In this video, Sarah Engelhard describes her voyage aboard the Serpa Pinto in 1944 on route to Canada. When they crossed the border on the first night of Passover, Sarah's family was assigned to stay with a family in Montreal, despite her father's plans to go to Toronto. Source: Montreal Holocaust Museum, 2011
[00:00-00:07]
Video begins with inter-title in white text on black screen while instrumental music plays and fades into the next frame: In April 1944, Sarah Engelhard's family crossed the Atlantic aboard the SS Serpa Pinto.
[00:08-00:37]
Cut to Holocaust survivor Sarah Engelhard, sitting in front of a black background, and looking to the left of the camera. The camera shows her face and shoulders as she speaks during an interview conducted in Montreal in 2011.
>> Sarah Engelhard: We came on the first night of Passover, and we weren't allowed – And this is how my story really began.
[00:15-00:27]
The name “Sarah Engelhard” and the location of the filmed interview, “Montreal”, appear in white text above Sarah's right shoulder.
>> My brother, now, kept asking me, “Sarah, why were there planks from the boat to the cars to take us to the train?” There were planks…
[00:28-00:39]
Cut to black-and-white photograph of a large ship docked at port. The name “SERPA PINTO – PORTUGAL” is written on the side of the ship. The photo caption appears in white text in the top-left corner, “SS Serpa Pinto, 1944”.
>> …and soldiers were guarding, with their rifles drawn, in case we decided to step on American ground. We weren't allowed to step on American ground.
[00:40-00:47]
Cut to Sarah Engelhard in front of the camera.
>> So, there were planks from the Serpa Pinto into a car, that would take us to the train that was sealed.
[00:48-00:58)
Cut to black-and-white photograph of a group of approximately a dozen people sitting and eating at a set dinner table. The photo caption appears in white text in the top-left corner, “Serpa Pinto passengers, Montreal, 1944”.
>> Anything American, it was sealed until we crossed the border into Canada. But you know, we were the huddled masses, you know, we didn't want to be seen.
[00:59-01:02]
Cut to Sarah Engelhard in front of the camera.
>> That was the important thing. And then the Canadians came on board to…
[01:03-01:20]
Cut to black-and-white visa document with title, “APPLICATION FOR NONIMMIGRANT VISA” with typed information about the Engelhard family. The camera scans down the document until it stops near the bottom at a photograph of a woman and two children: Sarah's mother, Sarah, and her brother. The document is stamped Mar 7, 1944. The photo caption appears in white text at the top, “The Engelhards' immigration visa, 1944”.
>> …to give us our papers, to tell us where we were going, we didn't know where we were going to be ending up. We were still in the hands of other people, but this was not war anymore. I mean, this was in, you know, in a free land.
[01:21-01:23]
Cut to Sarah Engelhard in front of the camera.
>> It wasn't animal-like.
[01:24-01:30]
Cut to second inter-title in white text on black screen while instrumental music plays and fades into the next frame: Despite Sarah's father's plan to start a business with another family in Toronto, the Engelhards were assigned to settle in Montreal.
[01:31-01:38]
Cut to Sarah Engelhard in front of the camera while instrumental music continues playing in the background.
>> But anyway, so then my father was, you know, all the papers were signed and he came to us. My mother was standing with the Byrons and they were already…
[01:39-01:54]
Cut to black-and-white photograph of a group of people standing together in winter jackets. The man in the centre of the photograph, Mr Engelhard, holds the hand of a young girl with a flower in her hair. Young Sarah Engelhard stands behind her father to the right, wearing a lighter jacket. The photo caption appears in white text at the top, “Sarah Engelhard and family arriving in Montreal, 1944”.
>> …they got their papers. And, so you know, he read – Mr Byron read, you know “Destination: Toronto”. And my father was looking at his, and he went berserk…
[01:55-02:16]
Cut to Sarah Engelhard in front of the camera.
>> …went crazy, went “No, no, no, no, no!” – rushed back to the agent who had just given him his papers to freedom and a wonderful new world. And he didn't want that it was Montreal we were supposed to be going to. He wanted to go to Toronto. “Not Montreal,” he was screaming out loud, “not Montreal!”
[02:17-02:27]
Music plays for the remainder of the video. Three credit pages appear in white text on black screen: Interview conducted by Audrey Mallet, Witness to History Program, Montreal, 2011, Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre
Images: Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives; Sarah Engelhard Family Collection
Directing: Helgi Piccinin; Editing and Colorization: Michaël Gravel, Helgi Piccinin; Audio Mix and Original Music: Pierre-Luc Lecours. [Logo for Chaire de recherche du Canada en patrimoine ethnologique]
Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre, copyright 2017.
--
End of transcript.