By Nicole Falco
Deborah Oppenheimer's mom, Sylva, was one of 10,000 Jewish children who were sent to England - the only country who would take them - by their parents from Nazi-occupied territories in Europe. Sylva's parents placed their then 11-year-old daughter on a train from Nazi-Germany to England, telling her they would reunite. They never did.
Sylva, 65, died of cancer in 1993. Sylva took those painful memories with her, but her husband, Eric, found a stack of letters written to his wife by her parents before they eventually died in Nazi concentration camps.
The letters revealed a little more of Sylva's story and the unsung stories of thousands like her. Born from those letters and a daughter's curiosity was the documentary, "Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport." Oppenheimer was one of two producers of the two-hour documentary and accepted an Academy Award in 2001 for her efforts.
"I feel like my mother has been with me the whole time while I was making this film," Oppenheimer said. "I don't think she ever fully got over [her experience]. If my mother had told her story, I don't believe I would have had the drive to tell the story."
Last Friday, with Oscar in hand, Oppenheimer, a former resident of Mill Brook and graduate of South High School, returned to Valley Stream to become the seventh recipient of South High School's Distinguished Alumni Award.
Watching Oppenheimer accept South's honor was Anne Hellman, the wife of the late Jack Hellman, whose story was one of 16 stories told in the documentary.
"Telling his story changed his life. He was so happy to tell his story of courage," Hellman said. "I'm happy he had the honor to be able to tell his story."
Also rooting for Oppenheimer were two of her mom's best friends, May Schechter and Pearl Blank, her sister Wendy Martorella, her brother, Alan, and his wife, Laura, other family members, students, faculty, friends, her junior year prom date, community leaders, her dad's second wife, Gloria, and, of course, her dad, Eric, a 1942 Central High School graduate.
"If [Sylva] had been alive today this might never have happened, but still she would have been proud [of Deborah]. Her chest would be as big as mine is right now," Eric said.
Her family is still rooted in Valley Stream, but Oppenheimer now resides in California and is president of the Los Angeles-based Mohawk Productions. She also serves as executive producer of a number of popular television shows including ABC's "The Drew Carey Show," now in its eighth season, and ABC's first-season show, "George Lopez."
Oppenheimer shared the journey she took to make the documentary with students in both a large setting and later that same day in a more intimate setting over lunch and the screening of a 40-minute version of her two-hour-long film. Oppenheimer also revealed how she "made it" from her house on Firethorne Lane to Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium, where she accepted the Oscar, and how she went from an unpaid file clerk at her family's hardware store, Central Hardware, to become an award-winning producer.
At the same time she was sharing her personal story with students at South, the story of the Kindertransport may have been unfolding for the first time for a student in Germany or England. The film has been translated into 30 languages and is available on DVD and video and has a companion book, study guide and soundtrack. In Germany, the study guide is used as part of a compulsory Holocaust education and a similar guide is currently being prepared for England.
"The Oscar changed my life. It was an extraordinary accolade. As great as this [Academy Award] is - and I wouldn't give it up for anything - for me the legacy is an entire gymnasium of students hearing me talk about the story of the Kindertransport and taking the time to see the film. [To me that] is the best legacy," Oppenheimer said.
Sylva's story was not included in her daughter's film because Oppenheimer did not have enough information. Now after more research, Oppenheimer is currently writing a children's book for Scholastic Press, in which she will finally share her mother's story.
