Screening of the film Aftermath and Panel Discussion

Submitted by Daniel Braunfeld

After a long and emotional day – ranging in experiences from visiting the Nazi death camp in Treblinka to meeting with young leaders of the modern Jewish community of Warsaw – we returned to the Museum of the History of the Polish Jews for a screening of the award winning film, Poklosie (Aftermath).  Thankfully, this screening was immediately followed by a panel discussion with Michal Bilewicz (Coordinate for the Center for Research on Prejudice at Warsaw University), Krysztof Persak (Director of the Office of the President of the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the polish Nation), Dariusz Jablonski (Producer of Aftermath), and Maciej Stuhr (co-star of the film, Aftermath) – facilitated by Stanislaw Krajewski (Co-Chairman of The Polish Council of Christians and Jews).  I say thankfully because there was much to unpack within this very troubling, very important, and deeply introspective film. 

On its most superficial level Aftermath tells the story of two brothers who discover that their local Polish village has a murderous secret from the time of the Holocaust, and together the brothers attempt to unearth that history, pay their respects to that history, and bring justice to that history.  Yet the complexity of the film, brought to life by our panel discussion, Poland’s response to the film, and our experiences in Warsaw thus far, render this basic summary remarkably insufficient. 

Historical spoiler alert:  Aftermath, a fictional thriller, was a nod to Jan Gross’s widely discussed book, Neighbors.  This book investigates the murder of the Jewish population of Jedwabne at the hands of their Polish neighbors.  The book raises a few important, uncomfortable, and at times controversial questions:

-          Who is responsible for the events of Jedwabne?

-          To what extent is Poland ready to honestly discuss its complicated role during the Holocaust, serving as an occupied victim of both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, as upstanders during the war (more Polish people have been honored as Righteous Among the Nations than any other country), as bystanders and even as perpetrators?

-          What conversations does the book force Poland to have about its sense of identity?

Poland’s response to this film is also complex.  While initially it was banned for Polish distribution (a strong comment itself), it now has a tremendous audience.  320,000 people have seen it in movie theaters here, 100,000 videos have been purchased, it has 600,000 views on pay-per-view, and its upcoming airing on network television is assumed to reach seven million viewers.  This film is certainly part of a national conversation.  But in many ways, that conversation is a Polish one. 

The panel highlighted some key understandings that are important for all viewers to keep in mind when viewing this film.  Michal Bilewicz suggested that the danger of this film is that while it is loosely based on the combined truths of several different historical events, the resulting composite is inaccurate and impossible.  Producer Jablonski and the others on the panel, however, suggested that the presence and popularity of this blockbuster film indicate a readiness within Poland to honestly reflect on the nation’s complicated history.  There was also a hope that the release of the film will invite Americans to rethink their understanding of Polish history.

In many Facing History seminars, as facilitators introduce educators to new narratives, primary sources, and perspectives, we ask participants to reflect on the question, “How does this discussion confirm, expand, or challenge your previous understanding of this history?”  It was evident from the panel discussion and the questions posed by the audience that everyone walked away from the evening with a different idea as to whether their understanding of the role everyday Poles played during the Holocaust had been “confirmed, expanded or challenged” by the film.

For the film’s producer and co-star, the story of Polish perpetrators during the Holocaust was a new story – expanding (and contradicting) the national narrative generated during the Communist era of a purely innocent Poland.

For many viewers outside of Poland, I fear, this film (its content, not the national discussion it has generated) will only confirm their deep-seeded, inaccurate, assumptions that Poland was, categorically, the worst country to the Jews during the Holocaust. 

During the panel discussion Facing History Board member, Bob Mnookin, shared his gratitude for the making of this film and congratulated the team on taking very brave and public steps towards reconciling Poland’s national narrative.

Facing History and Ourselves seeks to make history complicated, to help teachers make their classrooms places were the messiness of history can be discussed safely, and to help students reflect on the complicated nature of their own identity, their choices, and the identity of their communities. 

I recommend seeing Aftermath.  I more strenuously recommend that your viewing does not stop at the film’s credits.  Read more.  Investigate more.  Discuss more.  And consider how this film has “confirmed, expanded, or challenged” your narrative of Holocaust history.  And then remember that our Polish neighbors are having the same discussion. 

 Submitted by Dimitry Anselme

Aftermath is a remarkable movie for helping us grapple with the range of human behavior in history. It is not an historically accurate movie in the sense that it does not depict a true incident. It draws on many historical moments and recollections. it is fiction. And yet, the movie allows us to confront difficult moral and ethical issues. We see that in moment of injustice there are not only victims and perpetrators but there are also people who benefit from war, who benefit from injustice. In this movie, the Kalinas brothers learn that their father participated in the murdering of his Jewish neighbors but that they benefitted from that injustice. They are now land owners. They grew up in a bigger home, they enjoyed opportunities denied to the children of those murdered. They directly benefited from the shocking murders of the Jewish members of their village, although they were not born then or participated in the violence.

This film's story raises so many questions for us about the moral and ethical implications of being members of groups, for the challenges of reckoning with history in a democracy. In addition to these questions, the film makes a quiet statement about democracies. In democratic societies, we enjoy the opportunities to wrestle with our past, we have the agency to adopt new behaviors, new laws, and adopt a completely new script or narrative. We can do so as democratic citizens. So for a young democratic Poland this film marks maturity, increasing self confidence that to build a tolerant, open society will mean having to confront a difficult past even if this mean having to consider issues of reparation, national apologies, and other efforts of transitional justice.