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Director’s Note
When I was nine years old, my family took a trip to Washington D.C. and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This was a defining moment in my life; I came to understand that not all people are good, and there is a very real evil in the world. At eighteen, I took a trip as part of a Jewish youth organization to Poland and Israel. In Poland I was able to visit several concentration camps. As I was touching the walls of the Madjanek gas chambers, I could feel the desperation and despair flowing through me. It was at that moment I made a vow to myself to help share the stories of the lost and the fallen. Escape from the Fire is an account of Avi Milner and his escape from aconcentration camp in February of 1943, a story which was inspired by the riveting graphic-novel MAUS, by Art Spiegelman. We each have a personal responsibility to teach future generations the importance of compassion and tolerance. Education is the key to protecting the world from another Holocaust. Just as the girl in the story ignores the social reality of anti-Semitism at the time, we each have the power to defy social prejudices and stereotypes. We must remember the past in order to look towards the future. I believe it is my duty to tell this story. It is an obligation I have to my people and to humanity. This story will work to remind people that although there is evil and hatred in the world, the power of humanity and selflessness still exists, whether in the guiding lights of faith, or in the essence of a child. -- Joel A. Dunn |