Joachim Prinz was the youngest person to assume the role of rabbi of the Berlin Jewish Community in the 1930’s. He was an early and outspoken opponent of Nazism, and his sermons from the pulpit attracted thousands. In these sermons, he strove to instill pride in a people that had been made to feel ashamed. He worked tirelessly urging Jews to emigrate before it was too late. His words saved many lives.

In 1937, Dr. Prinz was expelled from Germany and immigrated to the United States. When he assumed the pulpit of Temple B’nai Abraham in Newark, NJ (1939 -1977), Dr. Prinz turned his attention to the social concerns of his adopted country. Reflecting his experience under the Nazis, nothing was more important to him than civil rights; he felt the struggle of African Americans and Jews were one and the same. Dr. Prinz was one of the first Jewish leaders to invite Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to speak to his congregation. While President of the American Jewish Congress, Dr. Prinz was among the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington, a gathering he addressed before Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

Courage to Speak will demonstrate that Dr. Prinz embodied a rare type of leadership that valued speaking the truth regardless of consequences. The film will examine how Dr. Prinz’s leadership was manifested in his prescient sermons during the Nazi period in Germany and in his courageous activism during the civil rights period in the United States.  Courage to Speak will be a work of history and memory, and a call to action.