The film is called AFTERMATH. The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER is reporting about the film today.. It perhaps may be one of the most important movies ever made, and since it is about actual events that some have chosen to forget, will be controversial too..
It details some horrible series of events that happened on July 10 1941.. It premiers in the United States this week..
If you want to know how controversial this movie may be, consider just the opening paragraph of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER story:
On July 10, 1941, half the residents of Jedwabne, a Polish village 85 miles northeast of Warsaw, murdered the other half. The mob, led by the mayor, were Catholics; their 1,600 victims were Jewish, slaughtered over several nightmarish hours with bats, knives, rifles and other improvised weapons. Those who survived the massacre were then rounded up in a barn donated by a local farmer, which was then set ablaze. A plaque erected at the site blamed Nazis for the massacre, but, in fact, Nazis had only authorized it. Locals walked by the plaque for half a century, knowing the truth, but saying nothing
The story of Jedwabne is not the typical one taught in American high schools. As a matter of fact, most people may not even know of the dreadful story.. They will this week, at least those who hear of the movie..
In 2001, a book called NEIGHBORS explores the death of the 1,600 people.. While I never read it, this may be as good a time as any to reflect on history that mostly has gone unnoticed in the United States.
God fearing Catholics..armed with weapons of little destruction, killed their neighbors ...
One part of the story, also that may come as a surprise to those who are not aware, the Poles actually asked their new rulers, the Nazis, if it was permitted they kill the Jews. When they got the greenlight, they went overboard--so much so that the Nazis actually told the Poles to keep one family of Jews from every profession.. the Poles said no thanks, as they continued their bloody rampage..
Those resources and information sources are set to increase with the movie AFTERMATH.
This movie is important to understand, watch..and ponder.
Like the MONSTERS OF MULLBERRY STREET of fiction, this movie based on reality can teach a lesson. A lesson that, as sadly timeless as it may be, atrocities can happen where and when you least expect them...