Film Brings History to Life for Ninth Grade Students

12/11/2024

As the ninth grade English classes prepare to dive into the powerful memoir “Night” by Elie Wiesel, students were given a unique opportunity to study the Holocaust through a screening of the documentary “How Saba Kept Singing” followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.

The award-winning film traces the journey of Holocaust survivor David “Saba” Wisnia, a musician who spends his later years traveling with his grandson and musical accompanist, Avi Wisnia, as they share the story of how Saba survived the Holocaust through music, faith and love.

“I thought it was a great way to start our unit about ‘Night’ because some people don't really have any knowledge of the Holocaust, and other kids have a lot of knowledge,” explained Miriam Emery, chair of the English Department.

After the screening, Avi performed a song and joined Sara Taksler, the film’s director, for a Q&A. One student asked about the animation used in the film.

“The filmmakers thought of all the animated sections as acts of defiance,” Emery shared. “When we think of acts of defiance, we might think of something overt like Saba escaping the Nazis because he hit one of them with a shovel and then ran away. But having friendships in the camps and writing music in the camps are acts of defiance in a dehumanizing situation like that. So this explanation really expanded the students' thinking about what an act of defiance is in that kind of situation.”

Jasmine Mao ’28 appreciated the film’s overall message. “It included the tragedy and the horror of the Holocaust but also had a very powerful love story,” she said. “Watching it provoked a lot of compassion from me.”

Sam Savage, associate head for faculty and academics, explained the importance of this type of education experience. “It helps us engage intellectually and emotionally with the content, structure, rhetoric and purpose of consequential narratives. By applying new modes of thinking and understanding to a task we practice frequently, like reading a memoir, we open ourselves up to deeper learning. In this way, we develop skills and awareness that can help us find ourselves and each other amidst the tragedy and serendipity of our complex world.”

Mao said, “I think by learning the history of the Holocaust, it is really helpful for us so we can learn to stand up against any kind of discrimination or hatred toward a group of people so it doesn't happen again now.”