In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, we highlighted the journey of one Holocaust survivor to the big screen.

Sonia Warshawski is a force of nature. The 4-foot-8, 92 year-old with the bright red lipstick and leopard-print outfits held court at the tailor shop she ran in a crumbling Kansas City mall for years after her husband died. She doled out hugs, dished gossip and gave advice to the people that came into her orbit, whether they needed wardrobe alterations or not. Among her aphorisms:

"When you are down, look more down, and then you'll be on top."

"You should always look good when you're going out, because you never know who you're gonna meet."

It’s been a life well lived, but also one marked by unspeakable tragedy.

As a young girl growing up in Poland at the outbreak of World War II, Warshawski watched the Nazis kill her father, brother and mother, and endured daily brutality at three different concentration camps, including the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau. Alone, with no family, Warshawski narrowly avoided death thanks to her guile and inner strength. She even survived a bullet wound to the chest on the day the Allies came to liberate her country.

Warshawski — who speaks at local schools and prisons about her harrowing experiences, while emphasizing a message of love — is the subject of a documentary, “Big Sonia,” released in 2018. Giving Compass spoke with the director of the film, Leah (Warshawki’s granddaughter), about trauma, the importance of keeping the stories from Holocaust survivors alive and the impact that one person can have on the world at large.

Q: What inspired you to make this film about your grandmother?

A: We originally wanted to make a short film. But over seven years, it became much longer and more detailed. We started filming when Sonia was 85 and we knew that, within our lifetime, all of the Holocaust survivors will be gone. And just that realization was pretty profound. We needed to do something to keep their stories going.

Everybody from fifth graders to people who are 95, when they meet Sonia, it changes their lives. She gives them new hope and purpose. It’s called the 'Sonia effect.'

Q: What has been the impact of the movie so far with audiences?

A: It's a joy for us when people see the film and then can relate the themes to their own family or or their own challenges. To make something impactful, you have to make it relatable and emotional. Story wins, always.

Q: What might people learn about Holocaust survivors and their families from the documentary?

A: Intergenerational trauma is something that I don’t think people talk enough about. It comes out in different ways, but everybody in my family has been affected by the trauma that Sonia and John [Leah’s grandfather, another Holocaust survivor] went through. That aspect of the film came very late in the process and was not something we were anticipating.

Q: What gives you hope for the future?

A: As Sonia says, put love in your heart — you don't have to forgive, but you can't hate. I believe there's never been a more important time for that message.

What You Can Do

Learn … about intergenerational (or transgenerational) trauma, which is extreme psychic stress passed along to the children and grandchildren, whether through learned behavior or — as some believe — genetically. The phenomenon has been studied among not just Holocaust survivors, but other oppressed ethnic minorities, along with those who have coped with domestic violence and extreme poverty. Leah speaks about her own personal experience with the phenomenon in this TED Talk.

Connect … if you know someone who is a Holocaust survivor, there are services across the country that can help them and their families engage with communities, get financial aid and share their stories.

Give … to those keeping the memories of Holocaust survivors alive, whether it’s underwriting a film like “Big Sonia,” (Leah says they made an educational version of the doc with curriculum guides and are looking to get it into more schools, veterans groups, and prisons), or sending money to places such as the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., or Yad Vesham, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, in Jerusalem.

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Original contribution by Gabe Guarente.