Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:00:19,491 --> 00:00:25,741
(the sound of a moving streetcar)
2
00:01:09,524 --> 00:01:14,361
(peaceful music)
3
00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:43,240
There's nothing here to remind me
of my birthplace.
4
00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:47,160
There was once a beautiful square.
Muranowski Square.
5
00:01:47,320 --> 00:01:52,720
I remember trees, and benches.
6
00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:58,800
I was born in Warsaw,
7
00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,400
{\an8}into a traditional Jewish family.
8
00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:06,080
{\an8}I went to a pre-school
for Jewish children,
9
00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:08,440
where they taught Polish.
10
00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:12,680
At home we spoke Yiddish,
11
00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:17,200
but I had no problem with Polish,
as we spoke that too.
12
00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:25,480
My parents and grandparents
lived in Warsaw.
13
00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:29,120
We lived at 91 Zelazna Street.
14
00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,760
By the gate was a tiny shop,
15
00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,280
owned by a Jew, our neighbor.
16
00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,320
He used to impress us kids
17
00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:46,960
by pretending to stitch
his fingers together with a needle.
18
00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:49,160
We'd be horrified.
19
00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,120
He had a daughter Lonia,
20
00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:58,120
who was a friend of my sister,
21
00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:04,280
and we lived
just like normal neighbors.
22
00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,880
My mother was from Warsaw.
23
00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:20,720
Her family had lived there
for hundreds of years.
24
00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,360
Nowolipie - that was my street.
25
00:03:26,721 --> 00:03:31,440
I often see it more clearly
than the Warsaw around me today.
26
00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:34,178
It's still the same in my mind.
27
00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:40,040
In the morning,
warm pretzels would be delivered -
28
00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,120
they were called bagels.
29
00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:46,280
You won't find bagels like those
today.
30
00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:50,400
You could take one and untwist it.
31
00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:56,960
My parents lived
at 49 Marszalkowska St.
32
00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,480
It was a so-called
good neighborhood.
33
00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:06,520
My nanny would take me
to the Church of the Holiest Savior.
34
00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,120
{\an8}I remember we had to recite prayers.
35
00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:14,000
{\an8}Some children would say
they didn't know the prayers.
36
00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:17,600
{\an8}And I would say I did,
because my nanny taught me.
37
00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,480
It was in the Jordan Garden
on Bagatela St.
38
00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:27,640
That the War began for me.
39
00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,400
I was sitting in a sand box,
and my mum came over.
40
00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:36,000
There was a war on, she said,
and what were we going to do now?
41
00:04:36,504 --> 00:04:41,199
(minimal music)
42
00:05:10,542 --> 00:05:14,833
Itâs the special quality
of the Nazi system.
43
00:05:15,750 --> 00:05:20,667
People who had the energy to
develop something,
44
00:05:20,833 --> 00:05:23,708
{\an8}had the power to do it.
45
00:05:25,270 --> 00:05:29,832
{\an8}(minimal music)
46
00:05:30,625 --> 00:05:34,583
When Mr. Dengel took over in Warsaw,
47
00:05:34,858 --> 00:05:38,333
in early December â39
he had the idea
48
00:05:38,500 --> 00:05:42,292
to invite Hubert Gross
49
00:05:42,458 --> 00:05:48,000
to come to Warsaw and build
a German "Construction Department".
50
00:05:49,292 --> 00:05:53,542
Hubert Gross was the architect who was
51
00:05:53,875 --> 00:05:58,958
at that time head of the town
planning office in Wurtzburg.
52
00:06:00,708 --> 00:06:04,583
Gross joined the party in May â33
53
00:06:04,750 --> 00:06:08,083
knowing that something great
is coming up.
54
00:06:10,667 --> 00:06:15,833
In contrast, my father, who became
the chief architect of Hamburg,
55
00:06:16,167 --> 00:06:20,167
joined the party like in fact most
56
00:06:20,333 --> 00:06:26,208
architects in Germany on 1st May, 1937.
57
00:06:28,417 --> 00:06:31,833
I started to call myself a
private detective
58
00:06:32,583 --> 00:06:35,458
and I was searching for
the German architects
59
00:06:35,625 --> 00:06:38,208
who worked in Poland during the War.
60
00:06:39,208 --> 00:06:43,458
Gross upon the advice of
Mr. Dengel developed a dream
61
00:06:43,795 --> 00:06:50,255
of reducing Warsaw to next to nothing.
62
00:06:50,890 --> 00:06:55,679
(minimal music)
63
00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:12,640
On the screen is a visualization
from one of my projects.
64
00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,200
It's based on fascist plans
for the construction
65
00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:19,640
of a new German city,
die Neue Deutsche Stadt Warschau.
66
00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:24,720
This is a virtual re-construction
of that new Warsaw.
67
00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,360
This is the city centre.
68
00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:32,200
It's a relatively small city.
Entrances were to be guarded
69
00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:34,400
by watchtowers on all sides.
70
00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:39,560
These are the main buildings.
71
00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,920
On the Praga side,
there was to be a district for Poles,
72
00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:49,760
who were to be slowly exterminated.
The New German City of Warsaw
73
00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:53,960
was to be inhabited only by Germans.
74
00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:57,040
There was to be no Jewish population.
75
00:07:59,220 --> 00:08:02,680
With regard to Warsaw,
the FĂŒhrer has decided
76
00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:05,760
{\an8}that the reconstruction of that
city as a major Polish metropolis
77
00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:08,320
{\an8}is absolutely out of the question.
78
00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:12,935
The FĂŒhrer's wish is that in accordance
with plans for the development of the
79
00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:17,563
{\an8}General Government territory itself, Warsaw
be reduced to the level of a provincial city.
80
00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:22,040
{\an8}From the diary of Governor
General Hans Frank.
81
00:08:25,370 --> 00:08:28,753
(minimal music)
82
00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:39,160
Once the Germans arrived,
the terror began almost right away.
83
00:08:39,191 --> 00:08:42,754
The official announcements
and notices...
84
00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:46,120
Everyone had to hand over
all their valuables.
85
00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:50,080
Jewelry,
86
00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:55,640
radios, cameras, furs.
87
00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:58,600
Anything of worth
had to be turned in.
88
00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:02,640
Jews were identified and
89
00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,360
forced to wear arm-bands
with the star of David.
90
00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:08,520
It was very unpleasant.
91
00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:13,480
In my mind,
92
00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:16,600
this was a form of degradation.
93
00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:19,775
At any moment I could be humiliated.
94
00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:25,960
In the spring of 1940,
consultations were begun
95
00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:31,839
with a view to creating one or more Jewish
housing districts within the city of Warsaw.
96
00:09:31,864 --> 00:09:36,040
In the end, however, it was decided that
a single district should be established
97
00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,760
in the area where Jews
were traditionally in the majority.
98
00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:42,320
Dr Friedrich Gollert,
99
00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:46,720
SS-UntersturmfĂŒhrer,
Head, Division of Regional Planning,
100
00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:50,240
Office of the Governor
of the District of Warsaw.
101
00:09:59,192 --> 00:10:02,535
(calm music)
102
00:10:15,079 --> 00:10:18,000
Where was the Jewish
neighborhood in Warsaw?
103
00:10:18,168 --> 00:10:20,500
{\an8}There were Jewish neighborhoods,
104
00:10:20,667 --> 00:10:26,542
{\an8}Nalewki, Nowolipki
where it was almost all Jewish,
105
00:10:26,708 --> 00:10:31,500
but when youâre a third of the city,
youâre all over the city.
106
00:10:31,667 --> 00:10:35,667
And the interaction with non-Jews
was a normal daily event.
107
00:10:36,417 --> 00:10:39,708
That comes to a crashing halt
108
00:10:39,875 --> 00:10:42,708
with the building of the
Warsaw Ghetto wall,
109
00:10:42,875 --> 00:10:46,500
which goes through the heart
of the city and divides
110
00:10:46,667 --> 00:10:52,167
Jews from non-Jews as they
were never divided before.
111
00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:01,520
The wall didn't suddenly appear.
112
00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:03,720
{\an8}Bits and pieces
113
00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:09,320
{\an8}started going up in April 1940.
114
00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:13,360
These were sections of wall,
115
00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:17,120
or barriers with barbed wire.
116
00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:19,880
They popped up in various places.
117
00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:22,680
They interfered
with people's mobility,
118
00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:26,200
but it was still possible
to get around them.
119
00:11:26,872 --> 00:11:31,279
{\an8}(calm music)
120
00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:42,040
{\an8}The Schmidt & MĂŒnstermann Company
121
00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:45,240
Concerning:
The Jewish Housing District
122
00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:48,600
1 linear meter of border wall
123
00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:52,440
is equal to 1.3 cubic meters
of wall.
124
00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,000
Daily requirement for 100 masons:
125
00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:59,320
12 cubic meters of white lime,
126
00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:01,840
1,500 kg cement,
127
00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:04,440
37,000 bricks.
128
00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:08,760
I had no idea I was Jewish.
129
00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:13,680
So first I was asking:
Why do we have to move?
130
00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:17,000
And later: What does it mean
that I'm Jewish,
131
00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:21,520
and why do we have to leave
our home?
132
00:12:24,833 --> 00:12:29,419
(dramatic music)
133
00:12:49,023 --> 00:12:51,255
When we arrived in the Ghetto,
134
00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:55,840
{\an8}the first thing I saw
was a horrible poster.
135
00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:00,280
{\an8}I didn't want to be
like that Jew on the poster.
136
00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:05,560
I was distraught at being forced
to live there.
137
00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:09,000
I thought that every Jew
had to look like that,
138
00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,360
and I was so terribly humiliated
by all this
139
00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:17,160
that I said to my mum
I didn't want to be a Jew anymore,
140
00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:21,320
and I wanted to go back
to Marszalkowska St.,
141
00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:24,520
and why was all this
happening anyway?
142
00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:31,520
Notice. By order of the District
Governor and effective immediately.
143
00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:36,160
A self-contained Jewish quarter is
to be created in the District of Warsaw
144
00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:40,320
with a view to preventing
the spread of disease.
145
00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:47,800
In the city of Warsaw a boundary running
around the Jewish quarter has been established
146
00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:52,440
and all border streets are to be
simultaneously closed off from it,
147
00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:54,600
on both sides, as follows:
148
00:13:55,860 --> 00:13:58,720
From Zielna to Krolewska and Zlota.
149
00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:03,120
From Zlota to Zielna and Zelazna.
150
00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:07,080
From Twarda to Zelazna and Srebrna.
151
00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:11,240
From Srebrna to Twarda and Miedziana.
152
00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:19,400
From Miedziana to Srebrna and Kazimierz
Square. From Kazimierz Square North...
153
00:14:21,660 --> 00:14:26,715
(minimal music)
154
00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:39,240
Poles could enter the Ghetto,
155
00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:43,080
representatives of companies
could enter,
156
00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,720
and so could city workers.
157
00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,800
Basically, it was
for official matters.
158
00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:57,080
We already lived
in the area that was now the Ghetto,
159
00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:00,960
as Muranowski Square
fell within the Big Ghetto.
160
00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:05,720
However, Jews who lived
outside the Ghetto
161
00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:07,960
had to move in,
162
00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:12,320
and Poles who lived in the Ghetto
had to move out.
163
00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,640
This led to very painful situations
for people.
164
00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:18,400
They left their homes,
165
00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:24,560
their furniture and possessions,
carrying only a few small bundles.
166
00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:27,000
The Ghetto became very crowded.
167
00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:36,520
We see images of the expulsion
of the Jewish community.
168
00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:41,480
Something similar happened
the other way around too.
169
00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:47,200
There were tens of thousands
of people like us.
170
00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:56,440
I remember sitting on a cart,
171
00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,080
full of our things.
172
00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:04,640
We were thrown out of Zelazna,
because the Ghetto was created there.
173
00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:10,200
We were moved to Brzeska Street,
number 5, apartment 110.
174
00:17:10,360 --> 00:17:12,320
It was a ruin.
175
00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:18,440
Measures involved the resettlement
of around 700 Ethnic Germans,
176
00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:23,480
113,000 Poles and 138,000 Jews.
177
00:17:24,740 --> 00:17:28,440
The Warsaw Jewish housing district
is an enclosed area,
178
00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:32,120
cut off from its surroundings
by walls, fences, and so on.
179
00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:38,960
Movement of persons and goods in and out
of the area is by special permit only.
180
00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:41,120
Dr Friedrich Gollert,
181
00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:46,080
SS-UntersturmfĂŒhrer,
Head, Division of Regional Planning,
182
00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:49,840
Office of the Governor
of the District of Warsaw.
183
00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:53,640
For people like me,
184
00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:57,600
being outside the Ghetto wall
185
00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:02,320
didn't mean life was easy.
186
00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:06,080
We were given a single room
to live in.
187
00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:09,840
There were five of us.
188
00:18:12,755 --> 00:18:16,169
(minimal music)
189
00:18:18,386 --> 00:18:20,520
The Jewish population
190
00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:24,760
always looked
for contacts outside the Ghetto wall
191
00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:27,760
to get food.
192
00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:33,680
At first, Lonia came to us
on Brzeska St.,
193
00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:40,160
though we weren't well off
at the time.
194
00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:45,080
We were three siblings,
my mum, my dad.
195
00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:51,000
Dad did smuggling,
because there was no other way then.
196
00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:55,240
But my mum put aside potatoes
197
00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:57,640
and peelings for her.
198
00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:04,040
I'm not sure what else she got,
but we somehow shared.
199
00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:10,560
Later, Lonia stopped coming.
200
00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,640
Of course, we didn't know why.
201
00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,680
Father kept rolls of banknotes.
202
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,760
I don't know if they were
larger denominations then,
203
00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:30,680
but the rolls
grew smaller and smaller,
204
00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:34,080
until there was no money left.
205
00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:40,040
After that my sister
simply disappeared.
206
00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:44,280
I don't know how. She and my father
just ceased to exist.
207
00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:50,920
I don't remember any farewell
208
00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:53,040
or any of the circumstances.
209
00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:57,800
Maybe my memory rejected it
because it was too terrible.
210
00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:03,950
(the noise of moving cars)
211
00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:15,160
The city center was cut off,
and ceased to function normally.
212
00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:22,520
When you see which part of the city
made up the Ghetto,
213
00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:25,400
you realize it was
the heart of Warsaw.
214
00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:31,440
If you take into account
that the Germans
215
00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,480
also carved off
a piece for themselves,
216
00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:37,360
what was left of Warsaw
for Varsovians
217
00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:40,200
was just a part.
218
00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:51,680
There was the German residential
district in the south of Warsaw,
219
00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,680
and this also had a demarcation.
220
00:20:54,833 --> 00:21:02,317
And its very clear that nobody
else was supposed to live there.
221
00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:07,040
The German housing district
has been created
222
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,840
for the protection of the German
population at their request.
223
00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,120
The Police cannot guarantee Germans
living outside of this district
224
00:21:16,340 --> 00:21:21,900
the same degree of personal safety as
is provided to those living within it.
225
00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:27,400
Hans Pfliegner,
Nazi Party Stabsamtsleiter, Warsaw
226
00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:35,460
Soldiers must not be seen on the street or
in any public place in the company of Poles
227
00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,600
â men or women â nor should
they enter restaurants with them.
228
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:41,680
Beware when making acquaintances.
229
00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:44,880
You can never be sure
who it is you are dealing with.
230
00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:47,700
No Pole, and certainly no Jew,
231
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,920
can have honest intentions
towards a German.
232
00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:54,280
From instructions
to Soldiers of the Wehrmacht
233
00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:56,720
temporarily stationed in Warsaw.
234
00:22:05,147 --> 00:22:09,194
(minimal music)
235
00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:06,480
Night and day,
236
00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,320
by rail, in carts and buses.
237
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,560
Jews arrive here
from Polish towns and villages.
238
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:19,140
The individual vanishes
in this enormous human mass.
239
00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:27,906
People are crammed in,
individual faces are unrecognizable.
240
00:23:31,716 --> 00:23:36,490
(minimal music)
241
00:23:39,378 --> 00:23:43,909
(the sound of a moving streetcar)
242
00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:53,240
The German army and civilians
must in any event
243
00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:55,840
be protected from the Jews,
244
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,640
{\an8}immune carriers of disease bacteria.
245
00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,360
{\an8}The separation of Jews from the
rest of the population,
246
00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:05,680
{\an8}Polish as well as Ethnic Germans,
247
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,400
{\an8}is a moral and political imperative.
248
00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:11,000
Traffic in the center of Warsaw
249
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:15,640
has only been minimally affected by the
creation of the Jewish housing district.
250
00:24:15,860 --> 00:24:19,760
Above all in the interests of
the Wehrmacht and the economy,
251
00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:25,120
great care was taken to ensure that certain
main thoroughfares would remain crossable
252
00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:27,640
{\an8}without obstruction to through traffic.
253
00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:31,084
{\an8}Waldemar Schön, SS-StandartenfuÌhrer,
254
00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:34,240
{\an8}Director, Department of Resettlement,
255
00:24:34,620 --> 00:24:37,626
{\an8}Office of the Governor
of the District of Warsaw
256
00:24:40,129 --> 00:24:45,989
{\an8}(minimal music)
257
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:56,440
{\an8}The German planners divide,
and then administer their division.
258
00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:00,840
{\an8}They even designate which streets
a tram is to travel along,
259
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,520
{\an8}to shorten its route through
the Ghetto, creating two ghettos.
260
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:09,880
It would all be
a terrifying mishmash of evil.
261
00:25:20,699 --> 00:25:26,004
(knocking noises)
262
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:33,520
Some Ghetto borders
changed literally every week.
263
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:37,520
This was the subject of haggling
264
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:43,200
between the city administration
and the Ghetto management.
265
00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:47,760
Whether a building would stay
in the Ghetto or not,
266
00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:51,000
especially buildings
on the periphery.
267
00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:58,560
Chlodna Street ended up
dividing the Jewish District.
268
00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:02,400
The District was cut into two parts
269
00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:08,120
by the critically important tram line
that ran along Chlodna.
270
00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:21,440
The ghetto was divided into two parts,
a small ghetto and a large one.
271
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:26,400
In order for Jews to move back and
forth between the small and large ghetto
272
00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:30,480
it was necessary to stop
the flow of traffic at intervals.
273
00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:32,960
Since this was inconvenient
for the Germans.
274
00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:37,443
Jews were given permission to cross
over as infrequently as possible.
275
00:26:38,530 --> 00:26:41,905
(minimal music)
276
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:50,560
As I walked along Zelazna,
I would see from a distance
277
00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:53,120
the crowd milling
at the corner of Chlodna.
278
00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:57,920
People would be shifting restlessly
on the spot waiting for the German police
279
00:26:58,120 --> 00:27:01,120
to decide when the traffic on Chlodna
was light enough,
280
00:27:01,380 --> 00:27:06,880
and the crowd on Zelazna thick enough to
warrant letting the Jews across the street.
281
00:27:10,281 --> 00:27:15,000
(minimal music)
282
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,160
When the moment finally came,
283
00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,500
the police cordon would part
284
00:27:22,700 --> 00:27:26,700
and the impatient crowd would surge
forward in both directions,
285
00:27:26,950 --> 00:27:32,320
pushing each other over in the panic to distance
themselves from the dangerous German presence,
286
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:36,200
and melt once more into the depths
of the two ghettos.
287
00:27:44,074 --> 00:27:49,519
(minimal music)
288
00:27:56,126 --> 00:28:00,774
(the sound of moving cars)
289
00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:25,600
A line in the pavement
290
00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:30,480
shows where the Ghetto border ran.
291
00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,000
How the Ghetto fit into Warsaw.
292
00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:42,360
Not as an isolated island,
surrounded by the unknown,
293
00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:45,000
but in the context of the city.
294
00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:51,040
On each plaque
there is a nail showing where we are.
295
00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,920
A part of downtown Warsaw
296
00:28:56,200 --> 00:29:00,320
was torn away,
so this part is raised.
297
00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:12,240
Our intention -
Tomasz Lec's and mine -
298
00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:17,200
was to show the Ghetto in real space,
299
00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:20,560
how it was,
and where the boundary ran.
300
00:29:22,937 --> 00:29:27,062
(the sound of a bicycle riding)
301
00:29:30,417 --> 00:29:34,880
I think very important was when the City
of Warsaw put down kind of the boundaries,
302
00:29:35,010 --> 00:29:40,000
in the sidewalk, you see Iâm in the Ghetto,
Iâm out of the Ghetto, with a little plaque.
303
00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:46,120
Very important. Itâs there,
itâs not a tall monument,
304
00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:49,630
but itâs there when you want
to see it, youâre reminded.
305
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:57,860
The streets of the ghetto -
and they alone - ended in walls.
306
00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:04,040
Sometimes, I would be heading
unsuspectingly in a particular direction,
307
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:08,000
when suddenly, without warning, I
would come up against one of these walls.
308
00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:14,680
My way would be blocked, yet
everything in me wanted to keep on going,
309
00:30:14,780 --> 00:30:17,880
and there was no logical reason
why I should not be able to do so.
310
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,780
In that instant, the street
on the other side of the wall
311
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:26,440
would become irresistible, necessary
312
00:30:26,580 --> 00:30:29,700
the most precious place on earth.
313
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:34,880
There was nothing
I wouldn't have given
314
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:36,520
to be part of what was
going on there.
315
00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:40,640
But it was no use.
316
00:30:40,700 --> 00:30:44,040
Time and again, I would give up
in defeat and retrace my steps
317
00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:46,560
with the same feeling of despair.
318
00:30:50,541 --> 00:30:55,658
(street noises)
319
00:31:17,317 --> 00:31:21,512
{\an8}(minimal music)
320
00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:54,560
{\an8}A Jew who didn't have a lot of money,
321
00:32:55,003 --> 00:33:01,280
{\an8}or didn't have a Pole
who was his friend
322
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:05,000
{\an8}didn't stand a chance.
323
00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:07,960
There was nothing he could do.
324
00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:10,920
He cared only
325
00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,640
about what he would eat the next day,
326
00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:17,520
and what he would give his children.
327
00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:22,800
I was one of those
who didn't have anything.
328
00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:29,560
Smuggling started immediately.
Otherwise you couldn't stay alive.
329
00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:34,480
80 percent of food in the ghetto
came from smuggling,
330
00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:39,520
not from the official suppliers
authorized by the Germans.
331
00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:43,720
If someone had money,
they'd get things in somehow.
332
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:47,840
I once witnessed a tram
passing through Muranowski Square,
333
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:52,000
and as it turned,
items were thrown out.
334
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:54,560
It couldn't stop in the Ghetto.
335
00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:58,080
Trade carried on this way.
336
00:33:58,931 --> 00:34:02,088
(dramatic music)
337
00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:08,800
Smuggling was an important instance
of cooperation
338
00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:12,080
between people in the Ghetto,
and people outside.
339
00:34:12,776 --> 00:34:18,166
(dramatic music)
340
00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:30,560
The Mirowski Halls
341
00:34:30,720 --> 00:34:35,160
were central to trade.
342
00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:40,440
In occupied Warsaw
343
00:34:40,720 --> 00:34:45,720
there were products there, and food.
344
00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:48,920
The Jewish population
345
00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:53,600
was always looking
for a chance to obtain food.
346
00:34:55,080 --> 00:35:00,080
And Hala Mirowska
was one of the parts of the city
347
00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:04,280
immediately adjacent to the Ghetto.
348
00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:09,920
I remember the Ghetto wall ran there,
349
00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:12,760
diagonally across from the Halls.
350
00:35:17,266 --> 00:35:23,024
(minimal music)
351
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:23,720
In some places the ghetto walls did
not come right down to the pavement.
352
00:36:24,720 --> 00:36:28,760
At regular intervals there were
openings at ground level,
353
00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:33,760
through which water flowed into
drains running alongside the sidewalks.
354
00:36:34,220 --> 00:36:37,960
These openings were also used by
children, for smuggling.
355
00:36:38,461 --> 00:36:40,095
Tiny dark creatures
356
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:44,960
with legs like match-sticks would
converge on these openings from all sides.
357
00:36:45,467 --> 00:36:48,975
Terrified eyes darted
from left to right,
358
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:52,100
and frail paws
dragged through bundles
359
00:36:52,500 --> 00:36:55,840
that were often bigger than the tiny
smugglers themselves.
360
00:36:58,858 --> 00:37:02,405
(dramatic music)
361
00:37:53,780 --> 00:37:54,840
Notice.
362
00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:58,960
Any Jew unlawfully leaving
the designated housing district
363
00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:01,120
is to be punished by death.
364
00:38:01,300 --> 00:38:03,760
The same punishment
will apply to persons
365
00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:08,000
who consciously protect such Jews
or in any way assist them.
366
00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:14,900
Warsaw, 10th of November 1941,
Dr Fischer, Governor
367
00:38:17,170 --> 00:38:21,076
(minimal music)
368
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:28,680
Sienna is a very important street
for me.
369
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:32,080
This is a street I was scared of
370
00:38:32,240 --> 00:38:35,320
and I still am to this day.
371
00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:40,200
I've never walked this street
without feeling afraid.
372
00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:44,760
Behind this wall,
I spent more than two years
373
00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:47,320
in the Ghetto with my family.
374
00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:51,360
When I first found myself back here,
375
00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:54,840
I began looking obsessively
for the hole
376
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:59,400
through which my mum and I
had escaped.
377
00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:04,840
I just stood here
going back in time,
378
00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:08,760
trying to figure out
where that hole could be.
379
00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:14,120
But the hole was probably
somewhere else, further on.
380
00:39:17,720 --> 00:39:21,560
My mum did something
that no normal person would do.
381
00:39:21,720 --> 00:39:26,880
After we escaped from the Ghetto,
she went with me to the Main Station.
382
00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:30,720
She got into the compartment
with German officers.
383
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:33,080
Because she spoke good German,
384
00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:37,000
she asked if she could sit there
with her daughter.
385
00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:38,640
They let us in.
386
00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:46,920
I wonder if I could've done
what my mum did. That was heroic.
387
00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:55,200
I see two years
388
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:59,320
of humiliation, imprisonment, hunger
389
00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:01,920
and fear behind me.
390
00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:05,040
As I said,
I'm scared of Sienna Street.
391
00:40:05,200 --> 00:40:10,680
I still expect to either see
392
00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:14,480
or remember something terrible there.
393
00:40:19,868 --> 00:40:25,001
(minimal music)
394
00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:50,920
All around I could see hand carts,
395
00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:55,580
and on them bodies of men,
women and children,
396
00:40:55,600 --> 00:40:58,480
piled carelessly
one on top of the other.
397
00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:06,600
I became aware of a strange,
vaguely sweet and sickening odour
398
00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:08,840
I'd never smelled before.
399
00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:13,920
A Jewish Policeman explained:
400
00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:18,960
"Next to the Jewish cemetery
there was once a large field.
401
00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:24,720
Today it's one
of the biggest mass graves ever,
402
00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:30,920
filled with the bodies of Jews
from all corners of Europe".
403
00:41:34,180 --> 00:41:36,260
Could this be real?
404
00:41:37,100 --> 00:41:43,240
How was it possible that a human being
of flesh and blood could be allowed to die
405
00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:45,120
in such a pitiful fashion?
406
00:42:05,001 --> 00:42:09,142
(dramatic music)
407
00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:31,720
The German occupation murdered
90% of the Jews here.
408
00:42:32,667 --> 00:42:34,500
Itâs heartbreaking.
409
00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:36,580
And then if you could imagine,
410
00:42:36,920 --> 00:42:40,400
that not only does the wall go through
the heart of the city,
411
00:42:40,550 --> 00:42:42,600
right in the middle of a
street it stops,
412
00:42:43,180 --> 00:42:44,580
but on the other side of that wall,
413
00:42:45,500 --> 00:42:48,000
starvation, disease,
414
00:42:48,500 --> 00:42:51,400
and very soon after
deportation to death.
415
00:42:53,221 --> 00:42:59,143
(minimal music)
416
00:43:03,160 --> 00:43:05,880
Treblinka Station
417
00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:10,640
On the Tluszcz-Warszawa line,
from the station "Warschau-Ost",
418
00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:15,280
the tracks stretch out before you,
and the train it never swerves.
419
00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:20,240
Sometimes the journey lasts
five and three-quarter hours,
420
00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:25,720
but it can also take a lifetime
and last until you die...
421
00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:31,050
And the station is a small one
with three fir-trees in a row,
422
00:43:31,150 --> 00:43:32,760
and the sign is not at all unusual:
423
00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:36,480
it says "Treblinka Station",
nothing more.
424
00:43:36,720 --> 00:43:40,760
It doesn't have a ticket counter,
and there's no porter to be found,
425
00:43:40,920 --> 00:43:45,000
and not even for a million Zlotys
could you purchase a return.
426
00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:49,080
No one is waiting on the platform
and no one waves a scarf.
427
00:43:49,240 --> 00:43:51,600
There's only
the heavy sound of silence
428
00:43:51,760 --> 00:43:53,800
and mute desolation to welcome you.
429
00:43:53,960 --> 00:43:57,760
And the signal post is silent,
and the row of fir-trees too,
430
00:43:57,920 --> 00:44:00,560
and black lettering
informs in silence thatâ
431
00:44:00,720 --> 00:44:03,480
{\an8}Treblinka Station is where you are.
432
00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:08,880
{\an8}Resettlement is taking time.
433
00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:13,600
At any moment it could pick up speed.
The process is not yet complete.
434
00:44:13,760 --> 00:44:17,560
These notes are being written
out of an instinctive desire
435
00:44:17,720 --> 00:44:19,840
to leave behind a trace.
436
00:44:20,600 --> 00:44:24,080
Out of a despair that
reaches screaming pitch.
437
00:44:24,240 --> 00:44:26,760
And to justify still being alive
438
00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:32,200
despite the deadly uncertainty.
439
00:44:33,480 --> 00:44:35,920
There's a noose around our necks.
440
00:44:36,080 --> 00:44:41,040
When the knot slackens,
screams escape our throats.
441
00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:47,480
Cries like ours have rung out
in vain all through history,
442
00:44:48,200 --> 00:44:52,160
with only a distant echo heard.
443
00:44:57,505 --> 00:45:03,278
(sad music)
444
00:45:13,278 --> 00:45:17,254
(the sounds of a moving tram)
445
00:45:25,760 --> 00:45:27,800
For security reasons,
446
00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:31,320
I order that the ghetto of Warsaw
be demolished.
447
00:45:31,800 --> 00:45:36,200
All utilizable building parts
and other materials of any value,
448
00:45:36,300 --> 00:45:38,600
are to first be salvaged.
449
00:45:38,760 --> 00:45:42,960
An overal plan for the razing of the ghetto
is to be submitted to me.
450
00:45:43,120 --> 00:45:45,880
We must in any event ensure
that the living-space
451
00:45:46,040 --> 00:45:49,920
occupied up until now
by 500,000 sub-humans
452
00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:53,000
and in no way fit for habitation
by Germans,
453
00:45:53,100 --> 00:45:54,920
disappears completely.
454
00:45:55,080 --> 00:45:58,080
And that Warsaw,
this city of one million,
455
00:45:58,240 --> 00:46:01,120
always a center
of corruption and revolt,
456
00:46:01,280 --> 00:46:03,160
{\an8}is reduced in size.
457
00:46:03,580 --> 00:46:07,200
{\an8}Heinrich Himmler, ReichsfĂŒhrer-SS
458
00:46:10,258 --> 00:46:14,937
{\an8}(minimal music)
459
00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:21,080
In the Ghetto,
460
00:46:21,240 --> 00:46:25,240
at the same time
as an organized resistance group
461
00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:27,760
was preparing to fight,
462
00:46:28,075 --> 00:46:34,940
Jews were going into hiding.
463
00:46:37,960 --> 00:46:42,800
I descended into that bunker
in January '43,
464
00:46:43,240 --> 00:46:45,880
and in April the Uprising broke out.
465
00:46:46,040 --> 00:46:49,440
My brothers left
to take part in the Uprising.
466
00:46:49,600 --> 00:46:54,440
This bunker was built
around a basement
467
00:46:55,800 --> 00:47:00,200
that had been dug deeper,
with boarded up sides.
468
00:47:00,360 --> 00:47:04,120
The dug out earth
was piled up all around,
469
00:47:04,280 --> 00:47:08,320
and it provided
some kind of insulation.
470
00:47:08,480 --> 00:47:13,720
When the fires started, everything
in the neighbouring basements
471
00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:17,200
collapsed and burned.
But this bunker survived.
472
00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:27,920
I took part in the Uprising,
473
00:47:28,080 --> 00:47:30,080
and I was wounded.
474
00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:36,720
I remember 1943,
475
00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:40,800
at the end of Nowogrodzka St.
I remember seeing
476
00:47:40,960 --> 00:47:45,800
uncanny clouds of smoke
rising from the north.
477
00:47:45,960 --> 00:47:49,880
Fighting in the Ghetto,
something happening there.
478
00:47:50,040 --> 00:47:52,680
{\an8}I remember that picture.
479
00:47:56,178 --> 00:48:00,522
{\an8}(dramatic music)
480
00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:24,880
{\an8}The Jewish Quarter of Warsaw
is no more.
481
00:48:27,150 --> 00:48:31,583
{\an8}JĂŒrgen Stroop, SS-GruppenfĂŒhrer
482
00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:38,760
It still pains me
483
00:48:38,920 --> 00:48:42,800
that after all these years
I never got to mourn my family.
484
00:48:42,960 --> 00:48:45,560
I never even had time for that.
485
00:48:45,720 --> 00:48:49,880
I left everyone. I had six brothers
and one sister, parents.
486
00:48:50,040 --> 00:48:53,240
I'm the only one
who came out of all that.
487
00:48:53,400 --> 00:48:57,000
I was left as a witness.
If I'd...
488
00:48:57,160 --> 00:48:59,160
There would be nobody left.
489
00:48:59,320 --> 00:49:03,320
The value of life is that you can
bear witness to something.
490
00:49:07,720 --> 00:49:10,160
The Goose Street Camp
491
00:49:10,320 --> 00:49:13,760
was set up to hold people
492
00:49:13,920 --> 00:49:16,560
needed to dismantle the Ghetto.
493
00:49:16,720 --> 00:49:21,160
The Ghetto wasn't blown up
with dynamite, but disassembled.
494
00:49:22,960 --> 00:49:26,709
It was total plunder.
495
00:49:28,427 --> 00:49:32,872
And this camp was hell.
496
00:49:34,102 --> 00:49:35,782
People died there.
497
00:49:39,040 --> 00:49:42,040
On the ruins of the Ghetto,
498
00:49:42,200 --> 00:49:46,040
the Germans planned to create
499
00:49:46,200 --> 00:49:48,560
a park for Germans.
500
00:49:50,120 --> 00:49:53,400
Hence the demolition.
501
00:49:53,560 --> 00:49:59,080
The terrain was to be covered over
with earth for a paradise garden.
502
00:50:04,375 --> 00:50:07,917
The intention was to destroy the capital
503
00:50:08,200 --> 00:50:11,625
of what was formerly Poland.
504
00:50:11,950 --> 00:50:17,400
That was the main intention to destroy
the idea alone of a capital,
505
00:50:17,780 --> 00:50:21,500
because there was no more Poland.
506
00:50:26,720 --> 00:50:30,040
I was almost a year
on the Aryan side.
507
00:50:30,200 --> 00:50:33,640
There was a whole network of help.
508
00:50:33,800 --> 00:50:38,000
If things got dangerous,
someone would come by to lead you on.
509
00:50:38,160 --> 00:50:42,680
My sister-in-law and I were
taken away to another place.
510
00:50:43,160 --> 00:50:45,280
They split us up.
511
00:50:45,440 --> 00:50:49,880
The son of the caretaker
of the building where my brother was,
512
00:50:50,040 --> 00:50:54,080
led the Gestapo to him. They took
my brother, and a young boy -
513
00:50:54,240 --> 00:50:57,360
little Zygmunt -
who had been helping him.
514
00:50:57,520 --> 00:51:02,280
And they took away the caretaker,
who was looking after my brother.
515
00:51:02,440 --> 00:51:07,080
He was the father of the young
hooligan who betrayed them all.
516
00:51:07,240 --> 00:51:11,240
And at Gestapo HQ my brother,
517
00:51:11,400 --> 00:51:16,280
little Zygmunt, and the father -
Mr. Grochowski - were all killed.
518
00:51:17,997 --> 00:51:22,848
(dramatic music)
519
00:51:28,440 --> 00:51:33,400
On the 1st of August 1944,
the Uprising broke out.
520
00:51:33,560 --> 00:51:38,160
I twice lived
through the burning of Warsaw.
521
00:51:40,531 --> 00:51:42,221
In 1944,
522
00:51:42,917 --> 00:51:49,667
a German architect documented the
blowing up of buildings
523
00:51:49,875 --> 00:51:51,480
one after the other.
524
00:51:52,600 --> 00:51:55,725
Itâs very difficult to believe
525
00:51:55,750 --> 00:51:59,208
that a person who calls himself
an architect,
526
00:51:59,375 --> 00:52:04,000
and he writes his designation and
his name on these cards,
527
00:52:04,292 --> 00:52:11,838
his job is to document that the
bombing squads did their job.
528
00:52:13,583 --> 00:52:14,930
It has to be proved,
529
00:52:14,955 --> 00:52:17,600
that this road and that road,
and the next road,
530
00:52:17,900 --> 00:52:21,700
one building after the other,
gone.
531
00:52:24,800 --> 00:52:28,360
All around,
the walls were almost red hot,
532
00:52:28,600 --> 00:52:31,760
and people were being herded along.
533
00:52:32,440 --> 00:52:35,200
From both sides
of the burning streets
534
00:52:35,720 --> 00:52:41,360
burning debris was coming down.
535
00:52:41,520 --> 00:52:46,200
Warsaw was on fire,
and you could feel it.
536
00:52:47,265 --> 00:52:51,374
(dramatic music)
537
00:53:05,840 --> 00:53:09,720
Very early Spring, 1945.
538
00:53:09,880 --> 00:53:14,520
On this side of the wall,
burnt out buildings,
539
00:53:14,680 --> 00:53:16,960
sometimes only half standing.
540
00:53:17,560 --> 00:53:20,400
It was a landscape of ruins.
541
00:53:20,560 --> 00:53:25,920
But when you entered the area
where the Ghetto had been,
542
00:53:26,080 --> 00:53:30,320
you'd discover
it was more like a desert.
543
00:53:32,280 --> 00:53:37,560
I remember running
over those hills of rubble.
544
00:53:40,320 --> 00:53:42,880
Through those ruins was a pathway
545
00:53:43,079 --> 00:53:49,960
and a post with a sign:
Nowolipie Street.
546
00:53:51,360 --> 00:53:53,960
I counted my steps,
547
00:53:54,120 --> 00:53:57,400
hoping to find the remains
of my building.
548
00:53:58,720 --> 00:54:00,680
And I found it.
549
00:54:00,840 --> 00:54:05,280
It had had a gate decorated
with yellow tiles.
550
00:54:05,440 --> 00:54:09,040
Suddenly, amongst the rubble,
I saw yellow tiles.
551
00:54:09,200 --> 00:54:11,400
I took one tile for myself.
552
00:54:11,560 --> 00:54:15,040
But much later, my wife was packing,
553
00:54:15,200 --> 00:54:19,040
and she saw this little piece of wall
and threw it out.
554
00:54:19,200 --> 00:54:22,000
I don't have it anymore.
555
00:54:23,700 --> 00:54:29,113
When Hubert Gross returned
to his home town
556
00:54:29,230 --> 00:54:32,066
in April â45.
557
00:54:32,472 --> 00:54:35,500
He came across the hills,
558
00:54:35,657 --> 00:54:41,792
saw his home city burning.
559
00:54:44,083 --> 00:54:48,125
He took off his uniform,
560
00:54:48,292 --> 00:54:51,542
buried it in the woods,
561
00:54:53,167 --> 00:54:59,042
and said, âI feel no guilt.â
562
00:54:59,658 --> 00:55:05,000
There was in his mind no
admission of any guilt.
563
00:55:07,165 --> 00:55:10,400
Among those architects whom I met,
564
00:55:10,640 --> 00:55:15,375
nobody ever mentioned anything
or answered the question
565
00:55:15,400 --> 00:55:18,000
why were they there?
566
00:55:18,875 --> 00:55:22,042
Whose intention did they fulfill?
567
00:55:22,208 --> 00:55:24,000
No answer.
568
00:55:26,726 --> 00:55:29,976
(minimal music)
569
00:55:34,480 --> 00:55:39,440
I didn't feel any personal connection
to the Ghetto before my mum died.
570
00:55:40,575 --> 00:55:43,055
She had shown me this picture,
571
00:55:43,080 --> 00:55:46,720
saying that
someone from her family was in it.
572
00:55:46,880 --> 00:55:52,120
Soon after, a book
about the same picture came out.
573
00:55:54,015 --> 00:55:59,815
What my mum had told me
made me feel I should look into it.
574
00:55:59,840 --> 00:56:02,120
From that book I learned
575
00:56:02,280 --> 00:56:05,640
that the woman who is visible here,
576
00:56:05,800 --> 00:56:11,200
behind this boy with raised hands,
is my mum's older sister.
577
00:56:11,360 --> 00:56:15,840
I said to myself - this is my aunt.
578
00:56:18,320 --> 00:56:24,200
That's when my personal connection
to this began.
579
00:56:39,183 --> 00:56:41,183
I hope I won't get lost.
580
00:56:41,270 --> 00:56:42,591
(laugh)
581
00:56:43,240 --> 00:56:46,960
I only found
my grandfather's grave recently.
582
00:56:47,120 --> 00:56:51,000
Young people had been here,
cleaning and refurbishing.
583
00:56:51,160 --> 00:56:56,000
Some tombstones were propped up,
and that's how I found it.
584
00:56:56,480 --> 00:56:58,680
It made me very happy,
585
00:56:58,840 --> 00:57:01,240
as this is the only proper place
586
00:57:01,400 --> 00:57:05,798
I can come to and light a candle.
587
00:57:11,080 --> 00:57:13,720
It was standing all by itself.
588
00:57:13,880 --> 00:57:18,520
All around it the stones
were knocked down.
589
00:57:23,880 --> 00:57:26,080
There it is.
590
00:57:26,240 --> 00:57:29,240
This is my grandmother's grave,
591
00:57:29,400 --> 00:57:31,600
my father's mother.
592
00:57:31,760 --> 00:57:34,160
She died the year I was born.
593
00:57:34,320 --> 00:57:38,920
So my mother
was three months pregnant with me
594
00:57:39,080 --> 00:57:41,560
when the funeral happened here.
595
00:57:43,976 --> 00:57:47,703
(sad music)
596
00:58:41,497 --> 00:58:43,097
It's here.
597
00:58:47,840 --> 00:58:49,880
I didn't bring a candle.
598
00:58:50,040 --> 00:58:52,560
This is my grandfather's grave.
599
00:58:54,800 --> 00:58:57,000
From this tombstone I learned
600
00:58:57,160 --> 00:58:59,760
that he was
of the Levite lineage.
601
00:58:59,920 --> 00:59:02,760
That's what this image means.
602
00:59:07,040 --> 00:59:10,680
Abraham Jehuda, son of Asher.
603
00:59:10,840 --> 00:59:14,000
So my great-grandfather's name
was Asher.
604
00:59:15,040 --> 00:59:17,880
It was an amazing,
605
00:59:18,040 --> 00:59:20,640
almost mystical feeling.
606
00:59:20,800 --> 00:59:22,760
As if my roots were here.
607
00:59:22,920 --> 00:59:24,880
Even now as I'm standing,
608
00:59:25,040 --> 00:59:30,080
there's the feeling of continuity
609
00:59:30,240 --> 00:59:33,240
and oneness with my grandmother.
610
00:59:38,186 --> 00:59:42,194
(minimal music)
611
00:59:54,100 --> 00:59:56,958
Why was the cemetery not destroyed?
612
00:59:57,125 --> 01:00:01,375
I think the simple answer is that
the Germans ran out of time.
613
01:00:02,250 --> 01:00:05,208
Their first focus was killing the living,
614
01:00:05,375 --> 01:00:07,875
not murdering again the dead.
615
01:00:08,042 --> 01:00:10,183
But simply they ran out of time.
616
01:00:13,375 --> 01:00:15,650
Of the dozens of major
synagogue buildings
617
01:00:15,675 --> 01:00:18,698
only one still stands today
and that is the Nozyk synagogue.
618
01:00:19,000 --> 01:00:21,250
Why this one synagogue survived
619
01:00:21,425 --> 01:00:25,100
then weâre already almost
getting into mystical answers.
620
01:00:25,230 --> 01:00:30,333
The practical answer is that it
was already outside of the Ghetto
621
01:00:30,500 --> 01:00:33,110
by the time the Uprising
began in April of â43,
622
01:00:33,240 --> 01:00:36,900
and was being used by Germans as
a warehouse and a stable for horses.
623
01:00:37,409 --> 01:00:41,300
(minimal music)
624
01:00:53,125 --> 01:00:55,708
But not all the Jews were killed,
625
01:00:56,292 --> 01:01:00,375
and today we have a small,
626
01:01:01,542 --> 01:01:05,220
but trying to be creative,
627
01:01:05,400 --> 01:01:09,110
trying to be vibrant
real Jewish community in Warsaw.
628
01:01:16,432 --> 01:01:21,140
After liberation in 1945
you couldnât live in Warsaw really.
629
01:01:21,500 --> 01:01:25,288
And slowly trying to rebuild
630
01:01:25,417 --> 01:01:32,000
{\an8}and then getting again undermined
by Soviet occupation and oppression.
631
01:01:34,511 --> 01:01:38,777
{\an8}(sad music)
632
01:02:09,320 --> 01:02:13,080
It's difficult to imagine
what was here before the War.
633
01:02:13,240 --> 01:02:15,520
This area has changed so much.
634
01:02:15,680 --> 01:02:19,000
Certain streets and squares
ceased to exist,
635
01:02:19,160 --> 01:02:22,080
names were changed,
directions were altered.
636
01:02:22,240 --> 01:02:27,680
No more than a dozen or so
original buildings survived.
637
01:02:29,507 --> 01:02:31,608
(the sound of a working excavator)
638
01:02:35,000 --> 01:02:38,400
This space has many dimensions
and many layers.
639
01:02:39,160 --> 01:02:42,280
{\an8}What we see underneath
is the second layer,
640
01:02:42,440 --> 01:02:46,880
{\an8}which makes itself felt,
641
01:02:47,040 --> 01:02:50,200
when workers dig down to place pipes,
642
01:02:50,684 --> 01:02:53,324
revealing the remains of old life.
643
01:03:00,440 --> 01:03:04,000
This is probably
the most unusual place in Warsaw.
644
01:03:04,160 --> 01:03:06,680
It was the location of the Ghetto.
645
01:03:06,840 --> 01:03:10,920
In 1949, the architect Bohdan Lachert
646
01:03:11,080 --> 01:03:16,040
created a housing estate,
which was to be a memorial space.
647
01:03:19,000 --> 01:03:22,760
New life was supposed to blossom
within its walls.
648
01:03:22,920 --> 01:03:25,800
What was unique was that buildings
649
01:03:25,960 --> 01:03:31,720
were made of rubble-concrete bricks,
650
01:03:31,880 --> 01:03:35,920
along with everything else
that was in the rubble too,
651
01:03:36,080 --> 01:03:38,160
including human remains.
652
01:03:40,080 --> 01:03:43,920
Buildings stand
on a rubble-concrete base
653
01:03:44,080 --> 01:03:48,960
and rise
from these strange little hills.
654
01:03:49,120 --> 01:03:53,800
In Warsaw, a flat city,
this immediately attracts attention.
655
01:03:54,739 --> 01:03:57,559
(sad music)
656
01:03:59,000 --> 01:04:03,542
People calling me and saying
there are spirits in my apartment.
657
01:04:03,708 --> 01:04:07,000
Iâm in the old Ghetto.
Can you do something?
658
01:04:09,202 --> 01:04:12,000
Well I have to say
that is beyond my competence,
659
01:04:12,342 --> 01:04:14,208
but I did go and I said psalms.
660
01:04:14,333 --> 01:04:17,958
Because if a person feels
I can make them,
661
01:04:18,125 --> 01:04:22,000
if I can make someone feel more
at peace, Iâm happy to do so.
662
01:04:23,187 --> 01:04:28,273
(sad music)
663
01:05:18,135 --> 01:05:21,695
This line shows where
Muranowska St. would have run.
664
01:05:21,720 --> 01:05:26,120
Here, on the corner, is the building
where you would have lived.
665
01:05:26,280 --> 01:05:30,880
Number 10. And then 12, 14, 16.
666
01:05:31,040 --> 01:05:34,120
Yes, and here was the gate
you would walk through
667
01:05:34,280 --> 01:05:38,160
and here were shops.
Here was Mr. Gujski's restaurant.
668
01:05:38,320 --> 01:05:42,600
He was a Pole,
669
01:05:42,760 --> 01:05:47,120
and he had a son Jas,
whom we'd play with in the courtyard.
670
01:05:47,280 --> 01:05:51,040
On this map of the city,
I've marked the location
671
01:05:51,280 --> 01:05:55,040
of your home, superimposing it
on the current image.
672
01:05:55,200 --> 01:05:59,120
- Out in the street, apparently.
- At the intersection.
673
01:05:59,760 --> 01:06:03,920
That's the place where your home
once stood.
674
01:06:04,080 --> 01:06:06,720
I was born here.
675
01:06:12,861 --> 01:06:16,314
(the sound of moving cars)
676
01:06:26,359 --> 01:06:29,476
(minimal music)
677
01:06:54,917 --> 01:06:56,292
The memory of the Ghetto,
678
01:06:56,458 --> 01:07:00,042
itâs beginning to really return
into the memory,
679
01:07:00,167 --> 01:07:02,542
into the soul, of Warsaw.
680
01:07:03,426 --> 01:07:06,660
(minimal music)
681
01:07:09,225 --> 01:07:12,000
Give people a chance to remember
682
01:07:12,150 --> 01:07:15,117
and chances are they will remember.
683
01:07:18,733 --> 01:07:22,100
April 19th, the anniversary of
the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
684
01:07:22,500 --> 01:07:24,940
While weâre moving farther away
from the event
685
01:07:25,083 --> 01:07:28,292
actually the number of people
coming is growing.
686
01:07:28,417 --> 01:07:30,833
Thatâs a sign of hope.
687
01:07:32,645 --> 01:07:36,012
(sad music)
688
01:08:12,081 --> 01:08:15,675
(the sound of a moving streetcar)
55705
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.