My name is Joseph Kempler. KNOCKING tells a story that I saw with my own eyes. I am a Holocaust survivor, raised as a Jew in Poland. I lost my faith because of the things I saw and experienced in the Nazi camps. But ironically what I also saw eventually restored my faith in God. I won't say more about my story here, or the struggles I and my family face because of the past. I'd like to say something about the present.

I often go to schools and speak to students about my experiences. The students always ask me, 'Could the Holocaust happen again?' My answer is: It never stopped happening. There was and now there is Darfur . I have a strong feeling for survivors of genocide, especially Jewish Holocaust survivors. But really I identify with all survivors who have suffered innocently during mass killing. Most people cannot imagine what it is like, but survivors understand one another. Even though I mentioned in the film that some Jews view me as a traitor for becoming a Christian, I have found that often Jewish survivors pay even closer attention to what I have to say. It's not that they necessarily believe it or are interested in changing religion, but they are intrigued by the fact that I now have faith because so many of us survivors lost it and some wish they could find it again. Many Jewish survivors like to talk to Witnesses because they know and respect them for what they went through in the camps, even if the survivors as Jews resent Christian "evangelizing."

In KNOCKING I speak about how I first saw Jehovah's Witnesses in Melk concentration camp. They were the talk of the camp. We prisoners all knew about them but knew nothing about what they believed. It was only after we were "liberated" that I actually got to talk to Witnesses. The Americans set up trials in Dachau concentration camp, where some SS guards were held prisoner. In order to hold the trials, former camp inmates were brought in to testify against SS that they knew and had seen. I was there and happened to sit next to two Jehovah's Witness prisoners. They talked to me a lot about their religion, but it didn't sink in. We got to be good friends. One of the men was terribly crippled. The SS had put bolts between his fingers, tied his hands behind his back, and hung him by his fingers on a pole. His right arm was totally paralyzed and he had only partial use of his left arm. (Another survivor later told me the man only survived because the other Witnesses spoonfed him and got him a job as a painter because he could use him arm a little bit.) The Nazis tried to force him to renounce his faith, but he wouldn't do it. So now as we're sitting in these hearings at Dachau , an SS guard is brought out and this crippled man says to me, 'This is the one that did it, that hung me up.' I was expecting him to stand up and testify against the guard. But he just sat there. When the officials were about to lead the former SS away, I told the Witness he'd better speak up while he had the chance. He refused. He said, "Vengeance belongs to Jehovah." I was furious at him. But at the same time, I admired him. Witnesses were sent to the camps because they dared to say "No," and now that we had freedom, he still stood by his faith in God. I didn't understand it, but it made a powerful impression on me. To make a long story short, when I immigrated to the United States, a Witness woman came to door in New York. I had no idea there were Witnesses in other places besides , and I just had to find out from her what had made the Witnesses so strong. In the process of understanding their faith, very gradually I found my own faith in God returning and growing. As I say in the film, I went from being a God-hater to a defender of God's name.

My wife Virginia and I have attended several public showings of KNOCKING at film festivals. It's given me a real boost to see how positively people react to the film. The two stories, about Jehovah's Witnesses during the Holocaust and facing medical challenges, have the same basis: it's an issue of loyalty and life. Life is precious. No one knows that better than a survivor. But loyalty comes first. I was very touched by the news of the professor at Virginia Tech who was a Holocaust survivor and who died while protecting his students. He took responsibility for saving life by risking his own. The Witnesses feel that way about their loyalty to God. This to me is genuine faith.