The heart of the film
Their memories are still raw and vivid. Our Polish researcher, Barbara Chojnacka, spoke to at least 60 people in Warsaw, while in London all I had to do was ring round my parents' friends. 'Each one of us could write a book about our experiences,' one of our interviewees told us. In fact, we could probably have made a feature film about every one of them.
Barbara Bregman escaped the Warsaw ghetto but then, aged 12, refused to remain idle and joined the Polish underground scouting movement along with my mother. Jadwiga Podrygallo was a member of the elite Armia Krajowa DYSK unit (Women's Diversion and Sabotage) and in her early twenties went around blowing up trains. Halina Martin was involved in propaganda and intelligence for the Underground Polish State authorities.
Ryszard Scibor-Rylski was a professional officer and prior to the uprising had fought as a partisan alongside the Red Army in the eastern Polish territories. Soon after he left he was called back to Warsaw, his colleagues were rounded up by the Soviet Secret Police, the NKVD. Tadeusz Suminski and Witold Bartnicki were both members of the heroic 'Zoska' Battalion of whom a mere 20% survived the uprising, only to face imprisonment by the new Soviet backed regime. It is little wonder that their testimony is powerful and we can still sense their emotion and anger.
Published: 2006-01-12