Overview
- Description
- 16mm film. Title card: "The National Refugee Service: A Constituent Agency of the United Jewish Appeal presents" Title card: "Over the Rainbow Bridge" Title card: "William S. Gailmor Narrator" Relates the story of one thousand Jewish refugees who were brought to the United States under special orders from President Roosevelt in 1944. Once in America, they were transported to the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego, New York. At the fort, the refugees led somewhat peaceful lives but were unable to travel beyond its boundaries. They remained in the shelter for about a year and a half until President Harry S. Truman allowed them formal entry into the United States. The film continues to cover the release of 923 Jewish refugees from the Emergency Shelter at Fort Ontario in Oswego, NY and the work of the National Refugee Service in resettling them. Seven-year-old Georgie Neufeld sings the popular song "Gonna Love My Daddy Like He's Never Been Loved Before." [George Newfield now lives in Long Island.]
Note: The family as named in the story is fictitious. No one by that name lived at Fort Ontario. The "Greenstein" family depicted is actually the Arnstein family, originally of Yugoslavia. Their names are Ladislav, Jelka, and the children are Pavle (later Paul), Vlado (later Reginald) and Eva (later Eve). - Film Title
-
Over the Rainbow Bridge
- Duration
- 00:14:22
- Date
-
Event:
1944 August
Production: 1946
- Locale
-
Oswego, NY,
United States
- Credit
- Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania and HIAS
- Contributor
-
Narrator:
William S. Gailmor
Producer: United Jewish Appeal
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Genre/Form
- Documentary.
- B&W / Color
- Black & White
- Image Quality
- Fair
- Film Format
- Master
Master 4545 digital: H264 - SD
Master 4545 digital: H264 - SD
Master 4545 digital: H264 - SD
Master 4545 digital: H264 - SD
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- You do not require further permission from the Museum to access this archival media.
- Copyright
- Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS)
- Conditions on Use
- HIAS is believed to be the copyright holder of this film footage. Contact HIAS at bill.swersey@hias.org to obtain permission to license, use, exploit, or distribute material.
- Copyright Holder
- Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS)
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Film Provenance
- This film material was obtained from The Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 2020 for the three-part film series "The Holocaust & the United States" (2023) by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick & Sarah Botstein.
- Note
- From the Joseph E. Beck Papers at The Historical Society of Pennsylvania: https://hsp.org/sites/default/files/legacy_files/migrated/findingaid3083beck.pdf. Joseph E. Beck (1904-1981), a native of Racine, Wisconsin, was a social worker who helped Jewish refugees during World War II. Having previously worked for various social agencies in Cleveland, Ohio, and Scranton, Pennsylvania, Beck became the executive director of the Jewish Family Society of Philadelphia in 1934. He headed this organization until 1942 when he accepted the executive directorship of the National Refugee Service, in New York City. He left this organization in 1950 and moved to California, where he continued social work and eventually retired.
- Film Source
- Florentine Films
- Special Collection
-
Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2024-02-21 07:26:52
- This page:
- http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn724115
Download & Licensing
- Request Copy
- See Rights and Restrictions
- Terms of Use
- This record is digitized but cannot be downloaded online.
In-Person Research
- Available for Research
- Plan a Research Visit
