Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War

This short documentary chronicles the lives and work of Waitstill and Martha Sharp – dedicated Unitarian ministry couple who worked at great peril to themselves in Prague and France to help Jews and others escape destruction at the hands of Hitler's Nazis.

This is a typical Ken Burns documentary with outstanding recollections of the many of those who were saved interspersed with letters etc. from the Sharps. The music, re- enactments, and narration make for a very dramatic and tense retelling of the exploits of this couple. And, as in all his films, the story being told is more than the story itself. It delves into how some people are willing to risk their lives and fortune for others; how families were willing to give up precious time with their families for others; and, of course, how Hitler's regime was the embodiment of evil on the earth. It also touches on the fears of immigration and blatant racism prevalent in 1940's America.

JOHN 15:13 was in my mind as I watched this file: "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." The Sharps did this out of a love for humanity, a commitment to social justice and because someone had to do something about the situation.

This is a very dramatic and tense story which is portrayed in the most effective fashion by Burns. The rescue of Mr. X (unidentified to this day) from Prague in 1939 and the rescue of numerous French Jews across the French Alps into Spain are as suspenseful as any modern movie. And, of course, this was true.

The bravery and commitment of this couple put to shame the French capitulators who were hunting down their own countrymen to turn them over to their conquerors. It also put to shame their own America's leaders who knew about the atrocities of the holocaust, but decided to just focus on a military victory as the quickest way to send the suffering; therefore, doing nothing to impede the genocide of the Jewish population of Europe.

In addition, the scenes of the Czechs shipping their children off to escape the clutches of the Nazis was poignant and extremely touching. As I watched this, I was wishing that today's younger generation would see this and get a sense of how life can be and how important it is for Christian values and freedom to reign in our country.

This is not Ken Burns' best or most well-known film. But it is one which needs to be seen. If it only inspires a few people in America today to do "the right thing," it will have met its purpose.

You can find the film at the library or watch it on line at:

m4ufree.tv/

I hope you watch it. You will be moved by it.

DonB

I was able to find a DVD copy of this powerful documentary at my local library. The film, co-directed by Ken Burns and Artemis Joukowsky, is narrated by Tom Hanks and Marina Goldman.

The movie depicts the dangerous and harrowing missions of Waitstill and Martha Sharp, who prior to and during WW2 ventured from their home in Massachusetts all across the continent of Europe. As members of the Unitarian Church, and despite the peril of the times, they felt compelled to aid and help Jews and other persecuted peoples, with their goal being to save them from Nazi extermination. Certainly, an important part of their mission was also to save as many children as possible, helping organize their departure from Nazi occupied lands, as their parents were unable to obtain visas.

I thought the documentary was meticulously researched, quite engrossing, and contained a good balance of archival footage, photographs, eyewitness accounts, and interviews.

Overall, this is a strong addition to the list of films that have depicted the bravery and self-sacrifice of those persons, such as the Sharps, who risked their own lives to save so many amidst the Nazi horrors in WW2.

I have seen a great many documentaries telling of the rescue of Jewish people, and family's during WW2, and watched this one only because I wanted to know their story. I found it very boring to view and I thought it lacked a great deal of information; how they actually got to know and plan all the stuff they would need to know to carry out their operational tasks. Maybe that could have been given if less time had been attached to the overly done inclusions of rather unimportant love letters.

I did think that the Unitarian church president was a callously unsympathetic pompous idiot (something that seems to be prevalent in most of the spin off religious group leaders...Mormons, Scientology etc); but so was Waitstill Sharp's attitude towards his wife's desire not to leave their children for a second time to return to Europe. They were both an incredibly brave couple of people, and the people they saved were most fortunate. However! I do not think they were such a good couple when it came down to putting their church (a made up religion at that) before their own children. Something which is in the minds of the kids (which I think you can just tell) even though they do not say it!

It was good that the documentary makers mentioned the betrayal by Britain, the despicable Vichy french etc. As I always feel important points like so are deliberately omitted from WW2 documentaries. Finally! Israel as per usual (as I have found a good many times before with there WW2 heroes awards) took another half century plus to finally honour this heroic couple. Shame on them...again!

The documentary itself is quite weak. The information is very important. It talks about individuals being virtuous by being individuals. And it talks about the masses that did all the monstrosities by being a part of the state.

Few seem to note that all the Sharps did is already illegal can leads to a suspension of civil rights and long prison times already in the whole of Europe. Only the regimes are less murderous.