Can a language save your life? Yes it can, even an ancient one from the 15th century. Saved by Language tells the story of Moris Albahari, a Sephardic Jew from Sarajevo (born 1930), who spoke Ladino/Judeo-Spanish, his mother tongue, to survive the Holocaust. Moris used Ladino to communicate with an Italian Colonel who helped him escape to a Partizan refuge after he ran away from the train taking Yugoslavian Jews to Nazi death camps. By speaking in Ladino to a Spanish-speaking US pilot in 1944 he was able to survive and lead the pilot, along with his American and British colleagues, to a safe Partizan airport.
Released: Jan 15, 2015
Runtime: 53 minutes
Genre: Documentary
Stars: Moris Albahari, Ester Kaveson Debevec, Jacob Finci, David Kamhi
Crew: Susanna Zaraysky (Writer), Zeljko Svetinovic (Editor), Judy Chaikin (Consulting Producer), Susanna Zaraysky (Producer), Can Evrensel (Translator), Bryan Kirschen (Director)