A poignant 2008 Holocaust documentary is now being re-released with an accompanying guidebook for educators. Four Seasons Lodge is a film that captures the summer experience of a group of Holocaust survivors who gather annually at an isolated rural compound in the Catskill Mountains. There, they play poker, dance, sing, listen to music, socialize…with others who understand their unfathomable pain. It is a unique seasonal meetup for those with shared experiences and ties that bind, one that has solidified friendships and even romances over the years.

Throughout the film, we see that the survivors are dealing with a new challenge: They are at risk of losing their beloved lodge of 25 years. The film follows the residents as they grapple with the idea that their summer residence, with all the sentimentality that is attached to Four Seasons Lodge, may be put up for sale.

Focusing on individual survivor stories and past experiences, the producers of Four Seasons Lodge have created a powerful tool for Holocaust education. The newly published handbook, written to accompany the documentary as a teaching tool, offers educators an effective way to engage students in meaningful dialogue.

The film was directed by Andrew Jacobs of The New York Times who discovered the lodge while writing an article for the newspaper.  He decided that a documentary would be the ideal way to capture the atmosphere and magic surrounding Four Seasons Lodge. Jacobs then teamed up with Rainlake Productions to create this emotional and powerful documentary.

Principal Characters in Four Seasons Lodge

HYMIE ABRAMOWITZ is the Lodge godfather, its unpaid handyman, resident misanthrope and an irreverent atheist who takes pleasuring in riling up the faithful. He is also a driving force behind the decision to dissolve the colony — and the only one who can save it.  “They call this place paradise. It’s not a paradise for me. It’s a labor camp.”

TOSHA ABRAMOWITZ is Hymie’s  beleaguered wife and sidekick who, after 55 years of marriage, still finds his off-color jokes unbearable. She often provides a sobering counterpoint to Hymie, who uses humor to deflect questions about his agonizing past. “No matter how hard I try, he doesn’t want to talk about it.”

ARON ADELMAN embodies the raucous spirit of the Lodge. He may be 91 and grievously ill, but Aron drinks scotch like water, stuffs his face with artery-clogging kielbasa and dances the mambo like a young ruffian.   “The best thing in life is to eat, drink and be happy. When you’re finished, you’re finished!”

BASIE ADELMAN is the bracingly frank wife of Aron and a Russian-born rebel who can dispense love and disdain with a single glance.  “He’s going to live like everyone else. Until he dies!”

OLGA BOWMAN travels to the Catskills from her home in El Paso each summer to share a room with Genya Boyman, her life-long companion. Loving and insightful, Olga is the film’s unofficial narrator and a font of philosophical musings about life, aging and the value of friendship.  “Life is not easy for everyone. But life can be beautiful even when it’s not so easy.”

EUGENIA “GENYA” BOYMAN, Olga’s companion, is an occasionally dour but eminently regal presence at the Lodge. She is a straight-shooter who heaps ridicule on those who hide their age, but when it comes to the past, Genya is incapable of talking about her wartime experiences.“One day, one day I’ll tell my story – I suppose it will be on my deathbed.”

TOBIAS BUCHMAN is a former soccer star who was the only Jew on the German team. After the death of his wife, he falls in love with Lola, a fellow lodger whom he first met at a Nazi death camp. Unexpected illness, however, tests the bonds of their blossoming affair.  “To be in love at my age is something I never expected. Somebody must be watching over us.”

CARL POTOK is the president of the lodge and a selfless workhorse who struggles to keep the colony going even as he tends to his ailing wife, Cesia. He is also a pragmatist who has no use for religion.  “I was in concentration camp four years and I never saw no miracles. Luck yes. As far as I’m concerned God is about miracles.”

CESIA POTOK, Carl’s wife, is battling Alzheimer’s disease and confined to a wheelchair. Her haunting cries, which reverberate across the colony, are an unwelcome reminder of mortality. “We were together in one camp. When we were liberated she didn’t have nobody and I didn’t have nobody. Four months later we got married.”

LOLA WENGLIN is the spunky paramour of Tobias Buchman who reluctantly agrees to leave the colony early after he gets sick.   “I’ll run away, find another boyfriend and come back to the country.”

**If you are interested in finding out more about this film and how to screen it in your schools, please send me an email: Sweiss@WeissmediaGroup.com. I am working closely with my friend Kelly Sheehan, the Executive Producer of this film, to arrange screenings nationwide. **