Blue Heron International Pictures LLC

  Sonia Frenkel 

Marsha Goren

 and the Global Dreamers

                          (Photo of Sonia Frenkel courtesy of Global Dreamers)

 

Sonia Frenkel was a Holocaust survivor of Midanjek and Auschwitz. Before passing away in 1991, she asked her daughter  "to educate kids for a better tomorrow around the world."

Marsha Goren has created an internationally acclaimed website, called Global Dreamers, which is a powerful fulfillment of her mother's last wishes. 

 

                  Marsha Goren and some of her Global Dreamers

 

According to Marsha:

"Global Dreamers inspires children to take a deeper look at the world by exploring, exchanging ideas, and using research tools. It supports a positive learning environment and a shared learning experience.

                                                                   (Photo by Alex Ringer)

 

By inviting the participation of children from around the globe, it supports the fight against the Digital Divide. In addition, it aims to encourage cross-cultural communication and promote global understanding, while helping children to expand their knowledge as well as supporting the innovative use of new technologies in education.

                                  (Photo by Alex Ringer)

 

Above all, Global Dreamers attempts to create a more tolerant individual in a multicultural society. We believe that by understanding and learning about others, children can face a better world."

To visit Global Dreamers, click here.

 

                                                        (Photo courtesy of Moshe Tirosh)

 

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To Gary and Richard Lester,

I watched "Safe Haven: The Warsaw Zoo" and I was fascinated by the story it revealed. The beginning was charming, and it helped show the contrast between Warsaw before, during, and after the war. 

The pictures and sound effects really helped set the mood based on the time and place of the story. In my opinion, “Safe Haven” was a beautiful documentary film filled with details, and -- unlike several documentary films I’ve watched --  it had feeling.

The film, through its quotes and pictures, helps people --  both Holocaust survivors and the later generations --  to feel what the life of those who lived in the Warsaw ghetto must have been like.

I admire the courage of the Zabinski family. Many non-Jewish families didn’t do anything to help the victims of the Holocaust in fear of their lives.

The Zabinski's, on the other hand, seemed to realize that though there was much at stake,  it was worth it if they managed to save lives. 

Never was there anything like the Holocaust, and we hope with all our might there never will be again.                                   Gaya

 

     Ryszard relaxing inside his Warsaw home  (Photo by Piotr Bujnowicz)

 

The movie was an exciting movie. The fire in the movie looks like it was taken from the real life, like the sounds. The movie shows stories from the Holocaust with  wonderful effects and scary photos. We cried during the movie because we heard of the terrible things that the Nazis did. We think it's very important to teach children about the Holocaust. We will never forget!      

                                                                                       Or and Mickey  

 

I was amazed by the movie Safe Haven: The Warsaw Zoo. The movie was exiting and interesting, it was strong and I enjoyed every moment. The Holocaust shocked the world and we have to remember it.                                                                   Ori ML Israel

 

 

 

It was very nice to see people who weren't Jewish brave enough to help us, the Jewish people, even if it could cost them their lives.           Tomer

 

 

I think the film showed compassionate people who weren't Jewish helping to hide the Jewish people from the Nazis. They took a big risk.              Daniel

 

Your movie is strong evidence that -- despite all of the evil -- there were ordinary people who cared. You deserve a lot of credit for this work.                                                                                        Shay

 

 

I really was impressed from the movie. The sounds were very strong, powerful. When I heard of the Polish soldiers who fought the German soldiers, I suddenly remembered the story of Massada, where the Jewish soldiers died, one after another. The Romans killed them all, but they still fought, and were heroes. May God bless you both.              Eiron S.

 

Moshe  Moshe Tirosh's story was very interesting and exciting.               We can't describe what people endured in the Holocaust, but     we can remember them and how they suffered.                                                                                                              Ariel V. and Zohar.

 

The movie was exiting. We were impressed by the way you presented the facts. When we see movies about the Holocaust, we are descendents of the people who lived through it.                                                                                Nufar and Ziv

 

 

We loved your movie. It was very interesting and sad.
We think that the movie is very important because it helped us to learn more about the Holocaust.     Michael and Matan

 

 

Hello, my name is Almog.

I don’t have any "personal special story" about my family. The most exciting thing I can tell you is my grandfather and grandmother from both sides of my parents were in the Holocaust.

They got through it despite many hardships and remained alive. They had to watch an SS officer take his gun and kill their families. Actually they didn’t like to talk about that. THEY WERE AFRAID.

So your movie has real meaning to me, a grandchild who never heard about his family, and yet I know how courageous they all were.                                                                              Almog

 

 

Safe Haven is a touching movie that taught us a lot. We think that the people who hid the Jews in the zoo are really kind and good, and are an example to kind people who think all people are the same.

We didn't know that so many people were saved thanks to the Warsaw Zoo. We think Gary Lester, the director of the movie, did a great job and taught us a lot about our people.

The sound effects and image effects in the movie were amazing, and really illustrated what happened there.

 We hope your movie will affect a lot of people.                                   

                                                                                   Eldar and Omer

 

 

I think it is important to remember the Holocaust, and this movie is very important in doing so.

As I watched the movie, I felt a pinch in my heart. The Germans killed more than 6 million Jews and 11 million people altogether. The Second World War was terrible for so many innocent men, women and children. So many were killed at the hands of the Germans. There was so much suffering caused by the brutal Nazis, who considered themselves holy and above all others.

In the middle of this nightmare, your movie shows a light -- people who endangered themselves and knew they would pay a horrible price if caught by the Germans. It shows that there are people who can show compassion and care about others, despite the evil around them.

That is the message of your movie, Gary and Richard, that mankind can prevail even in hard times, and that the good can conquer evil even during the dark days of the Holocaust.

Our teacher Marsha was crying at the end of the film, as she is a firm believer in helping children in becoming good people.  Omri

 

 

 

We think the movie was exciting. It taught us a lot about the Holocaust. The film showed us a time during the Holocaust when some people believed the Jews were human beings just like them and did not abuse them.

We think that the people who endangered their lives for the sake of the Jews have to truly be good people. We think the Germans living today are not guilty for the behavior of their fathers, and Jews do not blame others or refer to them in anger.

We are happy that we were learning about the Holocaust. Marsha educates us through values when learning about the Holocaust. We are proud of you, Gary and Richard Lester, for caring about making the world a better place.                             Lior and Ronya

 

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 Mail Received From Children in Israel After the Channel 10 Network Broadcast

 

The movie "Safe Haven: The Warsaw Zoo"

The movie tells about 300 Jewish men, women, and children who escape from the Warsaw Ghetto and find a safe haven in the Warsaw Zoo.

I feel very grateful about Jan Zabinski and his family,  who decided to hide 300 people in their home by risking their own lives.

Written by: Limor, 5^th grade.

 

Dear Gary Lester!

I think the movie can help the world understand what happened during the Holocaust. The film touched me very much.                                                                     

                                                                             Eldar 5^th grade

 

Dear Gary and Richard Lester,

I think that the movie you created is really important because it tells everyone that there was a Holocaust, and 6,000,000 Jewish people were  killed in the extermination camps and in the ghettoes.

It tells us about good people too --  good people who hid the Jewish people in their houses (and zoos).

                                                                                        Eric K.

 

I liked the movie. The movie is nice, but it is very sad. The movie was very interesting. The story was very exciting.

                                                                                   Gaya, 4th Grade

 

When I saw the movie, I felt a sadness to see what happened to our people in the Holocaust. I think all the people hiding Jews were brave people, heroes. I liked the movie.

                                                                                    Tomer 5^th grade

 

 

Safe Haven

It was a very interesting movie and very sad. I liked when the survivors tell about what they have done and how they hid even in a zoo, and how some Polish people helped Jewish people.

                                                                      Idan C. 5^th grade

 

Dear Gary Lester,

I think your movie showed to the world, there were good people in the Holocaust. They resisted even though they knew they could die. I think your movie showed the sadness and that it (the Holocaust) was serious.

I see the film as a message to people who deny the Holocaust. The people in the film told their stories and  they did not have to lie. They are the proof!

I think that you are not Jewish and you still made a movie about the Holocaust that shows how much you care.

                                                                           Shaked 5^th grade

 

Dear Gary Lester,

This is important to make a movie about the Holocaust and about people who helped other people.This was nice that a man who worked in the municipality went to the Ghetto and allowed Jewish people to enter the zoo.

This was nice that the manager of the zoo allowed the Jewish people to hide in the zoo.

                                                                                 Matan 5^th grade

Dear Gary Lester,

The movie is interesting. This is amazing that one person helped hide so many Jews in the Holocaust. My banner is on your site and I am proud.                                        

                                                             Johnathan 4^th grade

 

Hello Gary!

My name is Bar and I'm from Israel. I saw the movie on Holocaust Day in Israel and I was very excited.The very beautiful movie has a deep sense of feeling.The movie touched my heart. I like the movie. Thank you!

                                                                                   Bar S.

 

Dear Gary and Richard Lester,
I would like to thank you for making the movie "Safe Haven." It's very exciting that you created the movie even thogh you are not Jews. I learned from the movie how the Jews found ways to hide from the Germans.

                                                                           Bar O, 4^th grade

 

Dear Gary and Richard Lester ,
I would like to express my appreciation for your work on memorizing the Holocaust, by giving facts that it really happened during the second world war .

                                                                          Liraz 4^th grade

 

I think the movie was very interesting and exciting. I learned about a family who hid Jews during the Holocaust. The family was very kind.  

                                                                                                       Tal B

 

I liked the people who helped the Jews. I liked the zookeeper. I also liked the animals in the zoo.

                                                                                   Inbal A.  4th Grade

 

Dear Gary,

In the movie Safe Haven: The Warsaw Zoo, I would like to tell you that I was impressed by the rebellion in Poland.

                                                                                   Yaniv Z, 4th Grade

 

Dear Gary and Richard Lester,

Your movie was beautiful. I loved how it reflected the Holocaust. I think the interviews with the Holocaust survivors really matched the movie.

Some parts were hard for me to watch because the description of the situation was so exact, so frightening. The part where Asia Doliner talks about the boy who laughed as the Jews were burning was implanted in my memory. I can't forget it.

I think the Zabinskis were true heroes.

                                                                                      Chen M.

 

Dear Gary and Richard,

Yesterday I watched your movie "Safe Haven" on Channel 10. The movie was interesting. I learned from the movie a lot about the Holocaust. I liked that it showed a true story.

Thank you very much.

                                                                            Gal

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     Student Mail From New Delhi, India 

"Safe Haven" is a very thought-provoking and poignant film. It forces us to recall memories of the sad plight of the Jews all over
Europe.

Also, it is an outlet for knowledge about the miserable
conditions of the Jews during the Nazi rule.

The contributions of Jan, Antonina, Ryszard Zabinski, and all the other rescuers are to be spread to the whole world. All of them stood against all odds and helped to redefine humanity and bravery.

                                                        Shibika Suresh, New Delhi

 

 

Gary Lester has directed a wonderful movie which touched the very depth of my heart. It did bring tears to my eyes. I never thought about all the suffering before watching this movie.

Feliks Pastusiak and Alex Ringer have produced a great film, and Piotr Bujnowicz’s work was the best, according to me. He really injected life into his photographs.

                                                                           Kashish Grover, New Delhi

 

The memoirs about the holocaust have filled libraries and museums and they sit there still -- a just  tribute to those who resisted, an embarrassing reminder to those who collaborated, and a warning to those who watched in silence.

                                                           MANI MAKKAR, INDIA

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     Students in Poland React to Safe Haven

 

Films like this one are needed because of the low level of knowledge about historical facts. I think that it was a great idea to produce something like this.                

                                                       Pawel Lipinski

 

The film is the best production I have ever watched. This film is amazing, and it presents a very sad, but very real, story.                        

                                                    Michal Skrzypczak

 

The film about Jan and Antonina Zabinski is like a diary written during the times of the Second World War. The photos with music make a "mirror" that shows what the war looked like. The speaker was speaking very slowly so I understood what the film was about.

                                                          Angelika Kubicka

 

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   Mail Excerpts From the United States

 

Dear Gary Lester,

The movie makes me feel really sad for the people in Warsaw , especially the Jewish people. It makes me think, “What did the Jews do to the Germans that made them do this?”

It makes me grateful for the Polish people and the people of the Warsaw Zoo to do what they did to save lots of lives.

                     Kate (4^th Grader at Lincoln School - Oak Park, IL )

 

 

Dear Gary Lester,

I just watched the movie, Safe Haven The Warsaw Zoo. It was a very good movie. I feel sad for the children that got shot, the people that got burned to death, and the people of Warsaw  that suffered because of the German soldiers who took their food to feed their own people.

I think the owners of the Warsaw Zoo were very brave. I think they were brave because they hid a lot of Jews with the risk of the Germans finding them.

Miyumi (Mimi) (4^th Grader at Lincoln School- Oak Park, IL )

 

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  Mail from another Warsaw......

.......Warsaw, Indiana USA

Dear Friends,                          

We just saw the movie The Warsaw Zoo. It was very sad because the Polish resistance held the Nazis back, but then more troops were sent in.

I think that the citizens who took arms to try to hold back the Germans probably needed a lot of courage to take on all those Germans like that.

It  was wrong for Hitler to kill so many innocent lives like he did.

                                                                           Alex L.

 

We just saw a movie about the Safe Haven Zoo. It was really sad. But it was very interesting. It would be very scary to have to live through that time. It would be a nightmare. I cannot imagine seeing these airplanes flying through the air dropping bombs, causing fires, wrecks, and death. I would have been scared to death. This is so important and we thank everyone in the movie and the Lester family.

                                                                     Megan L.

 

We just saw The Safe Haven the Warsaw Zoo movie and it was inspiring. I learned a lot from this movie.                

                                                                              Taylor

 

Today we watched the movie “The Warsaw Zoo.” 

We had just finished talking about the Underground Railroad, and yesterday we played a game. There were Conductors, people at rest points, Slave Catchers, and Slaves. (I was one of the slaves.)

We had run away at the beginning of the game and found a Conductor. We were at our second rest point and our conductor got caught!!! It was scary. We had no idea what to do!

We stayed at the point a little longer, and then we started to go. There were slave catchers all over! So I ran as fast as I could.  I had people chasing me from behin. I was one step away from the rest point when I got caught! I had to go back to the plantation! 

I was thinking that it is kind of similar to hiding in a war. There were people all around you who wanted to do something bad to you. You never knew what would happen. You hardly knew anything, except that you needed to hide.

                                                                                    Amanda 

We just  watched the video, The Warsaw Zoo, and I think that it was very sad because of all of the people who died in the Holocaust.

I think that there should never ever be a WAR again because all that it does is kill people and there’s no reason to have wars.

You can at least try to be KIND to each other, even if you don’t like a person. If you treat other people nicely, then hoprfully they are going to treat you nicely. The movie has taught me to be a better person.

                                     Chelsey 

 

We just watched The Warsaw Zoo Movie.  I never realized how bad the Holocaust was. I was trying to picture myself as a Jewish person. My vision was horrid. I know it was terrifying for the Jewish people.  I am sorry. I thank everyone who produced this movie very much for showing me how fortunate we are.

                                                                               Hayley

 

We just watched another movie called Warsaw Zoo in Safe Haven. It was a true picture of what happened in the Holocaust. The video that showed that although the Jews had a different religion, they were still people, and that it was not fair that they were  treated like that. I mean, this was so cruel. We will remember the harsh  treatment that they endured.

Later, after the Holocaust, they made the Warsaw Zoo into a zoo that I hope will share this story with kids, so they might grow up to understand the Holocaust and what it means to respect people.

                                                                          Heidi Z.

 

One of the parts in the movie that was sad was when they said that they started sending five year olds under the wall where there were holes to get food and bring it back. Then they said that when the soldiers caught the five year olds, they would not hesitate to kill the little kids.

                                                                         Noemi V.

               Ryszard Zabinski at his Warsaw home (Photo by Piotr Bujnowicz)

 

We just watched the Safe Haven: The Warsaw Zoo. It was a good, but a sad movie.

                                                                           Wesley  

 

 I really felt sad because people were so scared to be arrested and killed. I thank you for actually helping with this movie, because it tells people how hard life is when there are other people who want to kill or hurt you.  It is really sad.

                                                                             Timothy R. 

 

I liked the movie because it tells you about what happened to the animals. If you see animals or people who need help, help them! Every day, there are  people who need help. Help the animals too and try not to make them die. You can have lots of feelings about people and animals.
                                                                                Shelbie N.

I actually felt all the pain that the people in the movie did, and so now I know what it was like. That was really hard, but I liked finding out things that I never knew before.

                                                                                   Kayl

We saw the movie of the Warsaw Zoo. It was sad because the animals escaped from the cages and some were killed by the roofs collapsing. It would be scary if somebody lived there then, and it would make you cry if a little kid were killed.

                                                                               Jose

 

We just finished watching the movie Warsaw Zoo. I think everyone in class thought of how sad it was. I could not imagine what I would have done if I were there.

                                                                          Hannah B

 

 

Children where able to go through the wall that the Germans built to get food for the Jews.  I thought it was a sad movie.
                                                                          Dakota B.

We just watched the Warsaw Zoo movie. It was a great movie. If I were  there, I would be scared and frightened to go through that. I wonder what you would have done if you were in there. It was mean and cruel, but the movie shows hope.

                                                                                          Alex W.

             Excerpts from The Glass Class at Harrison Elementary School in Warsaw, Indiana

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 Exciting News

 

 

 

                                                                                                              

                          Graphics by Global Dreamers 

             Maor (opening), Johnathan (middle), and Omri (closing)

Photos courtesy of Piotr Bujnowicz, the Zabinski Family, and Global Dreamers

Stills from the Channel 10 broadcast courtesy of Channel 10 and Alex Ringer

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Miki and Udi

                                                                                                                                    

                                         (Photo by Udi Goldwasser)

Soon after releasing Deliver Us From Evil, our second documentary film expressing hope for world tolerance, we received an e-mail from Miki Goldwasser in Israel.

She sent us a photograph taken by her son. The image shows three beautiful herons in flight.

We felt compelled to share Udi's  photograph, his story, and a mother's desperate hope for a son's safe return.

There can be no more eloquent plea for tolerance and understanding in our world today. 

 

 

           Udi Goldwasser    (Photo and text courtesy of habanim)

      

              Udi's Story

             

                         (Photo courtesy of Miki Goldwasser)

 

Udi Goldwasser was born in Nahariya Israel on July 18,1975.  Udi was a man of principles and values, knowledgeable in many subjects. He loved movies, music and spending time with his friends.  

Udi had many friends from the different periods of his life: friends with whom he grew up in Nahariya, pals from the army, friends from the  Technion, and friends from his travels around the world.   

 

                            (Photo courtesy of Miki Goldwasser)

                 

 Udi believed in conservation of the environment. He loved animals, especially his two cats and "mishehoo," an abandoned and injured dog he lovingly adopted.

Udi also had a special love for children. He was always talking proudly of the kids in his family and of his friends' kids.

During the last few years of his life, Udi developed a great interest in photography. He spent much of his spare time taking photos of scenery and nature, both in Israel and abroad.

      

  

                          (Photo courtesy of Miki Goldwasser)

 

 On July 12, 2006, Udi Goldwasser and his friend, Eldad Regev, were abducted to Lebanon after Hezbollah attacked their military patrol.   

They remained missing for two years.

On Wednesday morning, July 16, 2008, two black coffins were delivered to Israeli officials through a border gate between Israel and Lebanon -- a sad ending to a story of hope.

You may visit a children's memorial site for Udi at

Global Dreamers.

                                                              (Photo by Zmira Ringer)

 

    "Thy children shall come again to their own borders."

                                                                                Jeremiah 31, 17