Unitarian Universalists to present 'Two Who Dared' April 7
In commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Unitarian Universalists of Southern Delaware will host a free public screening of the documentary "Two Who Dared: The Sharps' War" at 7 p.m., Sunday, April 7, at the church at 33738 Marsh Road No. 2, Lewes.
This screening is part of a worldwide premiere occurring simultaneously at community churches, synagogues, theaters and schools. "Two Who Dared: The Sharps’ War" tells the story of a Unitarian minister, Waitstill Sharp and his wife Martha, who, just days prior to the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia, left their young children in Massachusetts to help save Jewish children being persecuted in Eastern Europe.
The film was directed by Artemis Joukowsky III, the Sharps’ grandson. He explains, “As a ninth-grader, I was given a homework assignment to interview someone of moral courage. When I asked my mother if she had any suggestions for a subject, to my shock she said, ‘Talk to your grandmother!' What I discovered in doing that assignment, and in many years to come, is that my grandmother and grandfather had a dramatic history that I had never heard before. This included underground espionage, working to rescue refugees and opposing the Nazi regime, in the service work that they had performed during World War II in Europe in 1939 and 1940.”
The documentary is told from the point of view of Martha and Waitstill, drawing on their recorded interviews, letters and unpublished memoirs. The film also includes interviews with noted scholars and survivors who were rescued as children. To view the trailer, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqM41Hirvd0.
More than 50 public screenings will follow April 7-18 at venues around the world. Brown University will stream a 30-minute educational version of the film online for 48 hours from 5 p.m., April 19 through 8 a.m., April 22 at www.watsoninstitute.org/twowhodared.
To reserve a seat, contact Peggy Smith, peggyeutemarksmith@gmail.com or 302-645-6334. UUSD is a welcoming congregation that provides an inclusive spiritual home for people of all faiths valuing diversity and social and environmental justice. Visit uussd.org.
