From Swastika to Jim Crow
Jewish Stories • 56m
Directed by Lori Cheatle • Documentary • 2000 • 60 minutes
In the 1930s Jewish intellectuals who escaped Nazi Germany and immigrated to the U.S. faced an uncertain future. Confronted with anti-Semitism at American universities and a public distrust of foreigners, many sought refuge in an unlikely place-traditionally black colleges in the segregated South. Securing teaching positions, these scholars came to form lasting relationships with their students, and made significant contributions to the communities in which they lived and worked. Based on the book by Gabrielle Simon Edgcomb, From Swastika to Jim Crow tells the little-known story of two very different cultures sharing a common burden of oppression. The scholars found new meaning and purpose in their adopted homeland. Their students, benefiting from the knowledge brought to them by these refugees, were able to go on and develop their own academic careers. The video also highlights the role of African Americans, like Ralph Bunche, in securing positions for these refugee scholars at places like Howard University, Tougaloo College and Hampton Institute.
Up Next in Jewish Stories
-
In Search of Memory
Directed by Petra Seeger • Documentary • With Eric Kandel • 2008 • 95 minutes
'Memory is everything. Without it we are nothing,' says neuroscientist Eric Kandel, winner of the Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking research on the physiology of the brain's storage of memories. As he explains, memory...
-
There Are Jews Here
Directed by Brad Lichtenstein, Morgan Johnson • Documentary • 2016 • 89 minutes
THERE ARE JEWS HERE takes you on a journey to places where most never imagined Jews existed, following the untold stories of four once thriving American Jewish communities that can now barely hold a minyan. Most Amer...
-
Go For Zucker
Directed by Dani Levy • Drama • With Henry Hübchen, Hannelore Elsner, Udo Samel • 2006 • 91 minutes
First-class pool shark and all-around hustler Jaeckie Zucker is up to his ears in debt, again. He faces jail, divorce and general ruin. When word comes that his mother has died, leaving an inherit...
