his interests, having an artistic 
and documentary filmmaking 
background.
For the film, Lichtman 
completed a painting centered 
around the theme of “Never 
Again,” and urged Bates to 
create a song around that con-
cept as well. 
“This theme of ‘Never 
Again’ is really significant in 

the Jewish community, but 
as far as I’m concerned, it’s a 
universal statement,” Lichtman 
said. “I said to Curtis, maybe 
you could do a song on that 
theme because it certainly can 
apply to the history of Black 
people in this country, the 
history of slavery, oppression, 
Jim Crow or even what we’re 
experiencing today with police 
killings.”
Lichtman hopes that as 

artists in their respective 
ways, Bates and Callahan and 
the film as a whole can truly 
do something in terms of 
passing on the lessons of the 
Holocaust. 
“It’s this younger generation 
that has to figure out how to 
apply the lessons from the 
Holocaust, of discrimina-
tion, tolerance, empathy and 
all these values that become 
empty if they’re not actually 

applied,” Lichtman said.
“I hope young people think 
about how to put these lessons 
into practice in their own 
worlds and communities. It’s 
not just abstract language with 
a nice ending about how we 
should love each other, to me 
that means very little unless 
you do something.” 
Members of the community 
have generously stepped up 
to help finance the project. 
Famie is still looking for 
financial support for the film. 
Any individual that wants to 
be featured as a supporter can 
contact Famie at famie@famie.
com.
To learn more about Shoah 
Ambassadors, visit the website 
shoahambassadors.com. 

continued from page 47

ARTS&LIFE
ON THE COVER

48 | JUNE 17 • 2021 

Singer-songwriter Curtis 
Bates, 20, visiting the home 
of Holocaust survivor Rene 
Lichtman, learning valuable 
lessons and discussing the 
theme of “Never Again.”

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