If you become hateful, they win. Kati Preston
I had the thrill and honor of meeting Kati Preston recently, at Red River Theatres for a preview of a new film about Kati's life. Now in her mid-80s, Kati lives in a farmhouse in rural New Hampshire, beloved by neighbors and surrounded by animals. Her path to the Granite State goes through Tel Aviv, Paris, London, Milan, and elsewhere. She was born in Hungary in 1939, the only child of a Jewish father and a Catholic mother. Most of her Jewish relatives, including her father, were killed. Her Catholic family mostly survived, but her mother was imprisoned and tortured for loving a Jewish man. She ultimately was released and survived.
Kati's story was published by Peter E. Randall Publishing last year, and now, a new film documents her life. It's beautifully crafted, and unlike many other documentaries that I've seen. As you might expect, it features interviews with Kati and others; and it includes old pictures and footage from Hungary during the war years. But the producers also hired actors to play the roles of young Kati, her mother and father, other family members, Hungarian soldiers, and most importantly - the farm girl who agreed to hide Kati in her barn after her father was taken away.
I'm a radio girl, not a filmmaker, so I'm no expert on how to craft a visual story! That being said, I found the juxtaposition of these three elements captivating. The fact that Kati herself was in the audience made the event all the more compelling. After the film, in a Q and A session, Kati answered a question that she admitted she wrestled with for decades: how she coped with the anger and hatred for those who murdered her beloved Papa and so many others. For a long time, she admitted, she wanted to kill and hurt. But then she realized:
"If you become hateful, they win."
Wise words for us all, Kati. Thank you.
For more on the film, go to:
If you're interested in the book:
Many, many thanks to my friend Tom White at the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College for inviting me. You're the best, Tom!
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