Public invited to Journey of Freedom screening

Wednesday, February 11th, the public is invited for a 55 minute screening of “JOURNEY TO FREEDOM“, a new documentary feature (scheduled for release in 2010) that is directed by Academy Award Winner Deborah Shaffer.

After the screening, Artemis Joukowsky, Executive Producer, will speak and answer questions. There are two screenings scheduled; one at 6 PM and one at 8 PM.

JOURNEY TO FREEDOM tells the story of Waitstill Sharp, a Unitarian minister, and his wife Martha, who just days before the invasion of Czechoslovakia, left their young children and home in Wellesley, MA to begin what would become a perilous, heroic
journey.

At a time when most Americans were turning a blind eye to the gathering clouds in Europe, this pair rushed headlong into the storm. Had they been captured helping Jews and anti-Nazi dissidents escape Czechoslovakia and France, the Sharps faced arrest, torture, and perhaps worse from the Gestapo.

Who were these “American Schindlers”? What lay behind their willingness to put the well being of their fellow human beings ahead of their own comfort and family? What is their legacy for us today?

When the Sharps were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem—the highest recognition accorded by the State of Israel to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Second World War—they became only the second and third Americans to be so honored among more than 21,000 others.

Theirs is a unique story that reveals a little-known chapter of Holocaust history and shines new light on America’s relationship to it.

The public screening will be held at the Gamache-Koger Theater in the Ringhaver Student Center at Flagler College, 50 Sevilla Street, St. Augustine, FL on February 11th, at 6:00 & 8:00 PM.

For more information go to WWW.JOURNEYTOFREEDOMFILM.COM or call 904.819.6205.