Picking up from where Fanya Heller’s autobiography, Love in a World of Sorrow, left off, this documentary chronicles the life of a remarkable Holocaust Survivor. Fanya was just a teenager when the War broke out and her family was quickly forced into hiding. It was with the help of a righteous Catholic farmer and a Ukrainian soldier who was surprisingly in love with Fanya, that her family was able to stay hidden for over three years. With almost no food and very little water, Fanya survived to tell her story and teach others the importance of survival and education. After the Holocaust Fanya came to the US to continue her education that was cut short by the war. She obtained a B.A. and M.A. in psychology from the New School for Social Research and honorary degrees from Yeshiva University and Bar-Ilan University.
This summer, Fanya plans to return to her hometown of Skala, in present day Ukraine, accompanied by Father Patrick Desbois. Father Desbois is a French Catholic priest who has videotaped more than 700 interviews with witnesses and bystanders and has identified more than 600 common graves of Jews, most of them previously unknown. He also has gathered material evidence of the execution of Jews from 1941 to 1944, the “Holocaust of bullets” as it is called.
At 83 years old, Fanya speaks regularly at inner-city schools. The film meets some of the students who are touched by Fanya’s message of Hope and survival.