No he doesn’t. I was extremely prejudiced against him, going into this film. I don’t particularly like his movies besides the pianist.
But after listening to his and Ryszards stories, what struck me most was: how do you carry on living after experiencing such horrors?
There is a monument in the Warsaw okopowa Jewish cemetery which reads, and I am paraphrasing
“My grandmother on my mother’s side had 17 grandchildren, my grandmother on my father’s side had 14. I am the only one that survived. The rest were murdered by German barbarians.
I will never forgive them”.
And you can feel the intensity of that hate in the words. And you can understand it.
How does one continue to live and not be overcome by hate as that man was? It is incredible comparing the two
Lots of people did.
And didn't rape 13 year olds.
I’ve read some interesting ways in which the people in the concentration camps survived. Also how those lived who were hidden. And those in the Gettos ....oh there are so many stories. But they developed some stunning ways to make it through. Many of course did not even with the best effort.
When you read about the guards, both male and female you recognize their sadistic natures. Yet when on their own time gathering together you’d never give a second thought these weren’t normal people. Oblivious to their own cruelty and sadism.
It’s also interesting how the different camps were managed and the differences. I recall when I first saw photos of the Holocaust, people in mass graves etc. in a military three volume set my father had.....I was probably 7 or 8 and remembering asking my mother what those pictures of bodies were.
I admit that my interest in learning about it came after watching Shindler’s List. So moved by it I wanted to know and spent weeks and weeks researching....the more I discovered the more I was angered and hurt..... I still do.
Now cover the Ukrainians during the holodomor. Focus on the Bolsheviks and who they were. I won’t hold my breathe.