Shtetl is about memories and the inability to remember.It is about the origins of anti-Semitism and about anti-Semitism today and tomorrow. And it is told through a look at one shtetl, symbolizing the many, small villages with high Jewish populations which dotted Poland before World War II and which exist no longer.
Fred Flaxman, Teleflax Productions, Oregon
Your friend Zbyszek revealed himself in my eyes to be more of apologist than a seeker after truth, and your continued sympathy for him made me uncomfortable. Unless I'm unusually sensitive, you should be prepared for this program to make people really mad.
Paula Apsell, Executive Producer PBS/NOVA
Shtetl is very unusual film about the Holocaust, says the story unfolds almost as a detective story, where the viewer is in the center of the action-empowered to be a private eye through the process of the main character's discovery.
David Fanning, Executive Producer PBS/Frontline
Our family has been very moved by your film and we would like to have a copy for our personal library. It had been my desire to visit the Polish shtetl of my ancestors very similar tothat of Nathan Kaplan's. After seeing your preview, my curiosity has been further aroused.
Sid Orfus, Toronto, Canada
It is by far the most important film to appear on the sensitive and painful issue of Polish-Jewish relations before, during and after the Holocaust. As you may know, for many Jewish survivors of the Holocaust who lived in Poland, the intensity of their feelings toward fellow Christian Poles is often fulfilled with a bitterness more harsh than the feelings they have toward their German oppressors. Thereis a reason for this which has to do, I think, with the fact that the German murderers were abstract, evil shapes with no names or histories. Those Poles who gave up Jews to the Germans, or killed them outright were often schoolmates, best friends, and neighbors.
Abraham J. Peck, Cincinnati, Ohio
I think you've found a compelling way to bring back to life some of the memorable aspects of the Eastern European Jewish culture, which was largely destroyed by the Holocaust
Peter S. McGhee, Vice President, WGBH, Boston
I thought the camera work was great - you were really able to capture the feeling and mood of these people.
Josh London, New York
It should be available in any bookshop.
Antony Polonsky, New York
Congratulations for the Grand Prix! (Cinema du Reel, Paris, March 1996) I am sure Shtetl will be a very strong contender for an Oscar nomination, and an award.
Thomas Guback, Associate Producer, WILL-TV
Urbana Illinois
I watched the Shtetl tonight. A brilliant documentary!!!!Outstanding in all respects!!!
Your photography was superb!!!!
Paul A. Strugal, Hurley, Wisconsin
The portrait of Romaniuk was brilliantly executed - everyone was amazed that the film was able to capture this young man's initial interest in Polish Jewish history, his desire to rescue this history and preserve it, and then the subtle changes taking place in him as he traveled through the USA and Israel...
Flora M.Singer, Potomac, MD
Thank you! Shtetl is simply wonderful...How complex the personality and circumstances of your young historian, yet how fortunate to have found him.
Leigh Estrabrook, Dean, School of Library, Univ.of Illinois, Urbana-Champain
I put the video in my VCR late Friday night, expecting to watch just an hour or so. In fact, I was so captivated by this film -- and so moved by it -- that I watched the entire program until 2:30 am, and I could not sleep until I wrote down some of my thoughts. In summary, I found the film -- which focuses on the former Polish Jewish shtetl of Bransk and the residents of that small town today --absolutely gripping and riveting. It reveals rich layers of complexity and texture -- just like peeling an artichoke -- each step along the way, until you reach the heart of the film at the very end.
Ralph E. Grunewald, Washington D.C.
The need of this film is long due especially after the Shoah and Shindler. ... Shtetl is the aftermath of the Shoah, with the flash back that Shindler film could not deal with.
Meir Argaman, Miami Beach, Florida
I wonder what it must be like to be a Pole, a German, a Lithuanian, a Ukrainian, etc. While we all want to be fair and nice, corporate guilt is inescapable. If I am a Pole and am proud of Paderewski, Chopin, Gombrowicz, Kieslowski, and Pope John Paul II, then I have accepted my peoplehood, and I also must accept the shameful things my people have done. ... People couldn't understand how you were able to be so unobtrusive, so that the subjects felt able to talk so comfortably. Your accomplishment was especially impressive since you were using just one, hand held camera.
Allen Edel, Sacramento, CA
There are so many Holocaust films and documentaries currently circulating, but yours is among the best of them. It is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. By focusing on one particular town you allow the viewers to acutely understand and witness the reality of the event in the most personal way.
Jonathan Perlman, Brookline, MA
Seeing the film in Boston this afternoon was an extraordinary experience, something like having a glimpse into the human soul. Not easy, not even welcome - a reminder about the stuff we are all made of, which is not quite as glorious as we'd like to believe. The movie is a powerful statement.
Alan Feldman, Beverly, MA
Shtetl is an atypical film. This is one of the most moving, challenging and sophisticated films on the international scene. It avoids every single clichÚ seen in Hollywood movies about the Holocaust. What it does is to locate and look at the legacy of anti-Semitism in microscopic details. It shows the absolute complexity in the choices that people make, to conform to a horrifying power to resist the power and survive.
Patricia Zimmerman, Professor of Film, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY
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