Now in pre-production/production on my next feature documentary:
The "Documentary on the making of the book, 'All For You'" is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of the documentary must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
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In 1980, Dena Romero found a box of letters hidden from view in a closet at her mother's house. Hidden from Dena, hidden from the world. The letters dated back to 1938 and were between her mother and father, and her father and his parents. Her mother was a young, Christian girl in love with Dena’s young/slightly older, Jewish father, which in 1938 Germany was forbidden. Dena never saw the romantic side of her parents. They’d been through a lot and these letters told a different story about the people that had raised her and the family that she never got to know.
Her parents had escaped Nazi Germany, but not together. Her mother went to England to be a nanny. And her father followed his dream of being a photographer and went to New York City to stay with relatives. They did everything they could to get her a VISA, to get all the necessary papers, to get tickets, and finally, after the war, after 7 years of being apart, and 7 years of not even hearing each other’s voices, her mom made it to the United States and they married a few days later.
In the meantime, mostly without her father and the rest of the world knowing it, the Nazi regime was swiftly, insidiously, systematically, removing all freedoms for Jews in Germany. They lost their anonymity, their homes, their businesses, their safety, their identities, their livelihoods, and eventually their lives. It didn’t matter how hard Dena’s dad worked to try to get them to safety, they never made it out. He sadly believed that he would still have more time. Those letters she found and a few photos are the only connection Dena has to her father’s family, and the pain and guilt that lived in her father.
Dena followed the trail of breadcrumbs from Hanover, NH, to New York City, to England and the Isle of Man, where her mother had been interned for being German at the start of the war, and around Germany to find the beloved homes and people that had touched her grandparents’ lives. All along doing extensive research, aided by a remarkable set of archival angels along the way. She was able to piece together an almost moment to moment account of her grandparents and the disintegration of their lives and spirits. This story turned into the phenomenal book, “All For You, A World War II Family Memoir of Love, Separation and Loss”. This must-read book must turn into a documentary.
People in Germany didn’t know how bad it could get. And the rest of the world didn’t know all the facts as they were happening. And the ones who did know, supported the extermination of people. Real people. People who loved, lived, breathed, and were contributors to society in the same way as each of us is today.
The “documentary on the book, All For You” is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of the documentary on the book, All For You must be made payable to Fractured Atlas only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Foundations, Corporations and Government Agencies are also welcome to donate. Please share my project with anyone who is passionate about Holocaust education.
Thank you for your consideration.
