau and Miriam Margolyes, it is a documentary rich in its portrayal of Eastern European Jewry before the Holocaust.  The film shows hundreds of rare archival photos and never before seen film footage taken in former Jewish communities in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. 

           

The production team spent over a year researching archives around the world, collecting film and photographs to aid in dramatizing the early years of the Jewish people in those countries.  Important to the film are a series of images created by Roman Vishniac, the famed photo biographer of Eastern Europe shtetl life.

            

This film generated a very special feeling of emotions for me as my father’s entire family, including all close relatives were born and lived in Poland before coming  to the United States in mass in 1912 (thanks to their foresight).  I felt I was watching all about them and their lives in the days before they left.

            

Echos That Remain has been shown in theaters and film festivals in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia and has been the recipient of numerous awards.  We, who saw this screening at the Museum of Tolerance, were fortunate enough to have a question and answer session with the three afore mentioned filmmakers.  I definitely recommend this film for everyone.  Watch for the opportunity to see it sometime, somewhere, as I am certain it will be shown over and over again for years to come.