JOURNEY TO FREEDOM tells the story of Waitstill Sharp, a Unitarian minister, and his wife Martha, a social worker, who just days prior to the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia left their young children in Wellesley, MA to embark on an uncertain journey. At a time when most Americans were either ignorant of or indifferent to the clouds of war gathering over Europe, this unassuming pair of New Englanders plunged into the storm. Armed only with their faith and determination, they helped feed and shelter thousands of refugees and matched wits with the Gestapo to help anti-Nazi dissidents and Jews escape to safety. When the Nazis forced them to close their operation, they briefly returned to the embrace of their family and congregation in the U.S., only to leave for France where they would once again put the well being of their fellow human beings ahead of their own comfort and safety. Who were these ‘American Schindlers’ and what is their legacy for us today?
When Waitstill and Martha Sharp were recognized as Righteous among the Nations at Yad Vashem – the highest recognition accorded by the state of Israel to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the World War II – they became only the second and third Americans to be so honored among more than 21,000 others from around the world. Theirs is a unique, compelling story that reveals an almost unknown chapter of Holocaust history and shines a new light on America’s relationship to it. The era between the wars was one of disillusion and difficulty for religious liberals. Economic hardship prevailed. Isolation and intolerance were on the rise. Racist and anti-Semitic demagogues enjoyed enthusiastic radio audiences. Few American voices were raised as Hitler consolidated power, codified his violent anti-Semitism and methodically began to envelop his neighbors. It was from this America that the Sharps departed for Prague in early 1939 to help a beleaguered Czech Unitarian colleague, whose plea had been, “Don’t send money, send Americans.”
JOURNEY TO FREEDOM has been filmed over the past two years in the U.S., Czechoslovakia, France, England, and Israel. Currently in post-production, the film is targeted for release in early 2009. At this time of genocide in Darfur and crimes against humanity in other parts of the world, the film is urgently needed as is the example of the Sharps as role models who saw the dignity and worth of everyone and acted upon those values.