Watching a Holocaust Happen
"Sing a Little Louder," a powerful new film on genocides past and present, premieres at the National Press Club
On Wednesday, June 10, 2015, at 2 p.m. at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, Catholic Witnesses, and Movie to Movement will host the premiere of “Sing a Little Louder,” a film about genocide, Christians, and the mute acceptance of evil.
Former congressman, and a longtime champion of religious freedom, Frank R. Wolf said, “‘Sing a Little Louder’ uses a moving personal narrative to convey a powerful message—namely that when confronted with evil in its many manifestations, good people must act. To do otherwise is to be complicit in the suffering of innocents.”
Sing a Little Louder is a 12-minute film based on the true story of an old man who remembers witnessing the horrors of the Holocaust, and the passivity of his parents, pastor, and fellow Christians in the face of ultimate evil. The movie serves as eloquent commentary today, when Christians themselves are the victims of genocide throughout the Muslim world — to the silence of Christians in the West who are privileged with influence, wealth and power.
Stream author Juliana Taimoorazy, founder and president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, will offer a short briefing on the current plight of Christians targeted by ISIS. Taimoorazy is also the Executive Producer of “Sing a Little Louder,” and a Philos Project fellow.
Taimoorazy recounted her own family’s experience of genocide in The New York Post last month. As she wrote:
For many years, my mother stayed silent about the genocide. But one cold night in Tehran, in 1985, as we huddled around the space heater, she finally opened up. She told me how Nana (her grandmother) was awakened in her little clay house by violent knocks. Nana’s nephew George burst in. He threw himself down on her sickbed and wept for a solid minute. Then he reared up and whispered the news: “Nana, they killed Uncle Augustus. Those merciless animals cut his body into pieces and made me bring it home in a rice bag — our ration bag.”
At the news that her son was dead, Nana collapsed. Her cries filled the cold, desolate room. Nana’s husband, a priest of the Ancient Assyrian Church, had been murdered the year before — dragged behind his horse by Muslim neighbors. The following year, another family member would be shot by his Muslim servant.
I breathed very slowly, committing to heart my mother’s every word. She ended with this: “Juliana, you need to know stories like this. Someday, you must share them with your children. It was not only our family who gave martyrs for our faith in Jesus Christ. There are hundreds of thousands of families like us.”
Taimoorazy said, “One of the great lessons of the Holocaust, which we learn at the Holocaust Museum for instance, is that the world must say ‘never again.’ That’s a beautiful message. But here it is, happening again before our eyes — the removal and murder of ethnic and religious minorities by bloodthirsty savages . I hope this film will awaken the conscience of the West.”
Executive Producer and Stream author Jason Jones (Bella, Crescendo, The Stoning of Soroya M.) agreed, saying: “We must speak out for the vulnerable, wherever they are, whoever they are. Our mission in Movie to Movement is to produce and promote films that highlight the dignity and sacredness of the human person, through the medium of beauty. ‘Sing a Little Louder’ is a powerful, unforgettable film that does just that.”
Rep. Wolf added, “We look around the globe today, especially in the Middle East, and we see ancient faith communities, Christian and Yezidi among them, being driven to the point of extinction. We must each examine our conscience when confronted with this injustice—lest the words ‘Never Again’ ring hollow.”
The Iraqi Christian Relief Council (www.victimsofisis.org) coordinates desperately needed relief for persecuted Assyrian Christians and other minorities menaced by ISIS and other jihadists.