The film, released byGreenwich Entertainment, is directed byBeth Lane, Belas daughter.
In 1943 she would be killed at Auschwitz.
The towns mayor knew of the childrens presence but kept the secret.
The Weber siblings in ‘UnBroken’Greenwich Entertainment
They took refuge in a U-Bahn station but managed to escape just before remaining Nazi forces flooded the tunnels.
Why did we have miracle after miracle after miracle?
All seven children eventually reached New York and then traveled on to Chicago.
Paula and Arthur SchmidtGreenwich Entertainment
So much so that their portrait hangs in the last gallery of theUnited States Holocaust Memorial Museum…
They were in all those press clippings [from that time].
Thats how notable the story was.
Before they left for America, their father had enjoined the siblings to always remain together.
Bela, just six when she immigrated, was adopted by a loving couple, Rosalind and Joshua Speigel.
The Weber kids tried to stay in close contact, but it proved psychologically difficult for the young Bela.
My mom was having a very hard time acclimating to her new life [as a child].
And then she would come back, and she would act out horribly, Lane explained.
She was so young that she didnt even understand that the trauma happened to her, she said.
My mom never, ever, ever called herself a Holocaust survivor.
And she never called herself persecuted.
She never called herself a refugee.
She really, really aligns with refugees today and understands the plight deeply.
I think for her its been a very positive journey.
I never considered myself to be somebody who had intergenerational transfer of trauma.
And I do align with that [now], the filmmaker said.
I led a very Norman Rockwellian life [growing up] in Wilmette, Illinois.
I got to ride bikes until eight or nine oclock at night until somebody said, Go home.
Really, it was Norman Rockwell, leafy suburbs and all that kind of stuff.
And so I would wonder, Why do I have so much rage?
Why have I grappled deeply with depression?
And I would feel guilty about having the depression because I had such a beautiful life.
Whats wrong with me?
I have more control over the choice of the rage or more control over the choice of the depression.
UnBrokenreleases on DVD on March 4.
UnBrokenis the first project of theWeber Family Arts Foundation.
