Steven Pressman (born 1955) is an American documentary filmmaker, journalist, author of two books (''

Outrageous Betrayal ''Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile'' is a non-fiction book written by freelance journalism, journalist Steven Pressman and first published in 1993 by St. Martin's Press. The book gives an account of Werner ...

'' and '' 50 Children''), and director/producer of the documentary film '' 50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus'' and three subsequent documentary films.

Personal life

Pressman was born in Los Angeles in 1955 and obtained an undergraduate degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

. He has two adult children and lived in San Francisco with his wife, writer and former book publishing executive Liz Perle, who died in August 2015.

Career

Writing

Throughout his career, Pressman has written for several publications including the ''

San Francisco Daily Journal Daily Journal Corporation is an American publishing company and technology company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company has offices in the California cities of Corona, Oakland, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

'', ''California Lawyer'', ''Daily Journal'' of Los Angeles, California, and the ''

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its original purpose was "to assess the performance ...

''. He contributed an article on

libel law Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

in 1994, for the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

. In 1993, Pressman's ''

'' was published by

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...

and HarperCollins published his ''50 Children'' in 2014. ;Books
Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from Est to Exile

50 Children: One Ordinary American Couple's Extraordinary Rescue Mission into the Heart of Nazi Germany

Filmmaking

Pressman began his filmmaking career by producing short videos for the

American Conservatory Theater The American Conservatory Theater (ACT) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school. History The American ...

in San Francisco, California. In 2013, he directed and produced the documentary fil
50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus
which premiered on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

and tells the story of

Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus were an American couple known for rescuing 50 Jewish children prior to the beginning of World War II. Personal life Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus lived in the Fitler Square, Philadelphia, Fitler Square neighborhood of Philad ...

, a Jewish couple from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

who traveled to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in 1939 and, with the help of the B'rith Sholom fraternal organization, saved Jewish children in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

from likely death in the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

by finding them new homes in Philadelphia. The heroic Krauses were the grandparents of Pressman's wife, and the film is, in part, based on the manuscript of a memoir left behind by Eleanor Kraus when she died in 1989. ''50 Children'' was nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy award in the category of Outstanding Historical Programming in 2014. In 2020, Pressman directed and produced the documentary fil
Holy Silence
which tells the story of the Vatican's actions, and inactions, during the Holocaust and in the years leading up to it. The film was shown at several film festivals and had its television premiere on PBS in November 2020. The film features actor David Strathairn, who is heard as the voice of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and actor Marco Barricelli, who is heard as the voice of Pope Pius XII. In 2022, Pressman directed and produced the documentary fil
The Levys of Monticello
which tells the story of a Jewish family that owned and preserved Thomas Jefferson's home for nearly 90 years in the decades that followed Jefferson's death in 1826. The film premiered at th
Atlanta Jewish Film Festival
in February 2022, where it received the Building Bridges Jury Prize award. The film also received the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Washington DC Jewish Film Festival in May 2022. In 2024, Pressman directed and produced the documentary fil
Moses Ezekiel: Portrait of a Lost Artist
which tells the story of a Jewish-American sculptor who, among other works of art, created several statues that memorialize the Confederacy and the so-called "Lost Cause" of the American South.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pressman, Steven American male journalists American reporters and correspondents American biographers Living people American investigative journalists New Age writers 1955 births University of California, Berkeley alumni American male biographers