Prestigious NEH grant for local film on teen’s Holocaust diary

A documentary on the life of Rywka Lipszyc, a 14-year-old Jewish Polish girl whose diary was discovered in the rubble of the Auschwitz crematorium in 1945, has been awarded a coveted grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The diary — which has a San Francisco connection — is being adapted for a documentary by East Bay filmmaker Yoav Potash, whose work in progress was one of only nine films to be supported. Potash will receive $75,000 of the $22.2 million awarded for 224 humanities projects across the country, it was announced April 7.

Jon Parrish Peede, NEH chairman, said in a statement it was a “joy” to announce the grants “in these somber times, when every individual, community and organization in America is feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.” He said the funded projects “will produce vibrant humanities programs and resources for the reopening of our cultural centers and educational institutions.”

Potash’s film, “Diary from the Ashes” will bring the teenager’s experiences to the big screen by investigating the mystery of the diary Lipszyc kept while confined to the Lodz Ghetto during World War II. The diary, which she brought with her when she was deported to Auschwitz, was pulled from the ashes of the destroyed concentration camp by a medic with the Soviet army.