SCREENING OF THE FILM “1939. SIEGE OF WARSAW" IN DOM KULTURY KADR

Screening of the film "1939. Siege of Warsaw".

On 24 March this year, on the initiative of the Jan Karski Institute of War Losses and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eugeniusz Starky's film "1939. Siege of Warsaw" - awarded at the 14th NNW International Film Festival (Niepokorni, Niezłomni, Wyklęci) - was shown again.

The screening took place at "Dom Kultury Kadr" in Warsaw. The event was honoured with the presence of, among others, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arkadiusz Mularczyk; representatives of the diplomatic corps, the Constitutional Tribunal, the National Council of the Judiciary, the Supreme Administrative Court, representatives of museums, cultural institutions, and foundations.

"1939. Siege of Warsaw" is a production based on film and photographic documentation recorded by Julien Bryan (1899-1974), an American reporter who spent two weeks in the besieged Warsaw in September 1939. It was then that he made a record of German barbarism towards the inhabitants of the bombarded city and thus, as he put it, the horror of modern warfare. Bryan managed, not without difficulty, to get out of the besieged city so that his testimony could reach hundreds of millions of viewers in a short time in, among others, the United States and the United Kingdom. In doing so, he put paid to the lies of the German propaganda machine that portrayed the invasion of Poland as a humanitarian war in which efforts were made to spare the civilian population.

The screening was preceded by a speech by the Director of the Jan Karski Institute of War Losses, Prof Konrad Wnęk. During his speech, he emphasised the suggestiveness of Julien Bryan's vision focusing the audience's attention not so much on the course of the war, but on the suffering suffered by the civilian population. This circumstance contributed significantly to the understanding by viewers in, among others, the US and the UK, of the actual nature of the conflict unleashed by the Germans.

Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk, who is also Chairman of the Institute's Council, also spoke. In his reflection, Mularczyk mentioned, among other things, the lessons to be learnt from the Second World War, allude to the current situation in Ukraine which is severely affected by armed conflict. He also expressed his conviction that the film successfully approximates the reasons for Poland's demand for compensation for losses suffered as a result of German aggression and occupation during the Second World War.

The screening of the film was followed by a short meeting with the film’s director, Eugene Starky.

More photos from the event can be found in our gallery: PREZENTACJA FILMU „1939. OBLĘŻENIE WARSZAWY” - DOM KULTURY KADR