ItÕs not like youÕre done when youÕve seen
SchindlerÕs List. There must be at least 6 million holocaust movies, and more. There are the stories
of the Jews, homosexuals and Roma, and of the perpetrators and bystanders. And then there are the Righteous,
who, like Oskar Schindler and Sophie Scholl, opposed the genocide, or protected the Jews. Leopold Socha is
among them.
Socha (Robert Wieckiewicz) is not a very nice man: When we
first see him, he is a petty thief, breaking into the house of an affluent local with a friend to supplement his
income as a city sewer worker in the Nazi-occupied Lvov (now Ukraine). They are interrupted by a
young woman returning with a boy in Hitler Youth uniform, who pulls a gun on the burglars ÐÐ only to find
it unloaded. Socha punches the boy, then spits at the woman, ÒFind a Polish man to fuck!Ó As the two thieves
make their getaway, they hear voices in the forest, a distant wailing coming closer and closer. Soon they see a
group of naked women running for their lives. Gunshots chase the two men fleeing the scene.
SochaÕs story may be like many of his compatriotsÕ during
the Nazi occupation. He is a family man with a young daughter, turned small-time crook as opportunities present
themselves in the chaos of the war ÐÐ an Òordinary hero,Ó perhaps. The only thing thatÕs not ordinary about him
is his knowledge of the cityÕs sewer, which he knows like the back of his own hand. While hiding his stolen goods
underground, he finds a group of Jews who have evaded liquidation by digging a tunnel from a nearby ghetto.
He sees easy money, and strikes a deal with them.
His progress from thief to hero begins unwittingly. He
is astonished when his wife tells him, ÒOur Virgin and all the Apostles were Jews.Ó ÒReally?Ó ÒOh yes,Ó
his wife continues, Jesus, too. A dim light bulb turns on behind his staring eyes. The Jews
he shelters are not exactly angelic ÐÐ some are black marketers and adulterers ÐÐ nor are they passive
victims. But when they run out of money, Socha begins to pay for their food with his own money. It is
another crook, Mundek (Benno FŸrmann), a conman with a crush on plucky Klara (Agnieszka Grochowska),
who pulls Socha ÐÐ and us ÐÐ deeper into their crusade with his own heroism.
Writer David F. Sharmoon, too, heroically resisted an offer
to make this film in English. The result could not be more un-Hollywood: ItÕs dark, itÕs smelly, and the
dialogue is in four languages ÐÐ which, if you arenÕt familiar with any of the languages spoken, you will
never notice, thanks to the subtitles and the fluid editing. What emerges through this claustrophobic
mini-Babel is the strength and resolve of each character, until you begin to share their experiences in the
tangible darkness.
ÐÐ Rika Ohara
