COMMENTS

"[The World Was Ours] moved me in so many ways, elating me with the remarkable culture of the city and saddening me with the sense of a world extinguished. I could not help but reflect that if so many people like yourself, Esther Hautzig, Dina Abramowicz, Abraham Sutzkever and the other speakers in the film, were among the few that survived, imagine what would Vilna have contributed to civilization if there had been no Hitler. Thank you for making it. You should feel very, very proud." - Joseph Berger, The New York Times

"As my mind wandered while watching the movie it took me back to my youth in Poland. I was only seven on September 1, 1939. This movie reminded me of my own little shtetl of Brok. Many of the scenes in the movie were similar to the Jewish neighborhoods in Vilna. My parents always spoke with high regard of the city. The city of Jewish culture of all sorts; the Jerusalem of Poland. Thanks for the well done program." - W.O., (Houston, TX)

"Thank you for your enlightening documentary and the opportunity to see truly unique sights of my home city." - J. G., (Lithuania)

"It's an amazing film that really touches one's soul ... an excellent introduction to the history, and especially about what no longer exists in Vilnius. Your study guide adds so much background to the film." - Arthur S. Berger, The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

"Thank you for the movie. Very touching, informative, valuable and inspiring" - Violete S., (Lithuania)

"A very well-made, enlightening and moving documentary. The old footage is excellently synthesized." - Elizabeth, (Vilnius, Lithuania)

"This movie was very impressive. It led me to think about...what we all have lost during a terrible time and how we can and should treasure things that we have." - A. Z., (Vilnius, Lithuania)

"A beautiful remembrance of Vilna, the Jerusalem of Lithuania." - E. B., (Orange, CT)

"I just wanted to say how moved I was by your film, which was broadcast on Channel 13 last night. Thank you on behalf of all the thousands of people who will be educated by this experience, now and in the years to come."

"The movie made me cry for a world that does not exist anymore. Thank you for a project of love." - A. P., (New York, NY)

"A must see for its clarity, truth & timelessness! It is a masterful archive that shows an important slice of history." - J., (Texas)

"What a magnificent, poignant film. Thank you. The next generations need to see it." - F. C., (Quebec, Canada)

"Superb productions-- a documentary of a golden period of a great city, Vilna, the home of my family-- my roots. It was very loving and thought provoking. I want to share it with my children and extended family." - M. D., (Montreal, Canada)

"Best film I've seen in the Jewish film festival!" - M. H., (Toronto, Canada)

"Thank you for creating such a meaningful, well-produced film. The editing was superb, the photos, comments, film clips, all contributing so well to this beautiful tribute to our heritage." - K. F., (Illinois)

"This is a wonderful film. It uniquely captures the spirit of a city that defined Eastern European Jewish culture. Thank you!" - S. S. (Illinois)

"The documentary was very eye-opening and provided a look at a way of life and hardships that most people are not aware of taking place. It puts a face and a cost on what happened. The documentary needs much broader distribution. I now realized that the cultural center of Vilna was so great in Europe." - S. G., (Texas)

"I am deeply moved by your film. I had no idea such footage existed, As I viewed the happy, so highly creative residents of this thriving city of 80,000 I was fixated on the notion that only 400 of them survived. I was watching people who were about to be killed. I took pages of notes so I could study this information more extensively and also was very much in the moment, sharing Kleenex with many women seated near me. Indeed, it takes 1 person to change the world, to champion a great idea. Thank you for giving re-birth to so many, past and present." - D. J., (Florida & Jerusalem)

"This was such a powerful film. The rendering of the community at its height was wonderful-- the footage was amazing. Seeing Vilna's glory made the destruction more horrible. This film is a great testament to the Jews of Vilna." - N. and P. K., (Evanston, IL)

"The film transported me to another dimension...particularly striking about the DVD is its effective multi-media portrayal of the whole panorama of Jewish life in Vilna-- especially the glorious times! It projected the quality of life, the intellectual curiosity, and the cultural richness that other, larger Jewish communities in Eastern Europe did not have." - J. S.

"The title and opening still, could not have been more inspired. They said it all-- those beautiful faces, they were entitled to expect that the whole world was before them. And what do we have left? Memories, buttressed by institutions like YIVO, and now your film, values, ethics and history, which your film helps explain to future generations." - R. A.

"I just wanted to say how moved I was by your film, which was broadcast on Channel 13 last night. Thank you on behalf of all the thousands of people who will be educated by this experience, now and in the years to come." - D. H., St. John's College, (Annapolis, MD)

"You did an amazing job capturing 'the spirit of Vilna' (spiritually, knowledge, culture), and conveying it to us for generations. - Anonymous

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