A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR'S
REFUGEE STORY
818 TONG SHAN ROAD - THE FILM
- 20th Anniversary -
" Today, as we contemplate the 20th Anniversary of making the 818 TONG SHAN ROAD film, sadly, the world is facing a severe humanitarian crisis since the events captured in the movie. Moved by these events, we created this educational website about the film and Pedro Lievendag's experience as a refugee, hoping this would help create awareness and inspire everyone to help Refugees Worldwide " .- 818 Team -
THE STORY & TRAILER
In 1941, Pedro Lievendag and his family managed to escape Nazi Germany to find refuge in a Shanghai Ghetto alongside 20.000 Jews and other refugees.
60 Years after leaving the Ghetto as U.N.R.R.A. Displaced Persons, Pedro’s daughter, Marlene, produced and directed the documentary feature 818 TONG SHAN ROAD, a testimony of the trip they made together back to Shanghai where they were able to visit the Ghetto, and reencounter the story that marked the destiny of the Lievendag family.
Pedro Lievendag's Displaced Person Letter, U.N.R.R.A, CHINA 1947 Holocaust Museum BS.AS
"... MY FATHER LOOKED AROUND AND SAID:
IT IS ONLY FOR SEVEN DAYS. WE STAYED SEVEN YEARS!…”
THE DOCUMENTARY FILM
PEDRO LIEVENDAG & THE SHOAH FOUNDATION
In 1996, Pedro Lievendag, Holocaust Survivor, was interviewed as one of 52.000 video testimonies for the Shoah Visual History Foundation Library.
Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation was founded in 1994 by Steven Spielberg who - after completing "Schindler’s List” - was inspired by the goal of capturing firsthand filmed testimonies of Holocaust survivors before their stories would be lost forever.
A FILM IS BORN
Thanks to the Shoah Foundation project, Pedro was able to reconnect with other survivors, old friends from The Shanghai Ghetto who had relocated all over the world after the end of WWII. This event was the trigger for Pedro's daughter to start the "818 Tong Shan Road" Documentary.
A product of 6 years of research, the documentary was shot in real scenarios, from Buenos Aires, to Santiago de Chile, Philadelphia, Washington, and Hamburg, and all the way to Shanghai, where father and daughter visited the ghetto where Pedro lived between 1941 and 1947.
Intertwining archives images and present-day footage, survivor testimonies, illustrations, and motion graphics, Director Marlene Lievendag creates a striking, emotional film, that focuses on reaching out to an audience of young generations.
PEDRO'S STORY FILM
818 TONG SHAN ROAD:
Color 40'
Director: Marlene Lievendag
Script: M.Lievendag & Pedro Saborido
Production manager: Marcela Gomareschi
Edition: N. Malowicki & M. Minotti
Art direction & Research: Dina Szeinblum
ABOUT SHOAH
Mr Lievedag is part of the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive.
USC Shoah Foundation - The Institute for Visual History and Education is dedicated to making audio-visual interviews with survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides, a compelling voice for education and action.
(video source: USC Shoa Foundation website)
THE SHANGHAI GUETTO
SHANGHAI GUETTO 1947/2004
Survivor Pedro Lievendag
and Marlene Lievendag
at Tong Shang Rd, Shanghai.
October 2004.
818 TONG SHAN ROAD & WORLD REFUGEE DAY EVENT
In concordance with USA for UNHCR and the support of The German Consulate of Germany in Miami to promote and create awareness of the Refugee Cause, 818 TONG SHAN ROAD TEAM organized a Film Screening/Event to mark WORLD REFUGEE DAY 2007, for the first time in Miami, Florida U.S.A.
The event featured a Q&A with Survivor Pedro Lievendag, after the film screening.
"... Since 1975 an estimated 2.6 million refugees have been resettled to the US. The states of California and Florida have each resettled more refugees than any other country other than the US itself. By marking World Refugee Day we also want to pay tribute to the refugees who in coming to the US have enriched the towns and cities which have become their new homes…"
( Opening event speech letter sent by USA for UNHCR, Regional Representative for the United States and the Caribbean, Michel Gabaudan, UNHCR - 2007.)
THE 818 PROJECT -20th ANNIVERSARY EVENT- 2023
“SHOAH AND THE VALUE OF MEMORY”
AN UNFORGETTABLE EVENING, OF MANY DIFFERENT FORMS OF STORYTELLING, BUT ONLY ONE MESSAGE:
DO NOT FORGET
On August 30th, 2023, 818tongshanroad was presented at the “Fundación Judaica” in Buenos Aires City.
Together with the director’s Film, Marlene, and her father Pedro, we shared a moving and captivating evening with the public, full of stories and memories.
Through the documentary, an inspiring talk with the public, and the exhibition “After the end of the world”, by ONU-Argentina and Museo SHOA B.A. - which reviews the work of the U.N.R.R.A. during and after the Holocaust - (Shoah), we were able to go through the history of the Lievendag family.
We also shared a special moment during the talk, when Mr. Widder, director of JDC-Joint Latin America, gave testimony from the JDC-JOINT Shanghai, about the Lievendag family in the ghetto.
This event was possible thanks to: 818TEAM, Fundación Judaica, Museo Shoa with ONUArgentina, Proyecto Voces, and the support of Fundacion Bama.
A beautiful evening building "Memory" together.
