The heroic saga of UUSC founders the Rev. Waitstill and Martha Sharp, who went to Europe in 1939 to rescue Jews and political dissidents from the Nazis, is now being told in a new documentary, “Heroes of the Spirit: Genocide Then, Genocide Now.”

The 25-minute film, produced and directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Deborah Shaffer, was shown publicly for the first time Tuesday, December 12, at Rev. Sharp’s former church in Wellesley, Mass. The premiere included a presentation by UUSC President Charlie Clements, and discussions by Catherine Vakar Chvany, a Holocaust survivor rescued by Martha Sharp; Artemis Joukowsky III, the Sharp’s grandson; and Shelley Moskowitz, UUSC’s Washington, D.C., representative.

“Heroes of the Spirit” takes viewers along on the Sharps’ often clandestine World War II rescue missions and how their work led to the formation of the Unitarian Service Committee, which later became UUSC.

The documentary will be available in January on an enhanced DVD that also will include a video about our work in Darfur, and study and action resources. You can order a copy now through our website.

“While we celebrate the honors bestowed on two of our founders, the most important lesson we can take from their work is how their legacy inspires us to confront genocide today,” said Clements. “We cannot all travel to faraway places and take physical risks as the Sharps did. However, we can respond in many ways, such as being aware and informed and speaking out to U.S. policymakers.”

The “Heroes of the Spirit” DVD includes a discussion guide and facilitator’s guide to assist individuals and congregations in using the video as an educational and inspirational tool.

Earlier this year, Martha and Waitstill Sharp were honored posthumously as Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem. They are only the second and third U.S. citizens to be so honored, and Martha Sharp is the first American woman. They were also enshrined on the Wall of Rescuers at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. For more information about the Sharps, visit http://www.uusc.org/thesharps/index.html.