Additional Reading/Viewing

Films Set in the 1940s 

  • Miracle at St Anna  - Four black soldiers of the all-black 92nd Infantry Division get trapped near the small Tuscan village of Sant’Anna di Stazzema during the Italian Campaign of World War II
  • The Great Escape – Steve McQueen stars in a story of the daring escape from a high-security German prisoner-of-war camp in 1942.
  • Best Years of Our Lives – Four WW II veterans return home to begin their lives again.
  • Saving Private Ryan – The story of a mission of squad from the 2nd Ranger Battalion of the 29th Infantry to find and bring home Private James Francis Ryan after the death of his brothers on the battlefield of World War II
  • Radio Days – A tribute to the magical radio days and the myths and legends about radio personalities  

Documentaries of the 1940s, World War II, and the Holocaust

  • Paper Clips – The story of a school wide project of middle school students in Whitwell, Tennessee to understand the Holocaust by collecting six million paper clips.  This amazing project grew to involve the entire community and people across the United States.
  • Shanghai Ghetto – 20,000 Jewish refugees who escaped Nazi occupied Europe relocated to the Hongkou District in Shanghai, China.  Aided by Jewish charity these people established a vibrant community.  Their story is told by survivors.
  • The War - This seven disc set traces the impact of World War II on ordinary people living in the American home front during World War II.  

Additional Reading

  • Schindler’s List – The story how one man saved more than one thousand Polish Jews during the Holocaust. This novel was made into a movie. 
  • Sarah’s Key – As the Nazi’s round up Jewish families for deportation, ten year old Sarah hid her brother in a cupboard and the key in her pocket.  Sarah escaped and returned to the apartment to confront her choice years later.  This novel was released as a movie in July 2011.  
  • Winter Garden – The secret of Anya’s escape from World War II Leningrad determined her relationship with her daughters years later in America.  Sharing her story brings then closer to one another and enables them change their lives for the better.
  • Dream When You’re Feeling Blue – This nostalgic tale of wartime romance and family sacrifice captures the lives of women living on the home front through World War II
  • Those Who Saved Us – Trudy investigating the past unearths the painful details of her mother’s life in Germany during World War II. 
  • Gertruda’s Oath – This is a beautiful, sensitively written testimony of an extraordinary woman, Gertruda who raised Michael Stolowitzky as her own.