The account of a Jewish Polish family who survived the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the Warsaw ghetto, the Holocaust, and Russian occupation of Poland to be reunited after the war.
The father, Roman Frydman, a wealthy lawyer, joined the Polish army shortly after the invasion, and wound up with his regiment in Hungary. The rest of the family presumed he had died. His wife Lucja and their two young daughters, Irene, 3, and Margaret, 9, were thrown out of their affluent home by German soldiers.
They were forced into Warsaw's Jewish ghetto. Those who didn't die of starvation or disease were shipped to the Treblinka concentration camp for extermination, or died in combat in the Warsaw ghetto uprising. But not the Frydmans. Lucja had managed to get her daughters to safety with the help of friends. They found refuge in a Catholic order, the Sisters of the Family of Mary, which ran an orphanage outside Warsaw. These nuns risked their lives to hide about two dozen Jewish children amongst the Christian orphans.
Meanwhile, Lucja managed to escape the ghetto just before the uprising with a "borrowed" permit, assuming the identity of a non-Jewish Pole. She was eventually sent with other Polish women to a German labor concentration camp, Ravensbrück, where women were worked to death.
Roman was taken prisoner, but survived the war due to an odd quirk of fate and the whim of a German officer.
The documentary weaves these accounts into the historical context of the time, pre-war Poland, the German occupation, and the challenge of the family finding each other after the war. An excellent selection of historical archival footage is used, along with well-done re-enactments and a few family photos.
For those unfamiliar with these events, the historical account may come as a shock, though it is presented less graphically than some documentaries devoted to the Warsaw ghetto and its uprising. Actually, the documentary lays out these events rather matter-of-factly, avoiding emotional manipulation. The focus is more on the astonishing story of this family's survival, and so is relatively up-beat.
Dickens' "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," comes to mind. While the documentary recounts some of the worst acts of humans against humans, it also testifies to some extraordinary acts of selfless compassion, and the tenacious will to survive by one remarkable family.
By telling this story of the Frydman family, Michael Attwell has provided a glimpse into the story of countless other Polish families who did not survive. And for those tempted to dismiss all this as ancient history, astonishingly, Irene and Margaret were in their 70s when this documentary was made, and looked far younger.
My father's family died in the Holocaust, and I have some lingering resentment toward the Church, which has encouraged anti-Semitism over the centuries. But there were countless Christians who stood up to the Nazis, in Poland, across Europe, and even in Germany. There were even some German officers who defied Hitler's orders, most notably, General Dietrich von Choltitz. And then there was Gert Fröbe, who played von Choltitz in Is Paris Burning?, who used his Nazi Party membership to rescue Jews from Germany.
The Frydmans didn't exactly defy Hitler; they defied the odds and the Gestapo with the help of some extraordinary people, friends and strangers. This is also their story. And, ultimately, the lesson is to to do the right thing to help others, regardless of the possible consequences, and to never give up hope, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
The father, Roman Frydman, a wealthy lawyer, joined the Polish army shortly after the invasion, and wound up with his regiment in Hungary. The rest of the family presumed he had died. His wife Lucja and their two young daughters, Irene, 3, and Margaret, 9, were thrown out of their affluent home by German soldiers.
They were forced into Warsaw's Jewish ghetto. Those who didn't die of starvation or disease were shipped to the Treblinka concentration camp for extermination, or died in combat in the Warsaw ghetto uprising. But not the Frydmans. Lucja had managed to get her daughters to safety with the help of friends. They found refuge in a Catholic order, the Sisters of the Family of Mary, which ran an orphanage outside Warsaw. These nuns risked their lives to hide about two dozen Jewish children amongst the Christian orphans.
Meanwhile, Lucja managed to escape the ghetto just before the uprising with a "borrowed" permit, assuming the identity of a non-Jewish Pole. She was eventually sent with other Polish women to a German labor concentration camp, Ravensbrück, where women were worked to death.
Roman was taken prisoner, but survived the war due to an odd quirk of fate and the whim of a German officer.
The documentary weaves these accounts into the historical context of the time, pre-war Poland, the German occupation, and the challenge of the family finding each other after the war. An excellent selection of historical archival footage is used, along with well-done re-enactments and a few family photos.
For those unfamiliar with these events, the historical account may come as a shock, though it is presented less graphically than some documentaries devoted to the Warsaw ghetto and its uprising. Actually, the documentary lays out these events rather matter-of-factly, avoiding emotional manipulation. The focus is more on the astonishing story of this family's survival, and so is relatively up-beat.
Dickens' "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," comes to mind. While the documentary recounts some of the worst acts of humans against humans, it also testifies to some extraordinary acts of selfless compassion, and the tenacious will to survive by one remarkable family.
By telling this story of the Frydman family, Michael Attwell has provided a glimpse into the story of countless other Polish families who did not survive. And for those tempted to dismiss all this as ancient history, astonishingly, Irene and Margaret were in their 70s when this documentary was made, and looked far younger.
My father's family died in the Holocaust, and I have some lingering resentment toward the Church, which has encouraged anti-Semitism over the centuries. But there were countless Christians who stood up to the Nazis, in Poland, across Europe, and even in Germany. There were even some German officers who defied Hitler's orders, most notably, General Dietrich von Choltitz. And then there was Gert Fröbe, who played von Choltitz in Is Paris Burning?, who used his Nazi Party membership to rescue Jews from Germany.
The Frydmans didn't exactly defy Hitler; they defied the odds and the Gestapo with the help of some extraordinary people, friends and strangers. This is also their story. And, ultimately, the lesson is to to do the right thing to help others, regardless of the possible consequences, and to never give up hope, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.