2016 IWitness Video Challenge winning video "Community of Poetry," by Allison Vandal, Caroline Waters and Maya Montell.

This is the first blog in a three-part blog series written by 2016 IWitness Video Challenge student winners.

Hermine talks about the medical assistance she received from a local Chinese woman when she, a Jewish refugee from Germany, lived in the Hongkew Ghetto in Shanghai during the war.

100 Days to Inspire Respect

Simone Maria Liebster survived religious persecution as a Jehovah's Witness during WWII under the Nazi regime. She describes how she stood up for her beliefs despite intense opposition.

100 Days to Inspire Respect

Tom Lantos is the only Jewish survivor of the Holocaust who went on to become a US Congressman. He shares his views on values and citizen responsibility in a democracy.

Gert expresses his gratitude toward Chinese people and explains that Shanghai served his family as a place of refuge during the war.

100 Days to Inspire Respect

Elena explains how her experience being caught between two cultures inspired her to become a human rights activist.

Gert describes the community established by Jewish refugees from Germany upon their arrival in China on the eve of World War II. He remembers the living conditions in Shanghai and mentions the Hongkew Ghetto formed in the city by the occupying Japanese authorities in 1943.