A personal tale
This story has been with me all my life. Both my parents lived through World War Two in Poland. As young teenagers they were members of the underground resistance movement and in 1944 fought in the Warsaw Uprising.
At the time, my mother, aged just 16, was a courier and stretcher bearer in the city centre while my father’s unit was in the thick of the battle from the start. In the apocalyptic gun fire of Warsaw’s Old Town, he lost not only his brother, but most of his friends and colleagues.
During the research for this film I came across a photograph of his unit - a line of corpses lined up on the ground. I think of my children’s group photographs with their teenage friends - the contrast is overwhelming.
For years I have wanted to tell the story. Having worked on many films about World War Two, I have interviewed literally hundreds of British, French and American war veterans during my career. Their stories were always moving and poignant. Yet when I listened to tales of Dunkirk, of D-Day, of night flights over enemy territory, amazed at the courage, the horror, I could not help thinking, 'terrible, but can it compare to Warsaw?'
Published: 2006-01-12