AMHERST — For Amherst resident Elsie Fetterman, a Jewish temple built in the 1950s in her Connecticut hometown continues to show the ideal way immigrants and their children should be treated and how people of varying ethnic and religious backgrounds can come together.
The history of Temple Beth Israel in Danielson, and the Holocaust survivors who founded it, are the subject of an Amherst Media-produced documentary titled “Embracing America: Preserving the Stories of Holocaust Survivors and the United States Military Who Freed Them” that, when complete next spring, could be shown on community access channels, and possibly public broadcasting stations, across the country.
Fetterman, 90, recently sought and obtained a $9,200 Daughters of the American Revolution grant to accomplish what she calls a long-time dream of demonstrating how what has happened in her hometown can rekindle the true spirit of America.
“This community in Danielson, today in 2017, has a whole community behind this temple,” said Fetterman, who is a board member of the Temple Beth Israel Preservation Society.
Fetterman, whose parents arrived in Danielson in 1924 and opened a hardware store, said it is remarkable that the mostly Christian residents first welcomed her own family, and then about 50 Holocaust survivors over the next decade or so, with open arms. This atmosphere has remained in place until present day, with an interfaith Thanksgiving service continuing for 62 years.
“This story is so unusual when you think of a Yankee community inviting all those Jewish people in,” Fetterman said.
Fetterman said lessons can be drawn about the current political atmosphere, pointing to the recent decision by President Donald Trump to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that she views as mistreating the children of undocumented immigrants.
Jewish Holocaust survivors who came to the community in the 1950s were sent to various cities and towns around the Northeast by the Jewish Agricultural Society based in New York, finding places where they could settle on small farms and learn English.
“They became true Americans,” Fetterman said.
Like the Jews who fled from Europe, many of today’s immigrants demonstrate great patriotism, Fetterman said.
“Some have become better Americans than those born here, because they show commitment,” Fettemran said.
Amherst Media Executive Director Jim Lescault said he wants to help Fetterman tell the story of the temple in such a way that it will appeal to viewers in Amherst and beyond.
“It’s a story we all need to hear over and over again,” Lescault said.
Lescault has visited Danielson and already conducted 10 to 15 interviews, many with children of the founders, and scanned documents and photographs. He has heard stories of resistance in Poland and Russia, with aspects of heroism and a survival instinct, as well as the horrible and inhumane treatment they suffered.
One of the last surviving founders, Ray Gawendo, is now 102, and while it is unlikely she will be able to participate, her children will.
“We want to get enough material for half-an-hour, we want to make sure it’s tight and really good,” Lescault said.
Much of what Lescault records and photographs likely won’t be included in the documentary, but will be housed at the temple’s permanent archives and on its website.
“We’re bringing our expertise to bring this far and wide,” Lescault said.
The latest grant comes three years after she received another DAR grant, for $9,838, to restore the temple.
The latest grant will be matched by a donation from her son and daughter-in-law, David and Summer Fetterman, allowing the documentary to have more far-reaching influence. “I’m hoping this will have an impact nationally,” Fetterman said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
