Pomp & Pageantry

Pomp & Pageantry—Newark Bears announcer Spencer Ross (left), General Colin Powell (center) and Newark Bears President/CEO Jim Wankmiller stand in awe of Patti LaBelle’s extraordinary talent as she sings the national anthem on the opening day of the Newark Bears 12th season on Friday, May 1. The former U.S. Secretary of State, General Colin Powell, tossed out the ceremonial first pitch and received a donation in the amount of $7,500 for America’s Promise Alliance, the national children’s advocacy organization that Powell founded. (Photo credit: Gordon Forsyth)

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“No. 4 Street of Our Lady” – A Saintly Address, Indeed – 3 popcorns

 By Michael S. Goldberger, film critic

It is among the most confounding facts of our existence. Humankind is capable of terrible things and wonderful things. Documenting in “No. 4 Street of Our Lady” how Francisca Halamajowa saved the lives of fifteen Jews during the Holocaust, filmmakers Barbara Bird, Judy Maltz and Richie Sherman lyrically and hauntingly make that point.

 The divulgences in this tale of heroism, largely based on the diary kept by survivor Moshe Maltz and later published as “Years of Horror, Glimpse of Hope,” won’t soon leave you. Not because it is unique or amazing, though it is on both counts. But because it reaffirms how mind-bogglingly pervasive was this madness that gripped the world.

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