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Tom Hanks as Waitstill Sharp:
"February 23, 1946.

"My darling Martha,

"I hope and assume
this reaches you

"on your return
from what must have been

a very exacting
but very successful expedition."

"I must say that I would like
to begin having a home again.

The kids don't show
their feelings too much."

"I see nothing but men's things
in my wardrobe.

"I smell no perfumes.

"I have been
quite desperate at times.

I want to go on for what there
is left of life with you."

"7 years ago tonight,
we stepped off the train

"into Wilson Station,

and all our world
has been different ever since."

"Ever yours, Waitstill."

[Shouting]

Crowd: Sieg Heil!
Sieg Heil!

[Hitler speaking German]

Man: Martha and Waitstill Sharp
left the comfort

of a peaceful, small
Massachusetts home

in order to go into Europe
on the verge of war.

They were motivated
from the beginning

to go out there
into the kingdom of hell

and try to get some people out.

Hanks as Waitstill: It was
the second Sunday night of 1939.

I had done a full day's work
at the church

and decided to spend an evening
in front of our fireplace.

[Telephone ringing]

The telephone rang,
and it was probably

the most momentous
telephone call

that I ever received.

"Hello, Waitstill."

I knew whose voice it was,

the voice of my closest
friend Everett Baker.

"Would you and Martha
come over to talk with me

at our house here?"

"Yes."

He said, "Waitstill, Martha,
I am inviting you

"to undertake the first
intervention against evil

by the denomination to be
started immediately overseas."

Goldman as Martha:
My husband and I felt

that something should be done.

Refugees in the Sudetenland
had been murdered,

and people had been
imprisoned and hurt.

Hanks as Waitstill:
We had two small kids,

including a very tiny daughter.

I said, "How many men
have you offered this to?"

"17," he said.

I said, "Do I understand they've
all turned you down?"

"Yes. They think a war
is definitely coming,

and they don't want
to be in danger."

I reassured Martha,
"Missionaries leave
their children.

"I'm sure ours can be
left in good hands.

I want to go,
but I won't go without you."

Goldman as Martha:
I knew I would miss
the children terribly,

but we would only be away
for a few months.

I was torn between my love
and duty to my children

and to my husband.

Hanks as Waitstill: As my wife
Martha and I went home

under the starry skies,

we went home
with a promise to do it.

[Bell tolling]

The core belief of movements
like the Unitarian

and Universalist movements,

belief in freedom--
freedom of thought--

in the use of reason,
and tolerance of difference.

Man: It's a faith that
very importantly stresses

that the shape of human history,
the future of history

is in human hands.

A Unitarian minister
with profound conviction,

a woman who had been deeply
committed all her life

to social justice,

two people very much aware
of the world around them,

were handed
an incredible invitation,

a very frightening invitation,
a very demanding invitation

because of its implications

for their family
and their church,

but an enormous opportunity
to actually change history.

Hanks as Waitstill: I had never
felt at home in law school.

I took my degree
with lasting gratitude

for its stern training

in analytical
and conceptual thinking,

but all that time,
I had felt a joy

in the conducting of service,
in work with children,

in the friendship and purpose
of the free church.

After graduating
from Harvard Law School,

I found my true calling.

Mendelsohn: Waitstill Sharp
was the kind of minister

I wanted to be.

That is, he wasn't just
the minister of a parish church.

He was a civic figure.

He was interested
in the community

in which he worked.

He was interested
in world affairs.

He was interested in the need
for peace in the world.

Hanks as Waitstill: Reason
and freedom are the guidelines

for our reverence.

We are working here
at a new adventure,

the organization of a church
under the government

of reason and freedom

with the democracy
of the American town meeting

as its form and spirit.

Woman: My mother was
Martha Sharp.

Her family fully expected
that when my mother

was going to graduate
from high school

she would enter the workforce,

doing whatever she could
to make money for the family.

When she was accepted
with a full scholarship

to college,

they threw all her belongings
out the window

and told her that she was
no longer welcome.

Goldman as Martha:
My high school yearbook calls me

"a good suffragist."

They claim I am progressive
and advanced.

I do believe a woman's place
is in the home

but only half the time.

After graduating
from Brown University,

I became a social worker.

She worked for about a year
in Chicago

at a settlement house
with people

from all kinds
of different backgrounds.

That was something that
she really took to.

I can just imagine her
with this diversity of people.

I think Martha and Waitstill had
a very compatible marriage.

He thought she was
quite unique, beautiful.

Goldman as Martha: Waitstill
looked very handsome

with strong, muscular shoulders
from building stone walls

with his father.

He had a beautiful,
light sense of humor

and a creative mind.

A carelessly knotted tie
and crushed felt hat

gave a casual touch
to what otherwise

might have suggested
a rather formal person.

Difiglia: They had the same
orientation toward life,

the same beliefs,
the same sense

of--of obligation,

of wanting to do things
for others.

[Crowd cheering]

Woman: Hitler came to power
January 30, 1933.

Within half a year,
the life of every single Jew

living in Germany--
that's half a million people--

was changed,
radically changed.

[Man shouts German]

Hitler was absolutely fixed
on the idea

of bringing home every person
with "German blood,"

and so for those who didn't
move back to the Reich,

his idea was that the Reich
would move out to them.

He was enormously successful.

[Airplanes flying overhead]

Woman: They were like flies
over Vienna, the Nazi planes,

and of course, people
didn't recognize the fact

that this was going to be
so lethal for--for any Jew

or anyone who opposed the Nazis.

[Cheering]

Dwork: The Austrians greeted
him with great jubilation.

Man: I was only
15 1/2 years old at the time,

but I saw windows
of Jewish shops broken

and--and things just stolen.

[Glass breaks]

[Indistinct chatter]

First change I remember is
the fact that there was

this famous sign
about "No Jews in the park."

That was a huge thing for me
because the park

is where you met your friends,

the park is where you lived
in the summer,

and so there were big signs that
said, "No Jews in the park,"

and I remember
a general sense of anxiety.

I remember a general sens--

"Oh, did you hear that
so and so

was deported to Dachau?"

People talking about

that kind of thing.

We didn't realize how quickly
it was going to become

impossible to flee,

but at that point
if you wanted to leave,

they said, "Good luck. Go."

So that was my father.

Then my mother and I stayed

until my grandparents
were afraid to send me to school

because they were stoning
the Jewish children

on the way to school.

[Cheering]

Braunfield: We lived right next
to the city hall,

so we were right in the middle
of where everything

was happening,
and I remember

the city hall being decked out
with flowers,

and I remember the cheering
people on the Ringstrasse.

I remember big lines
in front of the embassy,

and then the Gestapo
would come along

and pick people out of the lines
and send them away.

I knew that there was
something very wrong

because my parents
were very upset,

and I could tell that this was
a very bad situation.

We had, uh, originally
been living in Austria.

After the Germans
occupied Vienna,

then I managed to flee
to Prague.

Dwork: First was the Anschluss
in March 1938,

the annexation of Austria.

Then Hitler cast his eye
on the Sudetenland.

Germans predominated

in a border strip.

Czechoslovakia was, uh,
a free-thinking,

highly cultured,
relatively sophisticated place

in those interwar years.

Dwork: Hitler was eager
to incorporate

those Sudetenland Germans
into the Reich.

Hanks as Waitstill:
The immediate cause

of Unitarian intervention
in overseas evil

is the situation
in Czechoslovakia.

What are we going to do?

Their plight's desperate,
absolutely desperate.

It is too late to turn our back
on what we know is happening--

houses being rifled,

people being beaten up,

their lives made
intolerable, miserable,

with nobody to help them at all.

My friends, I stand before you
today and declare war

on Nazi Germany.

Face the evil that faces us.

[Bell tolling]

Goldman as Martha:
On the morning of our departure,

I was hit by the impact
of the long absence
from the children.

Our son Hastings had been
very brave about it,

though he was quite upset.

Martha Content, my baby girl,
was jumping up and down,

and chanting, "Mommy
and Daddy going bye-bye."

I gathered her up
in my arms,

trying to explain that
we would be gone for a while.

Fortunately,
she didn't understand.

Brushing away tears in my eyes
that she had not seen,

I kissed her good-bye.

We sailed
from New York to London.

We learned many things
during that stopover.

At a secret meeting

with the Unitarian
and Quaker leadership,

we were given a course
in some of the techniques

of making memos which
cannot be easily deciphered,

and if we were not able
to make notes,

how to memorize key words

and remember important data.

We learned quickly that
we would have to do

much of our work
abroad in secret.

We also learned various methods

of destroying
incriminating papers,

how to ascertain
if we were shadowed,

and various ways
to elude followers.

We were warned that
we would be followed

and spied upon
throughout our mission.

Hanks as Waitstill:
On February 23,

we rode into Prague
on the Orient Express.

As the train ground
to a halt into the bitter cold

of Wilson Station,
we saw a strange sight.

The platforms were brimming
with women and children

weeping
on the concrete walkways.

We were met by Norbert Capek,

head of the Unitarian Church
in Prague.

He pointed out a large train
which was headed out

filled with men who were
fleeing the country.

It was clear we had come
to a nation in crisis.

Goldman as Martha:
The next morning,
Waitstill and I

opened our new office
and began sorting

through the hundreds
of case files

that were flooding in.

Hanks as Waitstill: We had to
select the classes

whom we would help.

These then were to be snatched

from the burning--
intellectuals, editors,

social workers, professors,
and clergymen,

whose political records made
it necessary for them to flee.

Dwork: Refugees
needed documents,

they needed money,
they needed assistance.

The Sharps stepped
into that vacuum.

Goldman as Martha: We had lists
of thousands of names,

all of them requesting
exit visas,

but it wasn't as easy
as simply requesting a visa

from a foreign country.

Through our contacts
in Boston, New York, London,

and other cities,
we had to arrange for jobs,

places to live.

We had to match refugees
in Prague with opportunities

to live and work abroad.

They knew that their mission
was material relief

and also to help those
in danger get out.

Goldman as Martha: We knew that
the Gestapo were monitoring

our mail.

Our letters had to be smuggled
onto transport planes

to ensure their delivery.

On March 14, I went
to the airport

with secret documents
and witnessed an event

that would have
a profound effect

on the rest of my life.

Nicholas Winton had arranged
a Kindertransport plane

that was to lead from Prague
an carry children,

as well as documents
I had brought to the airport.

The parents had brought sweets
and other small gifts,

while saying the mundane things
that are usually said

before parting,

"Be good.
We'll be together soon,"

all the while knowing
they might not see them again.

Woman: Times were so desperate.

People were very thankful
if they could get

their children
onto the transports.

I do remember at the airport
my mother was walking

up and down with my sister
arm in arm rather pensively,

then also that we had
our sort of last meal,

and, uh, my father
took photographs.

The plane was announced.

Goldman as Martha: As each child
stepped off the exit,

he or she waved
to their parents,

ran across
the snow-covered field,

waved again, and climbed
aboard the plane.

The parents' self-control
was incredible.

Smiling brightly,
eyes brimming with tears,

they waved back.

You know, they thought one
of us might be able to escape.

He was hoping
to come to England.

Goldman as Martha:
Suddenly, the engine raced,

the plane took off,

and it was lost
in the low clouds.

Well, my mother and the rest
of my family of course

didn't survive.

They would have died
in Auschwitz, yes.

Well, I--I'd rather not
go and dwell upon it,

if you don't mind.

Goldman as Martha: What madness
has brought us here?

Both Waitstill and I
were securely

and unconsciously American.

Perhaps it was
our free-thinking, democratic

New England Unitarianism
that now tied us to the Czechs.

Hanks as Waitstill:
On the morning of the next day,

the 15th of March, 1939,
we heard the news.

The German army was
crossing the border

and occupying the entirety
of Czechoslovakia.

Every trace of Czechoslovak
democracy vanished

as the gray troops poured in
through the falling snow.

Goldman as Martha: We found
a tremendous crowd waiting

in the snow outside our office.

The republic was dead.

Their hopes were dust,

and they had been betrayed
by their friends

France and Great Britain,

who had required the Czechs
to act morally

while they themselves
sold them out

for their own safety.

March the 15th, oh,
I shall never forget that.

It was snowing and raining,

and my mother said I didn't
have to get up

because the Germans invaded.

And my mother got
into the bed with me,

and there we were.

Instead of having a breakfast,

we were just lying in bed,
and my mother was very sad,

so that was March the 15th

through the eyes of a child.

Man: I found out that my father
died from a heart attack

because he was so taken
by the invasion of Prague,

and so that was my 15th
of March, 1939, experience.

Oestreicher: Thousands
of soldiers marching,

hundreds of tanks
in rows and so on.

I can only tell you
that the Czechs stood there

absolutely silent,

no cheering, no booing,

and of course, after the Germans
marched into Prague,

the Jewish people there--
and there were very many

living as refugees there--

were in an absolute
chaotic state.

Nobody knew what to do.

Hanks as Waitstill:
A nighttime curfew was clamped

on the city of Prague,

announced in both the Czech
and the German languages.

"Achtung! Achtung!"

And the people, threatened
with being shot on sight,

left the streets

and pulled down the shades
of their houses.

Goldman as Martha:
The night the Nazis invaded,

we found the furnace
at the Hotel Atlantic

and began to destroy
the documents

we'd kept on our work.

Even at 4 A.M.,
there was a queue of people

all waiting their turn
to approach the furnace.

It was a silent line.

From this night on,
nobody could be trusted.

Hanks as Waitstill: At 11 A.M.,
we stood in the town square

and saw Hitler standing
in the window of the palace.

He began to speak.

He sounded even wilder
than the broadcasts

we'd heard on the radio.

He was nearly ecstatic
I thought,

but he looks just as he does
in all those pictures.

[Crowd chanting, "Sieg Heil!"]

Goldman as Martha: We realized
that we were living

in the frontlines
against Nazism.

Waitstill looked at me
and, holding my hand tightly,

whispered, "Courage."

The whereabouts of many
of the most important refugees

were now unknown.

Some were said to have
reached temporary safety

in the embassies.

The British government
had given us 6 hours to bring

several anti-Nazi leaders
to British sanctuary

if they could be reached.

We began to divide up
the individuals to be found

and brought to safety.

I was to meet
an unnamed man--Mr. X--

and bring him to the embassy.

[Car engine starts]

Later that evening,
I found a Taxi

in the early darkness

and, noting that the driver
had a companion

in the front seat,
gave an address which was near

but not actually the one
which was my destination.

Arriving at the place,
I hastily paid the driver

and hurried around the corner,

hiding in the first doorway
to watch to see

whether I was being followed.

The companion came around
the same corner

and looked up and down
the street.

[Horn honks]

The driver honked.
My heart skipped a beat.

I realized that the driver's
associate must be

a Gestapo agent.

I flattened myself
against the darkness

of the entrance.

[Dog barks]

He walked right by.

After he passed,
I entered the building.

I climbed the stairs
to the fifth floor

and knocked on the door.

The door opened,
and a man stood before me.

He whispered, "I am Mr. X."

I told him
about the Gestapo agent

in the taxi,
and we dashed out

into the snow and wind.

On the walk, we passed no less
than 3 Gestapo patrolmen.

Each time, I spoke
in hurried, clear English

that we were on our way
to the British embassy.

Pretending that Mr. X
was my husband,

I insisted that Mr. Sharp
and myself were already delayed

and we were required
by the ambassador Mr. Swanson.

My heart was pounding
as the doors to the embassy

were in sight...

and the third patrolman
was holding us up,

looking over my passport.

He was skeptical of our story.

We were chilled
to the heart and bone.

Finally, he said, "Go!"

and waved us
to the embassy door.

Mr. X was one
of the lucky ones,

but there were still
thousands more

that desperately needed
to get out.

The next morning,
we were faced

with a flood of refugees
begging for any kind of visa.

Hanks as Waitstill:
With the public squares
under constant surveillance,

the churches became
the only places

where people could gather
in numbers.

Martha and I attended Unitaria,

the First Unitarian Church
of Prague,

and heard a sermon delivered
by Dr. Norbert Capek

that was particularly full
of double meanings.

After the service,
we met secretly

with Dr. Capek
and his board of trustees.

They needed us
to transmit a message.

They wanted the American church
to understand

that they would be faithful
unto death

to the ideals of democracy.

I shall never forget
their burning eyes,

clenched fists,
and fierce spirit as they spoke.

Franklin Roosevelt:
One remaining instrument
to meet the crisis.

Goldman as Martha:
For a fleeting moment,
we had the vain hope

that the urgent needs
of the check people

might move the U.S. Congress
to open the country's doors.

Martha and Waitstill Sharp
had to struggle

against the im--immigration
restrictions

of their own government.

Goldman as Martha: Our requests
for special consideration

were being ignored
in Washington.

The old U.S. quota
for Czechoslovakia

allowed 2,800 Czechs
to enter the U.S. yearly

on immigration visas.

At that pace,
most refugees realized

that they might wait
several decades

to get an American visa,

but looking that far
into the future was a luxury.

For most refugees,
their greatest need

was finding a safe bed
for the night.

Dwork: There was an enormous
anti-immigrant sentiment,

anti-Semitism,
and deep racism.

Oestreicher: No country,
literally no country

was prepared to take
Jewish refugees.

After the Nazis entered Prague,

we found out very quickly
that to get any further,

where we could live permanently,
was nearly impossible.

Goldman as Martha:
I shall never forget the shock

when I saw a Jewish man
being abused on the street.

I would have cried
aloud in anger

if Waitstill had not silenced
my spontaneous outburst.

All my life,
I hated unfairness,

and as I spoke to individual
Jewish refugees,

I felt their dignity
and recognized

their amazing capacity
to rise above Nazi mistreatment.

On March 24, I met
with Tessa Rowntree

from the Quaker underground.

She asked me to help smuggle
groups of refugee families

by train through the heart
of Nazi Germany.

Braunfield: So my father went
through a great deal

getting a permit to get out,

and so there was this problem
about how do you get

from Prague to London
without going through Germany.

It is essentially impossible.

[Whistle blows]

Goldman as Martha: The groups
included some of the most wanted

and well-known anti-Nazis
and their families,

including one of the most
famous surgeons in the world,

a female scientist,
and two journalists,

but of course, we had
to hide their identities.

They were to leave the country
under the guise

of household workers

so that if their papers
were checked

they would appear to be simple
gardeners, cooks, or farmers.

Once we made the arrangements
to take the refugees

on this perilous ride,
I didn't know

if I would ever see
Waitstill again.

The train was announced.

We got on board, everyone
deeply moved at parting,

for they were not sure if we
would reach our destination.

Braunfield: We were going
from Prauge, Dresden,

Leipzig, to the Dutch border.

Goldman as Martha:
If the Gestapo should charge us

with assisting
the refugees to escape,

prison would be
a light sentence.

Torture and death
were the usual punishments.

At the German border,
our passports and visas
were carefully examined.

My heart was pounding
as I thought

about Waitstill, Hastings,
and young Martha Content.

[Man speaking German]

Braunfield: When you got
to the border, and said,

"Alle Juden aussteigen."

All the Jews had to get out.

They separated
the men and the women.

We didn't know if we'd
ever see each other again.

They checked you,
and they really checked you.

I mean, they did
very careful examination,

every possible orifice
in your body.

At one point, the--one
of these German officers said,

"Is that all?"
and my father said, "Yes,"

and they said, uh,
"What's that on your finger?"

and he said, "Well, that's
a wedding ring,"

and they said, "No, that's not--
you can't take that with you."

So they took it off,

and that was the end
of his wedding ring.

And shortly after the train
pulled out of the station,

an SS man came,
and I remember that.

It was a very dramatic thing.

So we had the joy of riding
with an SS man for 6 hours.

I was sleeping most of the time,
and my mother was terrified.

You know, if I were to
kick him or something,

then that would be
the end of us all.

Oestreicher: We were traveling
all through Germany.

We weren't even allowed to look
out of the window, you see.

Uh, the windows had to be
blacked out all the time.

And I remember, see, these
long periods, you see,

when it wasn't moving at all.

Goldman as Martha:
At the final border crossing,

the customs officers came
aboard to check my list

against their documents.

Then I heard my name called.

Two of the journalists
in my party

were standing on the platform
with their luggage,

trembling with fear.

The officials had
ordered them off the train

and we're going to send
them back to Germany

because their names
did not appear on my list.

Quickly, I turned away and added
the men's names to the list.

"These two men are
in my party!"

Shaking his head, he OKed
their passports,

and we all climbed aboard
the train once again.

Braunfield: And then
we were in Holland,

and I remember my parents
being ecstatic.

Goldman as Martha:
We arrived in Holland
exhausted and relieved,

and then I took the group
by boat to London.

[Ship horn blows]

Oestreicher: I have
a picture showing us

when we first arrived
In England,

and it shows
the clothes we came in,

and they were the Austrian
national costume,

and those were literally
the only clothes we had.

We weren't allowed
to take anything else.

"Dear Mrs. Sharp,
we shall never forget

"what you have done for us

and wish to thank you
from the depth of our hearts."

Goldman as Martha: Every life
we touched had its own drama.

One can only manage
a miracle every so often,

but a series
of miracles can happen

when many people
become concerned

and are willing to act
at the right time.

The Germans ordered all refugee
aid and assistance operations

to cease.

Hanks as Waitstill: We fed
350 refugees 2 meals each day

at the Salvation Army.

One day, the Gestapo came
to our office,

lined the refugee men
facing the wall,

and an officer beat
the refugees' heads
with a revolver

until they fell senseless
in their own blood.

The Gestapo was looking
for refugees reported

to have eaten
at the Salvation Army.

Neither the refugees
nor the Gestapo knew

that I was the American source
of these meals.

Goldman as Martha: We found we
were being followed

everywhere we went.

The Nazis began to
close in on anybody

they thought was an enemy,

and they certainly thought
that we were enemies.

Hanks as Waitstill:
And in the meantime,

our hotel bedroom was
searched 3 times.

We have to assume
by the Gestapo,

trying to figure out
what these two crazy Americans

were doing here.

Goldman as Martha: I found
myself so disturbed

by the pressures
and serious consequences

of making
the slightest mistake.

I changed from a rather naive,
friendly, and outgoing person

who trusted everyone

to a self-contained
and increasingly wary individual

who began to consider
every word spoken.

Dwork: The Sharps had entered
Czechoslovakia on February 23,

which is before the Germans
had come in in mid-March.

That was very lucky
for both of them

because it meant that
the visas that they had obtained

allowed them to leave
and return to the country

on short visits.

Goldman as Martha: We decided
that in order to be

the most effective
we'd have to separate.

The operation desperately
needed financing,

and we were not getting
enough support.

I would continue dealing
with individual cases in Prague,

and Waitstill would go abroad
to raise money.

It was the first time
in our marriage

that we would be apart
for more than a few days.

Waitstill wrote to me

from Paris on April 29,

"You are not only beautiful
but a brick.

"That rare combination
spells out the perfect woman,

"the answer to the quest
of the ages.

"I really mean this.

"Venus and Minerva cast
in one blended statue

"of loveliness and wisdom.

"That's you,
ever my beloved madam.

Your most fortunate servant
Waitstill."

Hanks as Waitstill:
"173 Boulevard Saint-Germain,

"Paris, France.

"Dearest Martha,
These long silences surely

"are trying.

"Why don't you write,

"even if you send no more
than a postal card?

"I shall certainly hope
for a word from you tomorrow.

"I think I shall have to try out
for the wounded love section

"at the Paris Opera.

"Now do, please, write me.

Ever yours, Waitstill."

Goldman as Martha:
"My darling Waitstill,

"I am terribly lonely
without you,

"and all today,
I've been wondering

"how I could possibly stand it
for another 10 days.

"The fact of thinking
of Hastings

"off in his little aloneness

"and Martha by herself
and you in Paris

"and of myself here
has been early too much.

"I think that the experience
has made me realize

"how much I love you
and how horrible it would be

if anything should
happen to you."

"I have been reading
Lady Chatterley's Lover,

"which I should like to discuss
with you when I get back.

"The parish would disown me
if they knew that book.

"And I've been thinking
about the things

"that we ought to do
that we don't.

"Somehow, we've got to begin
to tell the world

"where it gets off.

All my love, Martha."

Schulz: By then, the Sharps
had a significant impact.

They had also learned
to work the system.

Waitstill was particularly
good at the black market,

at exchanging Czech currency,
which was worthless

outside of Czechoslovakia
by that point,

for American currency.

He would pay about
10 cents on the dollar

for, uh, every Czech crown,

and he would provide
the refugees a handwritten note,

which indicated that
when they got to London

or when they got t Paris
they could go to a bank,

and they would exchange that
note for the local currency,

which was worth
a significant amount of money.

Hanks as Waitstill:
Desperate Czech people

approaching me
in increasing numbers

would in some way or another
open a briefcase

or a small trunk
and pull out bales

of Czechoslovak money.

I agreed to exchange
their Czech money

with U.S. currency
from what as left

of our operations funds.

There was a sliding scale,

the most needy getting
the best rate of exchange.

They couldn't cross the border
with foreign currency,

so I went in and out
of Prague 7 times

and placed the dollars
in banks strategically

in Geneva, London, and Paris
so that if they could escape

their money would be
waiting for them.

I knew it was illegal,

but I did it because
I had no other choice.

I was beyond the pale
of civilization.

I owed no ethics to anybody.

I owed no honesty
to anybody at all

if I could save
imperiled human lives.

Everything had to be
carried out in the head

and as a word of honor.

I had never been
a good bargainer,

but there was a sudden excess
of adrenaline born

of my hatred of the Nazis
and my intention,

which may qualify
as a Christian intention,

to do as much as I could
for these people.

Dwork: The Sharps carried on.

They kept putting off
the authorities

until they came to the office
and found the doors locked

and furniture thrown out
onto the street.

Goldman as Martha:
Waitstill had gone out
to a meeting in Geneva,

and finally, the Gestapo
tore up his return permission

so that he was not going to be
able to come back in again,

and then I received word
from my underground--

"The Nazis are going to arrest
you and take you to prison."

[Train whistle blows]

I packed everything I could,
got aboard a train,

and went straight up to London.

I met my husband,

and we both sailed back
to the United States

on the Queen Mary.

[Ship horn blowing]

Hanks as Waitstill: As we plowed
west through sunlit seas,

we were summoned
to the grand salon.

The radio crackled out the news,

and we heard the voice

of the prime minister of England

"The parliament of England

"declares that a state of war

"obtains now between

"the United Kingdom

and the imperial German
government,"

announcing the end
of peace in our time.

The order had been sent down
from the captain's bridge

"Give her the max."

The ship came alive.

She hit the great waves
of the North Atlantic

with such violence,

the sea came
right over the ship.

Goldman as Martha:
We were no longer

aboard a civilian ocean liner.

We had become a war target.

The course of our ship
was changed to run north,

for German submarines had
been reported due west,

waiting to sink this pride
of the British fleet.

Portholes were fastened
and painted black

to prevent the light
from showing,

and nobody was allowed
to smoke on deck at night.

Hanks as Waitstill: This was
the biggest ship in the world.

Of course, she was no match
for any German torpedoes.

Well, she made it.

We landed,
and the chapter was over.

Goldman as Martha:
We docked in New York

and were back
in another world.

Love, children's arms,
plentiful food,

and the only tension that
concerned Americans in September

seemed to be
which baseball team

would win the Series.

[Crowd cheering]

Most Americans were not
really concerned with the war.

Nor did they understand
why it was declared.

Life was still pretty secure

in the good, old
United States of America.

[Bell tolling]

Martha Content:
When my parents returned home,

I remember father would write
his sermons on Saturday,

he would preach on Sunday.

Lunch would be a Q&A
about the sermon.

I really wasn't terribly
excited about the sermons

at that point in time.

I was too young.

When we were in Lake Sunapee,

that definitely is a time
that we can remember

that we were together.

Schulz: The Sharps,
they've undertaken
this harrowing mission,

they've been successful,

but the situation
is worse than ever.

Many of the Czech refugees
whom the Sharps

had helped resettle in France

now of course were
under threat once again

because Germany was
threatening France.

Hanks as Waitstill:
In the late spring of 1940,

I was working in my office
when a telephone call came

from Frederick Eliot.

He said, "I want to inform you
that you and Martha

"have been chosen to return
to Europe this summer,

leaving as soon as you can."

I was taken aback
by this and said,

"Dr. Eliot, my family
has been broken up.

"We are eagerly counting
upon a vacation.

"My family needs reunion.

I have two young children
who need steady parenting."

"Europe is falling to pieces,
and you talk about vacation?

"I won't hear the word.
You must go.

There's no debating it."

I preceded home
and explained this to Martha.

Goldman as Martha:
And I said no.

We had just been away
months before,

and I had left my two children,

and I really didn't
want to go again.

And so I sat in the church
and was amazed

when Frederick Eliot announced

that Waitstill and Martha Sharp
would go back to Europe.

I thought we had decided
together not to go.

Hanks as Waitstill: We agreed,
with serious misgivings

about our children,

that we would go.

That was the beginning of when
they began to lose each other.

Martha went to Europe because
her husband wanted to go.

The wife was considered
to be the husband's right hand.

If you are a minister's wife,
you are doing

part of the ministry.

That was just the way it worked.

Was I angry at my mother?

Of course, I was angry
at my mother.

I must have been angry
at both of them.

The original idea had been
for a Unitarian office

and base of operations in Paris.

Man: And to the world's
absolute amazement and fear...

France fell.

The Germans in 6 weeks
conquered what was considered

to be the strongest army

other than Germany
on the continent.

Hanks as Waitstill: Because
the Germans had invaded Paris,

Portugal had become
our base of operations.

We established an office
at the Hotel Metropole

in Lisbon and made contact

with our network
of rescue workers

to assess the situation.

We learned that the Germans

had cut off all supplies

to the south of France.

Man: The north of France

was blocked by the German army,

so nothing could travel,

so of course, there was

a lack of meat,
lack of vegetable,

of fruits, of milk.

Goldman as Martha: Milk was
the one thing they needed

to keep the babies alive.

Waitstill and I
began negotiating
with the Nestle Company

to arrange a complicated
delivery by train.

6 weeks later after many delays,

we were finally able to present
a 13-ton trainload

of powdered milk
to the local midwives,

who then distributed it
to the hungry children.

The situation was still dire.

Everyone was affected
by the occupation of France,

and there was a mass evacuation
to the south.

That's when really
the refugee problem begins.

People got panicky
and started to leave

into the countryside south.

It was incredible
to see the exodus.

You have to visualize
hundred thousands of people

on the roads.

Woman: My father left Paris
on a bicycle,

uh, taking just what he--
what he could carry,

which was really very sensible

because people who had
cars and dogs and canaries

and mattresses and so on
got stuck on the road.

My mother said,
"We're going to leave,"

and we put everything
into an automobile

that belonged to, uh, one
of the medics at the hospital,

and he was to drive us
out of the city,

going toward
the south of France.

The car overheated.

We left all our goods
in the middle of the street.

We were strafed by aircraft,

and a French farmer
pushed me down into the ground.

I thought it was a game.

"This is just fun,"

and my mother started to cry.

Slowly you get--
you get the message

that something is
drastically wrong.

Goldman as Martha:
A million French along

with thousands of Belgians
and other foreigners

fled to the south.

They were all full of fear.

Therefore, the big question
is "How do you people

get out of France?"

And one way was to get
them out illegally.

I became the courier of
the American Rescue Committee.

I looked very young.

I looked very Aryan,

and, believe it or not,
very innocent.

One interesting case is that
of the writer Lion Feuchtwanger.

Lion Feuchtwanger had a been

a very successful
German-Jewish writer.

He had taken refuge
to France, also.

Paldiel: He's a Jew,
an anti-Nazi,

so when the Germans,
uh, entered France,

they--they really wanted
to lay their hands on him,

so Feuchtwanger was
quite in jeopardy.

Dwork: The Germans,
they had a list

of particular
German-Jewish refugees

whom they wanted to incarcerate.

Feuchtwanger was on that list.

The clock was ticking.

Rosenberg:
And since he's German,

he's put
in a concentration camp,

in a French concentration camp.

Paldiel: People had appealed
to Eleanor Roosevelt,

the wife of the president,

to have this very famed author

brought to the United States,

and it had to be done
very quickly

before the French turned
him over to the Germans,

and so a certain man
in the American consulate

actually went out by himself
in a diplomatic car

to that French camp
outside of the city of Nimes.

They stole him out of the camp,

and they brought him
to Marseille.

Rosenberg: He was spirited
out and hidden first

in the villa of Hiram Bingham.

Now the problem was to get
him out of France.

The French police
were looking for him.

Hanks as Waitstill:
In the early morning darkness,

I boarded the train
with a group

of endangered intellectuals,

including Feuchtwanger
and his wife Marta,

and we began our escape.

We were on the train
for only a half-hour

when a man knocked on the door
to our compartment.

I stepped outside,
and he said,

"Mr. Sharp, you and your party
must get off at the next stop.

This train is going to be
searched by French agents."

I did not know
how he knew my name.

I had to assume he was
an operative sent

by the U.S. consulate.

In the next few minutes,

as we neared Narbonne, I faced

the most difficult decision

of my life because I figured

that this might be a trap...

but in times of war,
you have to trust some people.

The operative said that
Vichy French agents acting

at the behest of the Nazis
knew that we were headed

towards the border.

I had to take responsibility
in the next few minutes

and decide what to do.

I went down the length
of the train

and quietly informed the group

that we would be getting off
at the next stop.

I instructed them to scatter
when we disembarked

as though we were tourists
visiting Narbonne.

This was very important.

We would have to hide out
for several hours

until we could catch
the next train.

We stepped off the train,
and I stayed with Feuchtwanger,

the most wanted man
in the group.

We nervously strolled
through Narbonne.

The hours finally passed,
and the group boarded

the next train
to our destination.

I was surprised to see
the agent again.

He gave more instructions
to disembark at Cerbere,

where the group would
rest for the night.

I was also told to visit
Dr. Otto Meyerhof,

a Jewish Nobel-prize-winning
biochemist who was hiding out

in a small coastal village
north of Cerbere.

He was in a desperate state,

convinced that he would be
captured by the Nazis.

As we walked along the beach,
I begged him to join our party.

[Water lapping]

He would not commit.

Woman: If you didn't have
that French exit visa,

really the way to get out
of France was actually

to walk on foot
over the mountains.

They used a route that
smugglers had used.

Hanks as Waitstill:
We were ready to
make our escape.

This was a complicated mission,
and I was not alone.

It was a collaborative effort

with Varian Fry's
Emergency Rescue Committee

and Leon Ball, a brave American
who helped guide

refugees across the border.

We took the group to the start
of the smugglers' path,

and the order
of events was this.

Those crossing would depart
in half-hour increments.

The least likely
to be recognized would go first,

carrying cigarettes and money
to bribe the border guards.

I would take all
their luggage by train,

planning to meet them
on the other side of the border.

This is an extremely
taxing climb.

The mountains are unforgiving.

This is no man's land
between France and Spain,

and I was not certain
if they would encounter

armed guards or no one at all,

but the charm of cigarettes
and money held fast,

and the border guards
stayed corrupted.

The group made it through,

and we assembled
at a rail station

on the Spanish side
of the border,

waiting for the train to Madrid.

4 hours later,
we arrived in Madrid,

where we could catch
a train to Lisbon

to make our final journey
across the Atlantic.

[Ship horn blows]

Lion Feuchtwanger came home
in the lower berth

of my little stateroom,
which was to have been occupied

by Martha Sharp.

The first evening on the boat,
he looked at me

and, smiling inquisitively,
said, "May I address you, sir,

"as though you are a character
in one of my novels?

"Why are you here
doing what you are doing?

"How much are you paid?

Is there a payoff here
from some agency?"

I said, "I'm not paid
any salary at all.

"I think something frightful
in addition

"to what has befallen Europe
is going to befall now.

"I'm not a saint.

"I'm just as capable
of the many sins of human nature

"as anyone else,

"but I believe the will of God
is to be interpreted

by the liberty
of the human spirit."

"Well, this is a surprising
answer," he said.

"You get enough reward
out of that?"

I said, "Yes, I do.

"Our lives, including my life
and certainly my liberties,

"are in the hands
of somebody,

and I don't like to see
guys get pushed around."

Finally, we arrived
in New York Harbor,

steamed past
the Statue of Liberty,

and it had never meant
as much to me as it did then...

but my elation was short-lived.

I knew that Martha
was still in peril.

How would I tell our children
that their mother

hadn't come home?

This is the letter I received
when I was 8 years old.

"Dear Hastings, I am sending
you this letter by clipper.

"I love you,
and I miss you very much.

"Now I have some
very important news from you.

"Here in France today,
the children do not have

"enough food.

"I shall not return home
with Dad.

"I must wait until I can
make all the arrangements

"for the children,

so I must give up seeing you
until about your birthday."

"Now I send you my love
and many kisses,

loving Mommy."

Goldman as Martha: I had chosen
the welfare of children

as my project

for this tour of duty.

Hundreds of families
had appealed to send

their children
to the United States.

That is how the Children's
Immigration Project began.

I felt I could not abandon them.

If we could arrange for one
group of children to leave,

others would follow.

It was my moral duty
to lead the first group myself.

Feigl: My father went
from consulate to consulate,

trying to get visas to go
anywhere that was plausible.

That's how he met Martha Sharp,
who saved my life.

Chvany: And my father said
to Mrs. Sharp,

"Oh, if you could just
include my girls

in the group of children
to go to America,"

and she said,
"Well, the group is full,"

and as it turned out
at the last minute,

two boys who were going to go
with the group did not show up,

and so my sister and I
were included.

And this is--was, uh,
the paper that obviously

was, uh, filled out so that
we could start our journey...

and, uh, it must have been
very painful for my mother

to do this.

Heartbreaking as it was
for the parents,

uh, they wanted to rescue their
children first and foremost,

so they handed them
over to strangers

rather than, uh, endanger them
by keeping them with them.

There's a tendency to--
to think that

you can protect your children
by holding them close, you know,

and keeping them
under your arms,

but in a circumstance
such as that war,

that instinctive reaction
may not be the wise one.

Man: My mother had died
somewhere along the way.

It was very difficult
for my father to talk

about his wife's death.

The Vichy French would not
let parents leave.

They couldn't take us out.

Here you are, 8 years old.

You don't have your mom and dad.

Uh, come on now.

I mean, you know, this is
very difficult for a child,

and it has different effects.

It had a different effect
on my brother as it did on me.

I can see that--how
difficult it would be

for a parent, a father
who lost his wife,

to put his two children
on a boat with the likelihood

that he would
never see them again.

Joseph: And my brother,
he was torn up,

and so was I,
but somebody had to stand up,

so I stood up
as best as I could.

You go to a new land,
new language.

It's devastating
for a child that age.

Father said, "Read, write,
and study and become a doctor.

"They can take
everything from you

but not your memory."

Feigl: I must have not wanted
to go to America,

so I don't think I was told
very much ahead of time.

My mother just packed my things.

Martha gave us
all beige berets,

and there are pictures
of us in--in those beige berets.

Whitaker: Mrs. Sharp had decided
on the berets as a way

of recognizing all the children.

Yeah. I'm--I'm the tallest.
Heh heh.

I haven't undone that
in 66 years.

That may be--may be--
all right.

Feigl: And we were on a boat
called the Excambion,

which was later sunk,

fortunately not with us on it.

What they did was make
the ballroom into a dormitory.

They just put mattresses
on the floor.

The boys and girls
were separated by a curtain.

I do remember
being told

that we were called
when arrived

the two tigers
on that ship.

We apparently
misbehaved on the ship.

I remember seeing
the Statue of Liberty.

The best Christmas gift I ever
got was being brought here

in this country.

[Bell ringing]

Chvany: We arrived in New York,

and some Red Cross ladies
had a table with cocoa,

and that was really
very welcome.

It made us feel that America

must be a great place.

Newsreel announcer:
The American liner Excambion

arrives with child refugees
from Europe,

youngsters scarcely able
to believe they're free

from the terrors of war.

Triply joyous are
the 13-year-old
Diamante triplets.

Dear American,
we are very happy

that we are here,

and we are very grateful
that we was

coming to America.

Newsreel announcer:
Where do you come
from, Therese?

From Koeln.

Were you there
during the war?

Yes.

Tell us about it,
Therese.

Uh, it was
very bad.

We had not enough
to eat,

and my parents sent
me to America
for my health.

I come from France,
and I saw lots of misery.

There wasn't
anything to eat,

and there was lots
of bombardment in Marseille,

and I--and I saw lots
of people killed.

What I owe Martha is
my life in America,

uh, perhaps my life itself.

The--the Strasser
family would not
exist if we hadn't

been on that ship.

She said that anybody
would have done that.

I--I don't think so.

No, no, no. No.

Only a special person
would have done that,

would have left
their own children

and gone and taken care
of other children.

[Indistinct chatter]

[Airplanes flying]

Roosevelt: December 7, 1941...

a date which will live
in infamy.

[Shouting]

[Cheering]

Martha Content: My mother was
drafted by the Democratic Party

to run for Congress.

Difiglia: It was something
he didn't want,

he absolutely did not want.

She really spent a lot
of time away from home.

Martha Content: She ran
for Congress alone.

I mean, that takes guts.

She lost the election
against the person

who became Speaker of the House
Joe Martin.

Several people who'd known them

had told me that they
really felt

that she started to grow
in her own self

and no longer needed to be
partnered with him.

Uh, she went back to Europe.

They went to Europe
together twice,

but the third time
she went alone.

Hanks as Waitstill:
"February 23, 1946.

"My darling Martha,

"I hope and assume
this reaches you

"on your return
from what must have been

"a very exacting
but very successful expedition.

"I must say that I would like
to begin having a home again

"with travel the exception

"instead of counting those days
on the calendar

"when Mother is at home
and of finding them few.

"The kids don't show
their feelings too much,

"but we finally could not
count on any time

"that you wouldn't be off
to a talk or a tea

"or a committee meeting.

"I see nothing but men's things
in my wardrobe.

"I smell no perfumes.

"I have been
quite desperate at times.

I want to go on for what there
is left of life with you."

"7 years ago tonight,
we stepped off the train

"into Wilson Station,

and all our world
has been different ever since."

I don't think they
ever really told me

that they were
going to separate,

and I was living at that time
with my father alone.

I know that I had
to go to court,

and I had to declare which
parent I wanted to live with,

and I said, "Neither one."

Difiglia: Martha did mention
how disruptive it was

for Martha Jr.
when she came back.

I do know that she was
regretful about the effect

that it had on her children,

leaving them for such
a very long time.

I remember Waitstill telling me
that the work in Europe

had destroyed his marriage.

I also remember him
telling me that it was

the most extraordinary
experience of his life,

so I'm not sure he would have
not done it over again.

[Man singing in Hebrew]

Martha Content:
It is a singular honor

for me and my family
to represent my parents

Martha and Waitstill Sharp
as they are honored today

as Righteous Among the Nations.

They were modest
and ordinary people.

They responded to the suffering
and needs around them

as they would have expected
everyone to do

in a similar situation.

They never viewed
what they did as extraordinary.

Feigl: Martha Joukowsky and I
lit the eternal flame.

That was very moving to me
and very scary

because I looked
at that fire,

and of course, I thought
of my grandparents,

who were burnt to death
in Auschwitz.

I know that if I asked you
to do something

that you knew just
a little of your effort

and a little
of your contribution

would make it possible
for you to really aid a family

to live, let's say, for a week,

I'll bet you'd do it.