FIRST SCREENING 4/28/11

The first public screening of Nelee Langmuir's moving documetary of her experiences during World War II, Tombées du Ciel, took place April 28, 2011 at the Wallenberg Theater on the Standford University Campus. The event was free and open to the public.

This screening of Tombées du Ciel was in French with English subtitles and is co-hosted with the Division of Literatures, Cultures and Languages, the Europe Center, French Studies, German Studies, the Language Center and the Department of History.

FILM DISTRIBUTION

Copies of Tombées du Ciel are distributed around the world at the following locations:

• Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture, Berkeley CA
• Stanford University, Stanford CA
• Holocaust Center of Northern California, San Francisco CA
• Yale University, French Department, New Haven CT
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC
• Jewish Community Center Association, New York NY
• National Center for Jewish Film, Brandeis University, Waltham MA
• Mémorial de la Shoah, Musée Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine, Paris France
• Hidden Children's Association, Paris France
• Yad Vashem, Righteous Among the Nations Department, Jerusalem
  Israel

ABOUT THE FILM 

This documentary is about the experiences of two Jewish sisters who survive the Holocaust in France thanks to many courageous people who risk their lives to save them. In the summer of 1942, a network of friends and strangers help eleven-year-old Nelly and her little sister Mina to flee Paris to the part of France not yet occupied by the Germans where they find shelter with a Catholic family active in the Resistance. After the war, the girls reunite with their parents and emigrate to the United States. In 1998, there was a moving reunion with their rescuers.

Mina and Nelly were hidden by Albert and Marianne Béraud and lived with them and their five children for many months in a small town in France called Chabanais. 

The Righteous Among the Nations was awarded to Albert and Marianne Béraud and received by Albert and Marianne’s children; Claude, Geneviève, Françoise, Collette and Alain, on June 26, 2011.

The ceremony was attended by over one hundred family and friends, along with the French and Israeli officials.

The honor of Righteous Among the Nations is unique in Jewish history. Awarded by the Jewish people through the State of Israel, this honor pays tribute to the non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Yad Vashem is the organization responsible for the bestowing of this honor.

Sebastian Leyssenot, grandson of Genevieve Béraud, received the award for the Béraud family while Mina Parsont looked on. Kim Ratier (behind Sebastian), granddaughter of Genevieve Béraud, spoke earlier of her travels to Israel granted by the France Yad Vashem committee.