Before the Holocaust, Poland was home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, numbering some three and half million (Taylor et al 2009). Despite the exaggerated reports of growing anti-Semitism and pogroms in Poland, over 30,000 Jews were emigrating from Ukraine and the Soviet Union to Poland annually (Bauer 1974). Poland offered Jewish people protection and an opportunity to build their own schools and synagogues. Moreover, the development of Yiddish and Hebrew cultural tradition, particularly in theatres, was thriving (Taylor et al 2009). However, the Second World War ended the peace and brought extermination to 3 million Polish Jews and 3 million Poles (Haltof 2002). In that period, the cinema along with theatres did not exist and if anything, it had been mainly used as a propaganda tool (Haltof 2002). After the war, Poland became a part of the Soviet Union. The cultural life and the country’s film industry began to be slowly restored but it was soon restricted by heavy political censorship and control (Haltof 2002). For instance, some films were banned before they were even made (Coates 2005). The death of Stalin in 1953 relaxed the censorship restrictions and enabled more creative films to emerge (Misiak 2005). This was also a time of coming to term with the past, including the painful experiences of WWII and the mistreatment of Jews by Nazis and Poles themselves, who were also accused of anti-Semitism and felony against Jewish people at Jedwabne (Coates 2005). “The return of democracy in central Europe” prompted the proliferation of narrative and documentary films, and also literary works that dealt with Polish-Jewish themes (Haltof 2002 p. 222). This post intends to analyse the portrayal of Polish-Jewish relations in four Polish postwar films. An attention is primarily paid to Wajda’s films which often feature a strong Jewish theme and are known to be among the most powerful representations of Polish-Jewish relations (Coates 2005; Haltof 2002). Andrzej Wajda is an “old generation” filmmaker who is a member of the well-known Polish Film School (Falkowska 2007).
SAMSON (1961)
A painful “crackdown” examining Polish anti-Semitism during the Nazi occupation, realised by Andrzej Wajda and based on the novel of the same title by Kazimierz Brandys, tells the story of a lonely Jew, Jakub Gold whose life changes remarkably after the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939. Wajda shows the character’s dramatic life journey beginning with his time in a private school where the young Jew experiences anti- Semitic prejudices and attacks from Polish students, then his days in prison and in the Ghetto and finally his life outside the Ghetto; full of fear, uncertainty and suffering. It is worth noting that this black and white movie presents an examination of Polish-Jewish relations by means of symbolism, realism and expressionism (Coates 2005). Furthermore, to understand this touching narrative, it is important to grasp the intertextuality employed in the film, Samson. The name Samson refers to a Hebrew Biblical name of an 11th century Israelite leader who is known for his God-given physical and spiritual strength. The religious figure recognizes his uncut hair as
the symbol of his strength (Oxford Dictionaries Online). Coates (2005) identifies this hair symbolism in Wajda’s film as feminization. For instance, Lucyna, one of the other characters, is a Jewish woman who offers Jakub a hideaway in her apartment. She conceals her Jewish identity by successfully acting as “Aryan”. She achieves that by dying her hair white. This, as precisely noticed by Coates (2005), shows the importance of hair in the film, in the novel by Brandys and in Jewish religion. The academic writes that the woman uses her hair to control her fate while Jakub’s lengthy hair symbolises his spiritual strength similar to that experienced by the Biblical character (Coates 2005). This use of symbols is employed in the movie to portray Jakub as a better, and more powerful human being than his oppressors.
Furthermore, the film shows how problematic the Jews’ facial appearance was for them. During WWII, there was a certain look assigned to Jewish people which Coates (2005) describes as “a virtual curse” (2005 p. 163). Many Jews lost their lives due to this specific stereotype of their looks. Expressionism in the movie is visible in the depiction of the Ghetto and to convey the idea of “the increasing lack of place for Jakub” and other Jews in Nazi occupied Poland (Coates 2005 p. 164). This meaning was emphasised by the use of small windows through which Jakub is looking throughout the movie. Realism is observable in the execution of the mise-en-scene and the setting. The ghetto, an isolated district in the centre of Warsaw, is presented to the smallest detail including the city’s ruins. The district, its dullness and inhumane conditions arouse feelings of sympathy towards the Polish and Jewish communities. Ironically the ghetto is the only common ground they share. Here, the Polish-Jewish relationship is remote. There is no connection between these two nations, both of which suffered immeasurable pain and loss during the Second World War. On the other hand, the portrayal of the main character is very positive. Jakub is loyal to his roots and despite the suffering inflicted on him by the Nazi and Polish people he eventually stands up to fight the anti-Semitic insults and acts.
Birth Certificate (1961)
Świadectwo Urodzenia
Birth Certificate (1961) is a Polish war film, consisting of three separate stories and directed by yet another of the greatest Polish directors of the Polish Film School (1955-1963) Stanislaw Różewicz. The film tells the story of three children and their reactions to the reality imposed on them by the Second World War. The first two parts of the film are about the war’s effects on the non-Jewish Polish boys (Haltof 2012). The last and the longest section titled, A Drop of Blood; which has the most references to the film’s title and is based on the memoirs of survivors; recounts the tale of a young Jewish girl Mirka whose loneliness and constant fear for her life puts a strain on her childhood. In A Drop of Blood, the sound plays a remarkable role in the storytelling. The German voices symbolise the hostility that the girl is petrified of. She is careful in every move she makes. Through the camera movement the audience can see her returning to the place where she was hiding before the Gestapo came to look for her. The flat is abandoned and ruined. The use of the Cross of David reminds the audience about the barrier dividing Hebrew Jews and Catholic Polish people. It is also the way the movie tries to distance itself from the responsibility for the Jewish suffering and to shift it solely onto Nazi Germany. The example of Polish-Jewish relations is portrayed in the scene when Mirka approaches an old apartment house. She hears people speaking in Polish and she decides to knock on the door. A woman answers the door and in an unfriendly manner asks what she wants. The girl kindly
asks for something to drink but she is soon approached by a drunken Polish man who scares her. This indicates the girl’s trust in Polish people but also a possible threat from Poles. Mirka is often seen wandering lonely through the cold, dark and empty streets trying to find somewhere to sleep and hide. The sound of the German language forces her to keep constantly running. Subsequent scenes show Polish people entirely as friendly saviours of Jews and Germans as brutal hunters of innocent Hebrew children. In the film, many Polish people risk their lives to offer Mirka temporary shelter. The girl is treated very well in every Polish house that she stays in but still reacts suspiciously to every knock on the door, a symbol of Gestapo searches. Mirka’s time in the orphanage depicts the staff as caring and protecting. The children depend on them (Coates 2005). The relationship between Jews and Poles in the film is shown as complicated and uncertain. Coates (2005) claims that the use of the shots of the Jewish girl in the film reveals these relations. The long shot, remarks the academic, is employed to underline the girl’s isolation amongst Poles whilst the close-up reveals Mirka’s unhealed wounds inflicted on her by the harsh realities she faces. However, some of the scenes point out to the closeness between the Jewish girl and the Polish people who offered her a safe place to stay. On the other hand, Coates (2005) observes that the film omits to include the horrible acts of szmalcownikow who used to blackmail “Jews by threatening to disclose their identity” (Coates 2005 p. 165).
By the Railway Track (1963)
Przy Torze Kolejowym
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This emotionally charged 13-minute black and white drama, directed by Andrzej Brzozowski and based on Nałkowska’s novel collection titled Medallions (1945), is about a Jewish woman who is shot in the knee while trying to escape from a speeding train with other Jewish people. As a result, there is a massive shoot-out. The wounded and petrified victim crawls towards another fellow Jew wrongly believing he is alive. The weather conditions are difficult as the action takes place in winter. The woman lies in the snow experiencing excruciating pains. Soon, a Polish man on a bicycle discovers the woman but he only stares at her without helping. Shortly, the whole village is gathered round her but the small Polish community is reluctant to help (Haltof 2012). In the novel, the narrator explains this behaviour by stating that: “Those who offered assistance or shelter [to Jews] were marked for death” (Nalkowska (1945) in Haltof 2012 p. 93). The impact of fear makes their relationship with the dying woman morally problematic. The braver villagers leave the Jewish woman “a cigarette and a glass of vodka” (Haltof 2012 p. 93). The film shows the consternation that occurs in the village. People are commenting but most of them are portrayed as unconcerned, passive and distant towards the woman. There is only one boy who seems drawn to the Jewish woman whilst the rest are just watching (Haltof 2012 p. 93). The camera’s focus on the main character shows how the woman slowly loses her hope of survival. However, the film depicts her as too proud to rely on the Polish people’s help who, in turn, are too scared to call for a doctor or offer her a place to stay. The arrival of a Polish policeman, who also is unsure what action should be taken towards the Jewish woman, makes the wounded female beg the witnesses to end her sufferings. Despite her heartfelt pleas for help and her wish to end her misery, the policeman is still uncertain whether he is designated to shoot her because the act could be classified as assistance offered to a Jew and could result in his execution. Eventually, one of the onlookers kills the woman. The sound of gunfire scares the birds which are shown leaving the trees. This symbolism is often used in Polish films to dramatically communicate that something bad has happened or that someone has been killed. Haltof (2012) accurately observes that the film was banned by the Polish communist government because of its negative portrayal of Polish people as “equally guilty” for the Jewish suffering and extermination and for its disregard of the harm caused by the Nazi oppressors (2012 p. 93). The film presents Polish-Jewish relations as distant, cold and divided by the moral dilemmas facing them. Polish people are represented as “reluctant helpers, terrified bystanders and helpless eyewitness (Haltof 2012 p. 89)
Landscape After Battle (1970)
Krajobraz Po Bitwie
This is a powerful drama directed and co-written by one of the best and most talented Polish directors of all time – Andrzej Wajda. The film tells a story of a young and sensitive Polish poet (Tadeusz) and a strong-minded pretty Jewish woman (Nina) whom he meets in a Nazi concentration camp (IMDb). The portrayal of their relationship is problematic. The Jewish woman is depicted as less concerned about the Nazi-inflicted suffering and as an egocentric person who denies her Jewish ethnicity and encourages the Pole to leave the country and go to the West. On the other hand, the Polish poet is presented as sensitive and tormented by the inhuman treatment of other people in the camp. Moreover, he loves his country and is proud to be Polish. He would rather die than deny his origins. The Jewish woman does not 
understand his behaviour and calls it irrational (Coates 2005). The film implicitly refrains from apportioning the responsibility for “the Jewish suffering” (Coates 2005 p. 156). At the end, Nina dies in a horrible accident when shot by an American soldier. The film is full of contradictory messages. On one hand, the film distances itself from the Jews showing Tadeusz as a better human being, and dehumanizing Nina while on the other side, the Pole is blamed for his over self-absorption that makes him unaware of the danger that his “neighbour” is exposed to (Coates 2005).
Finally, the film reflects the ambiguities of Polish-Jewish relations in the 1960s and 1970s probably influenced by the anti-Semitic campaigns organised by the communist government.
Summary
Haltof (2002) in his analysis about images of Jews in postwar Polish films concludes that the Polish-Jewish relations are mainly presented as “nostalgic images of the lost past” and they are seen as “peacefully coexisting cultures” (2002 p. 226). He adds that the relationship is avoided in open debate and regarded as “delicate” subject matter (2002 p. 226).
Many postwar Polish films deal with the Jewish theme but only a few objectively show the painful past of truth about WWII and do not avoid the problem of Polish anti-Semitism in postwar Polish films. (Samson 1961; Holly Week 1996). The majority of the films, analysed in this post, portray Polish people in a better light than Jews and indicate the complexity of the relations between the two nations who experienced the brutality of Nazi occupation. Without a doubt, the contact with Jews during the war was problematic and imposed a danger on Polish people. This aspect of Polish –Jewish relations as well as the mutual prejudices seen in interwar Poland were the most popular themes explored in films about Jews and Poles in postwar Poland. One can argue that the one-sided cinematic portrayal of Polish and Jewish people and the denial of Polish responsibility and passivity towards the Jewish suffering is the result of the control of the communist government over the film production and its anti-Semitic ideology.
REFERENCES:
BAUER, Y., 1974. My brother’s keeper: a history of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee,1929-1939. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America.
COATES, P., 2005. The Red & the White: The Cinema of People’s Poland. London: Wallflower Press. FALKOWSKA, J., 2007. Andrzej Wajda: History, Politics and Nostalgia in Polish Cinema. New York, NY: Berghahn Books.
HALTOF, M., 2002. Polish National Cinema. Oxford, UK: Berghahn Books.
HALTOF, M., 2012. Polish Film and the Holocaust: Politcs and Memory. New York, NY: Berghahn Books.
MISIAK, A., 2005. Aleksander Ford and Film Censorship in Poland. [online]. Waterloo, ON: University of Waterloo. Available from: http://www.kinema.uwaterloo.ca/article.php?id=114& [Accessed 23 April 2013].
TAYLOR, R. et al., eds., 2009. The BFI Companion to Eastern European and Russian Cinema. 2nd ed. London: British Film Institute.
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