"I don't care what you do --just live." Dmitri Arshansky
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| Zhanna Arshansky Dawson |
At TCHS in Orlando, we commemorated the day by hosting an extraordinary Holocaust survivor and three members of her remarkable family. The goal was to teach the lessons of the Holocaust, and to inspire students to dedicate themselves to promoting tolerance.
This touching Holocaust story has moved everyone who has heard it. It has inspired many to reflect on how they can use their lives to make a difference in their community and in the world.
Last September service learning students attended a screening and panel discussion on a Global Peace Film Festival film, Hiding in the Spotlight. The film is a short documentary created by Candy Dawson. The students were deeply moved and inspired by the message of the film and the hero's qualities of perseverance, courage, and strength that she exhibited when faced with horrible hardships.
The film is based on the book, Hiding in the Spotlight, that was written by Candy's husband, Greg Dawson, a columnist with the Orlando Sentinel. The film and book tell the incredible story of Greg's mother, Zhanna Arshansky Dawson. She was a young Jewish musical prodigy in the Ukraine who escaped death during the Holocaust by playing the piano.
In 1941, Zhanna's family was taken from their home in Berdyansk, Ukraine by Nazis and put in a death march alongside thousands of others who were to be executed and thrown in the ravines Drobitsky Yar. Her father bribed a young German guard with a gold pocket watch, begging him to turn his eyes to let Zhanna go. His last words to his daughter were, "I don't care what you have to do -just live."
Zhanna escaped the march into the icy forest and found her way back to her village. After a series of miracles, she was placed in an orphanage with her sister, Frina who had also escaped. To this day Frina has told no one, not even her sister, how she got away. The two sisters were given new Christian names and identities, including new birth dates.
A piano tuner heard Zhanna playing piano, and was stunned by her talent. Soon Zhanna and Frina were performing for Nazi troops, entertaining soldiers and officers with the music of Chopin, Brahms and other composers. The two Jewish sisters were "hiding in the spotlight."
After the war, Zhanna and Frina were put in a refuge camp. The American camp administrator sponsored their move to the United States and he helped the girls win scholarships to Julliard. Zhanna married Larry Dawson, the refuge camp's brother, who was also an accomplished musician. Both woman had successful musical careers.
Another remarkable aspect of this story is the fact that Zhanna's two sons did not learn of her story until they were adults. They knew that their mother was Russian and came to America after the war. But it wasn't until Aimee Dawson interviewed her grandmother, Zhanna as part of a high school history assignment that the family learned the story. Zhanna wanted to spare her children from hearing the terrible story while they were young, wanting them to have a trama-free childhood, unlike her own. The word Holocaust was not even mentioned in the Dawson home.
Summarizing this story does not do it justice. You must read the eloquently written book, Hiding in the Spotlight, to get all of the details of this story. (You can order it here.)
A full length documentary film, Sharing the Spotlight is being produced to tell the story of Zhanna and the influence it has had on students and others. Service Learning students were filmed yesterday to be part of the documentary. All of them have read the book (most more than once, because they love it so much). While they were excited to be part of the film, they were much more excited to be able to meet their inspirational hero, Zhanna, and to have the opportunity to interact with the Dawson family.
Over 800 students and faculty members, about one quarter of the high school's total student body of 3,200, attended a presentation in the school auditorium where Candy Dawson's beautifully filmed documentary was presented. Then the four Dawsons - Zhanna, Greg, Candy and Aimee held a panel discussion and took questions from students. Every member of this family is exceptional as individuals, but together they are intensely uplifting and enlightening. The family received standing ovations when they walked on stage and when the presentation ended.
Dozens of students, who usually leave the campus when the last bell rings, stayed in the auditorium and ran on the stage to greet Zhanna and the family. It must have been an exhausting day for her, but Zhanna graciously embraced and spoke to each and every child, listened to their remarks, accepted their praise, and responded to their own stories for almost two hours after the program ended. As one student remarked, "This is United Nations Holocaust Remembrance Day and of all the schools in our country, we were blessed to have the Dawsons visit. I will never forget this day!"
Visit the Hiding in the Spotlight website to hear Zhanna play the piano, see photos, and learn more.
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| Aimee and Zhanna Dawson on stage after the presentation. |
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| Fourth year service learning student, Chelsea fields questions from the audience for the Dawsons. |
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| Film crew in our classroom filming service learning students for the documentary, Sharing in the Spotlight. |
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| Greg and Candy Dawson |
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| Zhanna and Greg Dawson with some Service Learning Council students |
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| Greg Dawson signing a book. |
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| Students speak to Zhanna and the Dawsons on stage after the program. |
