‘Hate is so useless’: Filmgoers rave about documentary featuring Spokane holocaust survivor, Carla Peperzak

Carla Peperzak didn’t speak of her horrific experiences during World War II for 55 years.
“It was too painful, and I wanted to forget and live my life fully,” Peperzak said Saturday in downtown Spokane. “Of course, this was impossible. … Now I realize how important it is to talk about it, though it’s still very difficult.”
The 101-year-old Spokane resident and Holocaust survivor is featured in a documentary, produced and directed by Gonzaga University employees, that details her journey as a Jewish member of the Dutch Resistance and her continued drive to speak out against injustice.
The 21st annual Spokane Jewish Film Festival opened Saturday with two sold-out viewings and the West Coast premiere of “Carla the Rescuer” at the Magic Lantern Theatre.
The documentary earned rave reviews from those who watched it Saturday.
Eva Wirthlin, who attended with her husband and children, called the film “wonderful” and “really well done.”
“She was super brave, and I think that the message in general for the community about respecting others was really powerful,” Wirthlin said.
Peperzak and Kristine Hoover, who co-produced the film and serves as professor and chair of Gonzaga’s School of Leadership Studies, addressed attendees before the second screening Saturday night.
“I want people to know about the Holocaust because we need to learn from it,” Peperzak said, sitting in a chair with her family behind her in the lobby of the theater. “We need to learn from the past. … We all should hope and pray that the world will never see that kind of genocide again of this magnitude.”
Peperzak, who grew up with Margot Frank, sister of Anne Frank, risked her life to help fellow Jews by making fake IDs and providing shelter from the Nazis. She endured the loss of three-quarters of her extended family because of the Holocaust.
Peperzak said she wants people to understand the atrocities and evil humans can do to each other. It’s extremely important to respect others, she said.
“Hate is so useless,” said Peperzak, who joined others after her remarks to watch the documentary.
Some might recognize Peperzak’s name from the South Hill’s new Carla Olman Peperzak Middle School, which was named in her honor.
She’s also published two books. “Keys of My Life: A Memoir by Carla Olman Peperzak” was published in 2018, and “My Journey,” which details her wartime experiences, was published last month. Both are available on Amazon.
Hoover called Peperzak real, welcoming and “nothing less than a driving force of nature.”
“Working on this project has truly touched my heart forever,” she said.
Hoover said she and director Clement Lye, associate director of production and emerging media at Gonzaga, did their best to bring Peperzak’s message to the screen, not knowing where their efforts would lead.
“We didn’t set out to create a documentary, but we have been compelled and propelled by her strength of character and her leadership,” Hoover said. “Carla’s story would be extraordinarily inspiring if it were just about preserving the history of an incredibly courageous young Jewish girl during World War II. But, it’s also about her continued work today.”
Peperzak was a teenager when she joined the Dutch Resistance and asked herself how she could make a difference.
“As a 101-year-old today, Carla continues to ask herself that question of how she still can make a difference,” Hoover said. “And now she invites each of us to do the same, asking in what ways we can come together in search of a greater respect for one another.”
Karen Cash, who watched the first sold-out show Saturday with her friend Monica Wales, said Hoover was one of her professors at Gonzaga.
“I was blown away, just the message that just one person can make such a big difference, and especially with everything going on in the world right now,” Cash said.
Wales, who called the documentary “phenomenal,” said she got to know Peperzak well by serving her at Peperzak’s retirement home.
“Her story is remarkable, and it’s just a good reminder that we all have an impact, and it’s never too late to stand up and do good in the world,” Wales said.
Neal Schindler, director of the film festival, said it was exciting to show, for the first time at the festival, a film made in Spokane.
He said he didn’t anticipate how huge the demand for tickets would be, so they had to offer a second screening. About 230 people were expected to view the documentary Saturday.
“It is, I think, a really important record of Carla’s life and the work she’s done as a Holocaust educator,” Schindler said. “She is 101 years old, and she’s still doing that work.”
Jack Sorensen, film festival committee chairman and member of the Spokane Area Jewish Family Services board of directors, echoed Schindler’s comments.
He said the documentary not only did a great job telling Peperzak’s experience with the Dutch Resistance, but it also tells the story of her life’s work since then.
“She continues to dedicate her life to educating, particularly youth, about injustice and where it leads us, and I think it’s really important and valuable that the film also told that story as well,” Sorensen said.
Sorensen said the film festival is Spokane Area Jewish Family Services’ biggest event and fundraiser of the year. Ticket sales for the films shown at the festival, which ends Sunday, benefit the nonprofit organization.
The nonprofit offers services like food and financial assistance, such as help paying rent and utilities; transportation to medical appointments; and errands and chore services for seniors and clients with disabilities, according to its website.
Schindler said the film festival, which celebrates Jewish life and culture with films, has grown significantly over the years in terms of audience and the number of films it offers.
Schindler and Sorensen said the festival is for the entire Spokane community, not just the Jewish one.
“We like to plan the festival with the intention that there’s a film for everyone,” Sorensen said.
Other festival films shown this week at the Magic Lantern Theatre include, “Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round” at 7 p.m. Thursday; “Shoshana” at 7 p.m. Saturday; and “Running on Sand” at 2 p.m. Sunday.
“Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round,” a documentary co-hosted by the festival and the Spokane NAACP, tells of the first organized interracial civil rights protest when the largely Jewish community near Glen Echo Amusement Park in Maryland joined Black students from Howard University in boycotting the segregated park in 1960.
“Shoshana” is a “political thriller” that unfolds during the British Mandate in 1930s Tel Aviv, according to a festival movie poster. The film tells of two British police officers in their hunt for Zionist activist Avraham Stern, who is planning to evict British authorities.
“Running on Sand” spotlights a young Eritrean refugee, Aumari, living in Israel and set to be deported. But after an escape attempt at the airport, he is mistaken for a Nigerian soccer player for Israel’s Maccabi Netanya soccer team, which is scheduled to arrive at the airport at the same time. Aumari plays along and must work to hide his true identity and help the struggling team.