Warsaw '44 to hit German screens in August

The film “Warsaw ’44” by Jan Komasa was a hit in Poland after it came out last summer before the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Rising of 1944.

“Warshau 44” will air on Sunday 2 August at 10:00 pm on public broadcaster ZDF. A documentary on the rising will be shown immediately after the film.

A report in Newsweek’s Polish version suggests the film will shock many Germans, for many of whom knowledge of the Warsaw Rising is either non-existent or negligable.

"Knowledge about the historical facts related to the Rising in 1944 and its significance today for Polish identity is not great in Germany,” Norbert Himmler, director of programming at ZDF, said.

“ZDF wants the broadcast of the film and the documentary to become a marker of memory and mutual uinderstanding,” Himmler added. “This film enables us to understand why German-Polish relations were so difficult and sometimes still are.”

The Rising began on 1 August 1944, with the Soviet Army approaching Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Over 200,000 Varsovians and about 17,000 from the underground Home Army (AK) died in the several weeks of fighting that left 90 percent of the city destroyed.

"Warsaw 44" was produced by Akson Studio and co-produced by Narodowe Centrum Kultury, Telewizja Polska, Orange Polska and the Museum of the Warsaw Rising. (jh)

Source: Newsweek