Discovery Relays Stories of “Liberation Heroes” in Poignant Film for Holocaust Remembrance Day

They bore witness to the worst of humanity and even 74 years later what they saw continues to shock amp160The old men and women who relay their painful experiences in the 42minute film share that they had no idea what they would encounter in the camps amp160It was so unspeakably awful that many of them chose to not talk of it and just go on with their livesAs a member of the 66th Infantry 71st Division Alan Moskin pictured at top helped to liberate Gunskirchen Concentration Camp a subcamp of Mauthausen amp160After the war he became a lawyer raised a family and like so many survivors and their liberators he kept the haunting memories to himself until he started talking to schools a few years back amp160Now he has told his story on filmAt a screening last week at Manhattanamp8217s Paley Center the audience rose as one when Moskin who turns 93 in May made his way to the stage amp160Like the man he served under General Patton Moskin sloughs off the word amp8220heroamp8221amp8220I never feel like a heroamp8221 he told MediaVillage after the screening even though people kept walking up to him to shake his hand and thank him amp160amp8220General Patton didnamp8217t like the wordamp8221When he sees neoNazis marching through American streets giving the Sieg Heil salute he is disgusted amp160And when kids deface property Moskin maintained amp8220They donamp8217t understand amp160They think it is funny or a lark amp160They donamp8217t understand about swastikas in a cemeteryamp8221amp8220I am very nervous about what is going on in the world todayamp8221 Moskin somberly continued amp160amp8220Hate begets hate amp160I learned at an early age that people are more alike than differentamp8221Itamp8217s imperative that the world hears from those who were first on the scene and found the survivors more dead than alive amp160Their interviews are woven with news footage and personal photos showing them as dashing young soldiers amp160The film tells the stories of men and some women who were nurses who still mist up at what they saw amp160The USC Shoah Foundation which Steven Spielberg created in 1994 to document witnesses to the Holocaust had long aimed to present these storiesJune Beallor a filmmaker and a founding executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation said quotI have been wanting to tell this part for years amp160It is one of the most accessible ways of telling the story amp160They are everyday guys who were in Patton39s Army and they have a unique perspectiveamp8221Discovery Incamp160CEO David Zaslav and producer Andy Friendly sit on the board of the foundation amp160The film features Andyamp8217s father the late Fred Friendly a master sergeant in the Army who covered the liberation of Mauthausen amp160Friendly who later became president of CBS News and with colleague Edward R Murrow created the documentary TV show is filmed reading a letter he wrote to his motherquotBefore I leave Europe I must write this letter and attempt to convey to you that which I saw felt and gasped atquot Friendly wrote amp160quotThis was Mauthausen Your flesh and blood saw this amp160This was no moviequotIn the May 5 1945 letter Friendly explains how this concentration camp complex was built from rocks Jews were forced to carry up 285 steps covered with blood amp160Just this past week the Friendly family read the letter at their Seder as Jews recount the story of Exodus and why freedom must be fought for in each generation amp160Friendlyamp8217s scenes are poignant in a documentary which by necessity is filled with many gutwrenching momentsIt also does an excellent job of placing this chapter of history in context reminding viewers that Hitler and FDR came to power within a few weeks of each other and how the US ignored the war until Dec 7 1941 amp160Liberation Heroes also reminds us that Hitler was going to make Germany great again amp160The parallels to todayamp8217s rampant antiSemitism homophobia and xenophobia are inescapableamp8220I am so upset by what is going on in the world and the rise of antiSemitism and xenophobiaamp8221 Friendly said amp160amp8220We never thought it could happen again but it is amp160There is so much hate and it is raised to a level that is truly dangerous amp160If Alan can say and do this at 93 and we have an opportunity to tell it on Discovery we need to take that opportunityamp8221As for Moskin he plans to continue wearing his World War II Veteran cap and warning of the dangers of hate amp160He wants people to listen to him and colleagues who stared at what remains of people after genocide amp160amp8220When we are gone I am really afraid they will come out of the woodworkamp8221 Moskin said of antiSemites amp160amp8220They are the last generation who will hear usamp8221Liberation Heroes ensures future generations will hear them as well and all but begs us to heed their wordsClick on the social media tiles above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively those of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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Discovery Relays Stories of “Liberation Heroes” in Poignant Film for Holocaust Remembrance Day

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Jacqueline Cutler

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Discovery Relays Stories of “Liberation Heroes” in Poignant Film for Holocaust Remembrance Day

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Jacqueline Cutler

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