Polish film tells truth on home made massacre

A Polish film documenting crimes committed by Poles against their Jewish neighbours has provoked strong reactions in the country.

The movie, Aftermath, written and directed by Polish director Wladyslaw Pasikowski, is based on the events surrounding the Jedwabne massacre in July 1941 in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Aftermath tells the story of two brothers, Jozek and Franciszek. The older brother returns home after many years abroad and discovers that the long conflict between his younger brother and his neighbours is the result of a dark secret — a massacre that local Poles perpetrated against the Jews of the area years before. The controversial movie won the Critics’ Prize at this year’s Gdynia Film Festival, Poland’s most important festival of cinema.

A few days before Aftermath went on general release, a premiere attended by many public figures was held in Warsaw. One of Poland’s foremost directors, Andrzej Wajda, said after the premiere: “I am very happy that such a film has been made in Poland.” Poland’s Culture Minister, Bogdan Zdrojewski, also praised the movie and said: “I admire the courage in taking such a difficult theme and analysing, in a cinematic form, a dramatic episode in Poland’s history.”