Secret Lives - Hidden Children and Their Rescuers During WWII

original title:
Secret Lives - Hidden Children and Their Rescuers During WWII
other titles:
(Geheime Leben - Die versteckten Kinder des Zweiten Weltkriegs und ihre Retter)
country / year of production:
original length:
90 min. , color
premiere:
13 January 2002, New York Jewish Film Festival
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plot synopsis:
Documentary on Jewish children who during WW II were hidden away and the people gave them refuge. Aviva Slesin has interviewed several of these hidden children, most of them now in their 60ies, and accompanies them some of them as they visit the places of their childhood. The film reveals very diverse experiences:
one man recalls the "very good times" he spent in a large Dutch family; another is shocked as he finds out that the armoire in which he was hidden is still in his recuers appartment; a woman describes the horrible time she spend with a uncle whom she barely knew and who badly mistreated her.
The film also mentions the problems that arose when the parents appeared to recollect their estranged children.
In her commentary Slesin speaks of a "trauma of gratitude" that these people still suffer from today.
literature:
Curt Fields. "Secret Lives: Hidden Children and Their Rescuers During WWII (Unrated, 72 minutes)". In: The Washington Post, 10 October 2003, 42.

remarks:
Homepage: http://www.secretlives.org/
availability:
VHS NTSC, DVD