Documentary: Population Boom

Population Boom explores the myth of overpopulation in this 91 min documentary filmed at various  locations throughout the world. Released in 2013, Population Boom explores the controversial population control methods pursued by the United States in the 1970's to control population growth almost exclusively in the developing world. Werner Boote seeks answers as to how this came about and who is driving the efforts to drastically reduce population in poorer countries.

By way of introduction to his topic, Werner Boote looks at how the United Nations announced the Earth's population has reached 7 Billion - a number supposedly portending disaster. The announcement is made on Halloween, October 31, 2011. Rather than marking this milestone in a joyous manner, the 7 billion number is linked by UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon to war and famine on the planet. Werner Boote asks Babatunde Osotimehin of the United Nations Population Fund if it would be better if there were fewer people on the planet. Osotimehin tells Werner that no one knows the capacity of the Earth and what it can sustain. As an example, he states that a 1960's cover of Time magazine referred to the Earth's population of 3.5 billion as over population. Osotimehin states that how he deals with population control varies by country.

This leads Werner Boote to state his thesis: for decades the UN has been stating that the world is overpopulated. The belief that the world is overpopulated seems to be a view of the rich and influential such as David Rockefeller and Ted Turner. Ted Turner, founder of CNN and a major land owner continues to promote the view that the world is over populated and that this will bring about the extinction of the human race. The reasoning is that too many people will lead to global warming which will lead to drought and famine and ultimately to starvation and cannibalism. Surprisingly Boote never mentions Warren Buffet nor Bill and Melinda Gates, the latter who have donated millions of dollars to develop various types of contraceptives with the intent of marketing them to the developing world.

Boote then explores the origin of the idea that the Earth has a limited capacity of people that it is capable of sustaining. The concept that the Earth can only support a limited population originated in 1789 with Thomas Robert Malthus, an Anglican theologian and economist. Malthus believed that man is the ultimate danger" to the planet, that the world even in the 1700's was overpopulated and would eventually be unable to feed itself. He predicted total collapse by 1860. Despite this not happening, many continue to believe his theory as evidenced by the bizarre monument in Georgia.

The Georgia Stones

In Elbert County, Georgia, six granite slabs were erected as a monument with ten "laws" inscribed on them in eight different languages. The person or persons who paid for the monument remain a secret but the intention is not. Two of the laws refer to population; 1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature. and 2. Guide reproduction wisely -- improving fitness and diversity.Number 10 says "Be not a cancer on the earth - leave room for nature - leave room for nature."

Boote asks the question "Who is one too many?" and sets out to discover who is driving this catastrophic view of the future. In the process he explores how the overpopulation movement gradually gathered strength in the late 20th century and the consequences to the developing countries and to families. He also explores how the developing world views population control, the discriminatory nature of population control, attitudes towards consumption and how the global economic system makes it increasingly difficult to have children at all.

He begins in the United States. In 1974, a large scale population plan was drawn up by the then U.S. Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger with his Memorandum 200. The top priority of U.S. foreign policy was population reduction in twelve countries including Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Columbia, Brazil and Mexico. One hundred thirty-seven countries agreed to reduce their population. Enrique Mendoza Morales, a lawyer who represented Mexico at the 1974 Population conference, claims the Americans were concerned at the time with a population explosion and the believe that this would be accompanied by the growth of communism. They also recognized that the more people a country had, the stronger it would be and that this would affect the balance of power and the United States' ability to exert control. Their plan was adopted by the UN and in Mexico was heavily promoted by the media. Instead of population "control" the term "family planning" was adopted to avoid seeming aggressive and draconian. The measures succeeded and Mexico brought its birthrate of 6.1 children per woman in the mid 1970's down to 2.1 children per woman - the rate needed to just maintain the population.

The fear of overpopulation spread around the globe leading governments to use different means to achieve their goals. In 1979, China introduced its one child per woman policy. This policy was strictly enforced for decades by forced sterilizations and abortions, leading China to be criticized for its human rights violations. In the last few years, in specific rural areas, China has allowed couples whose first child is a girl to have a second child but the one child policy continues to be the norm. Boote is told by Hu Hontao of China's National Population and Family Planning Commission that people who do not have babies can work and increase economic growth. This view affirms Boote's belief that "worldwide greed for economic growth doesn't leave any room for personal desires and feelings."

The Chinese policy has resulted in 400 million fewer Chinese. In the short term, China's economy has profited with increased income and economic growth. However, in the long term, China's population will suffer. The government has created a society of only children, usually "exalted sons". Professor Xie Zhenming is an opponent of China's family planning policies which he wants to change. Professor Xie in the presence of China's Family Planning officials, met with Boote to discuss how he believes China's policies have damaged Chinese society. Professor Xie states that the one child families are not strong families and usually require some kind of assistance. He also points out that because of the one child policy China will soon have too many elderly people and not enough young people to support them. He also refers to China's thirty million "missing girls" as a result of the Chinese cultural preference for sons.

From Beijing, Boote moves on to Mumbai, India to explore family planning there. A main feature of the population reduction mantra is that poverty could be eliminated if people in poorer regions would stop having children. In India, which will overtake China as the most populous country, women are given many incentives to be sterilized. The official position of the government is two children per family. Boote visits the Khatoon family who live in one of Mumbai's slums, without water, electricity, sewers and have little food or money. Two million children under the age of five die in India's slums each year. These slum dwellers will never become major consumers. In contrast to the Khatoon family, India's wealthiest man, Mukesh Ambani lives in a 37,000sq ft. home overlooking Mumbai's slums. In Mumbai, families with two children or less receive special incentives and have access to government services. It becomes apparent from talking to various India officials how population control in the country works. The people who have money are able to have as many children as they want but the poor must "control" the number of children they have IF they want their children to have access to state facilities and services. It is a discriminatory policy that seeks to eliminate the poor not by helping them out of their lower economic status but by population control.

From the Indian subcontinent, Boote travels to Africa where most of the international aid is contraceptives. A case in point, a 1997 malaria epidemic in Kenya saw the country run out of malaria medicine but have shelves stocked with toxic contraceptives like pills and IUDS. Ndirangu Mwaura believes that America promotes population control in Africa because it is fearful it will be swamped by the poor. Mwara believes the problem is not one of overpopulation but of congestion - the poor live on top of one another in crowded cities because they cannot afford land.

An interview with Obadias Ndaba of World Youth Alliance Africa is one of the more interesting in the documentary. He states that Africa is not overpopulated but in fact has one of the lowest population densities in the world. Its 40 people per sq. km is much lower than Europe's 170 people per sq. km. Illiterate villagers are taught that population control is the path to development but Ndaba points out that this is not the process that occurred in the West. People became educated and wealthy and then had smaller families but in Africa the reverse is happening. Ndaba says people drive economic growth and that governments need to see people as an investment.Poverty in Africa "is not a result of too many people. It's rather a result of too few people who mismanage and misuse our resources."

Although Boote does not detail the effects of population control in Western countries he does take a look at Japan, a G7 country with an advanced economy. With a birth rate of 1.3 children per woman,Japan now produces more adult diapers than baby diapers. Boote does not mention that this is far below the replacement level for a population and that no country with such a low birthrate has ever recovered its population. Tokyo's overcrowding suggests a vibrant country but a short trip into the countryside reveals the truth about the Japanese situation. One mile away in Akiruno, Suzuki Tadashi shows Werner an abandoned school and laments the loss of so many children.

So who is to blame for this situation? Are there any who disagree? For that Werner Boote interviews several notable persons.

Probably the most interesting interview in the entire documentary is that of journalist and conspiracy theorist, Benjamin Fulford who only agreed to be interviewed in a boat in the middle of a pond in the western part of Tokyo. Fulford pulls no punches in stating that the Western elite who run the planet believed the only way for humanity to live in balance with nature was to eliminate 5 billion people. The real reason behind all this disaster according to Fulford has been greed, especially on the part of the banks, petroleum companies and the chemical pharmaceutical companies. He blames the "aristocratic and banking families of North America and Europe" - the Rothschilds, Rockefellers, Warburgs and Morgans who believe in eugenics and eliminating inferior people (that is, the poor who breed). It is Fulford's opinion that the eugenics of the early 20th century brought to bear by Adolf Hitler and Nazism, never really died out but simply went underground. It reappeared later in the 20th century marketed under the guise of Planned Parenthood (whom he specifically and surprisingly mentions) and lately, global warming. (Note to readers, the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger was a noted eugenics supporter particularly interested in reducing the population of black Americans.) But as Fulford notes, the law of evolution dictates that those who have kids will control the future.

Betsy Hartmann, a demographer from Hampshire College, Massachusetts also suggests that bankers and petroleum companies are partly to blame. She believes that "it's the systems under which we live that determine the kind of consumption and production." Hartmann cites the US military as a prime example, it being the largest consumer of oil in the world.

Boote turns to fellow Austria, Wolfgang Lutz, a demographer whom he interviewed at his beautiful summer home on the island of Vaha-Vehanen in Finland. Lutz believes there is no optimum population size and that population control is inherently discriminatory because it believes that there are too many people of one group. Sudan could easily feed a billion people with modern agriculture but its problem is not too many people but "too many people without enough education."

Farida Akhter and Werner Boote discuss UN aid.

Finally Boote is seen in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a country often used as an example of being overpopulated. Boote says that Western media will often post pictures of overcrowded trains out of context leaving westerners to believe that this is the normal state of affairs. Farida Akhter, a scientist and activist states that even saying there are too many people is a way of looking at the poor. It carries with it specific connotations that are both derogatory and biased. She cites that much of the aid from the Western world is like Boote's UN umbrella. An umbrella is useless without the spines. Each of the spines of the UN umbrella of aid represents a condition that must be met first. Countries not accepting those conditions do not get the aid.

Boote's documentary is likely not to be popular in many circles, especially those who promote foreign aid and contraceptives and abortion to the developing world. But his documentary raises many important questions about our view of the poor, our view of the developing world, the right of couples everywhere to choose the number of children for their family, and the global economic systems that make having a family more and more difficult around the globe. Of particular interest to me was the belief that economic growth can only be achieved by reducing population. Yet the Canada and the United States with its baby boom population and unprecedented economic growth during the last century seemingly disproves this theory.

The influence of the global economic system (which encourages people to work and consumer rather than to create the next generation), in the declining global birthrate is an experience that is not just restricted to the developing world although the consequences are more serious.  We now have a global economic system that favours a select few while impoverishing many and causing great harm to the planet.

Boote made his documentary after the success of Plastic Planet in which people asked him the question, "Isn't the planet in danger of being destroyed because there are too many people?" The answer, as Boote has learned, depends upon who you ask.

Some interesting reading may be found at the following links:

The Intellectual Roots of Paul Erlich's Population Bomb (and the prehistory of climate alarmism) by Pierre Desrochers

Population Growth: Disaster or Blessing by (Lord) Peter T. Bauer who is emeritus professor of economics at the London School of Economics (scroll past the first page which is an ad for the Independent)

My Name is Blessing by Eric Walters

"We are each given more of some things and less of others."

My Name Is Blessing is based on the true story of a little boy, Baraka who lives in the Mbooni Region of Kenya in East Africa. In the picture book, a little boy named Muthini, which means suffering, lives with his Nyanya or grandmother and her eight other grandchildren. In Kenya, the name given to a person has important meaning and sadly Muthini's name means suffering. He was given his name by his mother because Muthini was born without fingers on his left hand and only two fingers on his right hand. While his grandmother doesn't seem to notice, Muthini bears the taunts and whispers of children and adults alike. When he questions his grandmother about his missing fingers she tells him that he has other qualities that make up for his lack of fingers. He is smart and she tells Muthini he has a big heart.

Sadly Muthini's grandmother is very poor and feeding and caring for nine grandchildren is difficult at best. So one day she comes to Muthini's school and tells him that they are going on a long walk. During that walk Mumo tells Muthini that she cannot care for him, that she loves him but that she is taking him to another home. That home turns out to be with a man named Gabriel. But Gabriel will only take Muthini on one condition. That condition will mean a huge change in how Muthini thinks about himself and his disability and will influence how others think about him too.

The real Baraka also lives in Kenya at a residential school run by The Creation of Hope an organization which works to meet the needs of the many orphans in the Mbooni District. The Creation of Hope was founded by Canadian author, Eric Walters and the Kyatha family and continues to offer assistance to many young people in Kenya, providing them with housing, the necessities of life and most importantly, an education. Readers can also learn more about The Creation of Hope and Baraka from the note at the back of the picture book titled "Baraka's World" There are plenty of wonderful photographs showing Baraka living at the Rolling Hills Residence.

My Name Is Blessing has colourful illustrations done in acrylic on paper by Eugenie Fernandes which bring to life this touching story about how a name can influence how we see ourselves and how others view us. More importantly My Name Is Blessing is a story about the importance of family and how sometimes love is best shown in hard sacrifices made by those who love us.

Book Details:
My Name Is Blessing by Eric Walters
Toronto: Tundra Books       2013

The Noisy Paintbox by Barb Rosenstock

"I let myself go. I had little thought for house and trees, drawing colored lines and blobs on the canvas with my palette knife, making them sing just as powerfully as I knew how." Vasily Kandinsky

This historical fiction picture book, written for children, succinctly tells the story of Vasily Kandinsky, a Russian born artist who created abstract art.

Rosenstock's The Noisy Paintbox serves as a nice introduction to this innovative and very important 20th century painter. The basics of Kandinsky's early life - his interest in art and his following of his parent's expectations for him to become a lawyer are told. But Kandinsky experienced colour and music in a different way from most other people - colour produced noise and music, and music often represented colours. Kandinsky became determined paint after several life-changing experiences and his paintings changed the art world forever.

Rosenstock's vivid text works to convey the emotions and colours of Kandinsky's abstract art. "Snapping cerulean points. Crunching crimson squares. Whispering charcoal lines." evoke images in the imagination that speak of Kandinsky's abstract art. Mary Grandpre's bright artwork created using acrylic paint and paper collage enables young readers to understand just how unique Kandinsky's art was while also telling part of the story.

The back of the book has a short biography on Vasily Kandinsky and several small pictures of his artwork. There is also a list of print sources as well as online resources for further investigation.

Kandinsky was born in Moscow, Russian in 1866. His father ran a tea factory in Odessa where the family moved in 1871. Vasily grew up in a cultured home and was well educated. He studied piano and cello and even took some art lessons. However, Vasily's parents expected him to become a lawyer and that is what he did.

He attended Moscow University to study law where he eventually became an Associate Professor. Vasily married Anna Chimyakima and they moved to Tartu where he become a Professor of Law at Derpt University. However, two events were to have a profound effect on Vasily; during an exhibition of Claude Monet's Haystacks he experienced a strong emotional reaction and the same thing happened at a performance of Richard Wagner's opera, "Lohengrin".

These unusual sensory experiences in which Vasily Kandinsky experienced sounds as colours were not unusual for him; he had experienced this sort of thing as a child. It is quite likely that Vasily Kandinsky had a rare genetic condition known as synesthesia in which one sense triggers a reaction in another sense. It was these experiences that motivated Vasily to leave the law profession to become a full time artist.

Arab city  1905  http://www.wassilykandinsky.net/work-299.php

Vasily left Russia and traveled to Munich, Germany where he first studied with Anton Azbe and later with Franz Stuck. In 1903, he divorced his wife and spent the next five years traveling with his companion, Gabriela Munter.

At first Kandinsky's paintings were exquisite, colourful landscapes such as Arab City or Forest Landscape with Red Figure, reminiscent of Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and Fauvism. Kandinsky however abandoned these styles and began painting very differently; he used bright colours, line and textures and combined these with shapes that were not recognizable. Kandinsky wanted his artwork to convey feelings through the use of colour and forms. Kandinsky is considered to have created the first piece of abstract art. His painting, Composition VII is considered his best abstract painting.

Composition VII 1913 http://www.wassilykandinsky.net/work-36.php

Kandinsky was part of the Neue Kunstlervereinigung Munchen (Munich New Artists' Association) but left the group in 191l and participated in the Blaue Reiter's exhibition. From 1914 to 1921, Kandinsky lived in Moscow, marrying the daughter of a Russian General and where he was involved in teaching and developing art museums.

But he fell out of favour with the Socialist government, eventually leaving the Soviet Union and returning to Germany where he became involved in the Bauhaus movement. The Bauhaus was closed by the Nazi's in 1933 and Kandinsky left for France. In the 1937 purge of "degenerate art", fifty-seven of Kandinsky's painting were burned by the Nazis.

For further information on Vasily Kandinsky please check out Wassily Kandinsky Biography, Paintings, and Quotes and Kandinsky.

For more information on people who have synesthesia and this interesting genetic condition check out the PBS website.

Book Details:
The Noisy Paint Box by Barb Rosenstock
New York: Alfred A. Knopf        2014

DVD: Belle

Belle tells the story of illegitimate half-black daughter of Admiral Sir John Lindsay and her struggle to be accepted into British aristocratic society.

Dido Elizabeth Belle was the mixed-race daughter of twenty-four-year-old John Lindsay, an officer in the British Navy. Lindsay met Belle's mother Maria who was a slave on a ship he had captured while in the West Indies. Lindsay brought Maria back to England where she had a daughter. In 1764, both Maria and John Lindsay returned to Pensacola, Florida and it was at this time that Belle was brought to Lord Mansfield's home. Lindsay took Belle to his great-uncle's summer home in London, Kenwood House to be raised by his aristocratic family. Lindsay's uncle, William Murray was the first Earl of Mansfield and in the latter part of the 1700's was the Lord Chief Justice of England. Mansfield came to be responsible for several seminal decisions against slavery in the late 1700's.

The movie centers around the insurance claim made by the owners of a slave ship, the Zong. The Zong was enroute from West Africa in 1781, carrying a large cargo of slaves destined for Jamaica. The ship began to run out of water and food when the ship sailed into an area of quiet water in the mid-Atlantic, known as "The Doldrums". With a ship crammed full of 470 slaves, the slaves and crew began to sicken and die. Captain Collingwood decided to throw some of the chained slaves whom he felt were diseased or dying, overboard. In total, approximately one hundred forty-two slaves were drowned. When the ship arrived in Jamaica, its owner, James Gregson filed a claim for the loss of his "property". The insurer, disputed the claim, noting that there was plenty of water on board when the ship arrived in Jamaica but a Jamaican court awarded the claim. Thomas Gilbert, the insurance underwriter appealed and the case went before Chief Justice, Lord Mansfield.

When the movie opens, it is 1764 and Britain is both a colonial power AND a major player in the lucrative slave trade. John Lindsay arrives at his great-uncle's lavish home and presents his mixed race daughter, Dido Belle Lindsay, to Lord Mansfield (played by Tom Wilkinson) and his wife (played by Emily Watson), who are already raising Elizabeth Murray, (known as Bette in the movie) the daughter of their nephew, Lord Stormont. They are not happy to receive the little girl into their home because she is dark-skinned, but they accept and tell her they will call her Dido. Dido and Bette grow up as close as sisters, with Dido receiving a good education and all the trappings of an aristocratic life. She wonders, "Papa, how is that I am too high in rank to dine with the servants and too low to dine with my family?" 

When Belle comes of age, she learns that she will be awarded a yearly income while her cousin, Elizabeth will be penniless, unable to inherit and thus making her prospects for a good marriage remote. Lord Mansfield tells Belle that when they have guests she will not dine with the family nor will she "come out" during the next season in London. She is shocked at this treatment by her beloved "papa". Nevertheless, during family outings, Dido manages to capture the attention of Lord Ashford who is attracted by her beauty but who tells her he will put aside her poor lineage on the one side to marry her. Although Belle accepts his marriage proposal she feels that it is has not been made in the spirit of true love.


Meanwhile, Dido becomes increasingly aware of her great uncle's involvement in the Zong insurance appeal and begins to develop a relationship with John Davinier (played by Sam Reid) who is working with the abolitionists. Dido and John discover they are of like minds when it comes to all people, regardless of colour, being equal and not chattel to be disposed of. Dido eventually breaks her engagement to Lord Ashford and tells her family of her desire to marry the man she loves, John Davinier. The film concludes with Lord Murray, Chief Justice of England bringing down his decision in the Zong insurance case.

Discussion

Belle is an exquisitely crafted period film with beautiful costuming, well written dialogue and an engaging story. It is well cast with Gugu Mbatha-Raw starring as Dido, Sarah Gadon as Lady Elizabeth Murray and Matthew Goode as Captain Sir John Lindsay. But how historically accurate is the film?

Because so little is known of Dido's life, especially during the period portrayed in the movie, Belle is largely a work of historical fiction. However, some of the basic facts about Dido Elizabeth Belle are true as presented in the film. Dido, named after the first queen of Carthage,  was one of three illegitimate children fathered by Admiral Sir John Lindsay, a British Naval Officer.  Dido's mother , Maria Belle was an African slave aboard a Spanish ship that was captured in the West Indies. And she was placed in the care of the Earl Of Mansfield, William Murray who was Lindsay's uncle. 

Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay and Lady Elizabeth Murray

The Slavery Abolition Act was not passed until August 1, 1834. So during Dido's life, slavery was still very much a part of English life, especially in the Caribbean. British and British colonial ships were major players in the transatlantic slave trade which saw over three million Africans purchased as slaves. Over four hundred thousand never survived the crossing. The city of London was a major slaving port, as ships were sent out from London to Africa. There was also a significant black population living in London at the time of the film, which begins in the year 1769. Many of these people were living as free men and women.

The story of the Zong in Belle, highlights the terrible conditions and inhumane treatment, men, women and children had to endure in the crossing. When the slaver ship ran low on water, the crew threw one hundred-forty slaves overboard to their deaths. The subsequent court case involved and attempt by the owners to claim the insurance on those the crew had murdered.  It would be Mansfield, as Chief Lord Justice who would preside over the trial of the Zong.  The Zong would become a catalyst for the abolition movement in England in the late 1700's.

The movie also references a painting done in 1779 by an unknown artist that shows Dido Elizabeth Belle with her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray. This painting hung in Kenwood House in north London until 1922 where it was transferred to Scone Palace in Scotland, the ancestral home of Lord Mansfield. The painting is unique in that it features for the first time a black person as an equal of a white person. However, while Dido was part of the family, she was not allowed to mix with guests and she was assigned more menial household tasks. 

In Belle, Dido's situation is dramatically overstated: she was not left a fortune by her father, and the man she prefers to marry, John Davinier, is a steward and not a young lawyer as portrayed in the film. 

Despite the historical liberties taken with the story, Belle is worth watching. The dialogue is well-written and well acted, the costuming beautiful, and the story, engaging.  It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2013 and has now been released on DVD.

Image credit: https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1778-martin-dido-elizabeth/

50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus

Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus had a comfortable life in America, with a family of two young children, nine year old Ellen and eleven year old Stephen. Like many people around the world, they had watched the rise of Hitler and the growth of anti-Semitism in Germany and Austria. Although American newspapers were filled with articles about the loss of basic civil rights German Jews were experiencing. the United States government remained indifferent. It was nearly impossible to bring refugees, even children into America at this time.

Gilbert Kraus was a forty-two-year-old business lawyer who was determined to save at least some Jewish children from the clutches of the Reich. Raised as a secular Jew, Gilbert and his wife, Eleanor, sent their two children to a Quaker school in Philadelphia. Liz Perle, a granddaughter of the Kraus's, says they do not understand the motive behind their actions, but they are still proud of what they did.

Gilbert told his wife of his intentions and then set out to find a legal way to bring the children to the U.S. Although President Franklin D. Roosevelt was popular with the Jewish American population, he knew that a large influx of Jewish immigrants would not be popular with the American people. According to Jonathan Sarna, Professor of American Jewish History at Brandes University, saving Jews was not popular with Roosevelt. It was a time of high unemployment and economic crisis.

Gilbert met with George Messersmith, the Under Secretary of State and told him that they were prepared to go to Nazi Germany to rescue the children of Jews. The United States had a quota system for refugees and Messersmith told Gilbert that the number of people who had applied for asylum from Germany and Austria would fill the quota for the next five years.

As conditions worsened in Austria and Germany, approximately 10,000 Jewish children were sent to England in what came to be known as the Kindertransport.

Originally Germany was ambivalent about Jews leaving the country - after all that is what they wanted - to rid themselves of their Jewish population. But that attitude was gradually disappearing and it was becoming increasingly difficult to leave Germany.

Meanwhile, when Gilbert compared the lists of Jews applying for asylum and those actually being granted it, the numbers did not match. In fact, he discovered that the quotas were not being filled as people either did not use their visas due to illness, lack of money or the decision to travel to Palestine. Could these unused visas be used for Jewish children?  Gilbert approached Messersmith about this idea and while he did not say yes he also did not say no. In March of 1939, Eleanor began preparing affidavits from people who would sponsor the Jewish children and six weeks later she had fifty four affidavits.

This period of time in America was difficult because there was much antisemitism in the country. There were over one hundred organizations in the U.S. that openly promoted antisemitism including Catholic priest, Father Charles Coughlin whose talks often focused on the evils of usury. Because of popular resistance to Jewish immigrants, even the Jewish community in America did not support the Krauses mission to bring Jewish children to America. They feared a public backlash and a further rise in antisemitism.

The documentary interviewed Marsha Rozenblit, Professor of Modern Jewish History, University of Maryland. Rozenblit states that at this time no one in Germany or Austria believed that the Nazi's would outright kill the Jews. Many people thought that eventually this would pass. As we now know, it did not.

In April of 1939, the Krauses prepared to travel to Germany to see if they could get fifty Jewish children out of Austria. War seemed imminent. Eleanor was advised against traveling with Gilbert who needed someone to help him. In the end, they decided to ask their children's pediatrician, Dr. Robert Schless to accompany Gilbert. Schless would give each child a physical examination and help determine those children best suited to be assigned visas.

When Gilbert was in Vienna, he decided that he needed Eleanor to be there and she met him in Paris. They then took the Orient Express to Vienna where they met Schless. Using a list that the Nazi's obtained of all the Jews in Vienna, the Krauses began interviewing boys and girls who might be suitable to emigrate to the United States. Social and financial backgrounds were not considered. However complications with the affidavits arose, as the American consulate did not know about the plan to use the unused visas. In May, 1939 Gilbert went to the American embassy in Berlin to meet with Mr. Raymond Geist. Berlin was filled with Nazi stormtroopers. Geist would try to set aside fifty visas for the children. In addition to the visas, each child had to obtain a German passport from the Nazi government. The time when the German government was agreeable to allowing Jews to leave Germany was quickly passing but in the end, the Gestapo gave them the fifty passports.

The children and their families arrived at the Vienna train station. The faces of the fathers reflected their deep sadness, while the mothers remained hopeful. The parents were warned not to wave to their children as Jews were forbidden to give the Nazi salute and a wave misinterpreted as a salute could get them arrested. The children traveled by train to Berlin to get their visas and then spent ten days on the USS President Harding, arriving in New York on June 3, 1939 and to safety.

Discussion

50 Children is an HBO documentary, written, produced and directed by Steven Pressman. It aired in April of 2013. 50 Children presents the incredible story of a young American Jewish couple who traveled to the heart of Nazi Germany in 1939 to save fifty Jewish children from certain death.  Using interviews from the Kraus's granddaughter and some of the children (now elderly adults) rescued or the children of  those saved, this documentary weaves a narrative that tells how the Kraus's came to save these children from certain death.

Pressman began his research in 2010 and was able to collect a great amount of information from the families of the rescued children as well as never before seen film footage. 50 Children is narrated by Alan Alda and actress Mamie Gummer who voices Eleanor Kraus. The HBO documentary was aired on April 8, 2014, Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Since almost all Jewish children sent to Nazi concentration camps were exterminated, the photographs of some of the children the Krauses saved take on a special poignancy when they are now seen as elderly adults. These people would likely not have survived had it not been for Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus. In fact, as the documentary relates, one of the children originally chosen, Heinrich Steinburger, fell ill just before the Krauses and the children left Vienna. He was too sick to travel and remained behind, his place taken by the brother of another child already chosen. Heinrich Steinburger perished three years later at Sobibor, an extermination camp in Poland.

The Krauses went back to their life in America and rarely spoke of what they did. The story became public when journalist Steven Pressman learned about it from his wife, Liz Perle, granddaughter of Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus. Perle had in her possession an unpublished manuscript written by Eleanor detailing their efforts to save the children.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website has a page on Eleanor and Gilbert Kraus: https://exhibitions.ushmm.org/americans-and-the-holocaust/personal-story/eleanor-gilbert-kraus

DVD: First Position

For students and those who love dance, especially ballet, First Position is a must see. This revealing documentary gives us a peek into the mysterious world of ballet by following seven young dancers from around the world as they seek to win the coveted prizes and scholarships of the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the world's most prestigious ballet competitions.

The documentary opens with the semifinals and introduces us to the seven dancers who will be followed; tall, elegant and beautiful Rebecca Houseknecht, graceful Miko Fogarty and her younger brother Jules Jarvis Fogarty, the quiet and determined Aran Bell, handsome Juan Sebastian Zamora, the athletic Michaela DePrince and the lyrical Gaya Bommer Yemini.

Through the camera lens we experience the sacrifices each dancer's family makes so that he or she can develop their talent to the fullest. There are sequences showing the damage done to bodies and feet especially. Other scenes show the devastation that follows after a poor performance. Not everyone can win.

Some of the dancers featured in the documentary are especially engaging. Michaela DePrince was living in an orphanage in Sierra Leone when she was adopted by an American couple, Charles and Elaine DePrince. Her best friend, Mia was also adopted by the DePrinces. Michaela began taking lessons at age four and studied at The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia. Her interest in ballet began though back when she was a small child in Africa and she found a picture of a ballerina in a magazine. Michaela's powerful dancing and beautiful leaps make her enthralling to watch! Michaela DePrince's professional debut was in 2012 with the South African Manszi Ballet Company. Michaela DePrince is living proof of what we have always known - that black women can dance ballet with beauty and grace. You can read about Michaela from this BBC article, Michael DePrince: The War Orphan Who Became A Ballerina. Michaela's website is http://www.michaeladeprince.com/

It's also fascinating to see how some of the young dancers featured in this documentary from four years ago are faring now. As this video demonstrates, Miko Fogarty who is now sixteen has continued to develop into a beautiful dancer with amazing technique:



Bess Kargman, Director, Producer and Editor of First Position, studied ballet at the Boston Ballet School, but never entered ballet competitions. According to the documentary website, Kargman set out to make the documentary she wished had existed. The crew traveled all over the world to film the dancers, who were chosen based on their unique stories and who reflected the social, cultural and economic diversity of students in ballet.

This remarkable and award winning documentary is a must-see for anyone interested in the performing arts.

Online Documentary: Mothers Matter: Who on Earth Cares

Maternal deaths do not take place in a visible and concentrated way, but occur among very young mothers, in small villages, and a few at a time. Most die in terror from haemorrhage or in agony from obstructed labour as their pelvises are too small. Not only are the lives of these mothers abruptly terminated but the chances of survival of their new-borns and the two or more children that they already have and leave behind, decreases dramatically. It is also very likely that their families disintegrate in the aftermath of their death.

from MaterCareInternational

This short online documentary discusses the shocking conditions under which mothers in sub-Saharan Africa give birth and what is being done by a dedicated group of doctors to change this much ignored situation. Produced by MaterCare International, "an organization of Catholic healthcare professionals dedicated to care of mothers and babies, both born and unborn" Mothers Matter outlines the difficult situation many young mothers in Africa face in order to give birth to their babies without access to proper maternal and obstetrical care. Beginning in Isiolo, Kenya, where they were invited by the Apostolic Vicariate, MaterCare has developed an unique maternal healthcare model that is respectful of the local culture and conditions and environmentally responsible.

Currently, the vast majority of women in sub-Saharan Africa deliver their babies at home in the bush without any access to medical care. Many experience serious complications due to malnutrition, chronic disease, tribal warfare, and drought. Without proper care these women risk dying alone and in agony. Others end up with serious problems such as ruptured bladders or rectums, resulting in debilitating and socially isolating incontinence. In fact, the images in the short film of women walking around carrying a small pan in front of their abdomens are both saddening and disturbing - because this needn't happen.

Maternal mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa are 1 in 31 compared with 1 in 10,000 in Canada. Ninety-one percent of the causes of maternal mortality can be treated by access to simple, good obstetrical care. So why hasn't more been done to help women in the Third World have their babies safely? A big part of the problem is the focus by international organizations and governments on "reproductive health" which generally means the promotion of abortion and contraception. This approach is completely irrelevant to the problem of maternal mortality since it does not offer the mother a way to have her baby in a safe and healthy way. It is an approach lacking in compassion because it ignores the great love of family and children that characterize African society. Many governments demonstrate a lack of initiative and political will in finding a solution to the problem of poor maternal care in developing countries . It seems shameful that we in the West have forgotten our sisters in their hour of need, for what should be one of the most basic rights of a woman; the right to basic maternal care.

MaterCare, which was founded by Dr. Robert Walley, has developed a model for obstetric care in poor rural areas. It revolves around a 30 bed maternity care hospital in conjunction with several outlying parish maternity centres that provide quality care closer to the mothers villages. There is also the use of a 4X4 ambulance to transfer serious cases to the hospital at Isiolo. The documentary shows a clean, professional facility that offers the women of Isiolo safe maternal care while respecting their dignity as women and mothers.

Mothers Matter provides us with the opportunity to meet some of the mothers and their children in this part of the world and to understand some of the unique problems that need to be overcome in order to bring safe maternal care to African communities.

"Mothers Matter" because when a mother, who is the heart of the family dies, the family often struggles to remain intact. This is true in North American society and it is even more true in the family centered culture of Africa. Take time to investigate the innovative work done by MaterCare International and please consider a donation. As far as I was able to determine, Dr. Walley who hails from Eastern Canada, receives no support from the Canadian government nor from the Canadian Bishops Development and Peace Fund.

Update: MaterCare International has written a post about the lack of funding support from DPF. Dr. Walley writes,

"MCI has presented Development and Peace with the opportunity to participate in projects that directly reflect the claimed beliefs and missions of their organization, and yet they have time and time again squandered these opportunities in favor of advancing their own dated and unfocused agenda. Sadly, requests to participate in Development and Peace’s fundraising campaign, Share Lent, were greeted with a sharp “NO”."

Perhaps it's time to bypass DPF altogether and give directly to organizations like MCI whose work directly impacts women and children in the developing world?