Ken Burns, known for his deep dive historical documentaries on subjects like "The Dust Bowl" and "Jazz," collaborated with Artemis Joukowsky, grandson of Waitstill and Martha Sharp, to share the couple's story on screen in "Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War." The Sharps, a husband and wife from Wellesley, Massachusetts, left the states for Czechoslovakia in 1939 with the mission of helping "Jews, dissidents and others flee persecution by the Nazis," according to The New York Times. Passionate Unitarians, they left their children behind "in the care of their parish" and risked their lives in a war zone, committed to helping those most at risk (via Ken Burns). Along with stage actress and humanitarian Marina Goldman, Tom Hanks reads the couple's letters, narrating their story in their own words.
As explained by The Hollywood Reporter, "The doc follows as one assignment led to another, eventually sending Waitstill and Martha to different places." Explained as one part "spy novel" and one part marriage story by Ken Burns, the film offers a private look into this often untold war narrative, following the couple as they orchestrate everything from a secret sea voyage for children to immigration paperwork. In 2006, the Sharps were honored by Yad Vashem as "Righteous Among Nations," an honor for "non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust." The Sharps were the second and third Americans to gain this distinction, per United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
