Kansas City PBS has announced a new documentary that follows Holocaust survivors who immigrated to the United States and settled in Kansas City after the allied liberation in 1945. From Emmy-winning producer Brad Austin (Bird: Not Out of Nowhere; Me, Dorothy...And This Road to Oz), All These Delicate Sorrowsfocuses on these individual and deeply emotional stories and premieres Thursday, June 17, at 7 p.m. on Channel 19.1.
“All These Delicate Sorrows adds a local connection to the emotional stories of these survivors,” said Kliff Kuehl, President & CEO of Kansas City PBS. “We are honored to be able to share their journeys from liberation to the final decision to settle right here in Kansas City. This documentary will also help amplify the experience of those who visit Union Station’s exhibit,Auschwitz: Not long Ago. Not Far Away.”
All These Delicate Sorrows features archival testimonials from survivors and commentary from local historians, with Jessica Rockhold, Executive Director of the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, as a narrative guide.
“When we study the Holocaust in school, there tend to be gaps in what we actually learn, ”Brad Austin, Creative Arts Producer said. “We rarely talk about what liberation meant for those who suffered throughout this time. It has been a deeply touching experience to be able to honor the legacy of these survivors who moved to Kansas City, who put down new roots and built new lives here.”
After more than six years of being moved throughout Europe during World War II, survivors suddenly found themselves without their communities, families or homes. With nowhere to go after the war ended, most Jewish survivors lived in displaced persons camps, formerly concentration camps, directly following liberation. Many found themselves again sharing living quarters with strangers, some of whom had actively persecuted them.
With a renewed sense of hope and plans for a fresh start after liberation, some survivors decided to begin life anew in the United States and ultimately settled in the Midwest. The film chronicles the years that followed their arrival as they raised families and worked to educate Kansas City about the Holocaust by founding local organizations, including the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, which was founded in 1993 by Jack Mandelbaum and Isak Federman.
Support for this program is generously provided by Bank of America, Bonnie and Herbert Buchbinder, Marlese and Robert Gourley and Mary and Tom Bloch.
For more, visit kansascitypbs.org/delicatesorrows.
The presenting sponsor for this production is Bank of America with support from Bonnie & Herbert Buchbinder, Marlese & Robert Gourley and Mary & Tom Bloch.