ABOUT US
Martin Kent – Writer/Director/Producer
Emmy Award-Winning documentary filmmaker Martin Kent is the son of Polish Holocaust survivors, but he never knew their story. Then in 1999 he made a documentary on Oskar Schindler. That opened up a dialogue with his parents. Two years later he traveled with his father Jack back to Poland. There he learned that his father, who is Catholic, put his life on the line 70 years ago and saved the filmmaker’s Jewish mother, Roza, who was on the run after the Nazis had massacred over 6,000 Jews in her town. When Israeli officials learned of this story, they subsequently awarded Jack Kent the very same medal of heroism as Oskar Schindler. The story had come full circle! Now, the goals of Years Later We Would Remember — the documentary, the book, the website and public presentations — are to promote tolerance in a compelling and entertaining way.
Martin Kent, the writer, director and producer of Oskar Schindler, The Man Behind the List, and Years Later We Would Remember, has made over 60 documentaries during his distinguished career. His work, seen by over 100 million viewers, has been critically acclaimed and featured on NBC, ABC, PBS, A&E, History Channel, Discovery, TLC, Animal Planet, Fox Sports and VH1, among others. Mr. Kent’s range of subject matter has encompassed the world energy crisis, the Holocaust, the assassinations of JFK, RFK and Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights era, the Patty Hearst kidnapping, World War II, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the Civil War, the entertainment industry, architecture, sports, sports science, archeology, the automotive industry, aviation, military science, space exploration and nature. Prior to focusing on documentaries, Mr. Kent was a founding production executive of the E! Channel. He began his career as a print journalist; his work appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and other noteworthy publications. From 1979-82 he was Editor of the Hollywood Reporter; his significant contributions to the improvement of that paper were reported in Time magazine. Mr. Kent holds a Masters Degree in Broadcast Communications from Stanford University and has taught and lectured at UCLA.
“As far back as I can recall, I was in search of my parents. I lived with them. I looked at them. I spoke to them every day. But I didn’t know who they were. Important pieces of their lives were missing. The truth was out there — but it was beyond my grasp — thousands of miles and decades away. When I finally traveled to Poland and uncovered the story of the events during the Nazi occupation and atrocities that had made my parents who they were, it was a revelation that was at once shocking, amazing and profound. Their survival was nothing less than heroic and triumphant. I want to share this experience with you.” — Martin Kent
FOR MORE INFO PLEASE CLICK ON “MARTIN KENT PRODUCTIONS” IN LINKS ON THE RIGHT
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Dear Martin,
We, as the Children of Holocaust Survivors, share a unique bond. We have similar but different stories. As the children of people who suffered the way ours did, we had our childhoods stolen from us, as we tormented ourselves trying to take away our parents’ pain. When you finally found out what had happened to your dear parents, it must have been at least a relief to know that there was a reason.
Of course they didn’t mean for us to be damaged but it was inevitable. Also inevitable I think is the power and responsibility that we inherited. Your story is very profound, as you felt their pain, but didn’t know what was wrong. In my case, I had one American parent, so always felt like maybe I didn’t have it ‘so’ bad. We have bloomed into the ‘tellers’ of the horrors. We are the evidence that will be left to keep their stories alive. But we can also tell of the hope and strength that our families had and how we inherited those same traits.
Keep up the good work, I admire what you are doing.
Best wishes,
Naomi Litvin
Dear Martin
I just watched your Schindler documentary on youtube and wanted to thank you for producing a superlative documentary on this amazing story. It is the perfect accompanient to the Spielberg movie. Is this documentary available to buy on DVD?
Kind regards
Marc
Dear Martín,
Thanks for making us believe that we don’t have to be stuck with a “hate makes hate” world. Besides the horrible things, kindness and hope also exist in the world
I’m most intrigued on what happened after the war because “Schindler’s List” only highlighted what happened during the war, so your website has filled in a lot of gaps for me and knowing that your father’s story is still being told today is testament to the hard work that people like your good self have endeavored to tell. It makes me realize that people should never forget.
N.M. Griffiths
England
ALGUNA VEZ HAS PENSADO EN TRAER TODA ESA INFORMACION, DOCUMENTALES, INFORMACION A MEXICO Y EN ESPAÑOL, SIENTO QUE HABEMOS MUCHISIMAS PERSONAS A LAS QUE LES INTERESA TODA ESTA INFORMACION EN RELACION A LO SUCEDIDO EN ESE TIEMPO.
PARA MI FUE CONMOVEDOR Y ME TOCO EL FONDO DE MI CORAZON CUANDO CONOCI LA HISTORIA DE OSKAR SCHINDLER Y VI SU PELICULA, AFORTUNADAMENTE AHORA QUE LEO LA HISTORIA DE TUS PADRES, SIMPLEMENTE LLORE. PORQUE ME DOY CUENTA QUE AUN EN LOS MOMENTOS Y SITUACIONES MAS CRUELES O DIFICILES DE NUESTRAS VIDAS, DIOS NOS PUEDE ENVIAR A ALGUIEN PARA SALIR ADELANTE.
Y OJALA Y SIRVA PARA QUE LA HUMANIDAD JAMAS DEJE QUE PERSONAS CON TANTA MALDAD VUELVAN A LLEGAR TAN LEJOS.
TE ENVIO SALUDOS Y UN ABRAZO.
I admire your work, and I wish by heart you keep on going, because this work you are doing right now will hopefully make the future generations to come a lot better then we live today. From now on I will call you a friend, because it is very important to all of us to have people like you doing this kind of great work. GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR WORK
Hi, Martin,
I’m taking this opportunity to thank your father for the amazing things he has accomplished not only for your family but for the good of humanity.
You have an amazing website that shines a light up on details of great importance concerning history and human rights. I am an immigrant from Colombia, i have been here for 15 years graduating from high school and college in Long Island, Now I’m a NYC fire department paramedic. I know first hand the importance of the issues you speak of and portray in your documentaries. These topics fascinate me, as well as Mexican American immigration, work and sex slavery in Europe and in the States. civil rights violations, and the history of all these. If you ever want me to be more particular on the cases of my life here and in Colombia, I would be more then willing to share.
Dear Martin,
Thank you for this wonderful gift. Actually in my
humble opinion, the real honour to the legacy of Mr. Schindler would
be to promote peace and harmony amongst all citizens of the world,
cutting across such man-made barriers as race, religion, nationality,
belief, ideology and economic status. I’m from India and though a
Hindu by birth, I am an agnostic. Everyone should have freedom to
follow one’s religion/beliefs as one wishes. People like you and your
father are real jewels of humanity. We need more and more people like
you to make our world worthy of living.
Yours sincerely,
Prashant Kumar
India
Your parents were brave people and lived to tell the tale as horrific as it was, so that others may learn the truth. The film “Schindler’s List” still brings tears to my eyes when i watch it (specially the bit where children have to hide in cesspools to survive ) but it will never show the true horrors or extent of what Nazi Germany did and the truth should be told so we don’t ever forget these brave people that lived, died and survived this horror, as well as those who fought it to make the world what it is today ..free
May you and your family be blessed.
Love and kind regards
Nicola van Rhyn
Cape Town
South Africa
Oh Martin – thank you so much for creating your website. The tolerance so often shown by the Jewish people, after such grave injustices, never ceases to earn my admiration. I only wish such qualities could be adopted by all the various cultures in this unhappy country – South Africa which is threatening to implode with the smoldering hatred that exists.
Pray for us and Bless you and your family.
Fondest
Sylvia Locker
Durban
South Africa
I cried when I watched “Schindler’s List” and am awaiting my copy of the book “Schindler’s Ark.” As a Muslim, I too feel sad at anybody experiencing any kind of pain. So lets form a campaign with the slogan “CHOOSE LOVE OVER HATE” and get a message to all the politicians and other bigots out there that we have made the choice. What have they done to save humanity?
Haroun Timol
Vereeniging
South Africa.
Ah my goshhhh what a great story allmost made me tear up a few times, keep up the good wrk, pleaze.