Michael W. King

Original Air Date: May 19, 2024

Michael W. King directed the 2011 doc “The Rescuers”, which was just shown at the Capitol Building in DC on Holocaust Remembrance Day. The movie focuses on 13 diplomats who risked their lives to save hundreds of thousands of Jews during The Holocaust.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio,conversations about issues that matter. Here's your
host, three time Grasie Award winnerShelley listening. I want to introduce you
to the director Michael W. King, and he is the director of a
movie that was made actually in twentyeleven, but it was just well featured

(00:25):
on Capitol Hill for a very tremendousreason. It was on Holocaust Remembrance Day.
And Michael's movie is The Rescuers,which was I was not aware of
this. It focuses on thirteen beyondcourageous diplomats who saved the lives of thousands

(00:48):
of Jews during the Holocaust. Ioften feature documentaries or stories about the Holocaust.
Michael, and I'm always amazed athow much I don't know, Like
all of these stories I did notknow. I did not know there were
thirteen diplomats. Probably there were somany more heroes that I have never heard

(01:08):
of. So, first of all, congratulations, and my god, that
must have been such a trip beingon Capitol Hill. Tell us about that.
How did it go? What wasit like for you? Well,
first of all, I'm still comingdown from the high of having the film
screened on Capitol Hill to the membersof Congress, senators, ambassadors where the

(01:33):
diplomats came from, and it wasamazing. We had about two hundred people
there and the location was spectacular.The only issue of the event was that
our producer, Joyce Mandel, wasill and couldn't make it, so that
was kind of you know, ittook a little when that went out of

(01:57):
the out of my sales in termsof it being a perfect night. Tell
us the history of the film.How did this idea come to you?
How did you even know about thesethirteen diplomats. Well, Joyce Mandel,
our producer, this is our sixthfilm together. And she went to an

(02:22):
event on Ellis Allen and it wascalled Visus for Life and it was testimonials
given by these survivors, survivors fromthe diplomats of the diplomats. And you
know these diplomats because they risked theirlives, their families, their careers,

(02:44):
but most importantly they went against theircountry's policy and there was retribution. So
these stories did not become public untilthe sixties, and that was through Yadvishim
in their Righteous Department got the Advam for those who are not familiar,

(03:05):
and I have been there, andyou cannot go there and not cry.
It's just one and I wish Iwould have spent the whole day there,
because I only spent hours there.I should have spent the whole day there.
But it is the It's Israel's HolocaustMemorial. And there are a lot
of well, there are several Holocaustmuseums. I've been to the one in

(03:27):
DC. I have never been toa museum like that museum. And at
the end, when you're finished withyour experience, you go up to well
you just you're looking out onto Israeland there are soldiers there who are there
holding Kleenex because they know that you'regoing to be sobbing your eyes out right,

(03:53):
and that's their job to hand youthe tissue. True, true,
true, Yeah, it's pretty powerful. Huh. That's a good word for
But I interrupted you. So youwere talking. No, No, that's
where the stories came out. No, that's fine. So these diplomats that
risked their lives, their families,their careers, went against their government policies,

(04:14):
did not that story was in public, and you know that generation doesn't
really talk about the Holocaust. Youknow, I call it a conspiracy of
silence. I need to unravel that, right. So anyways, Joyce saw
it, she was moved by it. I was doing a filmmaker filmmaking residency

(04:35):
in Florida, and she called meup and said, I think I found
our next documentary. And I thenI said, well, I know about
the Holocaust, but I did notknow about these stories. So I need
a couple of Give me a coupleof weeks the research it, think about
it and see what the story is, and I'll get back to you.

(04:58):
And I called her, I said, this is wonderful story. And on
top of that, I called SirMartin Gilbert, the gentleman in the film,
the narrator. And he's written likeninety books. Can you imagine no
books? And he passed away ayear after the filming. Oh, and
he was my mentor. I usedto fly to London. We used to

(05:19):
sit down, he would educate me. We'd just discuss the Holocaust, discuss
the diplomats, diplomats, what wasgoing on for that going on at that
period of time with the Nazis,with the Holocaust, with the war.
So it was like being in schoolfor me. And I feel so blessed

(05:39):
to have the opportunity to put aspotlight on these diplomats, especially in the
world we live in today. Huh. Right, So I want you to,
yes, comment on how you seethis film. Remember it was made
in twenty eleven and where we aretoday, all right, The film was

(06:02):
made in twenty eleven, but Iremastered it. And for those who do
not know what remastering means, it'sbasically basically enhancing, enhancing the color correction,
adding maybe another story in there whichwe did interview, and enhancing the

(06:24):
music. And so that's why wedid a re release of the film.
What I consider a compliment to thefilm is that it's still relevant. Huh.
It's still relevant, and it willeducate you, will talk about humanity,
how to practice. It's things thatwe could do to reduce conflict,

(06:46):
you know, violence, and thatwe're in which we are right now facing
an Israel, Palestine, Ukraine,Africa, Sudan. I mean, it's
ridiculous that we live in the twentyfirst century. In the twentieth century,
over a hundred million nons combatants inother words, civilians were killed in genocidal

(07:14):
conflict. Now, diplomacy is veryimportant and this film will help the art
of diplomas. Diplomacy, okay,Oh give us hope, Oh inspire us
or motivate, motivate us to dothe right thing, Be kind to each
other, courageous, you know,look for nonviolent solutions and be able to

(07:39):
implement them. I'm speaking with MichaelW. King. He is the director
of the twenty eleven documentary The Rescuers, featuring thirteen courageous diplomats who risk their
lives. They risk birst, theircareers and their lives to save hundreds of
thousands of Jews during World War Two. But you also featured in the film.

(08:05):
A young woman tell us about herStephanie niam Bare. She is from
Rwanda. She lost one hundred membersof her family in the genocide in Rwanda.
She was educated in the United States. She became an anti genocide activist.

(08:26):
Currently she's working for Paul Gagami,the President of Rwanda, as the
director of Communication. So I youknow, it put a modern day spend
on the Holocaust. You know,the Holocaust is a standalone event. So

(08:48):
many it was industrial murder. Sixmillion Jews lost their lives, Innocent people
lost their lives. But it stillgoes on in different forms. Different ways,
different places. So I thought it'dbe important for the young people to
have an image a character that facedthe horrors of genocide. The diplomats.

(09:13):
How many of the diplomats are stillwith us? None? None, none,
none, It all passed on.But to add on that, I
feature thirteen diplomats, Yadvishim has fiftyplus diplomats that did the same thing by
rescuing, rescuing Jews. So there'smore diplomat stories, stories to be told.

(09:39):
And actually what we did is wegot approached by the show of Found
Foundation, which which was started bySteven Spielberg from the funds from Schindler's List,
and they asked me about the footagethat we shot shot over our under

(10:00):
and fifty hours of footage. Whatyou know, the film's only ninety minutes.
What are what what's supplane for thefootage that hit the floor And they
were yeah, right yeah. Isaid, uh, let me, I'll
get back to you, let methink about it, and we ended up.

(10:20):
Joyce Mandel, the producer, says, why don't we do our episode
on one diplomat because you know fiveminutes is a teaser. You want to
know more about, you want toknow where his belief system came from.
Why he would risk everything for people, for people he doesn't have a relationship

(10:45):
with, he doesn't even know.And that was one of the reasons why
I did the film. I said, who do I know that would do
that? And it should be soeasy and so natural for us to help
each other. But what we readand what we hear, it's very difficult.
Well, you were risking your life, I mean the atrocities of the
Nazis. I think the stories thatyou know, every story is important,

(11:11):
every story resonates. But the diplomatswho were in Germany, right in Germany
all place, Yeah, tell usa little bit about that, because we
only have like a minute and ahalf left. Oh really, So there's
George Duke Duckwitz. George Duckwitz,he was a Nazi. He was in

(11:33):
cop Hagen, Denmark, and hedidn't agree with the policies. He even
went back to talk to Hitler aboutthe plans for extermination and getting rid of
the Jews in Denmark, and ofcourse he came back realizing that he doesn't
have the power to change the courseof history. So he won the Denmark

(11:58):
Jews. What was to come thatthey needed to get out of there.
He arranged for ninety percent of theJewelry of Denmark to escape to Sweden.
Let's repeat that, ninety percent ofthe Jews in Denmark he prepared to get

(12:20):
out, warning them of what wasto come. How heroic is that from
a Nazi, from a Nazi whodisagreed with the Nazi Russian exactly. So
that's a story that resonates with me. Sometimes evil can turn into good.

(12:41):
Sometimes we have to walk out ofthe dark to find the light. But
he was one of those characters.And I'm afraid we pretty much are out
of time. I want to letyou know that you can watch The Rescuers
made in twenty eleven and remastered.It's available for free on TB. And

(13:03):
this is something that everyone should know. Part of a history that is really
a hidden history, another bunch ofhidden figures that we were not familiar with.
So many hidden figures that need tocome into our reality and history lessons.

(13:24):
And I thank you so much,Michael W. King, I mean
yours, your life is look you'remaking your mark in such a fantastic way.
I thank you so much for yourwork, and to your partner as
well, Joyce Mandel, you've beenlistening to Sunstein sessions on iHeartRadio. The
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