New York: Lodz film, Nov. 2

The last Yiddish film produced in Poland will be screened in New York on Sunday, November 2.

Our Children - אינדזערע קינדער - Undzere Kinder - was filmed in an orphanage (Helanovek, near Lodz) in 1948. It is in Yiddish with English subtitles.

The film screening and a panel discussion, hosted by the Freudian Colloquium Committee, will take place from 2-5pm at 802 Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South.

The panel moderator is Rivka Greenberg, with panelists Maurice Preter, Isaac Tylim, Judith Eckman-Jadow. Click here for information on the participants.

The film is part docu-drama, part melancholic comedy. Produced in Poland, it was never shown there. It depicts a comedy duo performing for an audience of Jewish orphans, many of whom were survivors of the Holocaust.

Their performance stirs up painful memories of recent events, and offends the children by the sentimentalized and naive depiction of war-time conditions. Having all lived through the reality of separation and loss, the children start telling their stories.

The film has become a tradition initiated by Dr. Preter, at international psychoanalytic conferences to explore post-Shoah psychological trauma and its representation in film.

Click here for information on the film and the participants.

There's a very interesting piece by Shimon Redlich describing Lodz, his experiences and the making of the film here.

Interested in more information for Lodz?

Roni Seibel Liebowitz of the Lodz Area Research Group (LARG) has listed these online Lodz resources:

Lodz ShtetLinks

Lodz Area Research Group (LARG)

Belchatow ShtetLink

Belchatow Yizkor Book Project

Jewish Records Indexing-Poland (JRI-Poland)