(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)November 20, 2001

Mahwah – Award-winning filmmaker Lisa Gossels will show her film, Children of Chabannes, at The Glen Rock Jewish Center, 682 Harristown Road, Glen Rock, New Jersey, Sunday, December 2nd at 7 p.m. Admission is free and all are welcome. The event is sponsored by The Gross Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies at Ramapo College of New Jersey and The Glen Rock Jewish Center.

Winner of the 2001 Emmy for Outstanding Historical Programming with Limited Dramatization, Children of Chabannes tells the story of how a Paris-based Jewish organization dedicated to helping children, the Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE), aided by the residents of a tiny village in unoccupied France, saved more than 400 Jewish children from deportation and almost certain death during World War II. Following the screening, the filmmaker will participate in a discussion with the audience. At least one of the “children” saved, who lives locally, will also be present.

Founded in Russia in 1912 and headquartered in Paris since 1933, the OSE is an 88-year-old Jewish organization for healthcare and children’s welfare. Beginning in 1938, Jewish children fleeing Nazism began arriving in France from Germany and Nazi-occupied nations. The organization, which ran a number of children’s homes and other facilities in France throughout World War II, helped more than 5,500 Jewish children during and after the war, including Nobel Laureate and founding chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, Elie Wiesel.
Filmmaker Lisa Gossels returned to Chabannes with her father and uncle, two of the 400 children who were saved. Through intimate interviews with her father and the other “children” of Chabannes, the film recreates the joys and fears of daily life in that village. We see how this oasis of hope was shattered in August of 1942, when the war reached the doorsteps of the chateau where the children lived. Through accounts by the extraordinary teachers who taught and loved these children, this lyrical and moving film shows the remarkable efforts made by the citizens of Chabannes, who risked their lives and livelihoods to protect these children, simply because they felt it was the right thing to do.

In addition to the Emmy, Children of Chabannes also was the winner of the Special Jury Prize, The 1999 Avignon Film Festival Best Documentary Film, the 1999 Hollywood Film Festival Best Documentary Film and the First Prize Award, The Seventh Annual Jewish Video Competition – Holocaust Remembrance – History, Human Rights Award.

The Children of Chabannes had its American theatrical premiere at the Quad Cinema in New York City on June 9, 2000 and its U.S. television premiere on the HBO Signature Channel on June 11, 2000.

Founded in 1980, the Gross Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, located on the campus of Ramapo College. It encourages and assists persons of all ages in learning the history and lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides in the hope that through education such tragedies can be prevented from occurring again.

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About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

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