Holocaust surviver remembers

Before she was taken away to Auschwitz in 1944, Gloria Hollander Lyon and her family didn't believe that the Holocaust was actually happening. Although a man had come to their village in Czechoslovakia and warned them that Jews were being murdered in mass quantities, it seemed impossible that acts as horrible as this man had described were really taking place.

"We didn't believe him, we thought he was a lunatic. It wasn't until my family was actually imprisoned in Auschwitz that we knew he had been telling the truth," Lyon said.

Fifty-one years later, Lyon's story has become the subject of a film by SF State professor Jim Goldner. "When I Was 14: A Survivor Remembers" chronicles Lyon's life, and is scheduled to be presented at SF State Tuesday.

The film begins with Lyon's recollection of her incarceration in seven concentration camps from April of 1944 to May of 1945, and includes her return trip to Auschwitz in 1987. "When I Was 14," also shows Lyon's reunion with other concentration camp survivors and her current work of speaking at schools throughout the Bay area in an attempt to educate young people about prejudice and intolerance.

It was Lyon's mission to educate about the Holocaust that initially sparked Goldner's interest when the two were introduced by a mutual friend 12 years ago.

More than a decade later, after numerous problems completing the film, including Goldner suffering a stroke in 1987, and a lack of funding, "When I Was 14" is finished.

However, the film, did not turn out exactly as Goldner had originally intended.

"The original concept of the film dealt with Gloria Lyon telling the story of a young woman, the age of most of the people she was addressing, and how those young people were affected by that story. It was the story of somebody turning a horrific experience into something positive," Goldner said.

Instead, Goldner, who has taught film classes at SF State since 1963, said the film ended up becoming a biography of Lyon herself. After many difficulties in completing "When I Was 14", Goldner was ready to finish the film, even if that meant turning it over to another source.

"After nearly 12 years of working on this film, I gave it back to the lions. I said 'I'll serve as a consultant, anything you want, but let's find somebody who can finish it'," Goldner explained.

Marlene Booth, a Boston filmmaker, agreed to finish the film, but nothing could be done until the necessary funds were raised. Meanwhile, Lyon and her husband, a San Francisco attorney, had returned to Europe. It was on this trip they met with a German industrialist who had previously contributed some money to the film, and convinced him to put up the money needed to complete "When I Was 14".

"We were at the point where we were going to have to give up," Goldner said. "When Gloria returned form Europe, the money was there."

Although Goldner has been involved in filmmaking for most of his life, he considers "When I Was 14" to be one of his most important works.

"Survivors are not going to be around forever, and this film will help to alleviate this gap," Goldner said. "You can never replace a live human body, but I thought by showing the reaction of young people in the 1980s and 90s, maybe kids in the year 2060 will look at that and see that those young people are very much like them, that Gloria was very much like them when she was imprisoned."

Lyon agreed with Goldner that it is imperative that there always be reminders of the Holocaust, citing the situation in Bosnia as proof that "they haven't learned anything, have they?"

"It is important that people never again disbelieve that the Holocaust happened, and that it can happen again," Lyon said.

"When I Was 14: A Survivor Remembers" will be shown at 6:30 p.m. March 19 in the Arts and Industry Building at SF State, immediately following a reception for Goldner at 5:30 p.m.. Admission to the film is free.

[ Golden Gater Online March 12, 1996 ]

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