Rachel Fisher is a documentary filmmaker whose most recent film, co-produced with Rachel Pasternak, is Joachim Prinz: I Shall Not Be Silent, an official selection at four prestigious international film festivals. Rabbi Prinz’s story of lifelong activism, first for Jews in Germany, and later for African Americans in the United States, has many elements of a fairy tale – it contains danger and adventure, the stakes are high, heroes team up, and in the end, evil is thwarted and lives are saved.
Rachel’s favorite traditional fairy tale is Hansel and Gretel, which she has loved her whole life. Rachel said, “The trail of breadcrumbs has always spoken to me. Even as Hansel and Gretel got deeper and deeper into the woods, they always knew their way home. It is empowering for a child to think that you can use something that you always have on hand to take care of yourself.” Also,Hansel and Gretel resonated with Rachel’s general feeling of “us against the world” that she enjoyed when she and her brother were together. “I really liked that Hansel and Gretel were equal members of a team,” she said, “They worked together and defeated the evil witch by relying on each other and their wits.”
Some of the themes in Hansel and Gretel carry through in Rabbi Prinz’s story as well. That trail of breadcrumbs as a literal aid for remembering your way home becomes a great metaphor for not forgetting where you come from. Said Rachel, “That was a huge part of what made Rabbi Prinz so compelling and so compassionate. He always stayed tied to his tradition and heritage, and that gave him a universal connection to humanity.” Following that trail of breadcrumbs back to the injustices he saw under Hitler in Germany led Rabbi Prinz to forge a bond with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Prinz’s past and his traditions insisted that he speak out against the injustices he saw committed against African American people. “His trail of breadcrumbs is that wherever I am, I can connect that to where I come from,” said Rachel.
Help your children start their own trail of breadcrumbs. Download an interactive fairy tale from www.saturnanimation.com.
