Premiere of The Last Time I Saw Them, the Fortunoff Archive’s New Family Separation Mini-Documentary

By Christy Bailey-Tomecek - October 20, 2020

Two years ago, Yale University Professor of History Marci Shore proposed that the Fortunoff Archive produce a short piece drawing on videotaped testimony that highlights the profound impact family separation had on Holocaust survivors. The goal was to use the past as a prism through which to grasp the present--to identify the universal in the particular and to spark debate over "the use and disadvantages of historical comparisons."

The result of Marci’s idea is The Last Time I Saw Them, a 22-minute mini-documentary featuring excerpts from four recorded testimonies:

  • Frances Goldstein and Sylvia Brodach, sisters born in Velky Berezeny, Czechoslovakia, in 1924 and 1928 respectively. They were separated from their parents upon arrival at Auschwitz.
  • Fred Margulies, born in Berlin in 1927, who was separated from his parents when he was sent on a Kindertransport.
  • Anita Schorr, born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, in 1930. Anita was separated from her mother at Auschwitz.
  • Heda Kovaly, born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1919. Heda was separated from her mother in Auschwitz.

To promote a dialogue, Marci asked writers, teachers, poets, and artists to watch the film and share their thoughts. You can find a compilation of these responses and view The Last Time I Saw Them on Public Seminar.