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JEWISH EXPONENT
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H EADLINES
Interviewer Brings Holocaust Stories to Life
L OCA L
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
THE THING ABOUT a good
story like the one that Louis
Schmidt tells is that it’s portable.

Whether delivered from a
lectern or transmitted through
a screen, Schmidt’s lecture on
his time as an interviewer for
the USC Shoah Foundation,
“Th e Untold Story of How the
Stories Were Told,” has riveted
audiences. Due to the pandemic, the
Ohio native, 80, has spoken in
far-fl ung locales that he couldn’t
have imagined when he deliv-
ered his speech for the fi rst time
at Congregation Rodeph Shalom
in 2014. Audiences in Singapore,
Israel and Australia have had
the chance to hear the tale of
Schmidt’s experiences with
Holocaust survivors in 1995 and
1996, when the former journalist
and NFL Films senior producer
conducted almost two dozen
interviews intended to record
their testimony for generations
to come.

Th ough known to many for
his speaking, Schmidt believes
it was his skill doing the exact
opposite that made him a
successful interviewer.

“I was good at listening,”
Schmidt said.

Th ough he is Jewish, Schmidt
didn’t have any interaction with
Holocaust survivors growing up
in Youngstown. His experience
of World War II was limited
to watching his father serve as
an air raid warden and feeling
a child’s generalized fear of
Germans and Japanese.

Aft er returning from time
in the Army Reserve during the
Vietnam War, Schmidt, who
wanted to write for newspapers,
went to New York. With a degree
in journalism from Ohio State
University, Schmidt was hired by
“Look” magazine, which boasted
a circulation in the millions. He
worked with writers and cartoon-
ists brought over from other
magazines like “Th e Saturday
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Louis Schmidt delivers his lecture
prior to the pandemic.

Courtesy of Louis Schmidt
Evening Post” and “Collier’s,”
including Norman Rockwell.

It was an exciting time,
and it led to Schmidt’s next
big opportunity. “Look” had
a close relationship with the
NFL during that period and, in
1968, the still-young NFL Films
was looking for writers and
producers. Schmidt was brought
aboard, and that career move
brought him to Philadelphia.

For 33 years, Schmidt helped
develop the NFL Films funda-
mentals known to so many
— that of gravelly voiced men
narrating the drama of a key
third-down conversion over a
swelling orchestral score. He
won three Emmys, produced
“Inside the NFL” for 16 years
and conducted hundreds of
interviews with NFL greats.

In 1994, Schmidt watched
as director Steven Spielberg
announced the creation of
what was fi rst called Survivors
of the Shoah Visual History
Foundation at the Academy
Awards. He was particularly
interested in the prospect of
speaking with survivors to
record their testimony.

When he walked into Gratz
College for the fi rst round of
interviews to work with the
foundation, he was shocked
to see no fewer than 223 other
people vying for the positions.

He had no idea the competition
would be so fi erce, but Schmidt
was among the fi nal 46 selected.

The skills that Schmidt
See Holocaust, Page 21
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Comment: JE News 1/21 Ry Park
Ad Number: 00092941
not built
to say stop
we are
There are many pages in a long, rich life.

What will you be inspired to do next? Maybe you’ll find time for hiking,
art, taking that class. Or just find new recipes to cook or paths to stroll.

Whatever your next chapter brings, you can open up the time and space
or it here, in a community that supports your goals every step of the way.

To learn more, call 215 -999-3619 or visit RydalPark.org
...to be continued
JEWISH EXPONENT
JANUARY 21, 2021
9