SPOKANE, Wash. – A new documentary tells the untold story of 101-year-old Carla Peperzak – who risked everything to save 40 lives during the Holocaust.
Before she lived in Spokane, Carla grew up in a Jewish family in Amsterdam.
She was 16 when the Nazis invaded.
“I never talked about it for 50 years and never said a word because it was too painful,” said Peperzak. “I tried to forget it.”
But now, she shares her story with schools all over the country.
“It’s very important that people know so it won’t happen again,” Peperzak said.
Dr. Kristine Hoover met Carla while working with the Gonzaga University Center for the Study of Hate.
“It’s so important to know our history and to know it from the people who lived it, who can talk about what their experience was like,” said Hoover, who teaches at Gonzaga University. “And those opportunities won’t be here forever.”
Hoover wanted Carla’s story to be recorded for the university’s archives.
For this she turned to Clement Lye.
“My background was in the film industry in Los Angeles, and so all I knew was entertainment,” Lye said. “But now I work as an instructional designer at Gonzaga University, and it’s all about educating the mind.”
As soon as he heard Carla’s story, Lye knew this needed to be a bigger project.
“Carla was able to obtain an ID – and this is in Nazi occupied Amsterdam – that didn’t have a ‘J’ on it, which meant that she passed as non-Jewish,” Lye said. “She chose to join the Dutch resistance and help rescue 40 people. It’s such an amazing story. It’s one I’ve rarely ever heard when it comes to this really tragic time in human history – this is the story of a rescuer.”
Lye and Hoover brought the idea of a full length documentary to Carla in 2022.
She agreed – but only if it was turned into an educational asset.
“I don’t want a penny of profit because I don’t want to take advantage of the Holocaust,” Peperzak said.
The documentary – ‘Carla the Rescuer,’ – follows Carla’s life from 1923 Amsterdam to the 2023 dedication of Peperzak Middle School in Spokane.
The 88-minute film was made with a middle school audience in mind.
Carla’s 15-year-old great-grand daughter narrates most of the documentary.
“It was actually Carla’s idea to have her narrate it,” Lye said. “And when I heard it, I was like, man, that is genius.”
Voices from all four generations of Carla’s family can be heard in the film – something Carla says she is very proud of.
“She said that her revenge against the Nazis was that she had a family,” Lye said. “They didn’t want her to exist. But now she’s got 54 members in her family.”
“We can connect with the humanity of the people in our own family,” said Hoover, credited as a producer for this film. “We don’t have to be heroes. We just need to be human.”
‘Carla the Rescuer’ will premiere at the Magic Lantern Theater in Downtown Spokane as a part of the Spokane Jewish Film Festival on Saturday, January 25. Both shows are already sold out.
Starting Monday, January 27, anyone can sign up to stream the documentary for free via the Anne Frank Center USA. The film will be available for one week.
To watch the trailer and learn how to view ‘Carla the Rescuer,’ click here.
If you would like to pick up a copy of Carla’s book and learn even more about her harrowing story, click here.
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