Guest Column
Television Producer Brings Understanding to the World's Greatest Tragedy
- Television Producer Brings Understanding to the World's Greatest Tragedy
- Released - March 2007
Jim White has been blessed with a very unique perspective on the Holocaust. Some of his closest friends had family members who either died there, or survived Hitler's atrocities. They shared with him their personal stories of pain and suffering. They also relayed the long-lasting affect they have endured, and still suffer to this day.
Armed with those stories and facts, White sought out others who would share the tragic epic of their loved ones, and in some cases, their own stories of pain, suffering and survival.
In 1993, White viewed Steven Spielberg's award-winning film, "Schindler's List." The stark reality of the suffering his friends and others had shared with him came to life on the silver screen. The film moved him in a fashion reminiscent of Alex Haley's slavery saga, "Roots." The demeaning treatment inflicted by slave-owners was similar to the pain and humiliation endured by the Jews at the hands of the Nazi's. Spielberg's film gave him empathy and compassion, especially one of the closing scenes:
After Schindler had saved the lives of many Jews, he began to realize how great a tragedy the Holocaust was for many more than he had saved. He wept and told them, "I could have done more, if only I had known - my cufflinks, my watch, my car could have meant more lives saved."
The stories he had been told and the visions brought to life by Schindlers List gripped White's heart and helped as he looked through the eyes of the victims. He decided had to do something - make a contribution to this pain and tragedy, and he knew just what he could do. He could give the victims a voice!
Shoah Never Again would be his contribution, a collection of poems that would be dedicated to his friends, their families, and those who had suffered the atrocities of Hitler's Third Reich. His poems would be written in the voice of the victims, as they share their story of death and survival.
Shoah Never Again is the voice of millions - not just
the voices of of the six million who died, but also the millions who
survived. Shoah Never Again tugs at your heartstrings and takes you back to
those horrible times. White's writing illuminates the atrocities, and paint
vivid pictures - full of love, truth, and sadness, taking the reader on an
odyssey through the eyes of those who were robbed from their homes, their
possessions, their businesses, and most of all, their loved ones.
"This is an outstanding work."
-- Larry King, CNN
"Your poetry...serves as a tool in educating people about modern
history's darkest period."
-- Yoel Hasson, Prime Minister's Office, Israel
"...humbled and inspired by your inspirational book of poetry, which
will serve as a source of hope and inspiration for the future..."
-- Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Simon Wiesenthal Center
In a skillful attempt to inform the reader, White uniquely laid out his book
with an explanation and summary page ahead of each poem. Shoah Never Again
carries the reader from the tragic beginning of the Holocaust and the
hopelessness and doom that lay ahead, on to the great way that God laid his
hand on them to make the Jewish people one of the most respected groups of
people in the world. In the last section of his book, White lists and
illustrates some of their many contributions made by the Jewish people
to the world today.
White hopes that his poems will 'First' educate those who know so little about this tragic era in world history, and Secondly, that his work will help people to understand, that many in those camps sixty years ago were no different than you and I today - they had homes, businesses, personal possessions, family air looms, love affairs, friends, religion, pride and dignity. But their future was stolen and Shoah Never Again is their story.
Jim White makes no comparisons of the tragedy of
Slavery with that of the Holocaust, because he believes that each has its
own separate story of rage. What the author does hope is that his book will
bring about healing, and an understanding that each of us are part of the
human fabric, no matter our race, our creed or our color.
Shoah Never Again makes it clear that when one of God's children are
inflicted with pain and loss, all of God's children suffer.
For Interviews or Appearances contact Rod Mitchel: 281-350-5506 or mediarod@aol.com
Jim White's Biography I Book Introduction I Sample Poems I Shoah Web Site
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