1
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000
Downloaded from
YTS.BZ
2
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000
Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.BZ
3
00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:15,720
[bright music plays]
4
00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:27,240
[metallic clanking]
5
00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,120
[projector clicking]
6
00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:36,320
[metallic pinging]
7
00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:38,720
[soft musical flourish]
8
00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:43,880
[dramatic music plays]
9
00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:47,120
- [camera shutter snapping]
- [indistinct chatter]
10
00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:01,240
Let's move now to Poland
and a discovery being hailed
11
00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:03,040
as a rare firsthand look
12
00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:05,640
at one of the most crucial
chapters of the Holocaust.
13
00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,560
[reporter in German] These are
of great historical value,
14
00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,640
that saw light after 80 years.
15
00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:14,040
[woman in English]
This is a negative,
16
00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:15,800
the only one existing
in the world,
17
00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:17,960
from the Warsaw Ghetto
Uprising,
18
00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:19,520
from the inside,
from the ghetto.
19
00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:22,360
[reporter in French] Images
to express the inexpressible.
20
00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,280
Fragments of lives captured
in 33 photographs.
21
00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:27,600
[reporter in Italian]
These photos were taken
22
00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,400
by Grzywaczewski, a
23-year-old Polish firefighter.
23
00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:32,840
[reporter in English]
The Warsaw Ghetto Revolt
24
00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:34,920
was the act of resistance
of Jews
25
00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:37,280
against Nazi regime
during the Holocaust.
26
00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,880
[reporter in Russian] Historians
consider these photos valuable
27
00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,840
because they are the only known
images of the ghetto uprising
28
00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:48,520
not taken for Nazi propaganda.
29
00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:58,720
[man in English] Documentation
that's there is the sense of
30
00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:03,000
what an ordinary person
would see
31
00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:06,680
and how that ordinary person
framed
32
00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:10,160
all of the incredible things
that were happening
33
00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,440
in April 1943.
34
00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:18,000
[woman] Most of my life,
I tried to forget all of this.
35
00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:19,920
[soft, dramatic music continues]
36
00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:23,520
[whispers] Stop.
37
00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:26,000
[music slowly fades]
38
00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,880
[tense, poignant music plays]
39
00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:58,160
33 PHOTOS FROM THE GHETTO
40
00:02:58,240 --> 00:02:59,560
[birds chirping]
41
00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:01,400
NEW YORK, 1968
42
00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:03,280
[Hilary Laks] Dearest daughter,
43
00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:05,200
While putting his life at risk,
44
00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:07,920
Leszek managed
to take some photographs.
45
00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:12,440
Knowing this,
I asked him ten years ago,
46
00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:14,040
if he would send them to me.
47
00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:16,440
FROM THE LETTERS OF HILARY LAKS
TO HIS DAUGHTER, ROMA
48
00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,960
I received some of them and
kept them with me until now.
49
00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,360
These pictures tell a story
which is ours, as well as his.
50
00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,480
The negatives
are still with Leszek.
51
00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,200
These photographs
have never been published.
52
00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,120
I kept them with me
for this long on purpose.
53
00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:36,440
I thought I would publish them
54
00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,680
when the world began to forget
what had happened.
55
00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,360
I don't know
if the time is right,
56
00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:45,920
but my own time is passing.
57
00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,520
MACIEJ GRZYWACZEWSKI
LESZEK'S SON
58
00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,280
Well, this apartment
looked a bit different.
59
00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:56,520
But maybe let's go here
because this was Dad's room.
60
00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:02,160
And when we were cleaning
after Dad's death,
61
00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,040
we noticed that these boards
down here were loose.
62
00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:07,760
In this hideout,
we found Dad's journals.
63
00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,040
[gentle, solemn piano music
plays]
64
00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,640
My sister and I didn't know
these journals existed.
65
00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:31,120
He never told us
about any of this.
66
00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:37,360
[Leszek Grzywaczewski]
The times we live in
67
00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:38,840
are more interesting
than any others.
68
00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:40,560
FROM THE JOURNALS OF LESZEK
GRZYWACZEWSKI (1938-1940)
69
00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:42,320
I chose a good year
to keep a journal.
70
00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:43,600
THE BEST FORM OF DIPLOMACY
IS A STRONG ARMY!
71
00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:45,280
I went to
a big demonstration today.
72
00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,880
The mood was so-so.
Not much passion.
73
00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,320
The speeches
were stereotypical.
74
00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:54,840
Nationalists shouted,
"Away with the Jews!"
75
00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:56,840
I shouted until my voice
got hoarse.
76
00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:58,880
But none of it matters now
77
00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:01,480
because final exams
are the day after tomorrow.
78
00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:02,960
WARSAW, 1939
79
00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:04,680
On our way back from school,
our friend said,
80
00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:06,320
"I'm so convinced
war is coming,
81
00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:08,360
I'm not studying
for the exams at all."
82
00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:11,960
[engines buzzing]
83
00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:14,920
[siren wailing]
84
00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,920
Friday morning, September 1st,
I heard the air raid siren.
85
00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:20,320
"Close your windows!"
86
00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:22,600
That woke me up.
87
00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:25,440
I saw the first German planes
above Warsaw.
88
00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,360
[siren continues]
89
00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:31,680
[rumbling impacts]
90
00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,840
[thrum of marching footsteps]
91
00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:38,520
[bright martial horn music
plays]
92
00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:40,960
We're staying home today.
93
00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:43,000
The Germans might
round people up for work.
94
00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,760
Many SS troops
and military police showed up
95
00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:48,840
and began detaining
and checking IDs
96
00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:50,360
of whoever they saw fit.
97
00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,000
They began firing
public servants,
98
00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:57,200
or the workers
of German companies.
99
00:05:58,840 --> 00:06:00,800
Those captured
were gathered into columns
100
00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,520
and walked or driven
to be loaded onto trains.
101
00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:06,080
Two of my friends
were captured.
102
00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:09,080
Only Jews are worse off
than us.
103
00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,880
[Cohen] Survivors of the Shoah
Visual History Foundation.
104
00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:16,680
My name is Dina Cohen.
105
00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:19,880
Today is November 7th, 1996.
106
00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,960
I am conducting an interview
with Romana Kaplan, born Laks,
107
00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,560
in Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA.
108
00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:28,400
The interview
will be in English.
109
00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:31,360
And when were you born?
110
00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:34,440
I was born in Poland, Warsaw.
111
00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:37,920
[Cohen] Could you please
describe your family?
112
00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:41,200
[pencil scratching]
113
00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:43,560
[Kaplan] My father
was a chemical engineer,
114
00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:49,280
uh, and had a, um, very,
um, prestigious position.
115
00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:56,000
It was a factory that produced
soaps, perfumes, and candles.
116
00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:59,000
[Laks] Dear Romechka,
117
00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:01,000
You asked me if I could
write about the past...
118
00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:02,920
FROM THE LETTERS OF HILARY LAKS
TO HIS DAUGHTER, ROMA (1968)
119
00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:04,640
...especially about
those experiences,
120
00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:05,800
those shameful times,
121
00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:07,160
which you may not remember
122
00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:09,160
because you were too little.
123
00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:11,080
I will try to write a letter,
124
00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:14,640
but I don't know if I can
or how much I will be able to.
125
00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:17,000
Our world started
to fall apart.
126
00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:18,120
WARSAW, 1940
127
00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:19,920
Just because we were Jews,
128
00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,520
to Germans, we were a threat.
129
00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,520
We were subhumans,
a race to be annihilated.
130
00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:30,560
We were forced to wear an
armband with the Star of David.
131
00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,000
All Jewish companies
were taken over by the Germans.
132
00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:40,560
Jewish bank accounts
and deposits were confiscated.
133
00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:45,720
[grim music plays]
134
00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:48,480
So they could isolate us
from the rest,
135
00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:53,920
a ghetto was created in Warsaw
in the autumn of 1940.
136
00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:56,760
We were surrounded by a wall.
137
00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:59,880
All Warsaw Jews
who lived outside the ghetto
138
00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:01,280
were resettled within it.
139
00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:04,680
With time,
the ghetto was shrunk,
140
00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:06,680
and we, too, had to move,
141
00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:09,400
abandoning many
of our possessions.
142
00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:13,880
Soon, the ghetto had about
half a million people.
143
00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:18,320
Poverty among the Jewish masses
grew every day.
144
00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:24,040
I remember having a doll,
a large doll
145
00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:26,320
that was given to me
by my father's boss...
146
00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:28,480
ROMA LAKS KAPLAN
DAUGHTER OF HILARY LAKS (1996)
147
00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:30,040
...and I called her Krystyna.
148
00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:34,080
[gentle, tense music plays]
149
00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,480
[voice breaking] I remember
my mother sewing up, uh,
150
00:08:37,560 --> 00:08:40,840
some of the jewelry
in the doll.
151
00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:47,160
[Grzywaczewski]
We ran out of money.
152
00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:48,720
You can't find paid work,
153
00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:50,240
and everyone tries
to get fake jobs.
154
00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:51,800
FROM THE JOURNALS OF LESZEK
GRZYWACZEWSKI (1940-1941)
155
00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:55,400
I got in touch with
an old classmate.
156
00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,040
He works for the Fire Guard
at a school in Zoliborz.
157
00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:02,400
With his help, I can get in.
158
00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:04,760
[bell dinging]
159
00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:06,360
I went to Zoliborz.
160
00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:08,160
At the alarm, firefighters
161
00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:10,520
started to slide down
the poles,
162
00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:13,720
put on their clothes, belts,
their helmets, and assemble.
163
00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:15,280
CENTRAL FIREFIGHTING ACADEMY
164
00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:23,680
[Maciej] My mom lived on
the street next to that school.
165
00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,560
My father loved
to take pictures of my mom.
166
00:09:29,680 --> 00:09:34,240
She was his favorite subject
throughout his entire life.
167
00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:37,760
[Grzywaczewski]
I really like Marysia.
168
00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:39,920
She has really nice legs.
169
00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:42,920
She's full of life,
incredibly warm and kind.
170
00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,120
Apparently, she likes me too.
171
00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:47,840
Marysia has a camera.
172
00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:50,520
I bought a roll of film.
173
00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:53,360
It took almost an hour
of fiddling under the blanket
174
00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:55,320
to load it into the camera.
175
00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:57,440
I did it incorrectly
176
00:09:57,520 --> 00:09:59,840
so part of the film
tore off and was wasted.
177
00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:03,880
I was able to procure
a photo enlarger.
178
00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:07,520
After a few failed attempts,
I started to make good prints.
179
00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:11,000
Getting to know this craft
180
00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:13,240
might have a huge
importance for the future.
181
00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:15,440
[bright, jazzy music plays]
182
00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:24,320
I long for a bigger operation
183
00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:26,840
where I can have
a chance to prove myself.
184
00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:30,320
[bell dinging]
185
00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:32,480
Alarm!
186
00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:34,920
In a heavily loaded vehicle,
187
00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:37,600
we speed through the
crowded streets of the ghetto.
188
00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:40,360
[somber, poignant music plays]
189
00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,240
I got a spot on the ladder
by the third floor window.
190
00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:03,600
I waited a bit for water,
and got inside.
191
00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:07,080
It became completely dark,
192
00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:09,880
surrounded by thick smoke
and steam.
193
00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:12,480
I started to cough and cry.
194
00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:14,520
I couldn't breathe.
195
00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:17,760
My legs became soft as rubber.
196
00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:20,080
I hear, "Run!"
197
00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:23,080
So I dashed out the window.
198
00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,560
We barely moved the ladder away
and that window collapsed.
199
00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,720
[somber music continues]
200
00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:37,640
I talked to the Jews a bit.
201
00:11:37,760 --> 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
00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:51,720
[Kaplan] Kaddish.
204
00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:56,520
To me, that was
the most frightening thing.
205
00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:00,800
Because I heard it
over and over again.
206
00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:02,600
And I had no means...
207
00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:04,720
ROMA LAKS KAPLAN
DAUGHTER OF HILARY LAKS (1996)
208
00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:08,040
...of, um, knowing
what it meant.
209
00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:11,840
[indistinct chatter]
210
00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:14,680
[man reciting the Kaddish]
211
00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:16,760
[crying]
212
00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:30,040
[Kaddish ends, echoes]
213
00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,160
[Laks]
When I think about it today,
214
00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:34,720
seems to me that Germans'
initial theory
215
00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:37,320
was that Jews,
closed off in the ghettos,
216
00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:40,240
would smother each other
like rats
217
00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:44,200
or quickly die of starvation
and infectious diseases.
218
00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:48,080
Typhus was spreading,
219
00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:50,160
and the mortality rate
was high.
220
00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:56,600
Before July of 1942,
around 100,000 people died.
221
00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:06,160
I got a special pass which
allowed me to leave the ghetto
222
00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,120
and go to the so-called
"Aryan side."
223
00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:11,160
I managed a factory
224
00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:13,920
which produced soap,
perfumes, and candles.
225
00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:17,440
I was a rented-out slave.
226
00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,200
I had to go to Praga,
a suburb of Warsaw.
227
00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,360
Every day,
I walked around 12.5 miles.
228
00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:26,200
[Kaplan] Polish man
named Adamczewski
229
00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:28,520
depended very much
upon my father
230
00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:30,320
to run the factory,
231
00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:33,160
so that my father,
until the very end,
232
00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:35,160
had a job on the "Aryan side,"
233
00:13:35,240 --> 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
00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,160
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
00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:05,760
[Jacqueline]
I think that these pictures
239
00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,120
were probably the oldest.
240
00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:10,160
We're sure that's Mom, right?
241
00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:13,240
Well, yes.
242
00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:17,560
[John] As I remember my mother,
she was always a glamour lady.
243
00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:20,400
She was full of life and...
and very important
244
00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:24,400
about her physical
and appearance,
245
00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:26,720
as well as the way
she carried herself.
246
00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:29,480
Um, in reference to the war...
247
00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:32,320
JOHN & JACQUELINE: CHILDREN
OF HALINA HIRSZBAJN BIELAWSKA
248
00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:34,440
...she didn't talk
about it much.
249
00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,240
She had a lot of pain
and she was unwilling
250
00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:39,640
to fully divulge what happened
251
00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:41,800
or the sequence of events
that happened.
252
00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:44,360
- Um...
- Well, all of her family
253
00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:47,640
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
00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:55,240
So she was an orphan and she
looked for a new family.
256
00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,400
And that family
was Hilary and Janina Laks.
257
00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:00,080
[John] Right.
258
00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:02,240
[Jacqueline] That she needed
to not be alone.
259
00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:04,040
[gentle, solemn music plays]
260
00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:05,680
[Laks] After some time,
261
00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:08,320
the Warsaw Ghetto
started to organize.
262
00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,360
Common smuggled products
were food and other essentials,
263
00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:16,160
but most of all, raw materials,
264
00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:17,920
which were processed
in the ghetto
265
00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,800
in numerous Jewish workshops
and small factories.
266
00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,560
That way,
part of the population
267
00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:30,520
found employment.
268
00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:32,160
There was less hunger,
269
00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:35,080
and the typhus epidemic
had ended.
270
00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:41,480
[music fades]
271
00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:45,080
[Maciej] I found out about
our father's photographs
272
00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:47,480
from my daughter, Marianna.
273
00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:49,440
Marianna was at a party,
274
00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:53,200
and an acquaintance she made,
a historian,
275
00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:58,560
asked if Leszek Grzywaczewski
was a family member,
276
00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:02,240
and she said,
"Yes, that's my grandpa."
277
00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:03,960
He said,
"I don't know if you know,
278
00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:05,880
but his photos
are in the Holocaust Museum
279
00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:07,560
in Washington, D.C."
280
00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,720
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
00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:16,240
I told her,
"I know he took pictures,"
283
00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:17,840
because he took so many.
284
00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:20,480
But that some
were of the ghetto uprising,
285
00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:21,960
I didn't know that.
286
00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:24,920
[birds chirping]
287
00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:29,480
When the anniversary of
the uprising was getting close,
288
00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:33,840
POLIN Museum started pressing me
to find other things.
289
00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:37,920
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 --> 00:16:41,880
So we started to look into it,
292
00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:43,960
and here are
my father's photographs.
293
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,000
I had some, my sister had some.
294
00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:49,800
There were photographs
and slides.
295
00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:51,880
I couldn't look through
the slides.
296
00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:53,680
My eyesight wasn't good enough
297
00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:56,480
or I didn't have the strength
to look closely one by one
298
00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:58,560
because these are negatives.
299
00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:00,520
It's really hard
to see anything on them.
300
00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:03,200
[gentle dramatic music playing]
301
00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:04,960
I said, "Maciek, help me."
302
00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:06,360
He said, "Okay, I'll do it."
303
00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:07,760
All I did was tidy up.
304
00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:10,320
I organized it all
in those boxes.
305
00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:14,400
[Maciej] I'm looking here.
306
00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:20,280
These photos? I think these
are of me when I was little.
307
00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:41,000
I was just rolling these back
308
00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:43,200
and I moved my hand like that,
309
00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:47,920
and I could see Jews
being led to the Umschlagplatz.
310
00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:51,880
I roll it out more,
311
00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:53,720
and I see there are
all these pictures I know,
312
00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:55,520
plus some others.
313
00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:01,120
And I tell Bozena, my wife,
314
00:18:01,200 --> 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 --> 00:18:10,560
Dad had been dead
for more than 30 years,
317
00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:15,240
and here, as if he came back
to life in my consciousness.
318
00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:18,360
[dramatic ambient music plays]
319
00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:24,920
I didn't believe
this negative existed.
320
00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,440
[Schnepf-Kolacz] Truly,
it was an unbelievable feeling.
321
00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:30,840
It was like touching, um,
322
00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:35,160
something which had,
uh, no right to survive,
323
00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:38,040
which no one believed
had survived.
324
00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:42,600
These are very rare moments
for a researcher,
325
00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:44,600
when we feel
a crevice opening up
326
00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:46,840
and it's a view into the past.
327
00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:53,080
POLIN MUSEUM EXHIBITION CURATOR
"AROUND US A SEA OF FIRE"
328
00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:57,160
I knew that these were
the only photographs we know of
329
00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:00,600
shot in the Warsaw Ghetto
during the Uprising
330
00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:02,920
which were not taken
by Germans.
331
00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:08,760
This is a characteristic of, um,
332
00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,040
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 --> 00:19:16,520
Only by knowing the story
335
00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:18,920
do we begin to understand
what's hidden in the image.
336
00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:20,640
You can see this was
nervously advanced.
337
00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:22,440
- They're also blurry.
- [Maciej] Yeah.
338
00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:24,440
[Schnepf-Kolacz] Their
perforation is torn the most
339
00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:27,400
where the photos documenting
the extermination
340
00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:29,280
were taken secretly.
341
00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:32,520
The film roll was possibly
moved more rapidly.
342
00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,520
The hand maybe trembled
from his emotions.
343
00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:39,920
But it also shows the great
value of the material itself,
344
00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,560
not only the images
recorded on it,
345
00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:45,280
because the negative itself
is a carrier
346
00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:47,240
of history and emotions.
347
00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:52,640
- [music ends]
- [train trundling]
348
00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:55,440
WARSAW
GHETTO
349
00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:02,000
[indistinct chatter]
350
00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:05,400
[Kaplan] I remember
my grandfather living with us.
351
00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,320
And I remember coming home
one day,
352
00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:13,280
and not having my grandfather.
353
00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:17,400
And he was simply caught
in one of those "lapanka,"
354
00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:20,560
which translates into...
355
00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:22,760
ROMA LAKS KAPLAN
DAUGHTER OF HILARY LAKS (1996)
356
00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:26,640
..."being caught,"
um, on the street.
357
00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,240
[indistinct chatter]
358
00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:30,320
[whistle blows]
359
00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:31,680
[Laks] Dearest daughter,
360
00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:34,240
On July 22nd, 1942,
361
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,360
the Germans began
systematic liquidation
362
00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:38,840
of the Warsaw Ghetto.
363
00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:40,680
FROM THE LETTERS OF HILARY LAKS
TO HIS DAUGHTER, ROMA
364
00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:43,520
This operation was called
"Resettlement to the East."
365
00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:48,280
[Kaplan] Because this is
what the Germans told the Jews,
366
00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:50,160
which of course,
it was resettlement
367
00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:51,920
for a better world.
368
00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:55,880
[announcement in German]
Every displaced Jewish person
369
00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,560
has the right to take
15 kilograms of luggage.
370
00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:02,760
All valuables, such as money,
jewelry, gold, can be taken.
371
00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:06,040
You should take food
for three days.
372
00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:08,080
[somber, dramatic music plays]
373
00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:09,960
[Laks in English]
The ghetto was surrounded
374
00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:11,960
by Latvian and Ukrainian units.
375
00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:17,280
With their help, every day,
thousands of people were caught
376
00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:20,560
and hauled off through
the so-called "Umschlagplatz."
377
00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:34,960
At that time, no one knew
about the existence
378
00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:36,400
of death camps.
379
00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:39,880
We found out much later
about Treblinka.
380
00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:45,440
Towards the end,
381
00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:47,880
the "efficiency"
of the gas chambers
382
00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,880
was around 5,000 corpses a day.
383
00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:55,160
Germans had always been,
and still are,
384
00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:57,120
famous for being
well organized.
385
00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:01,880
[chatter, commotion]
386
00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:04,200
[door rumbling]
387
00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,040
[train whistle blows]
388
00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:09,960
- [music fades]
- [train chuffs]
389
00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:12,600
[train sounds fade]
390
00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:14,320
[water lapping gently]
391
00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:16,280
[Maciej]
When he met Marysia, my mom,
392
00:22:16,360 --> 00:22:19,120
my dad would take her out
on a boat in Warsaw.
393
00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,120
At the same time,
the Germans were beginning
394
00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:23,120
to liquidate the ghetto
395
00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,120
and deport people
to their extermination.
396
00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:30,200
He and Marysia were boating
on the Vistula.
397
00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:36,440
That was life. It just went on.
398
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:41,840
[bright big band music plays]
399
00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:47,160
[Grzywaczewski] Air, sun,
400
00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:49,080
shining water,
silence, and peace.
401
00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:51,280
FROM THE JOURNALS OF LESZEK
GRZYWACZEWSKI (AUGUST 1942)
402
00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:53,000
As if there was no war.
403
00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:55,000
Me and Marysia, sunbathing.
404
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:58,960
A series of events pushing us
towards the inevitable...
405
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:01,160
marriage.
406
00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:05,680
I bought a roll of film.
We snapped pictures.
407
00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:07,480
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
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:13,480
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
00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:22,040
I remember a great many people
412
00:23:22,120 --> 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
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,080
I also remember
my parents' friends
416
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:44,400
and a little girl about my age,
where the child was pulled out.
417
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,440
So my parents tried desperately
to hide me
418
00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,000
under raincoats between them.
419
00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:55,440
[low murmuring]
420
00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:57,680
[Laks] Though now,
they leave alone only the Jews
421
00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:02,600
who work in German factories
which supplied the army.
422
00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:05,080
We were able to hide
in one of them.
423
00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:07,480
It was managed by a German
named Schultz.
424
00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:13,920
[Kaplan] My father was able
to get a job
425
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,200
for my mother in ghetto,
426
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:18,240
making Germans uniforms,
427
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,040
hoping that that would be
a protective setting
428
00:24:22,160 --> 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
00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:32,400
Um...
431
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,280
[quavers] For a five-year-old,
this was not wonderful.
432
00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:41,880
- [heavy, echoing footsteps]
- [child breathing]
433
00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:46,560
[child gasps]
434
00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:51,360
[Laks] With Schultz's knowledge,
435
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:53,240
I kept working
on the "Aryan side"
436
00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:54,400
for Adamczewski.
437
00:24:56,360 --> 00:25:00,360
Soon, with the help
of my coworker, Mr. Miskiewicz,
438
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:02,960
you got smuggled out
to the "Aryan side."
439
00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:04,800
[tense music plays]
440
00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:07,720
[Kaplan] There were work groups
441
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:10,240
that were going on
"Aryan side,"
442
00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:16,360
and my father bribed
the gatekeepers
443
00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,760
so I would walk out
with the crowd.
444
00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:23,000
He was, of course,
terribly anxious.
445
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:27,960
If Germans were to see me,
that would have been the end.
446
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:32,640
So he walked very closely to
the group that were moving out,
447
00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:35,480
at which point one of the...
448
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:37,920
[swallows forcefully]
449
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:41,640
[tense music plays]
450
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:43,200
[commotion]
451
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:44,680
At which point,
452
00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:47,480
one of the soldiers
was concerned
453
00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:50,560
that my father was too close
to the "Aryan side,"
454
00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:53,400
and pulled him and beat him.
455
00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:58,000
My father lost an eye.
456
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,560
And I wanted to run
to my father. [voice breaks]
457
00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:05,320
But he made it very clear
458
00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:09,520
that what he wanted
was for me to leave.
459
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:15,280
And, uh, in fact, I did.
460
00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:20,840
[Laks]
This happened just in time,
461
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:22,520
because all
of Schultz's workers
462
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,040
were walked out
for so-called "selection."
463
00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:27,600
For the next 48 hours,
464
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,000
we were picked through
like cattle for slaughter.
465
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:33,160
As a result, half the people
were taken
466
00:26:33,240 --> 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 --> 00:26:44,280
In two months, the Germans
murdered 300,000 people.
469
00:26:48,120 --> 00:26:49,840
[announcement in German]
The General Governor orders
470
00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:53,080
that any Jew who leaves his
designated residential district
471
00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:55,360
will be punished by death.
472
00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:59,480
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 --> 00:27:07,520
[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
00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:17,040
I-- I was a danger to people
who were to hide me
477
00:27:17,120 --> 00:27:20,080
because I was so obviously
a Jewish child.
478
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:25,560
I don't think I stayed more
than few days in any one place.
479
00:27:25,640 --> 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 --> 00:27:36,440
I was afraid, uh,
482
00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:39,560
because I think
at that point I fully realized
483
00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:43,040
that if I were found,
that would be death.
484
00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:50,200
[Grzywaczewski] There have been
some changes at home.
485
00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:53,920
Daddy sleeps on a futon
which is short and narrow.
486
00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:58,000
Mom is tired. Her heart hurts.
She gets upset.
487
00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:00,280
She somewhat ignores
safety measures,
488
00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:01,760
but it must be said,
489
00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:03,480
she's the moral anchor
of the home
490
00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:06,080
in all moments of hesitation
and sadness.
491
00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:09,880
Suddenly, out of the blue,
492
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:11,480
two ladies moved in with us,
493
00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:14,080
Halina Bielawska and Janina.
494
00:28:14,680 --> 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
00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:26,480
One of them
was Halina Hirszbajn...
497
00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:28,520
AGNIESZKA RESZKA
JEWISH HISTORICAL INSTITUTE
498
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,080
...who also used
the last name Bielawska.
499
00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:32,480
SEARCH CRITERIA
500
00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:35,160
[Reszka] So the last name
Hirszbajn, Halina, right?
501
00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:38,240
- [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 --> 00:28:41,960
- [Reszka] Bielawska.
- Mm-hmm.
504
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:43,640
- [Reszka] After the war...
- That's right.
505
00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:45,400
[Reszka]
...on Wilcza Street, 8/16.
506
00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,520
Wilcza Street is very close
to Mokotowska Street,
507
00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:50,640
where my father lived
508
00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:54,560
and also where they hid
and helped each other out.
509
00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,960
The second person was called
Janina Laks...
510
00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:02,640
Wilcza Street, 8/16.
511
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:07,360
So we see here the same address.
512
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:11,760
My mother was smuggled
out of ghetto,
513
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,160
and she was taken in by a family
514
00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:20,320
with whom she pretty much stayed
the entire war,
515
00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:22,520
and their name
was Grzywaczewski.
516
00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:25,360
They did not want
to have me there,
517
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:27,560
because, here again,
I was a danger...
518
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:29,680
ZOFIA & STANISLAW GRZYWACZEWSKI
LESZEK'S PARENTS
519
00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,000
...plus the fact that
they were very active
520
00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,280
in Armia Krajowa.
521
00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,120
I know that when Mother
left the ghetto,
522
00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,480
she ended up very quickly
with the Grzywaczewskis.
523
00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:41,680
JOHN & JACQUELINE: CHILDREN
OF HALINA HIRSZBAJN BIELAWSKA
524
00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:43,320
- And...
- I think there was a plan.
525
00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:45,240
I don't think
it was by serendipity.
526
00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,680
[Jacqueline] I'm pretty sure
I have a bracelet
527
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:50,920
in a safety deposit box.
528
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:54,800
That bracelet may have been part
of the jewelry that she had
529
00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:56,160
that she used to survive.
530
00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:57,720
That's what I was explaining.
531
00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:00,400
I do know that for a fact
because she told me that story
532
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,680
that her family made jewelry
that was not really jewelry,
533
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:06,760
but really small little bars
of gold...
534
00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:08,400
And it's an unusual--
535
00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:11,400
...in order to break off a piece
and use it to survive...
536
00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:13,120
And this bracelet...
537
00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:16,560
I could see where you could
easily take off a link
538
00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:18,920
and make it into money.
539
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:20,200
IDENTIFICATION CARD
540
00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:22,640
I don't know who helped Mom
change identities.
541
00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:26,800
[John] Couldn't be the Lakses.
So, it... it has to be the...
542
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:28,040
[Jacqueline] The Grzywaczewskis?
543
00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:29,600
- [John] The Grzywaczewskis.
- I have no idea...
544
00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:31,840
[John] I would imagine somehow
they were involved in that.
545
00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:34,080
The reason the Lakses,
546
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,640
Halina came to the
Grzywaczewski apartment...
547
00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:39,320
DOROTA PAWLAK
LESZEK GRZYWACZEWSKI'S DAUGHTER
548
00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:40,880
...is a mystery to me.
549
00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:42,400
Where did they meet?
550
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,040
I think they knew each other
before the war.
551
00:30:45,120 --> 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
00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:57,000
These are the registration cards
of the survivors.
554
00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:00,240
The estimates are
that around ten percent of Jews
555
00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:04,120
who lived in Poland
in the year 1939
556
00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:05,880
managed to survive.
557
00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:09,600
So out of the three million,
only 300,000.
558
00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:10,680
Yeah.
559
00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,640
[Maciej]
This is Hirszbajn, Halina.
560
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:15,840
The same person
as Pelagia Bielawska.
561
00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:19,040
Pelagia was using forged papers,
562
00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:21,560
which we know were
very good ones
563
00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:24,120
because there's the whole story
564
00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:26,920
of the SS troops coming
to the apartment,
565
00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:29,200
I think it was
the one on Wilcza Street
566
00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:30,920
that we can see here.
567
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:34,360
[Kaplan] We had,
of course, Aryan papers.
568
00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:39,360
Mrs. Grzywaczewski
found a place for my mother
569
00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:43,440
when I couldn't stay
with the Sisters of Charity.
570
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:46,320
[grim, ominous music plays]
571
00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:48,680
When I lived with my mother,
572
00:31:48,760 --> 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
00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:57,080
and one of
the most frightening things
575
00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:01,880
to this day for me is steps,
576
00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:08,400
hearing steps,
you know, people going upstairs.
577
00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:11,640
[banging on door]
578
00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:14,040
And my mother opened the door,
579
00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:18,480
and there were three men,
two in SS uniforms and one not.
580
00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:25,120
And the informer sat on my bed
and spoke Jewish to me.
581
00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:28,560
[man in Yiddish] What is
your name, my little dear?
582
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:32,040
It was not a language
I understood.
583
00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:35,480
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
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,160
at which point the SS left.
586
00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:46,200
[Grzywaczewski]
An unpleasant event.
587
00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:48,720
An inspection
at Halina's and Janina's.
588
00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:50,480
Money took care of it
this time,
589
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:52,200
but the blackmail
may happen again.
590
00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:54,600
The apartment was burned.
591
00:32:57,240 --> 00:32:59,320
I finished officer school
and got assigned
592
00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:02,640
to the IV Brigade
on Chlodna Street.
593
00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,160
I'm sitting in my room
in the barracks right now.
594
00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:07,800
On our newly-minted IDs,
everyone has a rank.
595
00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:11,480
Mine is "Löschmeister,"
which is corporal.
596
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:15,280
The lieutenant gave a speech.
597
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:18,160
We're supposed to help him
revive the spirit
598
00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:20,080
of the Warsaw Fire Guard,
599
00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:22,000
make it
a resilient organization
600
00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:23,920
based in military discipline.
601
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:28,760
Inside the Fire Guard,
there is a secret organization
602
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:30,400
called "Skala."
603
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:32,640
I'm in contact
with the commandant's son
604
00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:34,560
who is persuading me to join.
605
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:38,320
Chlodna Street
and Mier Barracks,
606
00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:41,960
which housed the IV Brigade
of the Warsaw Fire Guard...
607
00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:43,800
JERZY GUTKOWKI
WARSAW FIREFIGHTING MUSEUM
608
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:47,440
...was wedged between two parts
of the ghetto.
609
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:52,280
Firefighters of the "Skala"
resistance organization,
610
00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:57,200
as much as they could,
helped the Jewish population.
611
00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:06,720
In the past,
there were train tracks here,
612
00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:11,320
and somewhere around here was
an entrance to a storm drain
613
00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:15,720
through which aid for
the Jewish population was passed
614
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:17,720
before the ghetto uprising.
615
00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:19,560
Guns and ammunition.
616
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:22,120
[tense, dramatic music plays]
617
00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:27,080
[Laks] Dearest daughter,
618
00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:30,640
Only 40,000 Jews
remain in the ghetto.
619
00:34:31,240 --> 00:34:34,000
I left at the last moment
and hid at the Miskiewiczes.
620
00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:36,160
FROM THE LETTERS OF HILARY LAKS
TO HIS DAUGHTER, ROMA (1968)
621
00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:40,560
Immediately after that,
on April 19th, 1943,
622
00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:43,040
an uprising started
in the Warsaw Ghetto.
623
00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,240
A handful
of poorly-armed people
624
00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:49,480
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
00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:57,240
[man] For Jews,
this was the eve of Passover.
627
00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:00,680
This was the night
of the Seder,
628
00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:04,680
the night when Jews celebrate
the Exodus from Egypt.
629
00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:08,760
And consequently, the theme
of Passover is freedom.
630
00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:13,800
And here, these Jews
were not only imprisoned,
631
00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:15,920
but facing imminent death.
632
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:18,320
[solemn music plays]
633
00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:20,400
[tanks rumbling]
634
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:23,800
Germans had gathered
around the ghetto walls.
635
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:25,280
Troops were there.
636
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:27,720
They were backed
by Ukrainian troops.
637
00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:31,120
The trains were in the station,
ready to deport the Jews...
638
00:35:31,240 --> 00:35:33,680
CO-CREATOR, THE UNITED STATES
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM
639
00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:36,960
...and that's the moment the
Jews chose to rise in rebellion.
640
00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:39,720
First day was exhilarating.
641
00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:41,320
It was thrilling.
642
00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:45,440
The Germans retreated
from the ghetto.
643
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:47,880
Supermen!
644
00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:50,600
Giants!
645
00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:52,720
All the power of Germany,
646
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:56,480
and this small group
of young Jews could what?
647
00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:58,480
Could force them to withdraw.
648
00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:01,360
But they had courage.
649
00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:05,240
They had innovation.
They used Molotov cocktails.
650
00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:06,640
They used some handguns.
651
00:36:06,720 --> 00:36:08,840
They had a couple
of other guns.
652
00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:11,120
And they had one thing
653
00:36:11,240 --> 00:36:13,440
that the Germans
could not anticipate,
654
00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:17,120
which is they were willing
to fight on to their death
655
00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:18,840
because they had no choice.
656
00:36:18,920 --> 00:36:20,760
They were going to die
one way or another.
657
00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:24,520
And people who are fighting
for their lives
658
00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:27,040
and fighting for the life
of their community
659
00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:31,800
are willing to do everything
in order to preserve it.
660
00:36:33,960 --> 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
00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:07,240
and, practically speaking?
663
00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:09,240
PROF. JACEK LEOCIAK
INSTITUTE OF LITERARY RESEARCH
664
00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:11,600
There couldn't have been
any Poles there.
665
00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:17,880
And yet, here we have images
that were stolen from inside.
666
00:37:19,920 --> 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
00:37:27,240 --> 00:37:30,360
- One edge only.
- What was used to take these?
669
00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:34,720
I immediately think of the
Korelle K made by Kochmann,
670
00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:36,480
released in 1932.
671
00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:40,840
GRZEGORZ KWOLEK
PHOTOGRAPHER
672
00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:42,920
One side has the cassette,
673
00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:46,560
and there's a spool
on the other side.
674
00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:48,440
But if the cassette was jammed,
675
00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:51,680
there would be resistance
when you move the film.
676
00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:55,040
The teeth would tear
the perforation,
677
00:37:55,960 --> 00:38:00,440
and the film wouldn't advance
a whole 20 millimeters.
678
00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:04,560
So you had to, for example,
679
00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:09,480
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
00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:16,960
But if you're taking shots
in action,
682
00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:19,000
especially while hiding,
683
00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:22,960
uh, what you're doing,
this could be difficult,
684
00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:25,280
and the frames could overlap.
685
00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:28,120
[gentle, tense music plays]
686
00:38:28,200 --> 00:38:30,320
[Maciej] It's so small,
easy to hide.
687
00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:32,880
It really is,
even in your pocket.
688
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:39,720
[Grzywaczewski] A month passed,
fraught with terrible events
689
00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:41,200
which could have
a huge influence
690
00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:43,000
on the psyche of young people.
691
00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:46,920
I got a call from the brigade
in the morning
692
00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:48,440
to assemble immediately.
693
00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:56,080
Marysia is very upset with me
for going to the ghetto
694
00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:57,360
instead of her.
695
00:38:57,480 --> 00:38:59,560
[solemn, dramatic music plays]
696
00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:01,160
[reel clicks]
697
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:09,280
The ghetto is filled
with scenes from Dante.
698
00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:12,280
Friends speak of the tenacity
of the Jewish fighters
699
00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:15,120
and the fighting spirit
of the whole Jewish population.
700
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:18,200
Germans suffer
considerable losses,
701
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:19,560
dead and wounded.
702
00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:22,000
They have to take building
after building,
703
00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:23,640
without feeding the captives.
704
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:26,640
The fighting is intense.
705
00:39:26,720 --> 00:39:28,560
[flames roaring]
706
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:34,080
[gunfire popping]
707
00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:39,520
[man] I lived in a place
708
00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:42,040
from which,
when the ghetto was created...
709
00:39:42,160 --> 00:39:44,480
ZYGMUNT WALKOWSKI
ARCHIVIST, WARSAW HISTORIAN
710
00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:46,000
...we were removed.
711
00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:51,720
So, in some ways, the ghetto,
and me as a person,
712
00:39:52,800 --> 00:39:56,480
my fate, in some ways overlap.
713
00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:01,280
I carry these images
deep within me,
714
00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:04,080
even though I was just a child.
715
00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:06,360
This photograph was taken
by Leszek.
716
00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:13,560
Here was the gate to the ghetto
from the side of Nalewki Street.
717
00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:18,560
Here we see burning buildings
which, on the map,
718
00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:20,000
are here.
719
00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:25,000
This photograph was taken
from here
720
00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:28,160
and it shows this area.
721
00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:31,760
The film starts
with these pictures.
722
00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:34,800
You can tell that this roll,
from the start,
723
00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:38,880
was put into the camera
to take photos
724
00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:40,480
documenting history.
725
00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:44,640
Here, most likely,
is some German soldier
726
00:40:44,720 --> 00:40:47,280
who was making sure
these buildings burned down.
727
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:49,960
[grim, ominous music plays]
728
00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:52,880
[Grzywaczewski]
The Germans burn homes
729
00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:54,400
as a method of fighting.
730
00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:56,360
FROM THE JOURNALS OF LESZEK
GRZYWACZEWSKI (APRIL-MAY 1943)
731
00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:58,280
We are not allowed
to put out those fires.
732
00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:00,720
We are to secure factories
working for Germans
733
00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:02,960
and city buildings.
734
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:04,960
And also prevent the fire
from spreading
735
00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:06,520
to other districts of Warsaw.
736
00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:12,000
After two nights,
I've had enough.
737
00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:15,400
I was so tired,
I just sat down on some boards.
738
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:18,600
For ten nights,
I didn't even move the covers
739
00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:20,080
on my bed in the barracks.
740
00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:23,760
We were constantly
in the fire.
741
00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:26,400
It usually went like this.
742
00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:28,160
The Germans would tell us
which streets
743
00:41:28,240 --> 00:41:30,200
and which buildings
were on fire,
744
00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:32,080
from and to specific numbers.
745
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:35,520
We were to protect certain
buildings or facilities.
746
00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:41,880
WARSAW
80/82 LESZNO ST.
747
00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:43,080
[reel clicks]
748
00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:49,560
In this photo,
you can see my father.
749
00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:51,960
I think this is Dad.
750
00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:56,640
Now this has to be
an interesting story
751
00:41:57,400 --> 00:41:59,560
which I can't explain
752
00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:02,320
because it's obvious
that a German soldier
753
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:04,680
is posing,
looking into the camera.
754
00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:07,840
So there must be some story
behind this.
755
00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:10,400
[Leociak] Here was
kind of a gray area.
756
00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:12,560
Photography was forbidden.
757
00:42:12,640 --> 00:42:16,080
But when I say a "gray area,"
what I mean is that Germans
758
00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:18,440
kind of looked the other way.
759
00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:20,400
Grzywaczewski's role
as a photographer
760
00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:24,840
is incredibly important
because he plays a dual role.
761
00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:27,760
On the one hand,
he's just a guy with a camera
762
00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:30,640
who can take a picture
with some corporal
763
00:42:30,760 --> 00:42:31,920
for the Wehrmacht.
764
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:33,560
Why not?
765
00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:35,720
But on the other,
he played the role of a spy,
766
00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:37,960
smuggling out secret images.
767
00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:41,360
[tense, dramatic music plays]
768
00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:44,760
[reel clicks]
769
00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:55,080
The details in this photograph
770
00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:56,640
are these windows,
771
00:42:57,520 --> 00:42:59,840
as well as a fragment
772
00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:04,160
of this building on
the other side of the street.
773
00:43:05,040 --> 00:43:07,920
From those, I was able to find
774
00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:11,400
a prewar photograph
775
00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:14,920
of this building
in the city archives.
776
00:43:15,640 --> 00:43:16,800
Take a look.
777
00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:21,120
The cornice,
the window placements
778
00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:23,680
are dead on.
779
00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:29,200
The curve of the tram tracks
is clearly marked here.
780
00:43:30,240 --> 00:43:33,120
So, this shot was taken
781
00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:36,760
from the corner
of this part of the building.
782
00:43:40,600 --> 00:43:43,960
This is the condition in 1944
783
00:43:44,040 --> 00:43:50,240
where we can see a completely
destroyed area of the ghetto
784
00:43:50,920 --> 00:43:54,200
except for
the hospital buildings
785
00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:56,680
which are still standing.
786
00:43:56,800 --> 00:44:03,440
WARSAW
SAINT SOPHIA HOSPITAL
787
00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:05,640
[Walkowski] Good morning.
788
00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:24,280
[tense, grim music plays]
789
00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:30,600
[camera shutter snaps]
790
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:34,520
[Walkowski] This is the spot
he was standing in
791
00:44:34,640 --> 00:44:36,440
when he took those few photos.
792
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:40,520
[shutter snaps]
793
00:44:44,640 --> 00:44:45,880
[shutter snaps]
794
00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:50,960
[Leociak] He takes a series
of photographs. How many?
795
00:44:51,040 --> 00:44:53,800
One, two, three,
four, five, six, seven...
796
00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:56,560
eight photographs,
in the order they lay here,
797
00:44:56,640 --> 00:44:59,880
and we know that
because we have the negative.
798
00:44:59,960 --> 00:45:01,640
We have a story.
799
00:45:01,720 --> 00:45:04,080
And these were taken in secret.
800
00:45:04,160 --> 00:45:06,200
No Germans can know about it.
801
00:45:06,280 --> 00:45:09,240
You can practically see
these people's faces.
802
00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:11,800
Little children are walking.
803
00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:14,560
[tense, grim music plays]
804
00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:35,000
[Walkowski]
What are the feelings
805
00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:39,760
of a person who knows
806
00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:44,040
they are walking a path
with no return?
807
00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:48,440
It's hard for someone
to imagine,
808
00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:52,280
but it is captured
in the photographs.
809
00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:00,040
[Leociak] Take a look.
810
00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:08,000
The truck and windows,
uh, meet here.
811
00:46:08,840 --> 00:46:11,800
We have a situation here
812
00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:17,720
where you see this woman
walking.
813
00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:20,720
She turns to the side
814
00:46:21,560 --> 00:46:23,160
and in the next photograph,
815
00:46:23,280 --> 00:46:25,400
you see the tip of her elbow.
816
00:46:25,520 --> 00:46:28,080
Does this connect
these two pictures together?
817
00:46:28,960 --> 00:46:30,040
And right here...
818
00:46:30,840 --> 00:46:33,360
right here, uh, uh...
819
00:46:34,920 --> 00:46:38,840
tram tracks
connect here like this.
820
00:46:39,480 --> 00:46:41,680
And so, from the four images,
821
00:46:41,800 --> 00:46:44,480
we have a synthesis of one.
822
00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:47,320
To me, this is a goodbye
to these people
823
00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:49,920
walking in front
of Grzywaczewski's eyes.
824
00:46:50,040 --> 00:46:52,320
They walk by and disappear.
825
00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:56,400
[indistinct chatter]
826
00:46:58,760 --> 00:47:00,760
[Grzywaczewski] The Jews
chased out by the fire
827
00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:04,360
are taken by Germans to
the so-called "Umschlagplatz."
828
00:47:05,040 --> 00:47:07,440
Wounded and sick
are killed on the spot.
829
00:47:08,120 --> 00:47:09,560
We are not allowed
to help them.
830
00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:13,680
Then, the Jews are led
to the railway siding,
831
00:47:13,760 --> 00:47:16,880
where they're transported
to an unknown destination.
832
00:47:16,960 --> 00:47:22,000
[dogs barking]
833
00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:29,560
[Leociak] A train would
pull up to the Umschlagplatz,
834
00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:32,480
most likely pushed in
by the locomotive.
835
00:47:32,560 --> 00:47:35,520
Then, as the train pulled in,
836
00:47:35,600 --> 00:47:37,880
they were rounded up
onto a ramp
837
00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:40,280
and loaded onto the train cars.
838
00:47:40,840 --> 00:47:44,040
The locomotive
went straight from there.
839
00:47:46,520 --> 00:47:48,680
The death trains went east,
840
00:47:48,760 --> 00:47:51,040
all the way
to Treblinka station.
841
00:47:52,080 --> 00:47:56,400
[train chuffing, clacking]
842
00:47:58,800 --> 00:48:05,160
[low, mournful singing]
843
00:48:20,680 --> 00:48:22,320
[singing fades, ends]
844
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:26,080
[Maciej] Leszek comes back
from the action,
845
00:48:26,160 --> 00:48:28,160
the film is loaded.
846
00:48:28,280 --> 00:48:32,200
He goes out with Marysia,
she's his fiancée, my mom.
847
00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:33,640
They go for a walk.
848
00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:36,440
[somber music plays]
849
00:48:39,360 --> 00:48:40,640
[reel clicks]
850
00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:51,920
[Pawlak] A beautiful picture
of my parents.
851
00:48:52,040 --> 00:48:53,480
It's very touching for me.
852
00:48:54,560 --> 00:48:56,480
And here, in this picture,
853
00:48:56,560 --> 00:48:58,840
this is my mom and my father's
sister, Aunt Danusia.
854
00:48:58,920 --> 00:49:00,720
The third lady,
I don't know who she is,
855
00:49:00,840 --> 00:49:02,640
just some friend of theirs.
856
00:49:04,680 --> 00:49:06,840
Aunt Danusia,
my father's sister.
857
00:49:08,680 --> 00:49:11,040
And the contrast, you know,
of life on the outside...
858
00:49:11,160 --> 00:49:15,600
Hmm, it's spring.
I mean, it is April.
859
00:49:15,680 --> 00:49:18,240
...clashing with
the ruined ghetto
860
00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:20,040
and these here.
861
00:49:26,640 --> 00:49:28,640
[Leociak]
This is a great example
862
00:49:28,720 --> 00:49:32,480
how one can show
the breaking apart of Warsaw
863
00:49:32,600 --> 00:49:34,920
into two worlds,
two different worlds...
864
00:49:35,040 --> 00:49:37,080
PROF. JACEK LEOCIAK
INSTITUTE OF LITERARY RESEARCH
865
00:49:37,160 --> 00:49:40,720
...which are fused together
topographically,
866
00:49:40,800 --> 00:49:44,360
but far apart,
like separate galaxies.
867
00:49:44,480 --> 00:49:46,200
[gentle, solemn music plays]
868
00:49:56,480 --> 00:50:03,240
WARSAW
65 MOKOTOWSKA ST.
869
00:50:07,400 --> 00:50:10,120
Good morning.
I am Maciej Grzywaczewski.
870
00:50:10,200 --> 00:50:13,080
My dad lived in this apartment
during the war.
871
00:50:14,360 --> 00:50:16,120
There was a big living room.
872
00:50:16,200 --> 00:50:18,560
And this was the hallway
to the kitchen.
873
00:50:18,640 --> 00:50:20,040
Here was the bathroom.
874
00:50:20,160 --> 00:50:21,160
[knocks]
875
00:50:21,240 --> 00:50:22,280
I'll knock.
876
00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:26,240
The negatives
of the ghetto uprising
877
00:50:26,960 --> 00:50:28,240
were developed in this room.
878
00:50:29,120 --> 00:50:31,520
And here is the exit
to the staircase,
879
00:50:31,640 --> 00:50:32,880
but it's closed.
880
00:50:37,520 --> 00:50:42,240
And-and here, uh,
was a little... attic,
881
00:50:42,320 --> 00:50:46,080
and in that attic
is where Roma was hiding.
882
00:50:46,920 --> 00:50:48,120
Short time I stayed,
883
00:50:48,200 --> 00:50:50,960
I stayed in
that tiny little attic,
884
00:50:51,040 --> 00:50:53,440
which was above the kitchen,
885
00:50:53,560 --> 00:50:57,320
and, um, I could not--
I could not move.
886
00:50:58,200 --> 00:51:00,520
I simply had to be very quiet.
887
00:51:01,480 --> 00:51:03,360
Here in these rooms,
we had Germans
888
00:51:03,440 --> 00:51:04,840
assigned to stay in our home.
889
00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:06,640
I think there were two
living with us.
890
00:51:06,720 --> 00:51:08,720
Every morning,
one of them would come in,
891
00:51:09,680 --> 00:51:12,280
sit down in the kitchen,
drink coffee,
892
00:51:12,360 --> 00:51:13,920
and read his newspaper.
893
00:51:14,760 --> 00:51:18,280
And there, in the attic,
in that room,
894
00:51:18,360 --> 00:51:21,160
lived Roma, and she had
to stay super quiet.
895
00:51:21,240 --> 00:51:24,640
[lively traditional music plays]
896
00:51:24,760 --> 00:51:27,520
[Kaplan] I think I'd begun
to read at that point.
897
00:51:27,600 --> 00:51:33,120
I was able to sit and read
for a prolonged period of time
898
00:51:33,200 --> 00:51:34,600
and not make any noise.
899
00:51:34,680 --> 00:51:36,720
And that really saved my life,
900
00:51:36,840 --> 00:51:40,320
because if anybody knew
901
00:51:40,440 --> 00:51:45,880
that the Grzywaczewski family
were saving Jews,
902
00:51:45,960 --> 00:51:48,560
Grzywaczewskis
would have been killed.
903
00:51:51,960 --> 00:51:53,200
[reel clicks]
904
00:51:55,400 --> 00:51:57,080
[Grzywaczewski]
After returning to the ghetto,
905
00:51:57,160 --> 00:51:58,440
I found out that firefighters
906
00:51:58,560 --> 00:52:00,360
were taking clothes, lingerie,
907
00:52:00,440 --> 00:52:02,680
bedding, little knickknacks
in suitcases.
908
00:52:04,480 --> 00:52:05,960
They explained it wasn't theft.
909
00:52:06,040 --> 00:52:07,760
These things
no longer had an owner.
910
00:52:09,320 --> 00:52:11,160
However,
clashes with the Germans,
911
00:52:11,240 --> 00:52:12,840
who did consider it theft,
912
00:52:12,920 --> 00:52:15,520
forced us to vigorously fight
these actions.
913
00:52:16,120 --> 00:52:17,400
So, we subdued it quickly.
914
00:52:21,720 --> 00:52:23,800
[Leociak] What do we have here?
In the foreground,
915
00:52:23,920 --> 00:52:25,440
three firefighters.
916
00:52:25,520 --> 00:52:27,800
But somewhere in the background
917
00:52:27,920 --> 00:52:31,680
there's a German
who is also taking a photo.
918
00:52:31,760 --> 00:52:34,400
Grzywaczewski is
showing a situation
919
00:52:34,520 --> 00:52:38,200
which was quite common
during the Holocaust.
920
00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:41,880
Germans photographing
the annihilation.
921
00:52:42,720 --> 00:52:45,000
This is Nowolipie Street
towards Smocza Street.
922
00:52:45,080 --> 00:52:47,880
These photographs
are from the Stroop Report.
923
00:52:48,680 --> 00:52:52,400
This is Stroop.
This is General Jürgen Stroop.
924
00:52:52,480 --> 00:52:55,720
JÜRGEN STROOP REPORT
925
00:52:55,840 --> 00:52:58,720
[Stroop in German] I have
forbidden the use of cameras
926
00:52:58,800 --> 00:53:01,160
during actions in the ghetto.
927
00:53:01,280 --> 00:53:05,560
But General Krüger's order
to create a report
928
00:53:05,680 --> 00:53:08,560
included the delivery
of photos.
929
00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:12,080
Everything had to be done
very quickly.
930
00:53:13,880 --> 00:53:16,240
I suspect
the SS Security Police
931
00:53:16,320 --> 00:53:17,840
took these shots.
932
00:53:17,920 --> 00:53:20,680
[poignant, dramatic music plays]
933
00:53:20,760 --> 00:53:22,360
I wrote the report
"There Is No Longer
934
00:53:22,480 --> 00:53:24,480
a Jewish Residential District
in Warsaw!"
935
00:53:24,600 --> 00:53:26,160
for Heinrich Himmler,
936
00:53:26,280 --> 00:53:28,400
for Krüger, and for myself.
937
00:53:34,320 --> 00:53:37,600
It will be valuable material
for history,
938
00:53:37,720 --> 00:53:39,360
for the Führer,
939
00:53:39,440 --> 00:53:42,280
and for future researchers
of the Third Reich,
940
00:53:44,400 --> 00:53:47,280
for nationalist poets
and writers,
941
00:53:47,400 --> 00:53:50,840
and, above all, for the
documentation of our efforts
942
00:53:50,960 --> 00:53:54,000
that the Nordic race
and the Germans are undertaking
943
00:53:54,080 --> 00:53:57,680
to get rid of Jews in Europe
and in the entire globe.
944
00:54:01,040 --> 00:54:04,040
[unsettling, tense music plays]
945
00:54:09,760 --> 00:54:11,320
[Grzywaczewski in English]
Almost every day,
946
00:54:11,400 --> 00:54:13,320
we see the SS General
Jürgen Stroop
947
00:54:13,400 --> 00:54:15,200
directing the operation.
948
00:54:17,080 --> 00:54:18,760
Instead of putting
the fires out,
949
00:54:18,840 --> 00:54:20,920
we have to watch them burn.
950
00:54:21,040 --> 00:54:22,520
Instead of rescuing people,
951
00:54:22,640 --> 00:54:24,840
we have to watch helplessly
as they suffer.
952
00:54:25,840 --> 00:54:28,600
We are continuously under
the control of German police
953
00:54:28,680 --> 00:54:29,840
and the SS.
954
00:54:29,920 --> 00:54:31,760
Any attempt at providing help
955
00:54:31,880 --> 00:54:33,920
can have severe consequences
for us.
956
00:54:36,240 --> 00:54:38,440
WARSAW
NOWOLIPIE ST.
957
00:54:38,520 --> 00:54:43,160
From this spot,
Leszek took a photograph.
958
00:54:43,760 --> 00:54:44,800
[camera shutter snaps]
959
00:54:47,600 --> 00:54:50,800
[Leociak] For Grzywaczewski,
taking this picture was risky.
960
00:54:50,880 --> 00:54:54,040
He's standing here,
behind the firefighters.
961
00:54:54,120 --> 00:54:58,400
One of them,
the one closer to the lens,
962
00:54:58,480 --> 00:55:01,640
is looking this way
towards the building.
963
00:55:02,320 --> 00:55:05,960
But the other is turning away.
964
00:55:06,800 --> 00:55:10,120
He couldn't betray his emotions.
965
00:55:10,240 --> 00:55:11,840
For the Germans,
966
00:55:11,920 --> 00:55:16,560
this situation was,
I'd say, positive.
967
00:55:16,680 --> 00:55:18,040
That's how it
was supposed to be.
968
00:55:18,160 --> 00:55:19,560
"The Jews were
supposed to jump."
969
00:55:19,680 --> 00:55:21,400
They weren't considered human.
970
00:55:21,520 --> 00:55:23,240
But for those firefighters,
971
00:55:24,080 --> 00:55:26,600
their emotional reactions
are completely opposite.
972
00:55:26,680 --> 00:55:30,520
[grim, somber music plays]
973
00:55:30,640 --> 00:55:32,440
[Grzywaczewski]
The Jews who hid,
974
00:55:32,560 --> 00:55:35,480
instead of evacuating after
the building was set on fire,
975
00:55:35,560 --> 00:55:36,720
burned inside.
976
00:55:37,280 --> 00:55:38,960
Whole groups,
cut off by flames,
977
00:55:39,080 --> 00:55:40,400
ran to higher ground,
978
00:55:41,320 --> 00:55:42,880
and when the fire reached them,
979
00:55:42,960 --> 00:55:44,880
they saved themselves
from burning alive
980
00:55:44,960 --> 00:55:47,560
by jumping from the balconies
onto the cobblestones.
981
00:55:48,440 --> 00:55:50,000
[reel clicks]
982
00:55:51,560 --> 00:55:54,360
From a balcony window
I saw a whole family jump.
983
00:55:54,440 --> 00:55:56,800
Five, six people
died instantly.
984
00:55:58,400 --> 00:56:01,000
They couldn't escape,
and we couldn't help them,
985
00:56:01,080 --> 00:56:03,920
despite having
the technical ability to do so.
986
00:56:04,040 --> 00:56:05,680
[somber music continues]
987
00:56:24,560 --> 00:56:27,600
This looks exactly
like the same spot.
988
00:56:28,440 --> 00:56:29,640
The same building.
989
00:56:30,600 --> 00:56:34,080
You can tell by the windows.
990
00:56:35,240 --> 00:56:36,520
And the balconies.
991
00:56:36,640 --> 00:56:38,840
That's the same tenement house
992
00:56:38,920 --> 00:56:42,080
that my father took pictures of.
993
00:56:42,200 --> 00:56:45,040
You can see that,
on the same day,
994
00:56:45,120 --> 00:56:47,960
German propagandists
were also at work.
995
00:56:49,800 --> 00:56:50,920
Hmm.
996
00:56:52,000 --> 00:56:53,120
Here too.
997
00:56:54,320 --> 00:56:56,720
Judging by this balcony,
this is the same.
998
00:56:57,880 --> 00:56:59,400
The same tenement house.
999
00:57:02,560 --> 00:57:07,000
In both photographs, you can
see the tram overhead line,
1000
00:57:08,240 --> 00:57:13,160
the third story balcony,
the same balustrade posts.
1001
00:57:16,920 --> 00:57:20,000
In the German photograph,
the window on the left is open,
1002
00:57:20,080 --> 00:57:21,840
on the right, closed.
1003
00:57:23,120 --> 00:57:25,680
In my father's picture,
it's the same.
1004
00:57:29,600 --> 00:57:31,400
This is the missing picture
1005
00:57:31,520 --> 00:57:34,000
that Dad
probably couldn't take.
1006
00:57:37,680 --> 00:57:41,720
And Leszek, after taking
that first photograph,
1007
00:57:43,040 --> 00:57:44,360
moved here.
1008
00:57:46,440 --> 00:57:52,120
And here is the house
where the drama unfolded.
1009
00:57:54,720 --> 00:57:56,920
[reel clicks]
1010
00:57:58,320 --> 00:57:59,480
- [tires screech]
- [crunch]
1011
00:58:15,360 --> 00:58:18,760
[Walkowski] This small
but unfortunate accident
1012
00:58:19,440 --> 00:58:22,760
immediately caused a few people
to run towards it.
1013
00:58:23,280 --> 00:58:25,200
A normal human reaction.
1014
00:58:25,720 --> 00:58:29,560
But how it highlights
the fate of those people.
1015
00:58:30,400 --> 00:58:31,720
There was no one.
1016
00:58:32,600 --> 00:58:34,800
There was no one
to run to help them.
1017
00:58:35,360 --> 00:58:37,560
There was no possibility.
1018
00:58:37,680 --> 00:58:42,280
Not because no one wanted to,
because no one could.
1019
00:58:43,400 --> 00:58:47,120
[Leociak] These two pictures
tell an entire story.
1020
00:58:47,200 --> 00:58:50,040
The Germans come and gather here
1021
00:58:50,160 --> 00:58:53,160
by the bodies
of the ones who jumped.
1022
00:58:53,720 --> 00:58:56,120
All that is obvious to me.
1023
00:58:56,880 --> 00:58:59,160
But when
you look really closely,
1024
00:59:00,200 --> 00:59:05,520
you can see that here,
there is a silhouette of a man.
1025
00:59:05,600 --> 00:59:09,640
It's just the silhouette
of his head and shoulder.
1026
00:59:11,800 --> 00:59:14,320
One could say
that these are Jews
1027
00:59:14,400 --> 00:59:18,600
who were coming out
maybe from some kind of bunker,
1028
00:59:18,720 --> 00:59:20,320
from this gate.
1029
00:59:21,240 --> 00:59:25,120
I think these two situations
can be reconciled.
1030
00:59:25,240 --> 00:59:27,880
In other words,
in the same spot,
1031
00:59:27,960 --> 00:59:29,160
you see the corpses
1032
00:59:29,280 --> 00:59:31,480
of those who jumped
from the windows
1033
00:59:31,960 --> 00:59:34,840
and Jews
who are coming out alive,
1034
00:59:34,920 --> 00:59:36,920
only to die moments later.
1035
00:59:40,320 --> 00:59:42,920
[Grzywaczewski] Under the ruins
of burned-out homes,
1036
00:59:43,000 --> 00:59:44,640
in so-called "bunkers,"
1037
00:59:44,760 --> 00:59:46,520
there are supposed to be
Jews remaining.
1038
00:59:46,600 --> 00:59:49,880
[tense, unsettling music plays]
1039
00:59:50,000 --> 00:59:51,320
[gunshot echoes]
1040
00:59:56,920 --> 00:59:58,760
The sight of those people
being led out
1041
00:59:58,840 --> 01:00:01,120
will stay with me
for the rest of my life.
1042
01:00:03,680 --> 01:00:06,360
The faces not of people,
but almost half-animals
1043
01:00:06,480 --> 01:00:08,720
with mad,
unconscious expressions.
1044
01:00:09,560 --> 01:00:11,520
Eyes squinting from sunlight.
1045
01:00:13,200 --> 01:00:15,400
They stayed in the darkness
for weeks.
1046
01:00:16,800 --> 01:00:19,720
Silhouettes, barely standing
from hunger and fear,
1047
01:00:19,800 --> 01:00:21,800
dirty, tattered,
1048
01:00:22,360 --> 01:00:23,840
shot in masses.
1049
01:00:24,680 --> 01:00:27,040
Some still alive,
stumbling over the corpses
1050
01:00:27,160 --> 01:00:28,680
of the annihilated.
1051
01:00:31,720 --> 01:00:34,760
[solemn, dramatic music plays]
1052
01:00:41,080 --> 01:00:42,840
The entire district
is burned down
1053
01:00:42,920 --> 01:00:45,120
and looks like
one vast sea of rubble,
1054
01:00:45,920 --> 01:00:47,760
or a dead city,
1055
01:00:47,880 --> 01:00:50,000
struck by some great disaster.
1056
01:00:51,600 --> 01:00:54,200
In reality,
it is the disaster of war.
1057
01:00:59,760 --> 01:01:03,080
I think what he saw
in the ghetto was very...
1058
01:01:03,200 --> 01:01:07,200
You can feel it in his journal.
He rapidly matured.
1059
01:01:07,280 --> 01:01:08,680
He changed.
1060
01:01:11,440 --> 01:01:13,000
[Grzywaczewski] After days
of sleepless nights
1061
01:01:13,080 --> 01:01:14,360
and intense work,
1062
01:01:14,480 --> 01:01:15,520
I came home.
1063
01:01:17,200 --> 01:01:20,520
There came days of calm
which I couldn't get used to.
1064
01:01:20,600 --> 01:01:22,320
Couldn't accept.
1065
01:01:22,400 --> 01:01:23,720
I became secretive.
1066
01:01:25,360 --> 01:01:27,640
I shut myself in my silence
1067
01:01:27,760 --> 01:01:29,240
like a snail in its shell.
1068
01:01:31,640 --> 01:01:33,560
[Maciej] The burden
of the things he saw
1069
01:01:33,640 --> 01:01:35,160
he directed inward.
1070
01:01:35,240 --> 01:01:37,520
I don't think he talked about it
to anyone.
1071
01:01:37,640 --> 01:01:40,200
[music fades]
1072
01:01:41,480 --> 01:01:45,000
[Leociak] So we are at the end
of the negative.
1073
01:01:45,080 --> 01:01:48,800
Grzywaczewski photographs
his fiancée
1074
01:01:50,320 --> 01:01:52,280
and takes a self-portrait.
1075
01:01:53,080 --> 01:01:54,640
If someone asks,
1076
01:01:54,720 --> 01:01:57,120
"Who is this firefighter,
Grzywaczewski,
1077
01:01:57,200 --> 01:01:58,960
who was in the ghetto?",
1078
01:01:59,760 --> 01:02:03,200
the shortest answer
would be a witness
1079
01:02:03,280 --> 01:02:06,200
in the deepest, most
existential sense of the word,
1080
01:02:06,320 --> 01:02:09,640
in a very profound,
existential way.
1081
01:02:13,440 --> 01:02:16,000
A year and a half
after the ghetto uprising,
1082
01:02:16,080 --> 01:02:18,360
from the apartment
on Mokotowska Street,
1083
01:02:19,120 --> 01:02:21,720
under the command
of Stanislaw Grzywaczewski,
1084
01:02:21,840 --> 01:02:24,520
my grandfather,
the father of my father,
1085
01:02:24,640 --> 01:02:27,480
a platoon of insurgents
sets out to fight.
1086
01:02:27,560 --> 01:02:30,160
They head to Szucha Avenue
to reclaim it.
1087
01:02:31,120 --> 01:02:34,280
My father is called up
as a firefighter
1088
01:02:34,360 --> 01:02:36,200
for the Warsaw uprising.
1089
01:02:37,640 --> 01:02:40,920
It is a day that's very... Hmm.
1090
01:02:41,000 --> 01:02:43,320
It's an important marker.
It's...
1091
01:02:47,040 --> 01:02:48,480
Let's move on.
1092
01:02:50,320 --> 01:02:53,120
[solemn piano music plays]
1093
01:03:02,800 --> 01:03:05,240
[siren wailing]
1094
01:03:05,360 --> 01:03:09,520
WARSAW, 1944
1095
01:03:09,600 --> 01:03:11,120
[Laks] Dear Romechka,
1096
01:03:11,800 --> 01:03:14,000
On August 1st, 1944,
1097
01:03:14,080 --> 01:03:16,360
Polish uprising against
the Germans broke out.
1098
01:03:16,440 --> 01:03:17,720
FROM THE LETTERS OF HILARY LAKS
1099
01:03:18,320 --> 01:03:21,560
During these events, you were
in Wolomin, near Warsaw,
1100
01:03:21,640 --> 01:03:23,960
where you were with
the Daughters of Charity.
1101
01:03:24,080 --> 01:03:25,680
Mom managed to get to me,
1102
01:03:25,800 --> 01:03:27,480
and together we used
the basements
1103
01:03:27,560 --> 01:03:29,320
to return to Mokotowska Street
1104
01:03:29,400 --> 01:03:30,640
to the Grzywaczewskis.
1105
01:03:31,280 --> 01:03:34,160
Meanwhile, the Germans
destroyed and burned Warsaw
1106
01:03:34,240 --> 01:03:36,360
from both the land
and the air.
1107
01:03:37,240 --> 01:03:40,640
The uprising cost the city
200,000 dead,
1108
01:03:41,200 --> 01:03:43,160
countless wounded,
1109
01:03:43,800 --> 01:03:45,720
and more than 80%
of its buildings
1110
01:03:45,800 --> 01:03:47,520
were reduced to rubble.
1111
01:03:48,520 --> 01:03:49,880
[rumbling explosion]
1112
01:03:51,440 --> 01:03:54,000
[cacophonous rumbling]
1113
01:03:54,640 --> 01:03:56,840
[thunderous explosion]
1114
01:04:04,760 --> 01:04:07,480
[somber music plays]
1115
01:04:10,600 --> 01:04:13,360
[Laks] In January 1945,
1116
01:04:13,440 --> 01:04:16,000
the Soviet offensive began.
1117
01:04:16,600 --> 01:04:19,480
The Germans disappeared
overnight.
1118
01:04:20,800 --> 01:04:23,000
Right after the Soviets
marched in,
1119
01:04:23,080 --> 01:04:24,840
we decided to walk
towards Wolomin
1120
01:04:24,960 --> 01:04:27,120
to find out where
the Daughters of Charity were
1121
01:04:27,240 --> 01:04:29,040
and what had happened to you.
1122
01:04:29,880 --> 01:04:31,280
When we got there,
1123
01:04:31,400 --> 01:04:33,480
we learned that
you had been evacuated.
1124
01:04:37,120 --> 01:04:38,360
[Kaplan] I came back.
1125
01:04:38,480 --> 01:04:40,120
I found myself in Warsaw.
1126
01:04:40,200 --> 01:04:42,360
I could not recognize Warsaw
at all.
1127
01:04:42,440 --> 01:04:43,960
It was completely destroyed.
1128
01:04:44,040 --> 01:04:46,400
Absolutely
and completely destroyed.
1129
01:04:49,400 --> 01:04:51,400
And I had no idea
where my parents were,
1130
01:04:51,520 --> 01:04:54,160
whether they survived,
nothing.
1131
01:04:55,080 --> 01:04:59,040
So I tried to look for a place
that was familiar to me.
1132
01:04:59,720 --> 01:05:03,880
And lo and behold,
one of the buildings that
1133
01:05:03,960 --> 01:05:10,600
we lived in on the "Aryan side"
was intact.
1134
01:05:10,720 --> 01:05:15,080
WARSAW
65 MOKOTOWSKA ST.
1135
01:05:15,160 --> 01:05:17,080
So I went into the building
1136
01:05:17,160 --> 01:05:22,400
and I rang everybody's bell
that I could,
1137
01:05:23,560 --> 01:05:25,960
and the next morning
I met my father.
1138
01:05:26,040 --> 01:05:29,160
ROMA LAKS KAPLAN
DAUGHTER OF HILARY LAKS (1996)
1139
01:05:29,240 --> 01:05:33,840
And my father, at that point,
had already contacted my mother
1140
01:05:33,920 --> 01:05:40,560
so that was the...
the end of my saga.
1141
01:05:42,200 --> 01:05:45,000
[solemn, poignant music plays]
1142
01:05:51,400 --> 01:05:57,160
WARSAW, 1946
FORMER GHETTO AREA
1143
01:05:58,600 --> 01:06:00,520
[woman] The Central Historical
Commission
1144
01:06:00,600 --> 01:06:02,440
took it upon itself
to bring to light
1145
01:06:02,520 --> 01:06:04,560
the crimes committed
by the Germans
1146
01:06:04,640 --> 01:06:07,320
against the Jewish population
in Poland.
1147
01:06:07,440 --> 01:06:09,880
To that end,
it gathered all materials,
1148
01:06:09,960 --> 01:06:11,800
printed, handwritten,
and others.
1149
01:06:11,880 --> 01:06:13,960
DR. AGNIESZKA KAJCZYK
JEWISH HISTORICAL INSTITUTE
1150
01:06:14,080 --> 01:06:16,120
The Central Jewish
Historical Commission
1151
01:06:16,200 --> 01:06:19,280
collected documents
such as photographs.
1152
01:06:20,400 --> 01:06:23,160
And we know that by 1946,
1153
01:06:23,240 --> 01:06:25,160
it already had in its possession
1154
01:06:25,280 --> 01:06:27,560
these five photographs
taken by your father.
1155
01:06:27,640 --> 01:06:30,920
In fact, by 1946, when the book
1156
01:06:31,000 --> 01:06:34,160
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
was published,
1157
01:06:34,240 --> 01:06:35,640
authored by Joseph Kermish...
1158
01:06:35,760 --> 01:06:37,000
THE GHETTO IN FLAMES
1159
01:06:37,080 --> 01:06:38,720
...a pioneer
of Holocaust research,
1160
01:06:38,840 --> 01:06:44,080
it included your father's
photographs as a part of it.
1161
01:06:45,760 --> 01:06:49,680
We believe that these
are first-generation prints.
1162
01:06:50,400 --> 01:06:53,560
These prints have priceless
information on the backs.
1163
01:06:54,320 --> 01:06:56,320
The writing is very detailed.
1164
01:06:56,400 --> 01:06:57,760
We have precise information
1165
01:06:57,880 --> 01:07:00,360
about where each picture
was taken
1166
01:07:00,440 --> 01:07:01,960
and when.
1167
01:07:02,040 --> 01:07:04,960
We assume only the photographer
had that knowledge.
1168
01:07:05,040 --> 01:07:07,720
He knew what he was
photographing and where.
1169
01:07:07,800 --> 01:07:09,240
I don't think
that's my father's.
1170
01:07:09,320 --> 01:07:11,440
Really?
Not your father's handwriting?
1171
01:07:11,560 --> 01:07:13,640
- Hmm, it's not.
- That's really interesting.
1172
01:07:14,680 --> 01:07:18,440
[Maciej] I feel like this is
the handwriting of Hilary Laks.
1173
01:07:18,520 --> 01:07:23,480
So maybe he's the one who kept
these few photographs in 1946.
1174
01:07:24,120 --> 01:07:27,520
[gentle, dramatic music plays]
1175
01:07:34,880 --> 01:07:36,960
Everyone survived the war.
1176
01:07:37,040 --> 01:07:40,320
My mother and father
got married in 1946,
1177
01:07:40,400 --> 01:07:43,640
right after the war ended,
and then moved to Gdansk.
1178
01:07:44,320 --> 01:07:47,400
My father really wanted
to live in Gdansk
1179
01:07:47,480 --> 01:07:49,680
because he wanted to be
a sailor.
1180
01:07:50,680 --> 01:07:53,480
So he completed his studies
at the polytechnic there
1181
01:07:53,560 --> 01:07:55,320
at the maritime department
1182
01:07:55,440 --> 01:07:58,240
and worked with ships
for the rest of his life.
1183
01:07:58,320 --> 01:08:00,320
But the Lakses left
1184
01:08:00,400 --> 01:08:05,000
to go over to the United States
in 1951.
1185
01:08:07,680 --> 01:08:09,760
At the end of the 1950s,
1186
01:08:09,840 --> 01:08:12,520
my father received a letter
from Hilary.
1187
01:08:12,600 --> 01:08:16,440
He asked my father to send
the photographs he took
1188
01:08:17,440 --> 01:08:20,000
during
the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
1189
01:08:23,880 --> 01:08:25,880
When my father was sent
with a delegation
1190
01:08:26,000 --> 01:08:29,320
to a shipyard in the north
of England in Billingham,
1191
01:08:30,120 --> 01:08:33,520
I suspect he sent
the 12 photographs from there.
1192
01:08:34,520 --> 01:08:37,560
I think he believed
that was a safer way to do it
1193
01:08:37,680 --> 01:08:39,960
to ensure they reached
the recipient
1194
01:08:40,040 --> 01:08:42,960
outside the reach
of communist censorship.
1195
01:08:43,040 --> 01:08:46,120
We were under Soviet rule
in Poland,
1196
01:08:47,640 --> 01:08:52,240
and so any contact with the U.S.
was considered suspicious.
1197
01:08:53,240 --> 01:08:55,960
After all these years,
Roma is the only witness
1198
01:08:56,080 --> 01:08:57,480
who lived through those times.
1199
01:08:57,560 --> 01:09:00,360
She is the last one left
from that family.
1200
01:09:00,480 --> 01:09:01,720
[Laks] Dear Romechka,
1201
01:09:02,400 --> 01:09:06,040
I want these photographs
to be preserved as proof.
1202
01:09:07,360 --> 01:09:11,520
Of course, I could strike
a deal with Life or The Post
1203
01:09:12,000 --> 01:09:13,760
and even make some money.
1204
01:09:13,880 --> 01:09:15,600
But I don't want
that kind of money.
1205
01:09:16,320 --> 01:09:20,200
These pictures must be kept
in the right kind of archive.
1206
01:09:21,400 --> 01:09:25,360
Think about it, and let me know
where, in your opinion,
1207
01:09:25,440 --> 01:09:27,800
we should take them.
1208
01:09:27,880 --> 01:09:30,960
[man] These are the copies
of the 12 photographs...
1209
01:09:31,080 --> 01:09:33,480
UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL
MUSEUM IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
1210
01:09:33,560 --> 01:09:35,280
...that we have received in 1992
1211
01:09:35,360 --> 01:09:38,320
in the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum
1212
01:09:38,400 --> 01:09:39,800
in Washington.
1213
01:09:39,920 --> 01:09:42,960
I'm assuming that Hilary Laks,
after his death,
1214
01:09:43,040 --> 01:09:46,680
his family decided to donate
those photographs to us.
1215
01:09:48,640 --> 01:09:51,000
Immediately, we considered them
1216
01:09:51,120 --> 01:09:53,600
as something extremely,
extremely unique.
1217
01:09:53,680 --> 01:09:55,880
[gentle ambient music plays]
1218
01:09:58,080 --> 01:10:02,240
Those 12 photographs were
considered, by us, original,
1219
01:10:02,320 --> 01:10:03,840
because they were
the only copies
1220
01:10:03,920 --> 01:10:06,000
that existed at that time.
1221
01:10:06,080 --> 01:10:09,720
Now, the negative
is the original.
1222
01:10:14,200 --> 01:10:17,360
And there are 33 photos
from the ghetto.
1223
01:10:23,040 --> 01:10:26,200
[Jacqueline] The man in
the middle is definitely Hilary,
1224
01:10:26,280 --> 01:10:28,920
and the woman to the right,
1225
01:10:29,040 --> 01:10:32,360
with the hat and the fur collar,
is definitely Mom.
1226
01:10:33,240 --> 01:10:35,280
[John] I have a feeling
these are already by the time
1227
01:10:35,360 --> 01:10:36,560
she arrived in New York.
1228
01:10:37,120 --> 01:10:39,840
[Jacqueline] She considered
Leszek a brother.
1229
01:10:39,920 --> 01:10:41,400
It was family.
1230
01:10:41,480 --> 01:10:44,680
[John] At the same time,
I think she had demons,
1231
01:10:44,760 --> 01:10:47,120
um, from the time of survival.
1232
01:10:47,200 --> 01:10:49,640
I think she had PTSD.
1233
01:10:49,760 --> 01:10:53,240
Um, I remember her
being hospitalized at UCLA,
1234
01:10:53,360 --> 01:10:55,600
um, with possibly
a suicide attempt.
1235
01:10:55,680 --> 01:10:57,920
It felt like it's old history,
1236
01:10:58,000 --> 01:10:59,960
and dealing with
that old history.
1237
01:11:04,880 --> 01:11:06,440
[Laks] Dearest daughter:
1238
01:11:06,560 --> 01:11:09,440
If there is any purpose
to these recollections,
1239
01:11:09,520 --> 01:11:11,360
it is only to ensure
that the memory
1240
01:11:11,480 --> 01:11:14,160
of those shameful times
is preserved
1241
01:11:14,280 --> 01:11:16,840
so that people born
and raised with abundance,
1242
01:11:16,920 --> 01:11:19,920
convinced of the values
of our civilization,
1243
01:11:20,000 --> 01:11:22,480
may understand what can happen
in the future
1244
01:11:22,560 --> 01:11:25,840
if they allow themselves
to be set against one another
1245
01:11:25,960 --> 01:11:27,560
like dogs.
1246
01:11:29,280 --> 01:11:33,040
You see, somehow I've come
to the end with these memories.
1247
01:11:33,840 --> 01:11:37,640
Everything that happens next
is within your own memory.
1248
01:11:37,760 --> 01:11:40,240
[doorbell buzzes]
1249
01:11:41,480 --> 01:11:43,960
I'm Dorota Grzywaczewski.
Leszek's daughter.
1250
01:11:44,080 --> 01:11:45,480
[both laugh]
1251
01:11:45,600 --> 01:11:47,880
We can speak English
if you prefer.
1252
01:11:47,960 --> 01:11:49,840
Well, whatever you prefer!
1253
01:11:49,920 --> 01:11:51,640
The whole album is for you.
1254
01:11:52,200 --> 01:11:55,160
ROMA LAKS KAPLAN
DAUGHTER OF HILARY LAKS (2024)
1255
01:11:55,240 --> 01:11:59,320
Zbigniew Leszek Grzywaczewski.
1256
01:12:04,920 --> 01:12:06,720
[Kaplan] Well, this is Warsaw.
1257
01:12:08,320 --> 01:12:11,000
- Ghetto?
- [Pawlak] Ghetto uprising.
1258
01:12:15,240 --> 01:12:19,000
I tried very hard
to not remember this.
1259
01:12:19,080 --> 01:12:20,480
[Pawlak] I know, I know.
1260
01:12:28,320 --> 01:12:30,320
- Leszek.
- You recognize Leszek?
1261
01:12:30,400 --> 01:12:32,000
- Yeah.
- You recognize him?
1262
01:12:32,120 --> 01:12:37,200
[Kaplan] Leszek and his family
made it possible
1263
01:12:37,320 --> 01:12:39,760
for me and my parents
to survive.
1264
01:12:40,440 --> 01:12:43,960
Beautiful photograph,
and beautiful mother.
1265
01:12:44,840 --> 01:12:45,840
[Pawlak] Thank you.
1266
01:12:45,920 --> 01:12:48,080
I assume she's not alive.
1267
01:12:49,680 --> 01:12:52,040
[Pawlak] She died 11 years ago.
1268
01:12:52,120 --> 01:12:53,400
I'm sorry.
1269
01:12:59,360 --> 01:13:00,400
Excuse me.
1270
01:13:00,520 --> 01:13:01,560
If I...
1271
01:13:02,400 --> 01:13:04,480
[Pawlak] Definitely.
I will hold it for you.
1272
01:13:17,440 --> 01:13:19,560
- [Kaplan] Oh, I remember that.
- [Pawlak] Mm-hmm.
1273
01:13:20,640 --> 01:13:21,600
[Kaplan] Yeah.
1274
01:13:21,680 --> 01:13:23,360
[gentle, poignant music plays]
1275
01:13:26,680 --> 01:13:30,440
I've spent a good part
of my life
1276
01:13:30,520 --> 01:13:32,760
trying to forget all of this.
1277
01:13:37,280 --> 01:13:41,760
You know, to me,
this is my family.
1278
01:13:41,840 --> 01:13:45,880
This is my... history.
1279
01:13:46,400 --> 01:13:50,840
These are the people who,
all of whom, I know, have died.
1280
01:13:51,440 --> 01:13:53,320
Well, we have to remember it.
1281
01:13:53,440 --> 01:13:56,920
It's part of history.
It's not just part of the Jews.
1282
01:13:57,880 --> 01:14:00,480
If we don't remember,
it will come again.
1283
01:14:01,800 --> 01:14:06,800
We have to remember.
Remember your own history.
1284
01:14:09,160 --> 01:14:10,640
I've had enough.
1285
01:14:11,240 --> 01:14:14,160
- Every family has a history...
- Mm-hmm.
1286
01:14:14,240 --> 01:14:17,320
...and you are my history.
1287
01:14:17,800 --> 01:14:20,200
That is not just my history,
1288
01:14:20,280 --> 01:14:24,520
but also history of your...
1289
01:14:25,960 --> 01:14:27,360
of Poland.
1290
01:14:29,280 --> 01:14:31,440
Partially history of America
1291
01:14:31,520 --> 01:14:33,280
because we are here,
1292
01:14:34,080 --> 01:14:39,640
and partially because of this.
1293
01:14:41,760 --> 01:14:45,320
[gentle, solemn music plays]
1294
01:14:49,560 --> 01:14:53,320
Roma, her parents, and Halina
survived the Holocaust
1295
01:14:53,400 --> 01:14:55,440
and emigrated to the USA.
1296
01:14:56,480 --> 01:14:58,240
Leszek fulfilled his dream
1297
01:14:58,320 --> 01:15:00,960
and remained connected to the
sea for the rest of his life.
1298
01:15:01,040 --> 01:15:02,680
His friends remember him
as a sailor
1299
01:15:02,800 --> 01:15:04,400
and an amateur photographer.
1300
01:15:05,480 --> 01:15:06,840
Maciej, Leszek's son,
1301
01:15:06,920 --> 01:15:09,280
was an activist
of the democratic opposition
1302
01:15:09,360 --> 01:15:12,000
and "Solidarity,"
the movement that changed
1303
01:15:12,120 --> 01:15:13,920
the history of Poland.
1304
01:15:15,640 --> 01:15:19,680
[solemn music continues]
1305
01:18:03,960 --> 01:18:06,480
[music fades]