Testing Memory

The main heroes of this documentary are miraculous survivors of the Holocaust and their children. The film director, having spent more than ten years shooting his saga on the persecution of the Jews by the Nazis during World War II, managed to meet with executioners and record their cynical openness on the doctrine of "the find solution to the Jewish problem" on a hidden camera.

There seem to be no "extra" frames in this screen requiem. The director, using survivors' stories, superb natural footing and a rich collection of clippings has created, according to critics, a fugue of towns and events. This poetic nine-hour movie canvas fails to tire its spectators not only from its emotional captivation but also due to its artistic imagery. One example is an episode of testimonies from a former Auschwitz prisoner replaced with a view of a rail road. As wheels rumble in the background, the camera leads us to a huge closed gate to a concentration camp which kept hidden from the world the truth about the horrible death factory than killed tens of thousands of innocent people who were delivered there by echelons from various European countries. It is hard to imagine the will-power needed by the Shoah characters to take a walk with the camera down the "death road" which they were forced to walk in the early 1940's, herded by Nazis to the gate behind which they survived hunger, torture, excessive horror and the paralysis of hope.

According to officers of the French Embassy who presented the film to Ukrainian spectators, since its completion in 1985, the film has been shown in movie theaters and on TV in a number of countries, and more than 80 million people have seen it. Let's hope that Ukrainian film-goers have more than just two opportunities to see this passionate anti-Nazi film at the capital's Kinopanorama movie theater, which, by the way, the film director attended himself. At least The Day managed to find out that some Ukrainian TV-companies are negotiating the possibility for broadcasting the film on TV.