Though there are so many moving films made about the Holocaust — both narrative films and documentaries — there are hundreds, if not thousands, of more stories yet to be told. One of the most extraordinary true stories from the Holocaust is finally being told in a documentary, 50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus, which will air Monday on HBO.
When even the U.S. government shied away from taking in Jewish refugees during the Nazi era, a Jewish couple in Philadelphia named Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus worked to save the lives of fifty children from Vienna. The Krauses went as far as traveling into Germany — risking their own lives — in order to secure the lives of the children, ages 5 to 14. Not only that, but the children had to abandon their families in Europe to start their new lives in America.
The documentary was directed by journalist and first-time filmmaker Steven Pressman, the grandson-in-law of the Krauses, and is based on the memoir written by Eleanor Kraus. It is narrated by Alan Alda and Mamie Gummer.
50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus airs on Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 8, at 9PM EST on HBO. For more information, check out the website here.
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