29 Months in Exile | Statement of Significance

statement of significance

[Frits Mendels] 29monthsinexile chronicles the unique experiences leading to the miraculous survival of my father's Jewish family between 1939 and 1945 in German-occupied France. As the story unfolds, the viewer becomes intimately aquainted with the non-Jews who contributed to their survival, the emotional legacy of the experience for my family, and the questions implicitly raised about the Holocaust for Jews of my generation.
This film uncovers specific details about the Holocaust through an exploration of stories specific to my family. But it also raises more general issues and questions including who among us would risk his or her life to help a stranger, whether through courageous action or merely through silence. It also addresses the relationship between family history and cultural history; while each experience is unique, this individual and personal story parallels many other stories and therefore sheds light on the broader period of history. A focus on personal anecdotes, and thus the very human quality of this story, allows the general public to connect with the details on a personal emotional level, as well as through an intellectual historical interest.
[Journal] The links between the process of investigating a family history and that of illuminating a broader cultural history are also present in the film. There are so many unknowns in my family's story; we will never know the full details because we waited too long to ask questions. This reflects the history of the Holocaust in general; there is a current urgency to collect as much information as possible before it is too late and the witnesses and survivors have died. Historical and personal events take a long time to sort out and as a result our interpretation of history, both personal and cultural, changes as time goes on.
There is an increasingly pressing need for this story and others like it to be documented and shared, as more survivors and witnesses are nearing the end of their lives. Historically, America has been a place for refugees to forget their past and begin anew, as many victims of WWII have done. In this process, however, the subsequent generations have paid a great price. This "social amnesia" has produced generations that have lost a tangible connection to their history and their heritage; 29monthsinexile is my attempt to reconnect with that significant past. My task, and the responsibility of my generation, is to help our parents, grandparents, and relatives through the difficult process of resurrecting those painful memories before a vital part of our history is lost and forgotten. Documenting the past is a powerful measure against forgetting our collective history.

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29 Months in Exile Copyright © 1997-2005 Nathaniel Bornstein and Jessica Mendels.




statement of significance	29monthsinexile chronicles the unique experiences leading to the miraculous survival of my father's Jewish family between 1939 and 1945 in German-occupied France. As the story unfolds, the viewer becomes intimately aquainted with the non-Jews who contributed to their survival, the emotional legacy of the experience for my family, and the questions implicitly raised about the Holocaust for Jews of my generation. This film uncovers specific details about the Holocaust through an exploration of stories specific to my family. But it also raises more general issues and questions including who among us would risk his or her life to help a stranger, whether through courageous action or merely through silence. It also addresses the relationship between family history and cultural history; while each experience is unique, this individual and personal story parallels many other stories and therefore sheds light on the broader period of history. A focus on personal anecdotes, and thus the very human quality of this story, allows the general public to connect with the details on a personal emotional level, as well as through an intellectual historical interest. The links between the process of investigating a family history and that of illuminating a broader cultural history are also present in the film. There are so many unknowns in my family's story; we will never know the full details because we waited too long to ask questions. This reflects the history of the Holocaust in general; there is a current urgency to collect as much information as possible before it is too late and the witnesses and survivors have died. Historical and personal events take a long time to sort out and as a result our interpretation of history, both personal and cultural, changes as time goes on. There is an increasingly pressing need for this story and others like it to be documented and shared, as more survivors and witnesses are nearing the end of their lives. Historically, America has been a place for refugees to forget their past and begin anew, as many victims of WWII have done. In this process, however, the subsequent generations have paid a great price. This "social amnesia" has produced generations that have lost a tangible connection to their history and their heritage; 29monthsinexile is my attempt to reconnect with that significant past. My task, and the responsibility of my generation, is to help our parents, grandparents, and relatives through the difficult process of resurrecting those painful memories before a vital part of our history is lost and forgotten. Documenting the past is a powerful measure against forgetting our collective history.
	Next: Key Participants

Director's Welcome \| Key Participants \| Image Gallery \| Press \| Resources \| Site Map \| Exit
29 Months in Exile Copyright © 1997-2005 Nathaniel Bornstein and Jessica Mendels.