The word is getting out! Tickets for the premiere performance on July 19th at the Museum of Jewish Heritage are going fast! “Hidden: Concealed Children; Uncertain Identity,” this year’s new, soon-to-be released Project Witness documentary is getting rave reviews. Whoever has viewed the trailer and the early editions of the production is overwhelmed by its intensity, its validity, and its emotional impact. Person after person who has watched initial versions of the documentary has agreed that it’s the best Project Witness documentary ever. Now, that’s saying a great deal, because that’s what was said time and time again about each of the previous four Project Witness documentaries!

 

While it may sound highly unlikely in today’s world, what would happen if you suddenly found out that your name, your life, your entire identity, were not what you thought they were? What if you were told that your parents were not your real parents, or that the person that you have called “me” for so many years was not really you? Sadly, this was a jarring reality for the hundreds of Jewish children who were hidden during the nightmare years of the Holocaust.

 

Jewish parents were faced with a formidable problem: How to save their children in the face of imminent danger and massive roundups of Jews? There was an option, in relatively rare cases, of paying a non-Jew to care for a Jewish child on a supposedly temporary basis. On the other hand, while some parents very reluctantly gave away their children, many Jewish parents, couldn’t abide the idea that their children would be brought up in non-Jewish homes. They looked desperately for other solutions, but in most cases, were not successful.

 

Those parents who did give away their children, did so hoping against hope, that they would be able to come back to claim them. As we know, most didn’t return. They were brutally murdered by the Nazis. Some of the surviving hidden children were successfully claimed by the relatively few returning parents or by relatives or rescuers from abroad, while others spent most, or all of their lives oblivious to their Jewish roots. We don’t know how many Jewish children, born in Europe in the pre-war years or during the Holocaust, are unaware that they are Jewish.

 

For those ones who were reunited with their Jewish families after liberation, the end of the war meant the start of a new traumatic chapter of life. After years of life as a non-Jew, often not even knowing that they had been ‘adopted,’ these children found adjustment to life as a Jew extremely difficult. Project Witness’ upcoming documentary, “Hidden: Concealed Children. Uncertain Identities,” brings to life the challenges faced by parents and children.

 

“Hidden” is a powerful, moving, and particularly significant production, filled with amazing first-hand survivor interviews and on-site reenactments that highlight many important lessons about heroism and fortitude, faith and incredible rebirth. It is truly a must-see for all adults and teenagers. The Worldwide Premiere will take place on July 19th at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City, followed by numerous local screenings in communities around the country during the Nine Days.

 

Project Witness is a highly-respected, academically-acclaimed, and innovative Holocaust Research and Resource Center in Brooklyn, NY. Although it is still a relatively young organization, Project Witness has already revolutionized the face of Holocaust dissemination through its varied and creative programming initiatives that reach out to individuals, schools, and communities of all viewpoints around the world. Ever mindful of its goals to educate, inspire, and transform, Project Witness has earned recognition from leading educational institutions and museums.

 

For more information, call 718-WITNESS (948-6377) or email [email protected].