The story of the SS St. Louis at Midbar Kodesh Temple

"Complicit," a production of the SS St. Louis Legacy Project, and directed by Robert Krakow, will be featured by The Sperling Kronberg Mack Holocaust Resource Center, with a grant from Jewish Nevada, on Sunday, April 29 at 2 p.m at Midbar Kodesh Temple. The film contains rare footage and candid interviews with the heroic Jewish refugees from Germany who were not granted safe port by several countries. It also includes never-before-seen footage of the US Special Envoy Hannah Rosenthal’s exposé of America’s inadequate response to the Jewish refugee crisis of the time. The SS St Louis Legacy Project promotes greater awareness and dialogue on issues of human rights, immigration, and refugee policy. Their educational platforms feature the dramatization of signal events in world history, including the story of the voyage of the SS St Louis.

A panel discussion, moderated by Rabbi Bradley Tecktiel will follow. The panel will feature the film's creator Robert Krakow; Tom Jacobson, a survivor of the SS St. Louis; UNLV Historian Jeanne C. Holland; and Professor Michael Kagan, Director of the Immigration Clinic at Boyd School of Law at UNLV.

Krakow, a graduate of Georgetown University Law School, is the Executive Director of the SS St. Louis Legacy Project. He is an author, playwright and documentarian. He began his artistic endeavors in the late 1980’s with his acclaimed play “The False Witness: The Trial of Adolph Hitler” and more recently “The Trial of Franklin D Roosevelt.” Krakow’s research, study and understanding of Judaic history and religion drive his approach to theater and film. His goal is to inform and educate audiences about historical justice and the need to look beyond conventional wisdom to find the root causes of anti-Semitism and racism.

Thomas (Tom) Jacobson, born in Bamberg Germany in 1938, was one of the youngest passengers on the ill fated voyage of the damned, the SS St. Louis, which was turned away from Cuba and the U.S. in 1939. Not even a year old, Jacobson was assigned to a camp in Holland, eventually obtaining passage to the United States. Never forgetting these early experiences, Jacobson dedicated his career in law to the cause of human rights. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1962 and until his 2008 retirement was a trial attorney practicing constitutional law in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Jeanne C. Holland, now retired from full-time academia, is an Adjunct Professor in the Honors College at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with special interests in Dystopia, Literary History, Genre Theory, Anti Utopia, Comparative Utopian Studies, Feminist Theory and American Intellectual History. Her research interests are intellectual history, race, ethnicity and gender studies, and American government.

Michael Kagan, Professor of Law at Boyd School of Law at UNLV, directs the Immigration Clinic and teaches administrative law, professional responsibility, international human rights and immigration law. In both his research and his clinical teaching, Professor Kagan focuses on the tension between immigration law and civil rights.

Myra Berkovits, the Educational Consultant at the Holocaust Resource Center, is available to speak to groups, clubs and classes in preparation for this special program and at other times during the year. Contact her directly at 702-433-0005. The event, which is free to the public, will be held at Midbar Kodesh Temple at 1940 Paseo Verde Parkway, Henderson, NV 89012.