The Dodd Center for Human Rights

ABOUT THE FILM999: The Forgotten Girls (https://www.999themovie.com/) Synopsis: This documentary chronicles the untold story of 999 mostly teenage girls betrayed by their government. Told that by volunteering for "work" they would fulfil their patriotic duty, these innocent young women willingly bid their families farewell. Under the cloak of deceit, they were transported on a one-way ticket to Auschwitz. The few who survived endured more than three years in the death camp. Meet the last living survivors of the First Jewish Transport and learn their story. Best-selling author and historian Heather Dune Macadam has adapted her acclaimed book 999 into a powerful documentary that sheds light on a wrenching true story. In March 1942, nearly 1,000 young Slovak Jewish women, mostly teenagers, told by their government that they were embarking on a volunteer work assignment, were instead illegally deported to Auschwitz on what was the first Jewish transport to the Nazi death camp. Rather than strictly focus on the suffering and death experienced by most of the girls, Macadam tells stories of a small group who survived against all odds, even under unimaginable conditions that lasted more than three grueling years. A film of deep research and vivid detail, 999: The Forgotten Girls ensures that these women will no longer be a historical footnote.WATCH THE TRAILERABOUT THE FILMMAKERHeather Dune Macadam (Writer/Director) has spent over 20 years researching and interviewing families, witnesses, and survivors of the first official transport to Auschwitz. Her internationally acclaimed book 999 (published in 2020) has been translated into 18 languages and was a Pen Finalist in 2021.Macadam's first book Rena's Promise, co-written with Holocaust survivor #1716 Rena Kornreich Gelissen is required reading in history classes around the world. In 2011, Macadam founded Rena's Promise Foundation, in the hopes of helping create a more ecumenical world unhindered by prejudice, racism, or hatred.Macadam's work discovering lost girls and young women of the Holocaust has been recognized by Yad Vashem in the UK, the National Museum of Jewish History in Slovakia, and the Memorial Museum of Auschwitz in Poland. A former professor, she has taught journalism and creative nonfiction for over 20 years. This is her directorial debut.OUR SPONSORSThis event is co-sponsored by Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life (http://judaicstudies.uconn.edu) and the Human Rights Film & Digital Media Initiative (https://humanrights.uconn.edu/areas-of-focus/film-digital-media/), a collaborative between the Department of Digital Media & Design (https://dmd.uconn.edu/) and the Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs (https://humanrights.uconn.edu/dodd-impact-programs/) at the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute (https://humanrights.uconn.edu/), and  Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsocial-critical-inquiry.uconn.edu%2Fwomens-gender-and-sexuality-studies%2F&data=05%7C02%7Carmi.rowe%40uconn.edu%7C1d2a6ff8482f42a930df08de15aa853d%7C17f1a87e2a254eaab9df9d439034b080%7C0%7C0%7C638972019778353109%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Zuq6xY9XLXCVIenmSsUGEfC0PaJcbzslZN5BGjiMCAs%3D&reserved=0), with support from The Sheppard Fund for Holocaust Education.Calendars Tagged: Human Rights (https://events.uconn.edu/view/all/tags/Human%20Rights), Dodd Impact (https://events.uconn.edu/view/all/tags/Dodd%20Impact), and Human Rights Film Series (https://events.uconn.edu/view/all/tags/Human%20Rights%20Film%20Series)Website: www.999themovie.com (http://www.999themovie.com)

Art & Performance