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Downloaded from
YTS.BZ
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.BZ
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[bright music plays]
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[metallic clanking]
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[projector clicking]
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[metallic pinging]
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[soft musical flourish]
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[dramatic music plays]
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- [camera shutter snapping]
- [indistinct chatter]
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Let's move now to Poland
and a discovery being hailed
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as a rare firsthand look
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at one of the most crucial chapters
of the Holocaust.
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[reporter in German] These are
of great historical value,
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that saw light after 80 years.
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[woman in English]
This is a negative,
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and the only one existing
in the world,
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from the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising,
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from the inside, from the ghetto.
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[reporter in French] Images
to express the inexpressible.
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Fragments of lives captured
in 33 photographs.
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[reporter in Italian]
These photos were taken
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by Grzywaczewski,
a 23-year-old Polish firefighter.
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[reporter in English]
The Warsaw Ghetto Revolt
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was the act of resistance of Jews
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against Nazi regime
during the Holocaust.
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[reporter in Russian] Historians
consider these photos valuable
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because they are the only known
images of the ghetto uprising
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not taken for Nazi propaganda.
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[man in English] The documentation
that's there is the sense of
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what an ordinary person would see
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and how that ordinary person framed
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all of the incredible things
that were happening
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in April 1943.
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[woman] Most of my life,
I tried to forget all of this.
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[soft, dramatic music continues]
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[whispers] Stop.
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[music slowly fades]
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[tense, poignant music plays]
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33 PHOTOS FROM THE GHETTO
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[birds chirping]
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NEW YORK, 1968
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[Hilary Laks] Dearest daughter:
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While putting his life at risk,
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Leszek managed
to take some photographs.
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Knowing this,
I asked him ten years ago,
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if he would send them to me.
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FROM THE LETTERS OF HILARY LAKS
TO HIS DAUGHTER, ROMA
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I received some of them
and kept them with me until now.
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These pictures tell a story
which is ours, as well as his.
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The negatives are still with Leszek.
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These photographs
have never been published.
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I kept them with me
for this long on purpose.
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I thought I would publish them
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when the world began to forget
what had happened.
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I don't know if the time is right,
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but my own time is passing.
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MACIEJ GRZYWACZEWSKI
LESZEK'S SON
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Well, this apartment
looked a bit different.
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But maybe let's go here
because this was Dad's room.
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And when we were cleaning
after Dad's death,
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we noticed that these boards
down here were loose.
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In this hideout,
we found Dad's journals.
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[gentle, solemn piano music plays]
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My sister and I didn't know
these journals existed.
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He never told us about any of this.
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[Leszek Grzywaczewski]
The times we live in
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are more interesting than any others.
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FROM THE JOURNALS OF
LESZEK GRZYWACZEWSKI (1938-1940)
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I chose a good year
to keep a journal.
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THE BEST FORM OF DIPLOMACY
IS A STRONG ARMY!
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I went to a big demonstration today.
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The mood was so-so. Not much passion.
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The speeches were stereotypical.
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Nationalists shouted,
"Away with the Jews!"
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I shouted until my voice got hoarse.
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But none of it matters now
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because final exams
are the day after tomorrow.
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WARSAW, 1939
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On our way back from school,
our friend said,
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"I'm so convinced war is coming,
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I'm not studying
for the exams at all."
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[engines buzzing]
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[siren wailing]
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Friday morning, September 1st,
I heard the air raid siren.
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"Close your windows!"
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That woke me up.
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I saw the first German planes
above Warsaw.
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[siren continues]
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[rumbling impacts]
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[thrum of marching footsteps]
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[bright martial horn music plays]
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We're staying home today.
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The Germans might
round people up for work.
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Many SS troops
and military police showed up
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and began detaining and checking IDs
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of whoever they saw fit.
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They began firing public servants,
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or the workers of German companies.
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Those captured
were gathered into columns
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and walked or driven
to be loaded onto trains.
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Two of my friends were captured.
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Only Jews are worse off than us.
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[Cohen] Survivors of the Shoah
Visual History Foundation.
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My name is Dina Cohen.
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Today is November 7th, 1996.
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I am conducting an interview
with Romana Kaplan, born Laks,
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in Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA.
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The interview will be in English.
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And when were you born?
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I was born in Poland, Warsaw.
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[Cohen] Could you please
describe your family?
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[pencil scratching]
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[Kaplan] My father
was a chemical engineer,
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uh, and had a, um, very,
um, prestigious position.
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It was a factory that produced
soaps, perfumes, and candles.
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[Laks] Dear Romechka,
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You asked me if I could
write about the past...
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FROM THE LETTERS OF HILARY LAKS
TO HIS DAUGHTER, ROMA (1968)
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...especially about
those experiences,
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those shameful times,
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which you may not remember
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because you were too little.
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I will try to write a letter,
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but I don't know if I can
or how much I will be able to.
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Our world started to fall apart.
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WARSAW, 1940
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Just because we were Jews,
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to Germans, we were a threat.
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We were subhumans,
a race to be annihilated.
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We were forced to wear an
armband with the Star of David.
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All Jewish companies
were taken over by the Germans.
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Jewish bank accounts
and deposits were confiscated.
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[grim music plays]
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So they could isolate us
from the rest,
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a ghetto was created in Warsaw
in the autumn of 1940.
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We were surrounded by a wall.
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All Warsaw Jews
who lived outside the ghetto
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were resettled within it.
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With time, the ghetto was shrunk,
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and we, too, had to move,
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00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:09,400
abandoning many of our possessions.
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Soon, the ghetto had about
half a million people.
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Poverty among the Jewish masses
grew every day.
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I remember having a doll,
a large doll
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that was given to me
by my father's boss...
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ROMA LAKS KAPLAN
DAUGHTER OF HILARY LAKS (1996)
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...and I called her Krystyna.
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[gentle, tense music plays]
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[voice breaking] I remember
my mother sewing up, uh,
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some of the jewelry in the doll.
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[Grzywaczewski] We ran out of money.
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You can't find paid work,
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and everyone tries to get fake jobs.
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00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:51,800
FROM THE JOURNALS OF LESZEK
GRZYWACZEWSKI (1940-1941)
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00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:55,400
I got in touch with an old classmate.
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00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:59,040
He works for the Fire Guard
at a school in Żoliborz.
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With his help, I can get in.
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00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:04,800
[bell dinging]
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00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:06,440
I went to Żoliborz.
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00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:08,240
At the alarm, firefighters
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00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:10,560
started to slide down the poles,
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00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:13,760
put on their clothes, belts,
their helmets, and assemble.
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CENTRAL FIREFIGHTING ACADEMY
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[Maciej] My mom lived on the street
next to that school.
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My father loved
to take pictures of my mom.
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She was his favorite subject
throughout his entire life.
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[Grzywaczewski]
I really like Marysia.
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She has really nice legs.
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She's full of life,
incredibly warm and kind.
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Apparently, she likes me too.
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00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:47,840
Marysia has a camera.
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I bought a roll of film.
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00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:53,400
It took almost an hour
of fiddling under the blanket
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00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:55,320
to load it into the camera.
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I did it incorrectly
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so part of the film
tore off and was wasted.
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00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,880
I was able to procure
a photo enlarger.
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00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:07,520
After a few failed attempts,
I started to make good prints.
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00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:11,040
Getting to know this craft
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00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:13,280
might have a huge importance
for the future.
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00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:15,440
[bright, jazzy music plays]
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00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:24,360
I long for a bigger operation
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00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:26,880
where I can have a chance
to prove myself.
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00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,320
[bell dinging]
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Alarm!
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00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:35,000
In a heavily loaded vehicle,
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we speed through
the crowded streets of the ghetto.
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[somber, poignant music plays]
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00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:00,240
I got a spot on the ladder
by the third floor window.
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00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:03,600
I waited a bit for water,
and got inside.
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00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:07,120
It became completely dark,
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00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:09,880
surrounded by thick smoke and steam.
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00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:12,480
I started to cough and cry.
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00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:14,480
I couldn't breathe.
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00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:17,760
My legs became soft as rubber.
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00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:20,080
I hear, "Run!"
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00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:23,080
So I dashed out the window.
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00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,600
We barely moved the ladder away
and that window collapsed.
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00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:30,720
[somber music continues]
200
00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:37,160
I talked to the Jews a bit.
201
00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:39,480
They live very poorly.
202
00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,520
I felt like I was talking
with people condemned to die.
203
00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:51,720
[Kaplan] Kaddish.
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00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,520
To me, that was
the most frightening thing.
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00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:00,760
Because I heard it
over and over again.
206
00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:02,640
And I had no means...
207
00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:04,760
ROMA LAKS KAPLAN
DAUGHTER OF HILARY LAKS (1996)
208
00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:08,040
...of, um, knowing what it meant.
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00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:11,880
[indistinct chatter]
210
00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:14,720
[man reciting the Kaddish]
211
00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:16,760
[crying]
212
00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:30,080
[Kaddish ends, echoes]
213
00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,200
[Laks] When I think about it today,
214
00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:34,760
seems to me that Germans'
initial theory
215
00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:37,360
was that Jews,
closed off in the ghettos,
216
00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:40,280
would smother each other like rats
217
00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:44,200
or quickly die of starvation
and infectious diseases.
218
00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:48,160
Typhus was spreading,
219
00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:50,160
and the mortality rate was high.
220
00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:56,600
Before July of 1942,
around 100,000 people died.
221
00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:06,200
I got a special pass which
allowed me to leave the ghetto
222
00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,120
and go to the so-called "Aryan side."
223
00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:11,200
I managed a factory
224
00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:13,920
which produced soap,
perfumes, and candles.
225
00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:16,560
I was a rented-out slave.
226
00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:20,240
I had to go to Praga,
a suburb of Warsaw.
227
00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,440
Every day,
I walked around 12.5 miles.
228
00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:26,240
[Kaplan] Polish man named Adamczewski
229
00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:28,560
depended very much upon my father
230
00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:30,400
to run the factory,
231
00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:33,200
so that my father,
until the very end,
232
00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:35,200
had a job on the "Aryan side,"
233
00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:40,160
which is why, um,
we survived as well as we did.
234
00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:43,920
He was always able to
bring us some food to ghetto.
235
00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:56,200
My parents kind of adopted
a young woman
236
00:13:56,280 --> 00:14:01,000
who at that point was about
19-20 years old, named Halina.
237
00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:03,600
She was a very beautiful woman.
238
00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:05,840
[Jacqueline]
I think that these pictures
239
00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:08,160
were probably the oldest.
240
00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:10,120
We're sure that's Mom, right?
241
00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:13,240
Well, yes.
242
00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:17,600
[John] As I remember my mother,
she was always a glamour lady.
243
00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:20,440
She was full of life and...
and very important
244
00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,440
about her physical and appearance,
245
00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:26,720
as well as the way
she carried herself.
246
00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:29,560
Um, in reference to the war...
247
00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:32,400
JOHN & JACQUELINE: CHILDREN
OF HALINA HIRSZBAJN BIELAWSKA
248
00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:34,480
...she didn't talk about it much.
249
00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,280
She had a lot of pain
and she was unwilling
250
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,680
to fully divulge what happened
251
00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:41,800
or the sequence of events
that happened.
252
00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:44,440
- Um...
- Well, all of her family
253
00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:47,680
except the brother in Palestine
was gone.
254
00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,320
- Was gone.
- She knew that they were gone.
255
00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,320
So she was an orphan
and she looked for a new family.
256
00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,480
And that family
was Hilary and Janina Laks.
257
00:14:58,560 --> 00:14:59,560
[John] Right.
258
00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:01,400
[Jacqueline] That she needed
to not be alone.
259
00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,120
[gentle, solemn music plays]
260
00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:05,720
[Laks] After some time,
261
00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:08,320
the Warsaw Ghetto
started to organize.
262
00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,400
Common smuggled products
were food and other essentials,
263
00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:16,200
but most of all, raw materials,
264
00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:17,960
which were processed in the ghetto
265
00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:20,800
in numerous Jewish workshops
and small factories.
266
00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,600
That way, part of the population
267
00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:30,560
found employment.
268
00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:32,200
There was less hunger,
269
00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:35,080
and the typhus epidemic had ended.
270
00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:41,480
[music fades]
271
00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:45,120
[Maciej] I found out about
our father's photographs
272
00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:47,520
from my daughter, Marianna.
273
00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:49,480
Marianna was at a party,
274
00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:53,200
and an acquaintance she made,
a historian,
275
00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:58,560
asked if Leszek Grzywaczewski
was a family member,
276
00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:02,320
and she said,
"Yes, that's my grandpa."
277
00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:04,000
He said, "I don't know if you know,
278
00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:05,960
but his photos
are in the Holocaust Museum
279
00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:07,600
in Washington, D.C."
280
00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,760
So then she called me and said,
281
00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:13,240
"Dad, do you know
that Grandpa took pictures?"
282
00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:16,280
I told her,
"I know he took pictures,"
283
00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:17,880
because he took so many.
284
00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:20,520
But that some
were of the ghetto uprising,
285
00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:22,040
I didn't know that.
286
00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:24,920
[birds chirping]
287
00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:29,480
When the anniversary of the uprising
was getting close,
288
00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:33,840
POLIN Museum started pressing me
to find other things.
289
00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,960
Zuzanna called me and asked,
"Maybe there's something else?
290
00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:39,320
Maybe more pictures?"
291
00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:41,960
So we started to look into it,
292
00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:43,960
and here are my father's photographs.
293
00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:47,000
I had some, my sister had some.
294
00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:49,840
There were photographs and slides.
295
00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:51,920
I couldn't look through the slides.
296
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:53,720
My eyesight wasn't good enough
297
00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:56,520
or I didn't have the strength
to look closely one by one
298
00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:58,600
because these are negatives.
299
00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:00,560
It's really hard to see anything
on them.
300
00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:03,240
[gentle dramatic music playing]
301
00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:05,000
I said, "Maciek, help me."
302
00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:06,400
He said, "Okay, I'll do it."
303
00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:07,800
All I did was tidy up.
304
00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:10,320
I organized it all in those boxes.
305
00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:14,400
[Maciej] I'm looking here.
306
00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:20,280
These photos? I think these
are of me when I was little.
307
00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:41,040
I was just rolling these back
308
00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:43,280
and I moved my hand like that,
309
00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:47,920
and I could see Jews
being led to the Umschlagplatz.
310
00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:51,920
I roll it out more,
311
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:53,800
and I see there are
all these pictures I know,
312
00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:55,480
plus some others.
313
00:17:56,360 --> 00:18:01,160
And I tell Bożena, my wife,
314
00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,360
"I found them. There they are."
315
00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:06,640
[exhales heavily]
316
00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:10,600
Dad had been dead
for more than 30 years,
317
00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:15,320
and here, as if he came back to life
in my consciousness.
318
00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,360
[dramatic ambient music plays]
319
00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:24,880
I didn't believe
this negative existed.
320
00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,480
[Schnepf-Kołacz] Truly,
it was an unbelievable feeling.
321
00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:30,880
It was like touching, um,
322
00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:35,200
something which had,
uh, no right to survive,
323
00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,040
which no one believed had survived.
324
00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:42,680
These are very rare moments
for a researcher,
325
00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:44,640
when we feel a crevice opening up
326
00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:46,840
and it's a view into the past.
327
00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,160
POLIN MUSEUM EXHIBITION CURATOR
"AROUND US A SEA OF FIRE"
328
00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:57,200
I knew that these were
the only photographs we know of
329
00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:00,640
shot in the Warsaw Ghetto
during the Uprising
330
00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:02,880
which were not taken by Germans.
331
00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:08,840
This is a characteristic of, um,
332
00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:11,080
photographs from events
of annihilation.
333
00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:13,840
At first glance, we don't know
what we are looking at.
334
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:16,560
Only by knowing the story
335
00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:18,960
do we begin to understand
what's hidden in the image.
336
00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:20,720
You can see this was
nervously advanced.
337
00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:22,480
- They're also blurry.
- [Maciej] Yeah.
338
00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:24,520
[Schnepf-Kołacz]
Their perforation is torn the most
339
00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:27,440
where the photos documenting
the extermination
340
00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:29,320
were taken secretly.
341
00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:32,560
The film roll was possibly
moved more rapidly.
342
00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:35,600
The hand maybe trembled
from his emotions.
343
00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:39,960
But it also shows the great value
of the material itself,
344
00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:42,600
not only the images recorded on it,
345
00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:45,320
because the negative itself
is a carrier
346
00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:47,240
of history and emotions.
347
00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:52,680
- [music ends]
- [train trundling]
348
00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:55,440
WARSAW GHETTO
349
00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:00,960
[indistinct chatter]
350
00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:05,400
[Kaplan] I remember
my grandfather living with us.
351
00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:09,400
And I remember coming home one day,
352
00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:13,360
and not having my grandfather.
353
00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:17,400
And he was simply caught
in one of those "łapanka,"
354
00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:20,600
which translates into...
355
00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:22,800
ROMA LAKS KAPLAN
DAUGHTER OF HILARY LAKS (1996)
356
00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:26,680
..."being caught," um, on the street.
357
00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:29,320
[indistinct chatter]
358
00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:30,400
[whistle blows]
359
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:31,720
[Laks] Dearest daughter:
360
00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:34,280
On July 22nd, 1942,
361
00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:37,400
the Germans began
systematic liquidation
362
00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:38,880
of the Warsaw Ghetto.
363
00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:40,720
FROM THE LETTERS OF HILARY LAKS
TO HIS DAUGHTER, ROMA
364
00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:43,560
This operation was called
"Resettlement to the East."
365
00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:48,320
[Kaplan] Because this is
what the Germans told the Jews,
366
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:50,200
which of course, it was resettlement
367
00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:51,920
for a better world.
368
00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:55,920
[announcement in German]
Every displaced Jewish person
369
00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,600
has the right
to take 15 kilograms of luggage.
370
00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:02,760
All valuables, such as money,
jewelry, gold, can be taken.
371
00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:06,080
You should take food for three days.
372
00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:08,160
[somber, dramatic music plays]
373
00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:10,000
[Laks in English]
The ghetto was surrounded
374
00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:11,960
by Latvian and Ukrainian units.
375
00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:17,360
With their help, every day,
thousands of people were caught
376
00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:20,560
and hauled off through
the so-called "Umschlagplatz."
377
00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,000
At that time, no one knew
about the existence
378
00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:36,440
of death camps.
379
00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:39,880
We found out much later
about Treblinka.
380
00:21:44,120 --> 00:21:45,480
Towards the end,
381
00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:47,920
the "efficiency" of the gas chambers
382
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,880
was around 5,000 corpses a day.
383
00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,240
Germans had always been,
and still are,
384
00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:57,120
famous for being well organized.
385
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:01,880
[chatter, commotion]
386
00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:04,280
[door rumbling]
387
00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:07,080
[train whistle blows]
388
00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,000
- [music fades]
- [train chuffs]
389
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:12,640
[train sounds fade]
390
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:14,360
[water lapping gently]
391
00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:16,320
[Maciej] When he met Marysia, my mom,
392
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:19,200
my dad would take her out
on a boat in Warsaw.
393
00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:21,200
At the same time,
the Germans were beginning
394
00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,200
to liquidate the ghetto
395
00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:26,160
and deport people
to their extermination.
396
00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:30,200
He and Marysia were boating
on the Vistula.
397
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,440
That was life. It just went on.
398
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:41,840
[bright big band music plays]
399
00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:47,200
[Grzywaczewski] Air, sun,
400
00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:49,120
shining water, silence, and peace.
401
00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:51,320
FROM THE JOURNALS OF LESZEK
GRZYWACZEWSKI (AUGUST 1942)
402
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:53,040
As if there was no war.
403
00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:55,000
Me and Marysia, sunbathing.
404
00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:58,920
A series of events pushing us
towards the inevitable...
405
00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:01,120
marriage.
406
00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:05,720
I bought a roll of film.
We snapped pictures.
407
00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:07,520
I especially won't forget the sunset
408
00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:10,800
and the view of Warsaw
disappearing in blue mist.
409
00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:13,520
We don't know what'll happen to us.
410
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:16,440
Rumor has it, we'll meet
the same fate as the Jews.
411
00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:22,080
I remember a great many people
412
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,400
being herded into this square,
413
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:29,960
where the Germans
made you walk around
414
00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:33,680
and pulled people out of it.
415
00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:38,080
I also remember my parents' friends
416
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:44,360
and a little girl about my age,
where the child was pulled out.
417
00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:49,520
So my parents tried desperately
to hide me
418
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,000
under raincoats between them.
419
00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:55,520
[low murmuring]
420
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,760
[Laks] Though now,
they leave alone only the Jews
421
00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:02,640
who work in German factories
which supplied the army.
422
00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:05,120
We were able to hide in one of them.
423
00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:07,480
It was managed by a German
named Schultz.
424
00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:13,960
[Kaplan] My father was able
to get a job
425
00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,240
for my mother in ghetto,
426
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,240
making Germans uniforms,
427
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,120
hoping that that would be
a protective setting
428
00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:23,400
for my mother.
429
00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:28,280
I, on the other hand, was held
in a barrel next to my mother.
430
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:32,400
Um...
431
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,280
[quavers] For a five-year-old,
this was not wonderful.
432
00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:41,880
- [heavy, echoing footsteps]
- [child breathing]
433
00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:46,560
[child gasps]
434
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:51,400
[Laks] With Schultz's knowledge,
435
00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:53,320
I kept working on the "Aryan side"
436
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:54,400
for Adamczewski.
437
00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:00,400
Soon, with the help
of my coworker, Mr. Miśkiewicz,
438
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,000
you got smuggled out
to the "Aryan side."
439
00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:04,800
[tense music plays]
440
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:07,760
[Kaplan] There were work groups
441
00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,280
that were going on "Aryan side,"
442
00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:16,400
and my father bribed the gatekeepers
443
00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,800
so I would walk out with the crowd.
444
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,040
He was, of course, terribly anxious.
445
00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:28,000
If Germans were to see me,
that would have been the end.
446
00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:32,640
So he walked very closely
to the group that were moving out,
447
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,440
at which point one of the...
448
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:37,920
[swallows forcefully]
449
00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:41,680
[tense music plays]
450
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:43,240
[commotion]
451
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:44,720
At which point,
452
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:47,520
one of the soldiers was concerned
453
00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:50,520
that my father was too close
to the "Aryan side,"
454
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:53,400
and pulled him and beat him.
455
00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:57,960
My father lost an eye.
456
00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,560
And I wanted to run
to my father. [voice breaks]
457
00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:05,320
But he made it very clear
458
00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:09,520
that what he wanted
was for me to leave.
459
00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:15,280
And, uh, in fact, I did.
460
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:20,880
[Laks] This happened just in time,
461
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:22,560
because all of Schultz's workers
462
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,040
were walked out
for so-called "selection."
463
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:27,640
For the next 48 hours,
464
00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:30,000
we were picked through
like cattle for slaughter.
465
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,200
As a result, half the people
were taken
466
00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:34,760
straight to Treblinka.
467
00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:39,160
All children were killed,
and most of the women.
468
00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:44,240
In two months, the Germans
murdered 300,000 people.
469
00:26:48,120 --> 00:26:49,880
[announcement in German]
The General Governor orders
470
00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,120
that any Jew who leaves his
designated residential district
471
00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:55,400
will be punished by death.
472
00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:59,520
Those who shelter Jews
will receive the same punishment.
473
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:02,320
- [horse hooves clopping]
- [indistinct chatter]
474
00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:07,560
[Kaplan in English]
On the "Aryan side," I was met
475
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:11,800
by my father's coworker's wife.
476
00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:17,080
I-- I was a danger to people
who were to hide me
477
00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,080
because I was so obviously
a Jewish child.
478
00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:25,600
I don't think I stayed more
than few days in any one place.
479
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:29,160
Uh, at least that's my recollection.
480
00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:33,400
And then I was placed
with the Sisters of Charity.
481
00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:36,520
I was afraid, uh,
482
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:39,600
because I think
at that point I fully realized
483
00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:43,040
that if I were found,
that would be death.
484
00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,240
[Grzywaczewski] There have been
some changes at home.
485
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:53,920
Daddy sleeps on a futon
which is short and narrow.
486
00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:58,000
Mom is tired. Her heart hurts.
She gets upset.
487
00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:00,320
She somewhat ignores safety measures,
488
00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:01,840
but it must be said,
489
00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:03,520
she's the moral anchor of the home
490
00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:06,080
in all moments of hesitation
and sadness.
491
00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:09,920
Suddenly, out of the blue,
492
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:11,520
two ladies moved in with us,
493
00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:14,120
Halina Bielawska and Janina.
494
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:17,520
They are resettled
and have nowhere to go,
495
00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:19,360
so they stay with us.
496
00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:26,520
One of them was Halina Hirszbajn...
497
00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:28,600
AGNIESZKA RESZKA
JEWISH HISTORICAL INSTITUTE
498
00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,120
...who also used
the last name Bielawska.
499
00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:32,520
SEARCH CRITERIA
500
00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,240
[Reszka] So the last name
Hirszbajn, Halina, right?
501
00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:38,280
- [Maciej] Yes.
- [Reszka] Born in 1920, right?
502
00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:39,960
[Maciej] Yes, same as my father.
503
00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:42,000
- [Reszka] Bielawska.
- Mm-hmm.
504
00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:43,720
- [Reszka] After the war...
- That's right.
505
00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:45,440
[Reszka] ...on Wilcza Street, 8/16.
506
00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:48,520
Wilcza Street is very close
to Mokotowska Street,
507
00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:50,720
where my father lived
508
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:54,560
and also where they hid
and helped each other out.
509
00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,960
The second person was called
Janina Laks...
510
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:02,640
Wilcza Street, 8/16.
511
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:07,400
So we see here the same address.
512
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:11,720
My mother was smuggled out of ghetto,
513
00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:16,200
and she was taken in by a family
514
00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:20,360
with whom she pretty much stayed
the entire war,
515
00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:22,520
and their name was Grzywaczewski.
516
00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:25,400
They did not want to have me there,
517
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:27,600
because, here again,
I was a danger...
518
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:29,720
ZOFIA & STANISŁAW GRZYWACZEWSKI
LESZEK'S PARENTS
519
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,040
...plus the fact that
they were very active
520
00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:34,280
in Armia Krajowa.
521
00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,160
I know that when Mother
left the ghetto,
522
00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:39,520
she ended up very quickly
with the Grzywaczewskis.
523
00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:41,720
JOHN & JACQUELINE: CHILDREN
OF HALINA HIRSZBAJN BIELAWSKA
524
00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:43,360
- And...
- I think there was a plan.
525
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:45,280
I don't think it was by serendipity.
526
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:48,720
[Jacqueline] I'm pretty sure
I have a bracelet
527
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:50,960
in a safety deposit box.
528
00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:54,840
That bracelet may have been part
of the jewelry that she had
529
00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:56,200
that she used to survive.
530
00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:57,280
That's what I was explaining.
531
00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:00,440
I do know that for a fact
because she told me that story
532
00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:03,720
that her family made jewelry
that was not really jewelry,
533
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:06,800
but really small little bars
of gold...
534
00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:08,440
And it's an unusual--
535
00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:11,440
...in order to break off a piece
and use it to survive...
536
00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:13,160
And this bracelet...
537
00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:16,600
I could see where you could
easily take off a link
538
00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:18,960
and make it into money.
539
00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:20,240
IDENTIFICATION CARD
540
00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:22,680
I don't know who helped Mom
change identities.
541
00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:26,840
[John] Couldn't be the Lakses.
So, it... it has to be the...
542
00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:28,120
[Jacqueline] The Grzywaczewskis?
543
00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:29,640
- [John] The Grzywaczewskis.
- I have no idea...
544
00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:31,920
[John] I would imagine somehow
they were involved in that.
545
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,160
The reason the Lakses,
546
00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:36,680
Halina came to the
Grzywaczewski apartment...
547
00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:39,360
DOROTA PAWLAK
LESZEK GRZYWACZEWSKI'S DAUGHTER
548
00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:40,920
...is a mystery to me.
549
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:42,440
Where did they meet?
550
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,080
I think they knew each other
before the war.
551
00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:49,440
They were acquaintances,
but that's just my assumption.
552
00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:52,400
Can you come here, sir?
553
00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:57,040
These are the registration cards
of the survivors.
554
00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:00,320
The estimates are
that around ten percent of Jews
555
00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:04,160
who lived in Poland in the year 1939
556
00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:05,880
managed to survive.
557
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,640
So out of the three million,
only 300,000.
558
00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:10,760
Yeah.
559
00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:13,680
[Maciej] This is Hirszbajn, Halina.
560
00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:15,880
The same person as Pelagia Bielawska.
561
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:19,080
Pelagia was using forged papers,
562
00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:21,640
which we know were very good ones
563
00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:24,160
because there's the whole story
564
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:26,960
of the SS troops coming
to the apartment,
565
00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:29,280
I think it was
the one on Wilcza Street
566
00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:30,920
that we can see here.
567
00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:34,360
[Kaplan] We had,
of course, Aryan papers.
568
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:39,360
Mrs. Grzywaczewski
found a place for my mother
569
00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:43,480
when I couldn't stay
with the Sisters of Charity.
570
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,320
[grim, ominous music plays]
571
00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:48,720
When I lived with my mother,
572
00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:51,320
she must have been spotted
by someone.
573
00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:54,360
I remember it was nighttime,
574
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,120
and one of
the most frightening things
575
00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:01,880
to this day for me is steps,
576
00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:08,440
hearing steps,
you know, people going upstairs.
577
00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:11,680
[banging on door]
578
00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:14,080
And my mother opened the door,
579
00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:18,520
and there were three men there,
two in SS uniforms and one not.
580
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:25,080
And the informer sat on my bed
and spoke Jewish to me.
581
00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:28,560
[man in Yiddish] What is
your name, my little dear?
582
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:32,080
It was not a language I understood.
583
00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:35,520
I looked up and said,
in perfect innocence,
584
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:37,880
"I'm sorry,
but I don't understand German,"
585
00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:42,160
at which point the SS left.
586
00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:46,240
[Grzywaczewski] An unpleasant event.
587
00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:48,760
An inspection
at Halina's and Janina's.
588
00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:50,520
Money took care of it this time,
589
00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:52,200
but the blackmail may happen again.
590
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:54,600
The apartment was burned.
591
00:32:57,280 --> 00:32:59,360
I finished officer school
and got assigned
592
00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:01,600
to the IV Brigade on Chłodna Street.
593
00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,240
I'm sitting in my room
in the barracks right now.
594
00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:07,840
On our newly-minted IDs,
everyone has a rank.
595
00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:11,480
Mine is "Löschmeister,"
which is corporal.
596
00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:15,280
The lieutenant gave a speech.
597
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:18,200
We're supposed to help him
revive the spirit
598
00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:20,160
of the Warsaw Fire Guard,
599
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:22,040
make it a resilient organization
600
00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:23,920
based in military discipline.
601
00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:28,840
Inside the Fire Guard,
there is a secret organization
602
00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:30,440
called "Skała."
603
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:32,680
I'm in contact
with the commandant's son
604
00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:34,520
who is persuading me to join.
605
00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:38,360
Chłodna Street and Mier Barracks,
606
00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:42,000
which housed the IV Brigade
of the Warsaw Fire Guard...
607
00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:43,880
JERZY GUTKOWKI
WARSAW FIREFIGHTING MUSEUM
608
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:47,400
...was wedged between two parts
of the ghetto.
609
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:52,280
Firefighters of the "Skała"
resistance organization,
610
00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:57,200
as much as they could,
helped the Jewish population.
611
00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,760
In the past,
there were train tracks here,
612
00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:11,320
and somewhere around here
was an entrance to a storm drain
613
00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:15,760
through which aid for
the Jewish population was passed
614
00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:17,760
before the ghetto uprising.
615
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:19,600
Guns and ammunition.
616
00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:22,120
[tense, dramatic music plays]
617
00:34:25,240 --> 00:34:27,120
[Laks] Dearest daughter,
618
00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:30,640
Only 40,000 Jews
remain in the ghetto.
619
00:34:31,240 --> 00:34:34,040
I left at the last moment
and hid at the Miśkiewiczes.
620
00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:36,240
FROM THE LETTERS OF HILARY LAKS
TO HIS DAUGHTER, ROMA (1968)
621
00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:40,600
Immediately after that,
on April 19th, 1943,
622
00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:43,040
an uprising started
in the Warsaw Ghetto.
623
00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:46,280
A handful of poorly-armed people
624
00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:49,520
for a month resisted tanks
and machine guns
625
00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:52,960
without a shred of hope that
they could save their lives.
626
00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:57,200
[man] For Jews,
this was the eve of Passover.
627
00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:00,720
This was the night of the Seder,
628
00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:04,680
the night when Jews celebrate
the Exodus from Egypt.
629
00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:08,760
And consequently, the theme
of Passover is freedom.
630
00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:13,240
And here, these Jews
were not only imprisoned,
631
00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:15,960
but facing imminent death.
632
00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:18,360
[solemn music plays]
633
00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:20,440
[tanks rumbling]
634
00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:23,840
Germans had gathered
around the ghetto walls.
635
00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:25,320
Troops were there.
636
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:27,720
They were backed by Ukrainian troops.
637
00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:31,160
The trains were in the station,
ready to deport the Jews...
638
00:35:31,240 --> 00:35:33,720
CO-CREATOR, THE UNITED STATES
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM
639
00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:37,000
...and that's the moment
the Jews chose to rise in rebellion.
640
00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:39,760
First day was exhilarating.
641
00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:41,280
It was thrilling.
642
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:45,440
The Germans retreated
from the ghetto.
643
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:47,880
Supermen!
644
00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:50,640
Giants!
645
00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:52,760
All the power of Germany,
646
00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:56,520
and this small group
of young Jews could what?
647
00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:58,480
Could force them to withdraw.
648
00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:01,400
But they had courage.
649
00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:05,280
They had innovation.
They used Molotov cocktails.
650
00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:06,680
They used some handguns.
651
00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:08,880
They had a couple of other guns.
652
00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:11,200
And they had one thing
653
00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:13,440
that the Germans
could not anticipate,
654
00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:17,160
which is they were willing
to fight on to their death
655
00:36:17,240 --> 00:36:18,520
because they had no choice.
656
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:20,640
They were going to die
one way or another.
657
00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:24,560
And people who are fighting
for their lives
658
00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:27,040
and fighting for the life
of their community
659
00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,800
are willing to do everything
in order to preserve it.
660
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,440
[gentle, solemn music plays]
661
00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:05,080
We have a ghetto behind walls
during the uprising,
662
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:07,320
and, practically speaking?
663
00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:09,320
PROF. JACEK LEOCIAK
INSTITUTE OF LITERARY RESEARCH
664
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:11,640
There couldn't have been
any Poles there.
665
00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:17,880
And yet, here we have images
that were stolen from inside.
666
00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:22,840
[man] I can see regular film,
but the frames are halves.
667
00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:26,600
And you can see that
the perforation is torn.
668
00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:30,440
- One edge only.
- What was used to take these?
669
00:37:30,520 --> 00:37:34,760
I immediately think of the
Korelle K made by Kochmann,
670
00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:36,520
released in 1932.
671
00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:40,880
GRZEGORZ KWOLEK
PHOTOGRAPHER
672
00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:42,960
One side has the cassette,
673
00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:46,600
and there's a spool
on the other side.
674
00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:48,480
But if the cassette was jammed,
675
00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,720
there would be resistance
when you move the film.
676
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:55,040
The teeth would tear the perforation,
677
00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:00,440
and the film wouldn't advance
a whole 20 millimeters.
678
00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:04,560
So you had to, for example,
679
00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:09,520
shoot a black frame
to move it more than one frame,
680
00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:14,200
so you could be sure
that the frames didn't overlap.
681
00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:17,000
But if you're taking shots in action,
682
00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:19,000
especially while hiding,
683
00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:23,000
uh, what you're doing,
this could be difficult,
684
00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:25,280
and the frames could overlap.
685
00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:28,200
[gentle, tense music plays]
686
00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:30,400
[Maciej] It's so small, easy to hide.
687
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:32,880
It really is, even in your pocket.
688
00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:39,760
[Grzywaczewski] A month passed,
fraught with terrible events
689
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:43,000
which could have a huge influence
on the psyche of young people.
690
00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:46,960
I got a call from the brigade
in the morning
691
00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:48,440
to assemble immediately.
692
00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:56,160
Marysia is very upset with me
for going to the ghetto
693
00:38:56,240 --> 00:38:57,400
instead of her.
694
00:38:57,480 --> 00:38:59,600
[solemn, dramatic music plays]
695
00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:01,160
[reel clicks]
696
00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:09,320
The ghetto is filled
with scenes from Dante.
697
00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:12,320
Friends speak of the tenacity
of the Jewish fighters
698
00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:15,120
and the fighting spirit
of the whole Jewish population.
699
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:18,240
Germans suffer considerable losses,
700
00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:19,600
dead and wounded.
701
00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:22,040
They have to take building
after building,
702
00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:23,600
without feeding the captives.
703
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:26,680
The fighting is intense.
704
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:28,560
[flames roaring]
705
00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:34,080
[gunfire popping]
706
00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:39,560
[man] I lived in a place
707
00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:42,080
from which,
when the ghetto was created...
708
00:39:42,160 --> 00:39:44,520
ZYGMUNT WALKOWSKI
ARCHIVIST, WARSAW HISTORIAN
709
00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:46,000
...we were removed.
710
00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:51,720
So, in some ways, the ghetto,
and me as a person,
711
00:39:52,800 --> 00:39:56,480
my fate, in some ways overlap.
712
00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:01,360
I carry these images deep within me,
713
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:04,080
even though I was just a child.
714
00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:06,360
This photograph was taken by Leszek.
715
00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:13,560
Here was the gate to the ghetto
from the side of Nalewki Street.
716
00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:18,640
Here we see burning buildings
which, on the map,
717
00:40:18,720 --> 00:40:19,960
are here.
718
00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:25,080
This photograph was taken from here
719
00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:28,160
and it shows this area.
720
00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:31,800
The film starts with these pictures.
721
00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:34,800
You can tell that this roll,
from the start,
722
00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:38,960
was put into the camera
to take photos
723
00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:40,480
documenting history.
724
00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:44,680
Here, most likely,
is some German soldier
725
00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:47,320
who was making sure
these buildings burned down.
726
00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:49,960
[grim, ominous music plays]
727
00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:52,920
[Grzywaczewski]
The Germans burn homes
728
00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:54,440
as a method of fighting.
729
00:40:54,520 --> 00:40:56,400
FROM THE JOURNALS OF LESZEK
GRZYWACZEWSKI (APRIL-MAY 1943)
730
00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:58,320
We are not allowed
to put out those fires.
731
00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:00,760
We are to secure factories
working for Germans
732
00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:02,080
and city buildings.
733
00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:05,000
And also prevent the fire
from spreading
734
00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:06,520
to other districts of Warsaw.
735
00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:12,000
After two nights, I've had enough.
736
00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:15,440
I was so tired,
I just sat down on some boards.
737
00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:18,640
For ten nights,
I didn't even move the covers
738
00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:20,080
on my bed in the barracks.
739
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:23,760
We were constantly in the fire.
740
00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:26,480
It usually went like this.
741
00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:28,200
The Germans would tell us
which streets
742
00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:30,240
and which buildings were on fire,
743
00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:32,080
from and to specific numbers.
744
00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:35,520
We were to protect certain
buildings or facilities.
745
00:41:36,720 --> 00:41:41,920
WARSAW 80/82 LESZNO ST.
746
00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:43,080
[reel clicks]
747
00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:49,560
In this photo, you can see my father.
748
00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:51,960
I think this is Dad.
749
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:56,640
Now this has to be
an interesting story
750
00:41:57,440 --> 00:41:59,600
which I can't explain
751
00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:02,360
because it's obvious
that a German soldier
752
00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:04,720
is posing, looking into the camera.
753
00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:07,880
So there must be some story
behind this.
754
00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:10,440
[Leociak] Here was
kind of a gray area.
755
00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:12,600
Photography was forbidden.
756
00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:16,120
But when I say a "gray area,"
what I mean is that Germans
757
00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:18,480
kind of looked the other way.
758
00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:20,440
Grzywaczewski's role
as a photographer
759
00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:23,920
is incredibly important
because he plays a dual role.
760
00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:27,800
On the one hand,
he's just a guy with a camera
761
00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:30,680
who can take a picture
with some corporal
762
00:42:30,760 --> 00:42:31,960
for the Wehrmacht.
763
00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:33,600
Why not?
764
00:42:33,680 --> 00:42:35,760
But on the other,
he played the role of a spy,
765
00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:37,960
smuggling out secret images.
766
00:42:38,640 --> 00:42:41,360
[tense, dramatic music plays]
767
00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:44,760
[reel clicks]
768
00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:55,120
The details in this photograph
769
00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:56,640
are these windows,
770
00:42:57,560 --> 00:42:59,840
as well as a fragment
771
00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:04,160
of this building
on the other side of the street.
772
00:43:05,080 --> 00:43:07,920
From those, I was able to find
773
00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:11,400
a prewar photograph
774
00:43:12,240 --> 00:43:14,920
of this building
in the city archives.
775
00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:16,800
Take a look.
776
00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:21,120
The cornice, the window placements
777
00:43:22,160 --> 00:43:23,680
are dead on.
778
00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:29,200
The curve of the tram tracks
is clearly marked here.
779
00:43:30,280 --> 00:43:33,160
So, this shot was taken
780
00:43:33,240 --> 00:43:36,760
from the corner
of this part of the building.
781
00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:44,000
This is the condition in 1944
782
00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:50,240
where we can see a completely
destroyed area of the ghetto
783
00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:54,200
except for the hospital buildings
784
00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:56,760
which are still standing.
785
00:43:56,840 --> 00:44:03,440
WARSAW SAINT SOPHIA HOSPITAL
786
00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:05,640
[Walkowski] Good morning.
787
00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:24,280
[tense, grim music plays]
788
00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:30,600
[camera shutter snaps]
789
00:44:32,600 --> 00:44:34,600
[Walkowski] This is the spot
he was standing in
790
00:44:34,680 --> 00:44:36,440
when he took those few photos.
791
00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:40,520
[shutter snaps]
792
00:44:44,680 --> 00:44:45,880
[shutter snaps]
793
00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:51,000
[Leociak] He takes a series
of photographs. How many?
794
00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:53,840
One, two, three,
four, five, six, seven...
795
00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:56,600
eight photographs,
in the order they lay here,
796
00:44:56,680 --> 00:44:59,920
and we know that
because we have the negative.
797
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:01,680
We have a story.
798
00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:04,120
And these were taken in secret.
799
00:45:04,200 --> 00:45:06,240
No Germans can know about it.
800
00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:09,240
You can practically see
these people's faces.
801
00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:11,840
Little children are walking.
802
00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:14,560
[tense, grim music plays]
803
00:45:33,480 --> 00:45:35,000
[Walkowski] What are the feelings
804
00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:38,920
of a person who knows
805
00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:44,040
they are walking a path
with no return?
806
00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:48,440
It's hard for someone to imagine,
807
00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:52,280
but it is captured
in the photographs.
808
00:45:58,680 --> 00:46:00,000
[Leociak] Take a look.
809
00:46:01,600 --> 00:46:08,000
The truck and windows, uh, meet here.
810
00:46:08,840 --> 00:46:11,800
We have a situation here
811
00:46:12,440 --> 00:46:17,720
where you see this woman walking.
812
00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:20,720
She turns to the side
813
00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:23,240
and in the next photograph,
814
00:46:23,320 --> 00:46:25,440
you see the tip of her elbow.
815
00:46:25,520 --> 00:46:28,080
Does this connect
these two pictures together?
816
00:46:28,960 --> 00:46:30,040
And right here...
817
00:46:30,880 --> 00:46:33,360
right here, uh, uh...
818
00:46:34,960 --> 00:46:38,800
tram tracks connect here like this.
819
00:46:39,520 --> 00:46:41,760
And so, from the four images,
820
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:44,520
we have a synthesis of one.
821
00:46:44,600 --> 00:46:47,360
To me, this is a goodbye
to these people
822
00:46:47,440 --> 00:46:50,000
walking in front
of Grzywaczewski's eyes.
823
00:46:50,080 --> 00:46:52,280
They walk by and disappear.
824
00:46:53,600 --> 00:46:56,400
[indistinct chatter]
825
00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:00,840
[Grzywaczewski] The Jews
chased out by the fire
826
00:47:00,920 --> 00:47:04,360
are taken by Germans to
the so-called "Umschlagplatz."
827
00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:07,480
Wounded and sick
are killed on the spot.
828
00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:09,560
We are not allowed to help them.
829
00:47:11,120 --> 00:47:13,720
Then, the Jews are led
to the railway siding,
830
00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:16,920
where they're transported
to an unknown destination.
831
00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:22,000
[dogs barking]
832
00:47:26,080 --> 00:47:29,600
[Leociak] A train would
pull up to the Umschlagplatz,
833
00:47:29,680 --> 00:47:32,520
most likely pushed in
by the locomotive.
834
00:47:32,600 --> 00:47:35,560
Then, as the train pulled in,
835
00:47:35,640 --> 00:47:37,920
they were rounded up onto a ramp
836
00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:40,280
and loaded onto the train cars.
837
00:47:40,880 --> 00:47:44,000
The locomotive
went straight from there.
838
00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:48,720
The death trains went east,
839
00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:51,040
all the way to Treblinka station.
840
00:47:52,080 --> 00:47:56,400
[train chuffing, clacking]
841
00:47:58,840 --> 00:48:05,160
[low, mournful singing]
842
00:48:20,720 --> 00:48:22,320
[singing fades, ends]
843
00:48:23,920 --> 00:48:26,120
[Maciej] Leszek comes back
from the action,
844
00:48:26,200 --> 00:48:28,200
the film is loaded.
845
00:48:28,280 --> 00:48:32,240
He goes out with Marysia,
she's his fiancée, my mom.
846
00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:33,680
They go for a walk.
847
00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:36,440
[somber music plays]
848
00:48:39,360 --> 00:48:40,640
[reel clicks]
849
00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:51,960
[Pawlak] A beautiful picture
of my parents.
850
00:48:52,040 --> 00:48:53,480
It's very touching for me.
851
00:48:54,600 --> 00:48:56,520
And here, in this picture,
852
00:48:56,600 --> 00:48:58,880
this is my mom and my father's
sister, Aunt Danusia.
853
00:48:58,960 --> 00:49:00,800
The third lady,
I don't know who she is,
854
00:49:00,880 --> 00:49:02,640
just some friend of theirs.
855
00:49:04,680 --> 00:49:06,840
Aunt Danusia, my father's sister.
856
00:49:08,720 --> 00:49:11,080
And the contrast, you know,
of life on the outside...
857
00:49:11,160 --> 00:49:15,640
Hmm, it's spring.
I mean, it is April.
858
00:49:15,720 --> 00:49:18,280
...clashing with the ruined ghetto
859
00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:20,040
and these here.
860
00:49:26,680 --> 00:49:28,680
[Leociak] This is a great example
861
00:49:28,760 --> 00:49:32,560
how one can show
the breaking apart of Warsaw
862
00:49:32,640 --> 00:49:35,000
into two worlds,
two different worlds...
863
00:49:35,080 --> 00:49:37,120
PROF. JACEK LEOCIAK
INSTITUTE OF LITERARY RESEARCH
864
00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:40,760
...which are fused together
topographically,
865
00:49:40,840 --> 00:49:44,440
but far apart,
like separate galaxies.
866
00:49:44,520 --> 00:49:46,200
[gentle, solemn music plays]
867
00:49:56,520 --> 00:50:03,240
WARSAW 65 MOKOTOWSKA ST.
868
00:50:07,440 --> 00:50:10,160
Good morning.
I am Maciej Grzywaczewski.
869
00:50:10,240 --> 00:50:13,080
My dad lived in this apartment
during the war.
870
00:50:14,360 --> 00:50:16,160
There was a big living room.
871
00:50:16,240 --> 00:50:18,600
And this was the hallway
to the kitchen.
872
00:50:18,680 --> 00:50:20,080
Here was the bathroom.
873
00:50:20,160 --> 00:50:21,200
[knocks]
874
00:50:21,280 --> 00:50:22,280
I'll knock.
875
00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:26,240
The negatives of the ghetto uprising
876
00:50:27,000 --> 00:50:28,240
were developed in this room.
877
00:50:29,160 --> 00:50:31,560
And here is the exit
to the staircase,
878
00:50:31,640 --> 00:50:32,880
but it's closed.
879
00:50:37,560 --> 00:50:42,280
And-and here, uh,
was a little... attic,
880
00:50:42,360 --> 00:50:46,080
and in that attic
is where Roma was hiding.
881
00:50:46,920 --> 00:50:48,160
Short time I stayed,
882
00:50:48,240 --> 00:50:51,000
I stayed in that tiny little attic,
883
00:50:51,080 --> 00:50:53,480
which was above the kitchen,
884
00:50:53,560 --> 00:50:57,320
and, um, I could not--
I could not move.
885
00:50:58,200 --> 00:51:00,520
I simply had to be very quiet.
886
00:51:01,520 --> 00:51:04,880
Here in these rooms, we had Germans
assigned to stay in our home.
887
00:51:04,960 --> 00:51:06,680
I think there were two
living with us.
888
00:51:06,760 --> 00:51:08,720
Every morning,
one of them would come in,
889
00:51:09,720 --> 00:51:12,320
sit down in the kitchen,
drink coffee,
890
00:51:12,400 --> 00:51:13,880
and read his newspaper.
891
00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:18,320
And there, in the attic,
in that room,
892
00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:21,200
lived Roma, and she had
to stay super quiet.
893
00:51:21,280 --> 00:51:24,720
[lively traditional music plays]
894
00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:27,560
[Kaplan] I think I'd begun
to read at that point.
895
00:51:27,640 --> 00:51:33,160
I was able to sit and read
for a prolonged period of time
896
00:51:33,240 --> 00:51:34,640
and not make any noise.
897
00:51:34,720 --> 00:51:36,760
And that really saved my life,
898
00:51:36,840 --> 00:51:40,360
because if anybody knew
899
00:51:40,440 --> 00:51:45,920
that the Grzywaczewski family
were saving Jews,
900
00:51:46,000 --> 00:51:48,560
Grzywaczewskis
would have been killed.
901
00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:53,200
[reel clicks]
902
00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:57,120
[Grzywaczewski]
After returning to the ghetto,
903
00:51:57,200 --> 00:52:00,280
I found out that firefighters
were taking clothes, lingerie,
904
00:52:00,360 --> 00:52:02,680
bedding, little knickknacks
in suitcases.
905
00:52:04,520 --> 00:52:06,000
They explained it wasn't theft.
906
00:52:06,080 --> 00:52:07,760
These things no longer had an owner.
907
00:52:09,360 --> 00:52:11,200
However, clashes with the Germans,
908
00:52:11,280 --> 00:52:12,880
who did consider it theft,
909
00:52:12,960 --> 00:52:15,560
forced us to vigorously fight
these actions.
910
00:52:16,160 --> 00:52:17,400
So, we subdued it quickly.
911
00:52:21,720 --> 00:52:23,840
[Leociak] What do we have here?
In the foreground,
912
00:52:23,920 --> 00:52:25,480
three firefighters.
913
00:52:25,560 --> 00:52:27,840
But somewhere in the background,
914
00:52:27,920 --> 00:52:31,720
there's a German
who is also taking a photo.
915
00:52:31,800 --> 00:52:34,480
Grzywaczewski is showing a situation
916
00:52:34,560 --> 00:52:38,280
which was quite common
during the Holocaust.
917
00:52:38,360 --> 00:52:41,880
Germans photographing
the annihilation.
918
00:52:42,760 --> 00:52:45,040
This is Nowolipie Street
towards Smocza Street.
919
00:52:45,120 --> 00:52:47,880
These photographs
are from the Stroop Report.
920
00:52:48,680 --> 00:52:52,440
This is Stroop.
This is General Jürgen Stroop.
921
00:52:52,520 --> 00:52:55,800
JÜRGEN STROOP REPORT
922
00:52:55,880 --> 00:52:58,760
[Stroop in German] I have
forbidden the use of cameras
923
00:52:58,840 --> 00:53:01,240
during actions in the ghetto.
924
00:53:01,320 --> 00:53:05,640
But General Krüger's order
to create a report
925
00:53:05,720 --> 00:53:08,560
included the delivery of photos.
926
00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:12,080
Everything had to be done
very quickly.
927
00:53:13,920 --> 00:53:17,880
I suspect the SS Security Police
took these shots.
928
00:53:17,960 --> 00:53:20,720
[poignant, dramatic music plays]
929
00:53:20,800 --> 00:53:22,400
I wrote the report
"There Is No Longer
930
00:53:22,480 --> 00:53:24,560
a Jewish Residential District
in Warsaw!"
931
00:53:24,640 --> 00:53:26,200
for Heinrich Himmler,
932
00:53:26,280 --> 00:53:28,400
for Krüger, and for myself.
933
00:53:34,360 --> 00:53:37,640
It will be valuable material
for history,
934
00:53:37,720 --> 00:53:39,400
for the Führer,
935
00:53:39,480 --> 00:53:42,280
and for future researchers
of the Third Reich,
936
00:53:44,400 --> 00:53:47,320
for nationalist poets and writers,
937
00:53:47,400 --> 00:53:50,920
and, above all, for the documentation
of our efforts
938
00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:54,040
that the Nordic race
and the Germans are undertaking
939
00:53:54,120 --> 00:53:57,680
to get rid of Jews in Europe
and in the entire globe.
940
00:54:01,080 --> 00:54:04,040
[unsettling, tense music plays]
941
00:54:09,800 --> 00:54:11,320
[Grzywaczewski in English]
Almost every day,
942
00:54:11,400 --> 00:54:13,360
we see the SS General Jürgen Stroop
943
00:54:13,440 --> 00:54:15,160
directing the operation.
944
00:54:17,120 --> 00:54:18,800
Instead of putting the fires out,
945
00:54:18,880 --> 00:54:20,360
we have to watch them burn.
946
00:54:21,040 --> 00:54:22,560
Instead of rescuing people,
947
00:54:22,640 --> 00:54:24,880
we have to watch helplessly
as they suffer.
948
00:54:25,880 --> 00:54:28,640
We are continuously under
the control of German police
949
00:54:28,720 --> 00:54:29,880
and the SS.
950
00:54:29,960 --> 00:54:31,800
Any attempt at providing help
951
00:54:31,880 --> 00:54:33,880
can have severe consequences for us.
952
00:54:36,280 --> 00:54:38,480
WARSAW NOWOLIPIE ST.
953
00:54:38,560 --> 00:54:43,160
From this spot,
Leszek took a photograph.
954
00:54:43,760 --> 00:54:44,800
[camera shutter snaps]
955
00:54:47,640 --> 00:54:50,840
[Leociak] For Grzywaczewski,
taking this picture was risky.
956
00:54:50,920 --> 00:54:54,080
He's standing here,
behind the firefighters.
957
00:54:54,160 --> 00:54:58,440
One of them,
the one closer to the lens,
958
00:54:58,520 --> 00:55:01,640
is looking this way
towards the building.
959
00:55:02,360 --> 00:55:05,960
But the other is turning away.
960
00:55:06,840 --> 00:55:10,200
He couldn't betray his emotions.
961
00:55:10,280 --> 00:55:11,880
For the Germans,
962
00:55:11,960 --> 00:55:16,640
this situation was,
I'd say, positive.
963
00:55:16,720 --> 00:55:18,080
That's how it was supposed to be.
964
00:55:18,160 --> 00:55:19,640
"The Jews were supposed to jump."
965
00:55:19,720 --> 00:55:21,480
They weren't considered human.
966
00:55:21,560 --> 00:55:23,240
But for those firefighters,
967
00:55:24,120 --> 00:55:26,640
their emotional reactions
are completely opposite.
968
00:55:26,720 --> 00:55:30,560
[grim, somber music plays]
969
00:55:30,640 --> 00:55:32,520
[Grzywaczewski] The Jews who hid,
970
00:55:32,600 --> 00:55:35,520
instead of evacuating after
the building was set on fire,
971
00:55:35,600 --> 00:55:36,720
burned inside.
972
00:55:37,280 --> 00:55:39,000
Whole groups, cut off by flames,
973
00:55:39,080 --> 00:55:40,400
ran to higher ground,
974
00:55:41,360 --> 00:55:42,920
and when the fire reached them,
975
00:55:43,000 --> 00:55:44,560
they saved themselves
from burning alive
976
00:55:44,640 --> 00:55:47,520
by jumping from the balconies
onto the cobblestones.
977
00:55:48,480 --> 00:55:50,000
[reel clicks]
978
00:55:51,600 --> 00:55:54,400
From a balcony window,
I saw a whole family jump.
979
00:55:54,480 --> 00:55:56,800
Five, six people died instantly.
980
00:55:58,400 --> 00:56:01,040
They couldn't escape,
and we couldn't help them,
981
00:56:01,120 --> 00:56:03,960
despite having
the technical ability to do so.
982
00:56:04,040 --> 00:56:05,680
[somber music continues]
983
00:56:24,600 --> 00:56:27,600
This looks exactly
like the same spot.
984
00:56:28,480 --> 00:56:29,640
The same building.
985
00:56:30,600 --> 00:56:34,080
You can tell by the windows.
986
00:56:35,240 --> 00:56:36,560
And the balconies.
987
00:56:36,640 --> 00:56:38,880
That's the same tenement house
988
00:56:38,960 --> 00:56:42,160
that my father took pictures of.
989
00:56:42,240 --> 00:56:45,080
You can see that, on the same day,
990
00:56:45,160 --> 00:56:47,960
German propagandists
were also at work.
991
00:56:49,840 --> 00:56:50,920
Hmm.
992
00:56:52,040 --> 00:56:53,120
Here too.
993
00:56:54,320 --> 00:56:56,720
Judging by this balcony,
this is the same.
994
00:56:57,920 --> 00:56:59,400
The same tenement house.
995
00:57:02,560 --> 00:57:06,960
In both photographs,
you can see the tram overhead line,
996
00:57:08,280 --> 00:57:13,160
the third-story balcony,
the same balustrade posts.
997
00:57:16,960 --> 00:57:20,040
In the German photograph,
the window on the left is open,
998
00:57:20,120 --> 00:57:21,840
on the right, closed.
999
00:57:23,120 --> 00:57:25,680
In my father's picture,
it's the same.
1000
00:57:29,640 --> 00:57:31,440
This is the missing picture
1001
00:57:31,520 --> 00:57:34,000
that Dad probably couldn't take.
1002
00:57:37,720 --> 00:57:41,720
And Leszek, after taking
that first photograph,
1003
00:57:43,040 --> 00:57:44,360
moved here.
1004
00:57:46,480 --> 00:57:52,120
And here is the house
where the drama unfolded.
1005
00:57:54,720 --> 00:57:56,920
[reel clicks]
1006
00:57:58,360 --> 00:57:59,480
- [tires screech]
- [crunch]
1007
00:58:15,400 --> 00:58:18,760
[Walkowski] This small
but unfortunate accident
1008
00:58:19,440 --> 00:58:22,760
immediately caused a few people
to run towards it.
1009
00:58:23,280 --> 00:58:25,200
A normal human reaction.
1010
00:58:25,760 --> 00:58:29,560
But how it highlights
the fate of those people.
1011
00:58:30,440 --> 00:58:31,680
There was no one.
1012
00:58:32,640 --> 00:58:34,800
There was no one to run to help them.
1013
00:58:35,400 --> 00:58:37,640
There was no possibility.
1014
00:58:37,720 --> 00:58:42,280
Not because no one wanted to,
because no one could.
1015
00:58:43,400 --> 00:58:47,160
[Leociak] These two pictures
tell an entire story.
1016
00:58:47,240 --> 00:58:50,120
The Germans come and gather here
1017
00:58:50,200 --> 00:58:53,160
by the bodies of the ones who jumped.
1018
00:58:53,760 --> 00:58:56,120
All that is obvious to me.
1019
00:58:56,880 --> 00:58:59,200
But when you look really closely,
1020
00:59:00,240 --> 00:59:05,560
you can see that here,
there is a silhouette of a man.
1021
00:59:05,640 --> 00:59:09,640
It's just the silhouette
of his head and shoulder.
1022
00:59:11,840 --> 00:59:14,360
One could say that these are Jews
1023
00:59:14,440 --> 00:59:18,680
who were coming out
maybe from some kind of bunker,
1024
00:59:18,760 --> 00:59:20,320
from this gate.
1025
00:59:21,280 --> 00:59:25,160
I think these two situations
can be reconciled.
1026
00:59:25,240 --> 00:59:27,920
In other words, in the same spot,
1027
00:59:28,000 --> 00:59:29,200
you see the corpses
1028
00:59:29,280 --> 00:59:31,480
of those who jumped from the windows
1029
00:59:32,000 --> 00:59:34,880
and Jews who are coming out alive,
1030
00:59:34,960 --> 00:59:36,920
only to die moments later.
1031
00:59:40,320 --> 00:59:42,960
[Grzywaczewski] Under the ruins
of burned-out homes,
1032
00:59:43,040 --> 00:59:44,680
in so-called "bunkers,"
1033
00:59:44,760 --> 00:59:46,560
there are supposed to be
Jews remaining.
1034
00:59:46,640 --> 00:59:49,920
[tense, unsettling music plays]
1035
00:59:50,000 --> 00:59:51,320
[gunshot echoes]
1036
00:59:56,960 --> 00:59:58,800
The sight of those people
being led out
1037
00:59:58,880 --> 01:00:01,120
will stay with me
for the rest of my life.
1038
01:00:03,720 --> 01:00:06,400
The faces not of people,
but almost half-animals
1039
01:00:06,480 --> 01:00:08,720
with mad, unconscious expressions.
1040
01:00:09,600 --> 01:00:11,520
Eyes squinting from sunlight.
1041
01:00:13,240 --> 01:00:15,400
They stayed in the darkness
for weeks.
1042
01:00:16,840 --> 01:00:19,760
Silhouettes, barely standing
from hunger and fear,
1043
01:00:19,840 --> 01:00:21,800
dirty, tattered,
1044
01:00:22,360 --> 01:00:23,880
shot in masses.
1045
01:00:24,720 --> 01:00:27,120
Some still alive,
stumbling over the corpses
1046
01:00:27,200 --> 01:00:28,680
of the annihilated.
1047
01:00:31,760 --> 01:00:34,760
[solemn, dramatic music plays]
1048
01:00:41,120 --> 01:00:42,880
The entire district is burned down
1049
01:00:42,960 --> 01:00:45,120
and looks like
one vast sea of rubble,
1050
01:00:45,920 --> 01:00:47,160
or a dead city,
1051
01:00:47,920 --> 01:00:50,000
struck by some great disaster.
1052
01:00:51,640 --> 01:00:54,200
In reality,
it is the disaster of war.
1053
01:00:59,760 --> 01:01:03,120
I think what he saw
in the ghetto was very...
1054
01:01:03,200 --> 01:01:07,240
You can feel it in his journal.
He rapidly matured.
1055
01:01:07,320 --> 01:01:08,640
He changed.
1056
01:01:11,480 --> 01:01:13,040
[Grzywaczewski] After days
of sleepless nights
1057
01:01:13,120 --> 01:01:14,400
and intense work,
1058
01:01:14,480 --> 01:01:15,520
I came home.
1059
01:01:17,240 --> 01:01:20,560
There came days of calm
which I couldn't get used to.
1060
01:01:20,640 --> 01:01:21,840
Couldn't accept.
1061
01:01:22,440 --> 01:01:23,720
I became secretive.
1062
01:01:25,360 --> 01:01:27,680
I shut myself in my silence
1063
01:01:27,760 --> 01:01:29,240
like a snail in its shell.
1064
01:01:31,680 --> 01:01:33,600
[Maciej] The burden
of the things he saw
1065
01:01:33,680 --> 01:01:35,200
he directed inward.
1066
01:01:35,280 --> 01:01:37,560
I don't think he talked about it
to anyone.
1067
01:01:37,640 --> 01:01:40,200
[music fades]
1068
01:01:41,520 --> 01:01:45,040
[Leociak] So we are at the end
of the negative.
1069
01:01:45,120 --> 01:01:48,800
Grzywaczewski photographs his fiancée
1070
01:01:50,360 --> 01:01:52,280
and takes a self-portrait.
1071
01:01:53,080 --> 01:01:54,680
If someone asks,
1072
01:01:54,760 --> 01:01:57,160
"Who is this firefighter,
Grzywaczewski,
1073
01:01:57,240 --> 01:01:59,000
who was in the ghetto?",
1074
01:01:59,800 --> 01:02:03,240
the shortest answer
would be a witness
1075
01:02:03,320 --> 01:02:06,280
in the deepest, most
existential sense of the word,
1076
01:02:06,360 --> 01:02:09,640
in a very profound, existential way.
1077
01:02:13,440 --> 01:02:16,040
A year and a half
after the ghetto uprising,
1078
01:02:16,120 --> 01:02:18,360
from the apartment
on Mokotowska Street,
1079
01:02:19,160 --> 01:02:21,800
under the command
of Stanisław Grzywaczewski,
1080
01:02:21,880 --> 01:02:24,600
my grandfather,
the father of my father,
1081
01:02:24,680 --> 01:02:27,520
a platoon of insurgents
sets out to fight.
1082
01:02:27,600 --> 01:02:30,160
They head to Szucha Avenue
to reclaim it.
1083
01:02:31,120 --> 01:02:34,320
My father is called up
as a firefighter
1084
01:02:34,400 --> 01:02:36,200
for the Warsaw uprising.
1085
01:02:37,680 --> 01:02:40,960
It is a day that's very... Hmm.
1086
01:02:41,040 --> 01:02:43,320
It's an important marker. It's...
1087
01:02:47,080 --> 01:02:48,480
Let's move on.
1088
01:02:50,360 --> 01:02:53,120
[solemn piano music plays]
1089
01:03:02,840 --> 01:03:05,280
[siren wailing]
1090
01:03:05,360 --> 01:03:09,600
WARSAW, 1944
1091
01:03:09,680 --> 01:03:11,120
[Laks] Dear Romechka,
1092
01:03:11,800 --> 01:03:14,040
On August 1st, 1944,
1093
01:03:14,120 --> 01:03:16,400
Polish uprising against
the Germans broke out.
1094
01:03:16,480 --> 01:03:17,760
FROM THE LETTERS OF HILARY LAKS
1095
01:03:18,360 --> 01:03:21,600
During these events, you were
in Wołomin, near Warsaw,
1096
01:03:21,680 --> 01:03:24,000
where you were with
the Daughters of Charity.
1097
01:03:24,080 --> 01:03:25,760
Mom managed to get to me,
1098
01:03:25,840 --> 01:03:27,520
and together we used the basements
1099
01:03:27,600 --> 01:03:29,360
to return to Mokotowska Street
1100
01:03:29,440 --> 01:03:30,640
to the Grzywaczewskis.
1101
01:03:31,280 --> 01:03:34,200
Meanwhile, the Germans
destroyed and burned Warsaw
1102
01:03:34,280 --> 01:03:36,400
from both the land and the air.
1103
01:03:37,280 --> 01:03:40,640
The uprising cost the city
200,000 dead,
1104
01:03:41,240 --> 01:03:43,160
countless wounded,
1105
01:03:43,840 --> 01:03:45,760
and more than 80% of its buildings
1106
01:03:45,840 --> 01:03:47,520
were reduced to rubble.
1107
01:03:48,560 --> 01:03:49,880
[rumbling explosion]
1108
01:03:51,480 --> 01:03:54,000
[cacophonous rumbling]
1109
01:03:54,640 --> 01:03:56,840
[thunderous explosion]
1110
01:04:04,800 --> 01:04:07,480
[somber music plays]
1111
01:04:10,680 --> 01:04:12,760
[Laks] In January 1945,
1112
01:04:13,480 --> 01:04:16,040
the Soviet offensive began.
1113
01:04:16,640 --> 01:04:19,480
The Germans disappeared overnight.
1114
01:04:20,800 --> 01:04:23,040
Right after the Soviets marched in,
1115
01:04:23,120 --> 01:04:24,920
we decided to walk towards Wołomin
1116
01:04:25,000 --> 01:04:27,160
to find out where
the Daughters of Charity were
1117
01:04:27,240 --> 01:04:29,040
and what had happened to you.
1118
01:04:29,920 --> 01:04:31,360
When we got there,
1119
01:04:31,440 --> 01:04:33,480
we learned that
you had been evacuated.
1120
01:04:37,200 --> 01:04:38,400
[Kaplan] I came back.
1121
01:04:38,480 --> 01:04:40,160
I found myself in Warsaw.
1122
01:04:40,240 --> 01:04:42,400
I could not recognize Warsaw at all.
1123
01:04:42,480 --> 01:04:44,000
It was completely destroyed.
1124
01:04:44,080 --> 01:04:46,400
Absolutely and completely destroyed.
1125
01:04:49,440 --> 01:04:51,480
And I had no idea
where my parents were,
1126
01:04:51,560 --> 01:04:54,160
whether they survived, nothing.
1127
01:04:55,120 --> 01:04:59,080
So I tried to look for a place
that was familiar to me.
1128
01:04:59,760 --> 01:05:03,000
And lo and behold,
one of the buildings that
1129
01:05:04,000 --> 01:05:10,640
we lived in on the "Aryan side"
was intact.
1130
01:05:10,720 --> 01:05:15,120
WARSAW 65 MOKOTOWSKA ST.
1131
01:05:15,200 --> 01:05:17,120
So I went into the building
1132
01:05:17,200 --> 01:05:22,400
and I rang everybody's bell
that I could,
1133
01:05:23,560 --> 01:05:26,000
and the next morning I met my father.
1134
01:05:26,080 --> 01:05:29,200
ROMA LAKS KAPLAN
DAUGHTER OF HILARY LAKS (1996)
1135
01:05:29,280 --> 01:05:33,880
And my father, at that point,
had already contacted my mother
1136
01:05:33,960 --> 01:05:40,560
so that was the...
the end of my saga.
1137
01:05:42,240 --> 01:05:45,000
[solemn, poignant music plays]
1138
01:05:51,440 --> 01:05:57,160
WARSAW, 1946 FORMER GHETTO AREA
1139
01:05:58,640 --> 01:06:00,560
[woman] The Central Historical
Commission
1140
01:06:00,640 --> 01:06:02,480
took it upon itself to bring to light
1141
01:06:02,560 --> 01:06:04,600
the crimes committed by the Germans
1142
01:06:04,680 --> 01:06:07,360
against the Jewish population
in Poland.
1143
01:06:07,440 --> 01:06:09,920
To that end,
it gathered all materials,
1144
01:06:10,000 --> 01:06:11,840
printed, handwritten, and others.
1145
01:06:11,920 --> 01:06:14,000
DR. AGNIESZKA KAJCZYK
JEWISH HISTORICAL INSTITUTE
1146
01:06:14,080 --> 01:06:16,160
The Central Jewish
Historical Commission
1147
01:06:16,240 --> 01:06:19,280
collected documents
such as photographs.
1148
01:06:20,440 --> 01:06:23,200
And we know that by 1946,
1149
01:06:23,280 --> 01:06:25,240
it already had in its possession
1150
01:06:25,320 --> 01:06:27,600
these five photographs
taken by your father.
1151
01:06:27,680 --> 01:06:30,960
In fact, by 1946, when the book
1152
01:06:31,040 --> 01:06:34,200
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
was published,
1153
01:06:34,280 --> 01:06:35,720
authored by Joseph Kermish...
1154
01:06:35,800 --> 01:06:37,040
THE GHETTO IN FLAMES
1155
01:06:37,120 --> 01:06:38,760
...a pioneer of Holocaust research,
1156
01:06:38,840 --> 01:06:44,040
it included your father's
photographs as a part of it.
1157
01:06:45,800 --> 01:06:49,680
We believe that these
are first-generation prints.
1158
01:06:50,440 --> 01:06:53,560
These prints have priceless
information on the backs.
1159
01:06:54,320 --> 01:06:56,360
The writing is very detailed.
1160
01:06:56,440 --> 01:06:57,840
We have precise information
1161
01:06:57,920 --> 01:07:00,400
about where each picture was taken
1162
01:07:00,480 --> 01:07:02,000
and when.
1163
01:07:02,080 --> 01:07:05,000
We assume only the photographer
had that knowledge.
1164
01:07:05,080 --> 01:07:07,760
He knew what he was
photographing and where.
1165
01:07:07,840 --> 01:07:09,280
I don't think that's my father's.
1166
01:07:09,360 --> 01:07:11,520
Really?
Not your father's handwriting?
1167
01:07:11,600 --> 01:07:13,600
- Hmm, it's not.
- That's really interesting.
1168
01:07:14,720 --> 01:07:18,480
[Maciej] I feel like this is
the handwriting of Hilary Laks.
1169
01:07:18,560 --> 01:07:23,480
So maybe he's the one who kept
these few photographs in 1946.
1170
01:07:24,160 --> 01:07:27,520
[gentle, dramatic music plays]
1171
01:07:34,920 --> 01:07:37,000
Everyone survived the war.
1172
01:07:37,080 --> 01:07:40,360
My mother and father
got married in 1946,
1173
01:07:40,440 --> 01:07:43,680
right after the war ended,
and then moved to Gdańsk.
1174
01:07:44,360 --> 01:07:47,440
My father really wanted
to live in Gdańsk
1175
01:07:47,520 --> 01:07:49,680
because he wanted to be a sailor.
1176
01:07:50,680 --> 01:07:53,520
So he completed his studies
at the polytechnic there
1177
01:07:53,600 --> 01:07:55,400
at the maritime department
1178
01:07:55,480 --> 01:07:58,280
and worked with ships
for the rest of his life.
1179
01:07:58,360 --> 01:08:00,360
But the Lakses left
1180
01:08:00,440 --> 01:08:05,000
to go over to the United States
in 1951.
1181
01:08:07,720 --> 01:08:09,800
At the end of the 1950s,
1182
01:08:09,880 --> 01:08:12,560
my father received a letter
from Hilary.
1183
01:08:12,640 --> 01:08:16,440
He asked my father to send
the photographs he took
1184
01:08:17,480 --> 01:08:20,000
during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
1185
01:08:23,920 --> 01:08:25,960
When my father was sent
with a delegation
1186
01:08:26,040 --> 01:08:29,320
to a shipyard in the north
of England in Billingham,
1187
01:08:30,160 --> 01:08:33,520
I suspect he sent
the 12 photographs from there.
1188
01:08:34,560 --> 01:08:37,640
I think he believed
that was a safer way to do it
1189
01:08:37,720 --> 01:08:40,000
to ensure they reached the recipient
1190
01:08:40,080 --> 01:08:43,000
outside the reach
of communist censorship.
1191
01:08:43,080 --> 01:08:46,120
We were under Soviet rule in Poland,
1192
01:08:47,680 --> 01:08:52,240
and so any contact with the U.S.
was considered suspicious.
1193
01:08:53,280 --> 01:08:56,000
After all these years,
Roma is the only witness
1194
01:08:56,080 --> 01:08:57,520
who lived through those times.
1195
01:08:57,600 --> 01:09:00,440
She is the last one left
from that family.
1196
01:09:00,520 --> 01:09:01,720
[Laks] Dear Romechka,
1197
01:09:02,440 --> 01:09:06,040
I want these photographs
to be preserved as proof.
1198
01:09:07,480 --> 01:09:11,520
Of course, I could strike
a deal with Life or The Post
1199
01:09:12,040 --> 01:09:13,840
and even make some money.
1200
01:09:13,920 --> 01:09:15,640
But I don't want that kind of money.
1201
01:09:16,360 --> 01:09:20,200
These pictures must be kept
in the right kind of archive.
1202
01:09:21,440 --> 01:09:25,400
Think about it, and let me know
where, in your opinion,
1203
01:09:25,480 --> 01:09:26,760
we should take them.
1204
01:09:27,920 --> 01:09:31,000
[man] These are the copies
of the 12 photographs...
1205
01:09:31,080 --> 01:09:33,520
UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL
MUSEUM IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
1206
01:09:33,600 --> 01:09:35,320
...that we have received in 1992
1207
01:09:35,400 --> 01:09:38,360
in the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum
1208
01:09:38,440 --> 01:09:39,840
in Washington.
1209
01:09:39,920 --> 01:09:43,000
I'm assuming that Hilary Laks,
after his death,
1210
01:09:43,080 --> 01:09:46,680
his family decided to donate
those photographs to us.
1211
01:09:48,680 --> 01:09:51,080
Immediately, we considered them
1212
01:09:51,160 --> 01:09:53,640
as something extremely,
extremely unique.
1213
01:09:53,720 --> 01:09:55,880
[gentle ambient music plays]
1214
01:09:58,120 --> 01:10:02,280
Those 12 photographs were
considered, by us, original,
1215
01:10:02,360 --> 01:10:03,880
because they were the only copies
1216
01:10:03,960 --> 01:10:06,080
that existed at that time.
1217
01:10:06,160 --> 01:10:09,720
Now, the negative is the original.
1218
01:10:14,240 --> 01:10:17,320
And there are 33 photos
from the ghetto.
1219
01:10:23,080 --> 01:10:26,240
[Jacqueline] The man in the middle
is definitely Hilary,
1220
01:10:26,320 --> 01:10:28,960
and the woman to the right,
1221
01:10:29,040 --> 01:10:32,360
with the hat and the fur collar,
is definitely Mom.
1222
01:10:33,280 --> 01:10:35,320
[John] I have a feeling
these are already by the time
1223
01:10:35,400 --> 01:10:36,560
she arrived in New York.
1224
01:10:37,160 --> 01:10:39,880
[Jacqueline] She considered
Leszek a brother.
1225
01:10:39,960 --> 01:10:41,440
It was family.
1226
01:10:41,520 --> 01:10:44,720
[John] At the same time,
I think she had demons,
1227
01:10:44,800 --> 01:10:47,160
um, from the time of survival.
1228
01:10:47,240 --> 01:10:49,680
I think she had PTSD.
1229
01:10:49,760 --> 01:10:53,280
Um, I remember her
being hospitalized at UCLA,
1230
01:10:53,360 --> 01:10:55,640
um, with possibly a suicide attempt.
1231
01:10:55,720 --> 01:10:57,960
It felt like it's old history,
1232
01:10:58,040 --> 01:10:59,960
and dealing with that old history.
1233
01:11:04,960 --> 01:11:06,520
[Laks] Dearest daughter:
1234
01:11:06,600 --> 01:11:09,480
If there is any purpose
to these recollections,
1235
01:11:09,560 --> 01:11:11,400
it is only to ensure that the memory
1236
01:11:11,480 --> 01:11:14,200
of those shameful times is preserved
1237
01:11:14,280 --> 01:11:16,880
so that people born
and raised with abundance,
1238
01:11:16,960 --> 01:11:19,960
convinced of the values
of our civilization,
1239
01:11:20,040 --> 01:11:22,520
may understand what can happen
in the future
1240
01:11:22,600 --> 01:11:25,880
if they allow themselves
to be set against one another
1241
01:11:25,960 --> 01:11:27,560
like dogs.
1242
01:11:29,320 --> 01:11:33,080
You see, somehow I've come
to the end with these memories.
1243
01:11:33,880 --> 01:11:37,720
Everything that happens next
is within your own memory.
1244
01:11:37,800 --> 01:11:40,240
[doorbell buzzes]
1245
01:11:41,520 --> 01:11:44,000
I'm Dorota Grzywaczewski.
Leszek's daughter.
1246
01:11:44,080 --> 01:11:45,560
[both laugh]
1247
01:11:45,640 --> 01:11:47,920
We can speak English if you prefer.
1248
01:11:48,000 --> 01:11:49,880
Well, whatever you prefer!
1249
01:11:49,960 --> 01:11:51,640
The whole album is for you.
1250
01:11:52,240 --> 01:11:55,200
ROMA LAKS KAPLAN
DAUGHTER OF HILARY LAKS (2024)
1251
01:11:55,280 --> 01:11:59,320
Zbigniew Leszek Grzywaczewski.
1252
01:12:04,960 --> 01:12:06,720
[Kaplan] Well, this is Warsaw.
1253
01:12:08,360 --> 01:12:11,000
- Ghetto?
- [Pawlak] Ghetto uprising.
1254
01:12:15,240 --> 01:12:19,040
I tried very hard
to not remember this.
1255
01:12:19,120 --> 01:12:20,480
[Pawlak] I know, I know.
1256
01:12:28,320 --> 01:12:30,360
- Leszek.
- You recognize Leszek?
1257
01:12:30,440 --> 01:12:32,080
- Yeah.
- You recognize him?
1258
01:12:32,160 --> 01:12:37,280
[Kaplan] Leszek and his family
made it possible
1259
01:12:37,360 --> 01:12:39,760
for me and my parents to survive.
1260
01:12:40,480 --> 01:12:43,960
Beautiful photograph,
and beautiful mother.
1261
01:12:44,880 --> 01:12:45,880
[Pawlak] Thank you.
1262
01:12:45,960 --> 01:12:48,040
I assume she's not alive.
1263
01:12:49,720 --> 01:12:52,080
[Pawlak] She died 11 years ago.
1264
01:12:52,160 --> 01:12:53,400
I'm sorry.
1265
01:12:59,400 --> 01:13:00,440
Excuse me.
1266
01:13:00,520 --> 01:13:01,520
If I...
1267
01:13:02,440 --> 01:13:04,480
[Pawlak] Definitely.
I will hold it for you.
1268
01:13:17,440 --> 01:13:19,560
- [Kaplan] Oh, I remember that.
- [Pawlak] Mm-hmm.
1269
01:13:20,640 --> 01:13:21,640
[Kaplan] Yeah.
1270
01:13:21,720 --> 01:13:23,360
[gentle, poignant music plays]
1271
01:13:26,680 --> 01:13:30,480
I've spent a good part of my life
1272
01:13:30,560 --> 01:13:32,760
trying to forget all of this.
1273
01:13:37,320 --> 01:13:41,800
You know, to me, this is my family.
1274
01:13:41,880 --> 01:13:45,880
This is my... history.
1275
01:13:46,440 --> 01:13:50,800
These are the people who,
all of whom, I know, have died.
1276
01:13:51,440 --> 01:13:53,360
Well, we have to remember it.
1277
01:13:53,440 --> 01:13:56,920
It's part of history.
It's not just part of the Jews.
1278
01:13:57,880 --> 01:14:00,440
If we don't remember,
it will come again.
1279
01:14:01,840 --> 01:14:06,800
We have to remember.
Remember your own history.
1280
01:14:09,200 --> 01:14:10,640
I've had enough.
1281
01:14:11,280 --> 01:14:14,200
- Every family has a history...
- Mm-hmm.
1282
01:14:14,280 --> 01:14:17,320
...and you are my history.
1283
01:14:17,800 --> 01:14:20,240
That is not just my history,
1284
01:14:20,320 --> 01:14:24,520
but also history of your...
1285
01:14:26,000 --> 01:14:27,360
of Poland.
1286
01:14:29,280 --> 01:14:31,480
Partially history of America
1287
01:14:31,560 --> 01:14:33,280
because we are here,
1288
01:14:34,080 --> 01:14:39,640
and partially because of this.
1289
01:14:41,800 --> 01:14:45,320
[gentle, solemn music plays]
1290
01:14:49,560 --> 01:14:53,360
Roma, her parents, and Halina
survived the Holocaust
1291
01:14:53,440 --> 01:14:55,400
and emigrated to the USA.
1292
01:14:56,520 --> 01:14:58,280
Leszek fulfilled his dream
1293
01:14:58,360 --> 01:15:01,000
and remained connected to the sea
for the rest of his life.
1294
01:15:01,080 --> 01:15:04,400
His friends remember him as a sailor
and an amateur photographer.
1295
01:15:05,480 --> 01:15:09,320
Maciej, Leszek's son, was an activist
of the democratic opposition
1296
01:15:09,400 --> 01:15:13,920
and "Solidarity," the movement that
changed the history of Poland.
1297
01:15:15,680 --> 01:15:19,680
[solemn music continues]
1298
01:18:03,960 --> 01:18:06,480
[music fades]