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Words bolded in the main text are defined in the sidebars on the Summary and Viewing/Discussion Questions pages.
 EQUAL RIGHTS The Baker family's story is a concrete example of the importance of equal rights in democratic societies. The Bakers' experience of moving into an all-white neighborhood and Judy's decision to support them demonstrate the courage needed to act on the principles of tolerance, respect, and responsibility. The Bakers' personal story is part of a larger struggle for African American equal rights in the United States. The U.S. Civil Rights Movement, which was in its strongest period from 1954-1963, used non-violent protest and direct action to strive for equal rights and opportunities for African Americans in housing, voting, and public accommodations. Part IV of the viewing guide provides more information on the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. JEWISH CULTURAL LIFE Jews had lived in fully developed Jewish communities throughout Europe for nearly 2,000 years by 1933. (Consult Appendix A, "Two Thousand Years of Jewish Life In Europe by 1933.") These communities were steeped in Jewish religious values, but they were also influenced by the cultures of the countries in which they lived. Emancipation (freedom of rights) in the nineteenth century gave Jews the opportunity to link traditional values and rituals with modern ideas about intergroup socialization, commerce, and politics. KOVNO ( KAUNAS) GHETTO The Lithuanian term for Kovno is " Kaunas." After the Nazis invaded Lithuania in 1941, they established a ghetto in the city of Kovno. The Kovno ghetto was located in Slabodka, a suburb of Kovno that had been a Jewish neighborhood for hundreds of years. Like other ghettos in the occupied countries of Eastern Europe, the Kovno ghetto was enclosed by a fence that prevented Jews from leaving the ghetto without German permission. When the Kovno ghetto was first established, about 35,000 Jews were confined there. Within the first three months of its existence, 12, 000 of the Jews in the Kovno ghetto had been massacred by Lithuanian volunteers under German command. In July of 1944, as Soviet forces approached Kovno, the Germans began transporting the Jews still living in the Kovno ghetto to concentration camps. When Kovno was liberated by Soviet forces on August 1, 1944, only a few hundred Jews remained there. |
SUMMARY The Film: In
the opening section of Tak forAlt, Judy Meisel relates her decision
to talk about her experiences in the Holocaust. The event that
precipitates her decision to speak opens the film. While eating dinner
one night at home, Judy sees a television report about an African American
family, the Bakers, moving into an all-white neighborhood in Folcroft,
Pennsylvania. The year is 1963. A mob of whites has turned out in an
attempt to intimidate the Baker family into leaving the neighborhood.
Judy, who lives in neighboring Philadelphia, welcomes the family into
the neighborhood by bringing them some homemade cookies. Judy explains
her decision to act by saying, "I felt that if their homes were
not safe, my home [was] not safe, and when their rights were trampled
on, my Jewish rights were trampled on at the same time." |
State Police
escort the Bakers to their house in Folcroft, Pennsylvania