<<Print>>

United Nations Information Centre, Accra will honour the heroic actions of 12 diplomats who showed moral courage and integrity to help save the lives of Jews and other minorities during the Second World War with a screening of the award-winning documentary film �The Rescuers� at the Goethe Institute in Accra on Tuesday, 29 January at 1:30pm. The event is organized in partnership with the Association of Global Citizens-Ghana, and highlights the 2013 theme of �Rescue during the Holocaust: The Courage to Care�. Directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Michael King and produced by Joyce D. Mandell, �The Rescuers� takes the viewer on a journey to examine how the Holocaust unfolded in several countries in Europe. The story is told through the eyes of Stephanie Nyombayire, a Rwandan anti-genocide activist who lost members of her family in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, and pre-eminent historian Sir Martin Gilbert who lost family members in the Holocaust. As they travel across 15 countries and three continents interviewing survivors and descendants of the rescuers, Ms. Nyombayire and Mr. Gilbert explore the mystery of goodness in the face of danger. Among those featured in the film are German diplomat and Nazi Party member Georg F. Duckwitz in Copenhagen; Americans Varian Fry and Hiram Bingham in Marseilles, Japanese Consul Chiune Sugihara and the Dutch Jan Zwartendijk in Kaunas; Turkish Consul Selahattin �lk�men in Rhodes; British Captain Frank Foley in Berlin; Polish diplomat Henryk Slawik in Budapest; Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who helped coordinate the rescue efforts in Budapest in 1944 with Archbishop Angelo Rotta, who represented the Vatican; Consul Carl Lutz of Switzerland and Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese Consul stationed in Bordeaux who issued visas in defiance of his government�s orders, allowing safe passage of Jews to Portugal. Princess Alice, grandmother of Charles, the Prince of Wales, is also recognized for hiding a Jewish family in her palace in Athens. The film screening will be preceded by the launch of an international poster competition for students of Art and Design. This will be launched by the Commissioner of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) Ms. Lauretta Vivian Lamptey. The United Nations Resident Coordinator will present the statement of the United Nations Secretary General. Dr. Kwabena Adu-Boahen, Lecturer, University of Cape Coast will lead a discussion following the screening. Other dignitaries will include Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Honorary President Association of Global Citizens-Ghana, Dr. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, Head, Faculty of Art, KNUST, Dr. Clement Abas Apaak, Executive Chairman of the Association of Global Citizens-Ghana and Lecturer, Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Ghana and Prof. Vincent Dodoo, Head, Department of History & Political Studies, KNUST. This event will be held in commemoration of the annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust which falls on Sunday, 27 January.