INTERVIEWS

AGNES TENNENBAUM
A first-hand witness of the Holocaust, Agnes was born in to an upper-middle class Hungarian Jewish family in 1922 and her life was torn apart by the Nazi occupation of Hungary. She experienced the horror of being jammed into a train cattle car for the three-day trip to the notorious Auschwitz death camp and forced into slave labor in the Allendorf underground munitions factory. The war was nearly over when she was taken on a death march from which she managed to escape. When she returned, she wrote her personal account in dedication to a women she met at Auschwitz, A Girl Named Rose.

HILMAR VON CAMPE
Hilmar is a native of Germany that argued passionately against the dangers of National Socialism. Hilmar authored four books; in Defeating the Totalitarian Lie: A Former Hitler Youth Warns America, Hilmar described his upbringing in Germany, the rise of Adolph Hitler and his indoctrination into the army. Hilmar was taken prisoner of war by the Soviets and managed to escape and later immigrated to America, where he made his home in Fairhope, Alabama. "Everything I write is based on my personal experience in Nazi Germany," he wrote. "I don't want to see a repetition." Hilmar passed away June 12th, 2012.

VIOLET PAPOUCHADO HIRSCH
Violet was born 1922 and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, the youngest of three daughters. She married Raymond Hirsch and they moved to Mobile, Alabama where they founded Bay Paper Company. Today, the company is run by their youngest son Alan. Their older son Rick is a critically acclaimed musician and song writer. In our film, Violet tells of experience as an American citizen during the Great Depression and World War II.

JAMES PHILPOT
James was born in 1924 and raised in rural Martin, Tennessee. The son of a World War I veteran, James grew up in the depths of the depression and experienced true poverty firsthand. James served honorably in the European theater fighting to liberate one of the most notorious concentration camps Dachau. James earned two Bronze Stars in service to his country. After the war, James returned home and graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in mechanical engineering. James served as a Scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts of America for many years, and since retiring, has enjoyed spending time with his wife, children, and grandchildren.

SIBYLLE VON CAMPE HEIDRICH
Sibylle grew up in Germany under the abysmal economic conditions after World War I. She witnessed the horror of her country being taken over and wrecked by Nazi thugs and lived through the destruction of her family, the death of her father and oldest brother. She was sent to live out the war on a farm, far from the bombed-out cities, where she fed dozens, sometimes hundreds, of refugees every day and experienced the joy of welcoming the American Army with open arms. Soon after, she reunited with her mother and later with her brother Hilmar.

ROLAND GUP FRY
A native of Mobile, Alabama, Roland graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Chemical Engineering. He worked for Seagram's in the defense & plastics division in Louisville, Kentucky, until he was drafted in World War II. He served our country in the Pacific Theater of the war. After the war, he came back to Mobile and worked for his Uncle Dean Gup at Brian Gup Army Insurance Agency. He was called back to serve in the Korean War. Afterwards, he returned to Mobile, married his wife Jean and continued working in the insurance industry. Roland and Jean have two daughters, a son and five grandchildren.