Sisters in Resistance

Infobox Film
name = Sisters in Resistance


image_size = 150px
caption = Jacqueline Pery and Genevive de Gaulle
director = Maia Wechsler
producer =
writer =
narrator = Kate Mulgrew
starring =
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor =
released = 2000
runtime = 60 min.
country = USA
language = French with English subtitles
budget =
preceded_by =
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website = http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/sistersinresistance/
amg_id =
imdb_id = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365759/

"Sisters in Resistance" is a 2000 documentary by Maia Wechsler that tells the story of four young, beautiful Gentile woman who fought against the the German occupation of France during World War II. The film won Outstanding Documentary by the Academy Award Screening Committee and won Best Documentary in the Woman in Cinema Film Festival.

ummary

“Indignation can move mountains. It's the strongest emotion,” says Germaine Tillion, an anthropology student and active leader in the resistance movement in France, “Face with crime and cruelty, something wells up within you. I call it indignation. It's two fold: Anger and revolution, but also a feeling that justice is on your side and the person before you represents evil.”

When Germany invaded France in May of 1940, a small group of women recognized the threat that the Nazis posed and took a stand to fight on the side of humanity for their nations freedom. "Sisters in Resistance" follows Jacqueline Pery, Anise Pstel-Vinay, Germaine Tillion, and Genevive de Gaulle - the niece of Charles de Gaulle – through their heroic war-time experiences. At the brink of womanhood, when most of them were not yet twenty-years-old, they let their moral foundation inform their actions. While much of the population stood idly by, these young women made protest fliers, tore down Nazi flags, delivered secret war correspondence, and hid their fellow Jews.

All four woman clearly recognized the danger they were putting themselves into, but that didn't stop them from doing what they believed was right. Jaqueline says she remembers the first time she saw a small Jewish child branded by a bright yellow Star of David. She was disgusted and horrified. It was then that she realized, “I was ready to loose my life. I had to fight.”

But their actions had consequences. All four were arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and sent to Ravensbruck, an entirely female concentration camp. There, these Gentiles suffered alongside the Jews. Just as their solidarity gave them courage to fight against German occupation, so too simple acts of friendship and kindness helped them survive in Ravensbruck. Everyday Germaine would give her friend a little piece of her bread, saying insistently, “Take it. You're young. You'll survive, marry, and have ten children.”

Although they witnessed death all around them, all four friends survive. They say the inhumanity they experienced during the Holocaust only encouraged them to continue fighting for human rights and justice. After being released from the concentration camp, they went off in different directions, but continued to work in humanitarianism. Jacqueline moved to America and lectured to students about her war-time experiences, Germaine denounced France's military use of torture in the Algerian War for Independence, Anise documented the use of poison gas in Ravensbruck, and Genevive lead an international movement to help the poor.

At the end of the documentary, Genevive quotes French writer Andre Malraux, saying, “the only response to absolute evil is fraternity.”

Production

Reception

References

ee also

*Resistance movements
*Resistance during World War II
*French resistance
*World War II

Other Documentaries about Holocaust survivors:
*"Pola's March"
*"Marion's Triumph"
*"Boys of Buchenwald"
*"A Story about a Bad Dream"

External links

* [http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/sistersinresistance/ PBS's website for "Sisters of the Resistance"]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365759/ IMDb website for "Sisters of the Resistance"]
* [http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c563.shtml Women Make Movies page for "Sisters of the Resistance"]
* [http://www.itvs.org/pressroom/pressRelease.htm?pressId=169 Press Release]
* [http://homepages.indiana.edu/041202/text/sisters.html 'Sisters in Resistance' withstood Ravensbrück]
* [http://www.tjctv.com/blogs/never-forget-no-man-is-an-island/ The Jewish Channel's blog about "Sisters in Resistance"]