The Shuffle of Little Shoes Left Behind

The Shuffle of Little Shoes Left Behind is an interview program with four former child survivors. The first interview is with Sonia Levitin, an award-winning author of more than thirty books for children and young adults. Her books have been translated into many languages and are a "must read" for all children, parents, and teachers. Ms. Levitin was three years old when she and her family had to leave Germany. Today, Ms. Levitin lives in Beverly Hills, California.
The second segment presents Dr. Deborah Vietor-Englander, a professor of literature now teaching at a major university in Germany. Dr. Englaender's immediate famly survived World War II in Great Britain. Other members of her family were taken to various camps. A theater play about Dr. Englaender's cousin and her internment in Theresienstadt concentration camp with the title I Never Saw Another Butterfly just opened in London.

Dr. Guy Stern, a professor of comparative literature and German at Wayne State University and a member of the Board of Directors of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., was only fifteen years old when he came to the US. Guy Stern was the only member of his family who received a prized American immigration visa. None of his immediate family was able to leave Germany and instead was transported by the Nazis to Eastern Europe. His beloved mother, his father, his brother, and his sister perished in the Warsaw Ghetto. Later, as an American soldier, Guy Stern was among those Allied soldiers who in 1945 liberated Buchenwald concentration camp.

The final segment is with Dr. Laureen Nussbaum from Portland, Oregon who knew Anne Frank. Contrary to Anne and her family, Laureen Nussbaum was able to survive the Holocaust on false papers that allowed her to live in Holland under an assumed name. Dr. Nussbaum and Anne Frank's father met up again in 1946 in Holland. In the interview, she speaks about the various versions of Anne Frank's diary and describes the problems Mr. Frank faced trying to publish his daughter's writings.

These powerful interviews provide the viewer with an in-depth understanding of what kind of talent must have been destroyed. The remarks of the four interviewees convey their suffering but also their resilience, their passion, and their determination to forgive but never to forget. Sonia Levitin, Deborah Vietor-Englaender, Guy Stern, and Laureen Nussbaum came to Reno as speakers at an international conference on Children in Exile--Children during the Holocaust--Children under Fascism at the University of Nevada, Reno in October 1996.

Joseph Galata from SNCAT-Reno guides through the program and Dr. Viktoria Hertling, the Director of the Center for Holocaust, Genocide & Peace Studies, concludes the program with some general remarks about the work of the Center at UNR and in the community.

The program runs for 80 minutes and was co-produced by the Center for Holocaust, Genocide & Peace Studies in conjunction with SNCAT-Reno. Since its original broadcast on November 19, 1996, the Shuffle has been shown on SNCAT several times. In 1997, Shuffle was awarded the International Telly Award.

To order a copy of The Shuffle of Little Shoes Left Behind contact:

SNCAT-RENO
4025 Kietzke Lane
Reno, NV 89502
(775) 828-1211

The cost of the video is $20.00, shipping and handling included.

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