About — Iwje Films

The Film

Did you know there were ethnic Muslims who helped save Jews during the Holocaust?

It all begins with an “Aha moment”—the discovery that not only were there Muslims who lived side by side with Jews in East European shtetls, but some of those Muslims rescued their Jewish neighbors during the Holocaust.

This is the unknown story of Tatar Muslims, descendants of Genghis Khan and the Golden Horde, a tiny group who have lived in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine for centuries, individuals who deserve recognition for their bravery.

We set out to find them, in a multi-year, multi-nation detective story, with one “Aha” moment after another.

Mile after mile watching sunsets out of airplane windows. Hoisting heavy gear into a train designed for much smaller baggage. And literally holding our breaths as our driver and guide raced down two-lane rural roads at 100 miles an hour, turning Poland’s Tatar Trail into the Tatar Grand Prix.

But against all odds, we find those Muslim descendants, including, for example, relatives of a “Tatar Oskar Schindler” who saved Jews who worked in his factory. And that’s just one of our discoveries.

Another? Jewish descendants of those who were rescued.

“The Risk Takers” is not your ordinary “history film.” It is an expedition and an adventure. A race around the world. But it is also an inspiring story of ultimate Jewish-Muslim cooperation.

These rescuers bear witness to the Holocaust through a distinctly Muslim voice. Their memories of “peaceful coexistence” and even friendship that held during the most terrible time in Jewish history, provide a unique dimension to both Holocaust history and the history of Islam.

With so much hatred in the world right now, this film reveals that during a far worse reality—the Holocaust—Jews and Muslims got along. Because they knew each other, they trusted each other. It is a powerful saga that will finally be told, both as history, and more importantly, a lesson for the present.

Our world needs to know what happened.

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“Whoever saves a single life is considered by scripture to have saved the whole world.”

The Talmud

“If anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of mankind.”

The Quran

Meet the Producers

Jeff Hirsh

SENIOR WRITER & PRODUCER
As a broadcast journalist for 40 years in Cincinnati, Jeff won dozens of local, regional, and national awards. His documentary, “Finding Family,” followed a Holocaust hidden child back to Europe. The film was named Best Documentary in the U.S in 2003 by the Society of Professional Journalists, and was shown at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Jeff won 26 Regional Emmy Awards.
His series of reports, “Miss Katie’s Class,” followed a young Christian woman through her first year as a kindergarten teacher, at an Islamic day school. “Miss Katie’s Class” won an American Scene Award from the AFTRA broadcasting union, given for programming which highlights diversity.
Jeff has a BA in History from the University of Michigan, an MA in History from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MA in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Now retired from broadcasting, Jeff lives in Evanston, IL and works for the online newspaper “Evanston Now.”
Holly Huffnagle

LEAD RESEARCHER & PRODUCER
Holly is the author of “Peaceful Coexistence? Jewish and Muslim Neighbors on the Eve of the Holocaust” published in East European Jewish Affairs in 2015. She received her Master’s degree from Georgetown University focusing on 20th century Polish history and Jewish-Muslim relations before, during, and after the Holocaust. Holly lived and worked in Poland to conduct research on ethnic minority relations before World War II and was selected for the Auschwitz Jewish Center fellowship on pre-war Jewish life and the Holocaust in Poland and northern Slovakia. She has volunteered at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim and served as a liaison for the Jan Karski Educational Foundation.
Holly previously served as the policy advisor to the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism at the U.S. Department of State and as a researcher in the Mandel Center of Advanced Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. She was also a Scholar-in-Residence at Oxford University with the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy.
Today, Holly serves as the U.S. Director for Combating Antisemitism at American Jewish Committee (AJC), spearheading the agency’s response to countering antisemitism in the U.S. and its efforts to better protect the Jewish community. (While Holly is employed by AJC, this film is not connected to AJC.) She lives in Washington, DC.
Christopher Hursh

DIRECTOR & CINEMATOGRAPHER & PRODUCER
Chris is an award-winning photojournalist, video editor, and video producer, with 25+ years in broadcast journalism. He has won a national Emmy Award for Best Spot News in the United States, along with three Regional Emmy Awards and many other local, national, and regional honors.
Chris is the director of video production at Lakota School System in Ohio. Previously, he served as lead video strategist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, the #1 children’s hospital in the country (US News & World Report). He has produced dozens of videos, helping build the hospital’s worldwide reputation and attract 62 million visitors to its YouTube channel.
Previously, Chris spent 20 years in the television news industry. In addition to the many awards already noted, Chris has also freelanced for CBS News, NBC News, and other national and international outlets.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Chris co-founded a live, daily student-produced newscast which is now in its 29th year. Chris lives in Cincinnati.