dg - the war show · 2018-10-22 · the holocaust the holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored...
TRANSCRIPT
Shalom Italia
A Film by Tamar Tal Anati
Community Engagement & Education
DISCUSSION GUIDE
www.pbs.org/pov
POV
|2DISCUSSION GUIDE
Shalom Italia
LETTER FROM THE FILMMAKER
Recent research in the fields of behavioral psychology and neuroscience has proven that memory is not a static record of an
earlier event—far from it. In fact, every memory is a mutable story that we amend and fiddle with every time we remember
that particular incident. Each of us has an inner conflict between what actually happened and the story we tell ourselves. There
is no one truth of one moment. The truth of any particular moment can only be constructed from the faulty and selective
memory banks of everyone involved. The truth can only be found somewhere between those stories that people have made
up for themselves.
I was drawn to this story of three brothers because I feel that it best expresses the daily conflict we all face between the re-
liability of memory and the satisfying stories we tell ourselves about our lives. Memory is a personal story of a personal ex-
perience, and we never know what really happened when we hear a story. In this film, we have three versions of the same
events, providing a deeper and dramatic understanding of the human brain and its emotional response to trauma. My hope
is that the film will illuminate not only the lives of the three brothers, but also how we all deal with memory and how physi-
cal facts can be twisted into a story right before our eyes, live and on camera. I hope it will also show how the manufacture
of a new memory can allow us to redefine ourselves and affect the rest of our lives.
Tamar Tal Anati
Director, Shalom Italia
Filmmaker Tamar Tal Anati.
Photo courtesy of Nir Segal
|3DISCUSSION GUIDE
Shalom Italia
2 Letter from the Filmmaker
4 Introduction
5 Potential Partners
5 Key Issues
5 Using This Guide
6 Background Information
6 The Holocaust
7 A Note on History
7 Jews in Italy
9 Selected People Featured
in Shalom Italia
10 General Discussion Questions
11 Discussion Prompts
15 Taking Action
16 Resources
17 How to Buy the Film
Writer
Faith Rogow, PhDInsighters Educational Consulting
Background Research and Reporting
Ione BarrowsCommunity Engagement and Education Associate, POV
Guide Producers, POV
Eliza LichtVice President, Content Strategy and Engagement, POV
Alice QuinlanCommunity Engagement and Education Manager, POV
Design:
Rafael Jiménez
Copy Editor:
Natalie Danford
Thanks to those who reviewed this guide:
Tamar Tal AnatiDirector, Shalom Italia
TABLE OF CONTENTS CREDITS
In Shalom Italia, three Italian Jewish brothers set off on a
journey through Tuscany in search of a cave where they hid
as children to escape the Nazis. In contrast to typically dark
Holocaust stories, this quest is full of brotherly banter, food
and Tuscan landscapes. It straddles the boundary between
history and myth—a profound and endearing exploration of
individual and communal memory. The brothers’ survival is a
model of resilience—for their descendants, for survivors of
other atrocities and for a world experiencing a resurgence of
authoritarian leadership.
INTRODUCTION
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Shalom Italia
The three brothers in the woods of Toscana.
Photo courtesy of Tamar Tal Anati
Shalom Italia is well suited for use in a variety of settings
and is especially recommended for use with:
• Your local PBS station
• Groups that have discussed previous PBS and POV
films relating to the Holocaust or historical
memory, including Inheritance and Hiding and
Seeking: Faith and Tolerance After the Holocaust.
• Groups focused on any of the issues listed in the
“Key Issues” section
• Faith-based organizations and institutions
• Cultural, art and historical organizations,
institutions and museums
• High school students, youth groups, and clubs
• Civic, fraternal and community groups
• Children of Holocaust survivors
• Academic departments and student groups at
colleges, universities and high schools
• Community organizations with a mission to
promote education and learning, such as local
libraries
Shalom Italia is an excellent tool for outreach and will
be of special interest to people looking to explore the
following topics:
• aging
• brothers/family dynamics
• genocide
• heritage
• history
• The Holocaust/The Shoah
• Italy
• Jewish identity
• memory
• psychology
• resilience
• “righteous among the nations”
• survivors
• World War II
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Shalom Italia
USING THIS GUIDE
This guide is an invitation to dialogue. It is based on a belief in the power of human connection, designed for people who
want to use Shalom Italia to engage family, friends, classmates, colleagues and communities. In contrast to initiatives that
foster debates in which participants try to convince others that they are right, this document envisions conversations un-
dertaken in a spirit of openness in which people try to understand one another and expand their thinking by sharing
viewpoints and listening actively.
The discussion prompts are intentionally crafted to help a wide range of audiences think more deeply about the issues
in the film. Rather than attempting to address them all, choose one or two that best meet your needs and interests. And
be sure to leave time to consider taking action. Planning next steps can help people leave the room feeling energized and
optimistic, even in instances when conversations have been difficult.
For more detailed event planning and facilitation tips, visit www.pov.org/engage
POTENTIAL PARTNERS KEY ISSUES
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
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Shalom Italia
The Holocaust
The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored perse-
cution, plundering and murder of over 9 million individuals
by the Nazi regime and its collaborators between 1933 and
1945. The victims of the Holocaust included 6 million Jews, or
nearly two out of every three Jews in Europe before World
War II. Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, the Nazis sought
to exterminate groups they deemed to be “racially inferior,”
including Jews, Roma, LGBT people, the disabled and the
mentally ill. Other victims, including Communists, Jehovah’s
witnesses and political dissidents, were targeted on ideo-
logical grounds. The Nazis rounded up men, women and chil-
dren from countries across Europe and deported them to
forced labor camps. Many of these detainees were sent to
"death camps," where they were killed through starvation,
torture, mass shoots and, eventually, poison gas cham-
bers. The Nazis referred to the policy of mass mur-
der of Jews as the “Final Solution.”
Sources
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
“Introduction to the Holocaust.”
https://www.ushmm.org/learn/introduction-to-the-holocaust
Andrea in the car.
Photo courtesy of Tamar Tal Anati
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
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Shalom Italia
A Note on History
Audiences are encouraged to view this film in conjunction
with a review of the historical circumstances that forced the
Gnagnatti brothers to flee their home in Italy. Viewers are
expected to have a basic understanding of World War II and
the Holocaust. We recommend that those who are not fa-
miliar with these subjects, or who have not studied the Holo-
caust in several years, explore relevant historical resources.
Even the very knowledgeable will learn something new from
these resources. A regular study of historical atrocities is
vital to preserving freedom and justice in the present day.
As the Italian Holocaust survivor Primo Levi once said,
“Those who deny Auschwitz would be ready to remake it.”
Sources
Levi, Primo. Sorgenti di Vita. RAI, March 25, 1983.
Jews in Italy
Prior to World War II, an estimated 50,000 Jews lived in
Italy. Unlike members of the more segregated Jewish com-
munities in other European countries, Jews in Italy were
largely secular, urban and assimilated into Italian society.
During the 1920s, Benito Mussolini’s Fascist Party rose to
power and turned the Italian government into a dictatorship.
Starting in 1938, the fascist regime passed a series of in-
creasingly onerous laws that restricted Italian Jews’ partici-
pation in social and economic life. Jewish children were
removed from public and private schools; Jews were banned
from civil service, the military and the banking and insurance
industries; and Jewish business owners were forced to sell
their assets to non-Jews. During this period, many Italian
Jews were driven out, often emigrating to more tolerant
countries.
At a memorial for Holocaust victims from Florence,
Emmanuel said that he knew nearly every name.
Photo courtesy of Tamar Tal Anati
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
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Shalom Italia
In September 1943, the Nazis occupied Italy and installed
Mussolini as the head of the wartime government. Under the
German occupation, the regime initiated deportations of Ital-
ian Jews to concentration camps and death camps, where
they were murdered. Most Italian authorities were not eager
to facilitate the extermination of Jews, and some gave ad-
vance warning to Jewish communities before the Nazi
roundups. In total, 8,564 Jews were deported from Italy and
Italy-occupied territories between 1943 and 1945; the major-
ity of them perished in death camps such as Auschwitz-
Birkenau. At least 30,000 Jews survived the Holocaust in
Italy, some as detainees in Italian internment camps, and
some in hiding.
Sources
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “The Holocaust in Italy.”
https://www.ushmm.org/learn/mapping-initiatives/geographies-of-the-
holocaust/the-holocaust-in-italy
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Italy.”
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005455
Vitello, Paul. “Scholars Reconsidering Italy’s Treatment of Jews in the
Nazi Era.” The New York Times, Nov. 4, 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/nyregion/05italians.html
The childhood home of the Gnagnatti brothers.
Photo courtesy of Tamar Tal Anati
SELECT PEOPLE
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Shalom Italia
Reuven “Bubi” Gnagnatti – the youngest brother and
instigator of the search, lives half of the year in Israel and half
of the year in Pagliericcio, Italy
Andrea Gnagnatti – the middle brother, a rock climber and
physicist at the Weizmann Institute of Science
Emmanuel “Meme” Gnagnatti – at age 84, the eldest
brother, a world-renowned archeologist
Selected People Featured in Shalom Italia
Immediately after the film, you may want to give people a
few quiet moments to reflect on what they have seen or
pose a general question (examples below) and give people
some time to themselves to jot down or think about their
answers before opening the discussion:
• If a friend asked you what this film was about, what
would you say?
• If you could ask any of the brothers a single
question, what would you ask?
• Was anything in the film especially familiar or
surprising?
• Describe a moment or scene in the film that you
found particularly disturbing or moving. What was
it about that scene that was especially compelling
for you?
At the end of your discussion, to help people synthesize
what they’ve experienced and move the focus from dia-
logue to action steps, you may want to choose one of
these questions:
• What did you learn from this film that you wish
everyone knew? What would change if everyone
knew it?
• If you could require one person (or one group) to
view this film, who would it be? What do you hope
their main takeaway would be?
• Complete this sentence: I am inspired by this film
(or discussion) to __________.
GENERAL DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
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Shalom Italia
Andrea in the woods.
Photo courtesy of Tamar Tal Anati
DISCUSSION PROMPTS
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Shalom Italia
Memory
Meme says, “Now, after 70 years, I have the courage to dare
to remember again. Because for 70 years I’ve simply erased
this terrible memory from my mind.”
Why does it take courage to remember? What’s lost to fam-
ily and society if survivors don’t share their memories?
Bubi, the youngest brother, pushes his siblings to find the
cave where they hid, saying, “For years I’ve wanted to find
that cave, the place to which we owe our lives.” Meme, the
eldest, grudgingly agrees in order to make his brother
happy, but sees no need: “Six years of misery, why search
for it? I don’t want to remember.” Middle brother Andrea
seems happy to revisit what he recalls as a childhood ad-
venture: “We lived in the woods, played Robin Hood and col-
lected mushrooms. We were all together.”
How does each brother’s view help him cope with the legacy
of their family’s past?
While Meme is less than thrilled to be back in Campoli
because, “it does nothing but remind [him] of the suf-
fering and the uncertainties,” Andrea recalls the
place fondly. Meme speculates to his brother that the differ-
ence in their reactions stems from their age difference, not-
ing, “You were just a kid and I became a grown-up before
my time.”
How does age shape perception?
What was your reaction to hearing Andrea say, “Those were
wonderful times… I had fun during the Holocaust”?
The Gnagnatti brothers walk through the woods searching
for the cave they hid in as children.
Photo courtesy of Tamar Tal Anati
DISCUSSION PROMPTS
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Shalom Italia
History
Both prior to and during the Holocaust, Jews were often sin-
gled out as not being “authentic” Italians, even when gener-
ations of their families had been born in Italy. (The same was
true for French and Polish Jews and those of other European
nationalities in their respective countries.) Yet at the start of
the film, Bubi says, “I always dreamed of returning to Italy.
After almost 70 years, I'm Italian again.”
What does it mean to be “Italian again”? To have a national
identity? How are lines drawn to determine who is and isn’t
a member of a particular nationality? What insights might
the lessons of Jewish history provide for debates over na-
tionalism today?
Bubi meets Nada, an old woman in the village who remem-
bers her family helping his family. Meme doesn’t remember
her and is skeptical. He says, “Sounds like a story she made
up. No, maybe she didn’t make it up, but it’s a legend that
developed in the village.”
Why would such “legends” develop? How might those rea-
sons relate to Meme’s reluctance to accept the story as
truth?
What did you learn from the brothers’ recollections about
the realities of going into hiding?
The brothers recount the places they fled to escape
death: Florence, then Campoli, then Villa a Sesta to
the cave. They didn’t just fear officials or soldiers, but also
neighbors who might become informants. What was the im-
portance of informants to the success of fascism? What was
the importance of civilians (like Nada’s family) who re-
sponded to injustice with kindness and had the courage to
defeat fascism?
Everyone in the film has different recollections about the de-
tails of their experiences. They recognize that they will never
know exactly what happened, but agree that, as Andrea
says, “The absolute truth isn’t important now.” Why isn’t the
“absolute truth” important? What is the difference between
the following:
• knowing the details and knowing one's personal truth?
• accepting that memories are sometimes faulty and
using the variations in people's memories to deny that
events occurred at all?
• preserving details and preserving history?
Emmanuel, Andrea and Bubi in Toscana.
Photo courtesy of Tamar Tal Anati
DISCUSSION PROMPTS
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Shalom Italia
Legacy
Bubi has a surprising revelation about his aversion to sar-
dines possibly being rooted in the family’s reliance on the
fish when there was nothing else left to eat: “We'd each get
a third of a little sardine, per day, per person, and we had to
make do with that for as long as possible.”
As you think about your life and your community today,
what key memories are foundational to the way things are
now? How do memories of the past shape the present?
Meme looks at names on a memorial wall at the synagogue
of his childhood and says, “There are things that after 70
years I still can't grasp. I knew almost all these people, in-
cluding uncles, aunts and cousins. It was a network of affin-
ity, love, human relations, people with whom we shared our
everyday life. They all just disappeared.”
How could you help future generations grasp the loss, not
just of the individual people whose names appear on a me-
morial wall, but also the community of “affinity, love, human
relations” that they created?
Bubi returns to the cave with his family, including his grand-
children. They erect a sign at the cave to mark their own
family history and also to honor the families in the nearby
village who protected them, “for the courage they displayed
in supporting us, which put them at great risk.”
Why do you think it was important for Bubi to bring his fam-
ily to the cave site and involve them in acknowledging the
villagers who chose to help? What lessons do you think the
children learned about the role of bystanders or witnesses as
enablers of justice or injustice?
The Anati grandchildren come to see the site
of the former cave.
Photo courtesy of Tamar Tal Anati
DISCUSSION PROMPTS
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Shalom Italia
In one of the scenes, the family is gathered at a Passover
Seder—a ritual meal during which the story of a pivotal mo-
ment in Jewish history is retold. What rituals in your culture
or family help establish a collective history and how does
this contribute to your identity?
As Meme and Bubi wait for Andrea in the forest, Meme says,
“There is a belief in several tribes in Africa, India and Aus-
tralia that when the body dies, the soul finds a new body in
a rock. So they believe that there are rocks that hold the soul
of a father or a member from their tribe. When there are
cracks, like this one here, the people come and talk to the
soul, and believe that the soul can hear them through the
cracks.”
Picture yourself sitting in the same Italian forest as the broth-
ers. Whose souls do you imagine are in the rocks and what
would you want to say to them?
Additional media literacy questions are available at:
www.pbs.org/pov/educators/media-literacy.php
The Gnagnatti brothers share a meal during their trip
through Italy.
Photo courtesy of Tamar Tal Anati
• Invite survivors of the Nazi Holocaust
or other genocides to tell their
stories, perhaps as part of a
Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom
HaShoah) observance. Consider
recording the stories and making
them available to future generations
via local libraries or archives, and/or
creating a public exhibit of recordings
and artifacts from survivors in your
community.
• In the film, the family gathers for a
Passover Seder. Use your holiday
gatherings or life cycle celebrations
as an opportunity for family elders to
share the stories that comprise your
family’s history.
• Plan a family trip to visit the place(s)
where your grandparents or great
grandparents were born or raised.
• Convene a reading group to read
historical memoirs from the Holocaust
(or other genocides) and compare
their methods and styles with the way
Tamar Tal Anati and the brothers in
the film construct their memories.
|15DISCUSSION GUIDE
Shalom Italia
The three brothers entering the forest for
the first time, Toscana.
Photo courtesy of Tamar Tal Anati
TAKING ACTION
Italian Jews
CENTRO PRIMO LEVI:
http://primolevicenter.org/
The Centro Primo Levi cultivates education and debate on
Primo Levi’s work and the Italian Jewish past, as well as
current perspectives and conversations on the Italian
Jewish community.
EUROPEAN JEWISH CONGRESS:
“THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ITALY”
www.eurojewcong.org/communities/italy.html
This page offers an overview of the history of Jews in
Italy.
The Holocaust History and Remembrance
UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM
www.ushmm.org/ -
his museum’s website houses a broad collection of
information for student and general public audiences. Of
special interest is this page on the Holocaust in Italy:
https://www.ushmm.org/learn/mapping-initiatives/
geographies-of-the-holocaust/the-holocaust-in-italy
USC SHOAH FOUNDATION: THE INSTITUTE FOR
VISUAL HISTORY AND EDUCATION
http://sfi.usc.edu/
The website for the world’s largest collection of
videotaped oral histories from survivors of the
Holocaust and other genocides also includes
resources for teachers and research.
YAD VASHEM:
“THE RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS”
www.yadvashem.org/righteous
Yad Vashem is Israel’s Holocaust memorial and research
center. This page on its website is related to gentiles who
saved Jews.
Oral History and Testimony
Many organizations in the United States and abroad are
dedicated to recording and preserving the stories of
survivors of the Holocaust. Below are just a few examples.
The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive
at The University of Michigan-Dearborn
http://holocaust.umd.umich.edu/
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Jeff and Toby
Herr Oral History Archive
https://www.ushmm.org/collections/the-museums-collections/about/oral-history
New York Public Library American Jewish Committee Oral
History Collection
https://www.nypl.org/collections/nypl-recommen-dations/guides/jewishoralhistories
RESOURCES
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Shalom Italia
Original Online Content on POV To further enhance the broadcast, POV has produced an interactive website to enable viewers to explore the film in
greater depth. The Shalom Italia website—www.pbs.org/pov/shalomitalia—offers a streaming video trailer for the
film; an interview with the filmmaker; a list of related websites, articles and books; a downloadable discussion guide;
and special features.
FILM-RELATED WEB SITES
SHALOM ITALIA
http://tamartal.com/shalom-italia
The film’s official website offers information about the film
in both Hebrew and English.
HOW TO BUY THE FILM
To order Shalom Italia for home use, visit http://tamartal.com/shalom-italia
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Front cover: The brothers dining. Photo courtesy of Tamar Tal Anati