Logline:
World
War Two foils a Polish biology student's plans to unlock the secrets of nature,
forcing him to choose between research, his family, and participation in the
Polish resistance.
Background:
Throughout the entire 19th century – the period of industrial revolution and of sweeping scientific and intellectual changes – Poland did not exist. Violently divided by its three neighbors and eliminated from the map, when the country finally regained sovereignty in 1918, it wanted to catch up. Exaggerated nationalistic feelings and the exclusion of minorities were some of the negative symptoms of this search for identity. There were also many Poles who were proud of their nation's history and its artistic and scientific achievements, and who wanted to continue those traditions.
Treatment:
Newsreel Footage: On April 19, 1939, Hitler cancels the German-Polish non-aggression pact.
In the
cosmopolitan Polish city of Lwów, life is awakening under the warm spring sun:
Flowers are blooming, children playing, girls laughing on the street – and
18-year-old high school senior JANEK BYSZEWSKI is engulfed with a new
"invention” in his homemade chemistry lab.
At the
same time, the lecture hall in the Department of Biology at the University of
Lwów is filling with students. With the assistance of PAWEL KOPECKI, 24,
the internationally renowned PROFESSOR WEIGL demonstrates how he
produces typhus vaccine using lice, a discovery that can stop the worldwide
feared disease. Eager to be a credit to the mentor he admires, Pawel performs
with impressive speed, injecting the typhus bacteria into 50 tiny immobilized
lice.
While she
rehearses her role as Puccini’s “Tosca”, the opera diva TERESA BYSZEWSKA,
43, rushes up the stairs of her imposingly furnished grand bourgeois home, past
the housepainter PIOTR OLESZCZUK, who is painting the banister. She
doesn't even deign to look at him.
Imperiously,
she enters Janek's room and orders him to pick up his sister Barbara who is
spending the afternoon at Jola’s, daughter of Mr. Kopecki the pharmacist. But
Janek doesn’t want to go because he cannot interrupt his experiment. His
argument: “I’m going to win the Nobel Prize in Science for Poland one day”
doesn’t impress his mother in the least. She never takes “no” for an
answer.
Descending the
stairs, Teresa brushes her dress against the fresh paint. She screams and
angrily scolds Piotr for not having warned her. Piotr resents her arrogant
behavior and bitterly mumbles that the days of Polish harassment are numbered.
In response Teresa laughs haughtily and stalks away, her thin metal high heels
striking the polished floor – sounding like the TICKING of a time bomb.
Weigl’s
lecture is over. Pawel crosses the university campus. A small group of militant
Polish nationalist students are putting up posters demanding a reduction in the
number of Jewish students. Pawel starts a heated argument with one of the
students calling him an intolerant fool who hasn’t learned anything from
history.
The
"jewel" of the Byszewski household, Polish housemaid HANIA,
buys ingredients for this evening's "première dinner" from the
Ukrainian farmer’s wife WANDA KRANIK at the local market. They know each
well and exchange recipes – and the latest gossip.
Meanwhile
Janek enters the "Kopecki Pharmacy". His bad mood dissipates as soon
as he sees the porcelain jars filled with chemical substances. Janek sighs and
smiles blissfully. MISTER KOPECKI approaches him and is pleased to notice
the young man's impressive knowledge of chemistry. He gives Janek a protected
sodium as a gift for his "experiment" before he sends him to the
girls who are in the Kopecki apartment upstairs.
There
Janek only finds Jola’s brother Pawel studying biochemistry. When Janek learns
that Pawel is Professor Weigl’s research assistant, he eagerly asks how he can
get a job in Weigl’s institute. Pawel just laughs at the naïve idea that
an undergraduate could ever be considered for such a prestigious position.
Janek feels ashamed and is relieved to hear his sister’s laughter coming from
outside the apartment. He abruptly leaves Pawel. In the staircase he sees three
laughing girls running into the apartment next door. He crosses the hall and
knocks on the door. The beauty of 16-year-old LEA HELLER takes him by
surprise as she opens the door and makes him blush. Lea grins arrogantly,
making things even worse. Upset about his own awkwardness, Janek quickly walks
past her, JOLA and his sister BARBARA to greet Lea's father BENJAMIN
HELLER who emerges from his study very disturbed. He had just been
listening to one of Hitler's incendiary speeches in the radio and needs to
discuss the imminent danger of Poland’s future. The room turns silent and the
eyes are on Janek. But Janek obviously has little interest and knowledge in
politics. This earns him a disgusted comment from Lea. Janek is feeling
increasingly uncomfortable. What makes matters worse is that he now notices
that he is in a Jewish home. Now he is in a hurry to leave. Outside, on
the street he reproaches his sister for “befriending Jews.” The two argue all
the way home.
To
Barbara’s surprise, Janek suddenly becomes very friendly when they meet up with
their father, STEFAN BYSZEWSKI at the opera premiere. As a doting father
and close friend of Weigl Janek wants Stefan to help him get a job in the
professor’s institute. Janek tries to win his father’s compassion by telling
him about Pawel’s unacceptable behavior. To his disappointment, Stefan
not only won’t listen to his son's plea for help but also gives him an
elaborate speech on how using personal connections is immoral and an abuse of
friendship.
After her
successful performance of Tosca in the " Teatr Wielki " opera Teresa
arrives home with her two flirtatious Italian singing partners where the
family, Professor Weigl, and the family physician, DR. ROZWALDOWSKI and
friends are awaiting to celebrate the première’s success. After Hania's
extravagant meal the guests take coffee in the salon, where politics dominate
the conversation. Teresa uses the festive occasion to announce that Janek, in
accordance with family tradition, will enroll in the reserve officers’ school.
Janek, who is afraid of guns - but also of his mother - flees the room. In the
hall he sees Weigl flirting with a woman from the music ensemble. Seeing this
as his only chance, Janek decides to act. He walks up to the professor, and
bluntly asks for a job at the institute. Weigl half-heartedly promises to see
what he can do. Stefan is terribly embarrassed over this incidence. Confident
and emboldened Janek tells the guests that he’s going to study at Lwów
University this fall because he “rather do scientific research than die on the
field for Poland.” Teresa can’t believe her ears.
The next
morning Janek silently endures his mother as she airs her anger for his
insolent behavior. When his sister takes Teresa’s side, Janek retorts by
revealing Barbara’s “new Jewish friends.” Teresa will not tolerate any
“socially unacceptable” friends. Upset, Barbara runs out of the room and takes
revenge on her brother by emptying the mysterious-looking contents of his test
tubes into the flowerpot. A few days later Janek's gets back at his sister when
he uses her once passionately loved doll house to demonstrate how effective his
homemade bomb made with Mr. Kopecki’s sodium gift is. The explosion is a
success; even Pawel is deeply impressed.
But Janek
has to pay a high price for his “scientific” triumph: instead of spending his
first summer alone at home, he is punished by now having to spend his vacation
with his family in Jurata on the Hel peninsula. And to make things worse:
Barbara’s girl-friend Jola is coming along.
Summer
1939 at the Bay of Gdansk couldn’t be more wonderful. Barbara and Jola enjoy
themselves on the beach; Stefan and Teresa drive in the evening to the famous
Zoppot Casino to dance on the illuminated glass floor. Only Janek, who has
erotic dreams of Jola at night, spends all the time in his room studying. He
tries very hard to ignore Jola in her flowered bathing suit and to remind
himself that he must win his secret contest with Pawel.
Stefan
seems to be the only one who is getting increasingly worried about the
political situation in Europe. Sensing danger from Germany a few miles away he
decides to return to Lwów one week earlier than planned. Despite Teresa's angry
protests and the girls’ tears, Stefan orders Hania to pack the bags. The leave
the Baltic on August 25, 1939, just a few days before the Nazi attack. The only
person happy to be returning home is Janek. He can hardly wait until the
semester finally begins.
Newsreel
Footage: On September. 1, 1939, Hitler's troops invade Poland.
Lwów is bombarded.
The city is in a
state of emergency. Stefan prepares the air raid cellar while Teresa takes over
command and sends Hania and the children out to buy supplies.
Newsreel
Footage: During
the first week of September Poland is confident, especially after France and
England declare war on Germany.
The opera is
closed because of the war, but the annual International Eastern Fair in Lwów
opens. The frequent air raids don’t deter Teresa from dressing up and going to
the fair to buy luxury goods such as smoked salmon, Hungarian salami, or
Belgian chocolate from foreign merchants getting increasingly nervous and eager
to get rid of their goods.
Newsreel Footage: The Germans bomb Lwów. There are air raids
day and night.
Each bomb
makes Janek shudder. He dreads nothing more than those unbearable hours
crouched together with his family in the cellar. Janek hides his fear behind
books and studies day and night. Teresa doesn’t miss an opportunity to
demonstrate her contempt towards Janek’s coward and unpatriotic
behavior. One day, he can’t stand this claustrophobic environment anymore and
goes out on the street, despite the warnings. He barely survives an explosion,
and then panics when he sees a corpse for the first time.
Newsreel Footage: By the
third week of September, the Polish army is still trying to stop the German
advance, but when the Soviet army invades Poland from the East, the Polish
defense crumbles. They retreat southwards to Rumania and Hungary. Tragically,
Stalin's forces intercept them, incarcerating, and later killing tens of
thousands of Polish officers, policemen and civil servants.
Teresa is
disillusioned, yet she still hopes the western allies will rescue Poland. But
when she learns that her parents have died in an air raid, she personally
declares war against “Poland’s enemies” and turns the family home into a
“shelter for refugees and the persecuted.” Dr. Rozwaldowski, whose house had
been damaged by a bomb, is the first to move in. Barbara is ordered to move in
with Janek who is forced to pack up his laboratory to make space. A few days
later he is ordered to move out of his room and put his mattress next to the
piano in the living room where his now unemployed father is already sleeping on
the couch. Janek is very upset and feels unwanted at home where Teresa rules
like a “general” and orders everyone around. He therefore goes to the Typhus
Research Institute, to remind Weigl of his promise.
Unfortunately,
Weigl has no time for him. He is sent to Pawel who grins slyly and offers to his
eager young friend a job as a “human lice feeder.” Pawel straps several
"lice cages" to Janek’s legs and tells him to sit for 45 minutes
while lice in the cages suck his blood through the fine mesh. This method
developed by Professor Weigl makes it possible to produce a highly effective
typhus vaccine. Janek feels nauseous, especially when he learns that skin
redness and allergic reactions are the accepted side effects. Pawel’s comment –
that the elimination of these reactions is the current focus of his research –
reminds Janek of his goal. To Pawel’s surprise, white-faced Janek accepts the
job.
Newsreel Footage: On September
22, 1939, the Red Army marches into Lwów. Ragged Soviet soldiers sing a call to
the population to rise up “against feudalism” to rid themselves of the “Polish
oppressors."
Janek's enlarged
"family" watches from the window as the Red Army march into the city.
They detect their housepainter Piotr cheering on the street. All are in shock,
except for Teresa who is in a rage watching the arrival of all these
"primitives." Afraid of losing his property and possessions, Dr.
Rozwaldowski packs his bags to protect his house.
Newsreel Footage: The situation in
Lwów changes: The shelves in the stores are empty, and the city swells with
Polish and Jewish refugees from the western half of Poland, now occupied by
Nazi Germany.
Among the
fugitives are Janek's TWO FRAIL AUNTS from Radom. Teresa immediately
offers them room. Barbara reluctantly accepts her fate as the family's
"black market specialist", constantly on the go finding food for all
those "finicky" stomachs.
The valuable
family treasures gradually disappear from the walls, cupboards, and the safe as
Barbara goes out to exchange them for groceries. In return she hungrily accepts
Stefan’s constant praise and recognition for her unstinting efforts. It breaks
his heart to see her smile replaced by a worried frown.
Janek seems to be
completely oblivious to all these changes at home– he is happy to be
"promoted" to "lice injector". He spends the rest of his
time studying to pass a new additional university entrance examination imposed
by the Soviets.
Although Janek
has to get more points as a "bourgeois," he passes the entrance exam.
Ecstatic he hurries home, but to his great disappointment, no one has time to
share his joy. He drops a porcelain bowl to show his frustration. The family
members stare at the broken pieces: Barbara could have bartered a one-week’s
supply in food with this bowl.
Feeling unwanted
and unloved, Janek seeks solace in the institute’s lab. There he finds Weigl’s
wife Sybila wandering around with a warm cooked meal for her late-working husband
– but who isn’t there. Janek likes this kind shy woman who is so completely
unlike his mother. Sybila notices Janek’s hungry stare and gives him
Weigl’s dinner. Devouring the food, Janek tells her about his heartless family.
Sybila is confused and she absentmindedly caresses his hair. After his last
bite, Janek hugs her, happy to have found someone who understands him.
Confronted
with new groups of Russian scientists arriving at his institute every day,
Weigl desperately needs a translator. He seeks help from Stefan who was forced
to learn Russian when Poland was divided and he grew under Russian occupation
and offers him a job as his personal interpreter. Stefan can’t believe his
luck. Not only will this work guarantee his family’s safety, it will enable him
something sensible to do and get out of his house. Stefan is so happy
that he doesn't know how to express his gratitude.
Janek is
also thrilled; he relentlessly tries to impress his father with his research in
search to regain parental love and attention.
In
February 1940, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Ukraine, NIKITA
CHRUSHCHEV, visits Weigl. Behind closed doors, Chrushchev offers Weigl
his own institute in Moscow with full privileges and unlimited research
opportunities. Fearing his safe-haven disappear, Stefan for once sets his high
principles aside and lies. He "adulterates" the translation of the
generous offer. In response, Weigl not only flatly turns down this offer, he
also demands official protection from arrests and deportation for his entire
staff and their families. This bold response comes to Stefan as a shock he
breaks out into a sweat and stutters as he translates Weigl’s words, fearing
the worst. To his astonishment, Chrushchev doesn’t explode – but accepts the professor’s
demands, on certain conditions.
While
Stefan falls ill from shame for his egotistical behavior, Janek, inspired by
Weigl’s courage and dedication to the institute, doubles his efforts in his
research project and works hard to impress his infallible idol. One day he
discovers what he thinks might be a method for isolating the healthy from the
sick lice. He rushes into Weigl’s office, where he is shocked to see Weigl
passionately kissing his always-present, beautiful 25-year-old assistant ANNA
BALINOWNA. Without being noticed, he quickly closes the door. Janek is
appalled of what he just saw. Although highly agitated, he is convinced that
the professor can’t be blamed for this scandal. It’s obvious that Anna seduced
him!
Newsreel Footage: In March 1940, heavy trucks
roll through the street late at night, their sinister rumble adding to the
occupied city's gloom.
While Janek pulls
his pillow over his head and tries to sleep, the other family members gather in
the dark at the window. Dr. Rozwaldowski had been arrested a few days ago and
one aunt cries that they will be the next. Teresa aggressively tells her to
shut up.
One truck stops
in front of the Kopecki pharmacy. Soldiers enter the house. Shortly return with
Mr. Kopecki who is shoved onto the truck at gunpoint.
The news of Mr.
Kopecki’s arrest sparks panic in everyone. Pawel can’t hide his fear and turns
to Weigl for help. The professor relentlessly uses his connections to get his
father out of prison, but to no avail. In addition, Weigl tries to keep the
Soviet visitors as far away as possible from Pawel. Janek watches how even the
sound of Russian makes it very difficult for Pawel to restrain his anger.
Newsreel Footage: In the
early Spring of 1940 Poles are issued new (Soviet) identity cards, so-called
passports – as a result of the Soviet-organized "fake" elections in
the Fall of 1939 in which all citizens supposedly voted to become Soviet
citizens.
Teresa stands in
a long line in front of the government office furious about this humiliation.
When an official in Soviet militiaman in uniform hands her the hated document
with a cynical comment, she looks at him more closely and recognizes the former
housepainter Piotr Oleszczuk. Teresa loses control and insults him.
The following
week the Byszewskis are informed that they are to be evicted and resettled to a
rural area. Fearing the worst, Teresa panics and begs Stefan to ask Weigl for
help. Stefan has no other choice but put his principles aside again. But thanks
to Weigl's efforts and influence, the official directive is revoked. Janek is
aware of how Stefan suffers to stand in someone's debt – and promises to “make
up for it in his father’s name.”
The
situation in the Byszewski home worsens the day the Russian VLADIMIR ZABUTIN
arrives to become director of the Typhus Institute and moves into their house.
Weigl, who thus no longer can justify a personal translator, quickly creates a
new job for Stefan as "head of the institute motor pool." Grateful to
have any job at all, Stefan does his best to make the most of this far less
challenging work.
Janek
persists in doing his utmost to ignore the war and the atrocities going on
around him. He is pleased to see that, after one semester, he has grown more
confident through his successes at the university and in the laboratory. It’s
only Lea’s presence that makes him nervous and gets him all flustered.
Newsreel
Footage: During the night of
April 11/12 NKVD trucks are drive through the street.
This
night Janek can’t block out the sound of the trucks rumbling by.
The
Kopecki family is sitting in one of the trucks. All around them people are
crying and shivering in sub-zero temperatures. They and many others are brought
to the freight yard and shoved into unheated cattle cars where they spend three
days without food and water before being taken on an unfathomable journey to
Kazakhstan 40% of them will not survive.
When
Pawel doesn’t arrive at work the next day, panic overcomes Janek. He rushes to
their house. The apartment is locked. He finds Lea crying in the attic. Under
tears she tells him that the Kopeckis were deported last night. Overwhelmed by
the tragedy, he takes Lea into his arms and holds her tight.
The
deportation of the Kopecki family throws Janek off balance. Feeling helpless
and lost, he hopes to find relief of some sort from Lea. Afraid of his mother,
he doesn’t tell anyone about his visit to her. But the intimacy brought about
by tragedy evaporates very quickly. Janek is unable to deal with Lea’s
emotions, fears and suffering. He leaves her ashamed to have disappointed her
hopes that this terrible event had finally broken his inexplicable indifference
and passiveness.
Janek
retreats to the sterile and peaceful environment of the institute where he
tries to forget his pain by doing what he knows best: concentrate on his
research. Weigl desperately uses all his contacts to get the Kopeckis back, but
Kazakhstan is too far away. In order to gets things back to normal, Weigl
tactfully assigns Janek to fill Pawel’s position. He is only too glad to have more
work and is very proud to be made Weigl’s first assistant – but unfortunately
second to Anna.
Newsreel
Footage:
In late April 1940, a German resettlement commission arrives in Lwów to repatriate
ethnic Germans under the slogan "Heim ins Reich," as well as Poles
from the western part of Poland who want to return home.
Lea's parents are
aghast to hear that her UNCLE DAVID has put his name on the list of
"volunteer re-immigrants." Like many other applying Jews, he doesn't
want to believe the gruesome rumors about Hitler’s intentions. All he knows is
that he wants to get away from the Soviet inhumanity and from Poles who are
increasingly displaying hatred towards Jewish Poles. Like his brother-in-law
Benjamin, David – who considers himself a Pole – suffers under the prejudice of
many Poles that all Jews are collaborating with the Soviet occupiers.
The commission
rejects almost all applications from Jews. David is one of them and
disappointed that he is not sent "back home to the Reich." As soon as
the Nazi commission leaves, the Soviets obtain the list of applicants and
deport them, David included, to Kazakhstan instead. The Hellers are in shock.
Newsreel Footage:
A few weeks later the situation in Lwów changes. The Soviets begin arresting
Ukrainian nationalists.
Teresa rejoices
to hear that the former housepainter Piotr is among thousands of Ukrainians who
are incarcerated in prisons, already hopelessly overcrowded by Poles.
Janek gets his
moment of happiness when he learns that Weigl’s efforts have finally
materialized and Pawel has returned from Kazakhstan. He drops everything and
rushes to Lea’s home, only to find Pawel and Lea's parents weeping. He learns
that Pawel's father died in prison. Pawel himself is in such poor physical
condition that he requires other people's aid. Since the Kopecki home is
occupied by a Soviet officer, Janek immediately offers to share his home and
everything else he owns to his "best friend." Pawel weekly accepts.
Newsreel Footage: On June
22, 1941 Hitler's Luftwaffe bombs the Soviet-occupied territories of Poland,
triggering the withdrawal of the Soviets. Before they finally leave the city,
they massacre 12,000 Lwowians.
As soon
as the terror passes, Janek and Pawel move into the former Kopecki home that
has just been vacated by the Soviet officer. Barbara is outraged when she hears
the news. She feels abandoned by her brother. Nevertheless, she emphatically
turns down his offer to join them, because she can’t leave her father with alone
with her mother.
Newsreel Footage: Shortly
afterward, Austrian Gebirgsjäger march into Lwów, followed three days later by
the Gestapo who call for the destruction of the "Bolshevist Jews."
They are greeted by Ukrainians who now take revenge and factories, warehouses
and Jewish homes.
Pawel falls
seriously ill. Constant pain keeps him tied to the bed. Worried about Lea’s
fate, Janek decides to visit her and her family.
This time
when Lea opens the door, Janek is startled to see her scared. For the first
time Janek feels he needs to protect her. Ignoring the possible consequences,
he spontaneously proposes Lea and her parents to seek refuge in his family’s
home where they would be safe. The Hellers turn down his offer, bravely
claiming that normal life has to return any moment.
Newsreel Footage: Three
days after their arrival, on July 3rd, the SS Einsatzgruppe arrests and
executes 40 university professors the same night as well as some of their
families. Under German occupation, high schools, institutions of higher
learning, and universities are closed.
Weigl manages to have the Typhus Institute officially placed under the Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces. This status enables him to acquire work identification papers for his employees, which will protect them from arrests and worse. Unfortunately, Stefan loses his position in the motor pool. But before Professor Weigl can help him out again, Stefan reluctantly joins the many unemployed professors and other intellectuals seeking security as "lice feeders." To protect as many people as possible, Weigl expands his institute, turning it into a regular production site.
Janek
sees his life in peace come to an end when he discovers Wehrmacht soldiers in
the institute. Behind closed doors, WEHRMACHT OFFICER COLONEL HARTIG M.D.,
makes Weigl an even more tempting offer than Chrushchev had before him. Weigl
is quite aware that Hartig could bring him "back home to the Reich"
by force, if necessary. Nevertheless, Moravian-born Weigl uses his Austrian
charm to dissuade Hartig from his plans. He makes it clear that he is willing
to cooperate with the Germans, but not to leave Lwów. Secretly listening in on
their conversation, Janek is once again baffled by the professor’s courage.
Again, he got his way and Janek knows: there is no greater hero than Weigl.
Thanks to
the "new staff" the institute turns into a true intellectual center.
The "academic lice feeders" often get involved in such interesting
discussions that they forget to take off the feeding cages and the lice
intestines burst from overfeeding. Janek has more than plenty of work but he
doesn’t mind. Sometimes the professors ask him to join them in their very
active participation in the resistance. But Janek refuses, since he has no time
and his work project has top priority.
At home
he tells Pawel how much he hates Anna, whom he considers an obstacle to his
research and career and asks Pawel to go to Weigl and put in a good word for
him. Pawel concedes but when the professor reveals that Anna and other lice
feeders are risking their lives smuggling the “illegally produced vaccine
surplus” to the needy all over the country, he can only support his mentor’s
stance.
But Janek
doesn’t want to hear stories about Anna and is deeply disappointed and accuses
Pawel of being ungrateful and "betraying their friendship."
Janek is
hopeful when the next day Weigl calls him into his office and closes the door.
To Janek's disappointment, the professor only wants to talk about the ghettos
the Germans have set up for the Jews and then asks him if he would be willing
to carry vaccine to the Warsaw ghetto where a typhus epidemic is raging. Janek
realizes that this is the only way to win back Weigl’s attention, and
half-heartedly agrees.
Janek
regrets this decision as soon as he boards the train. The trip to Warsaw seems
endless, and his constant fear of document controls leaves him exhausted. When
he finally passes the packet on to his contact, he feels enormously relieved
and, he has to admit, quite proud.
Having
still a few hours to kill before his return, he walks around the city.
Curiosity takes him to the gate of the ghetto. There he is shocked to see an
old Jewish man brutally beaten and led away by an SS man.
This
scene is so terrible that Janek can’t forget them. After a night full of
nightmares, he timidly confesses to Weigl that he is poorly suited for such
tasks. In the evening he makes up with Pawel, since he desperately needs a
friend to talk to.
Newsreel
Footage: Officers and soldiers from
the Italian Army, which is allied with the Germans, are deployed in Lwów
This
event brings a pleasant change in Teresa's life. Her yearning for the good old
days, and her knowledge of Italian,
quickly helps her build a bridge to the charming and lively occupiers. She
decides to throw a party – the first since the war began.
The
Italian officers bring almost forgotten delicacies. Some of them also have
their local mistresses with them. Teresa tries to ignore these socially
inadequate courtesans, especially since she knows that two of them are Jewish.
She does let a remark slip in passing. Stefan and Barbara can only stare at the
floor in embarrassment. Janek is no longer willing to tolerate his mother’s
behavior but can’t find the courage to speak up. Instead, he stands up and,
assisting Pawel, demonstratively leaves the party.
Back at
the Kopecki home, it becomes clear that Janek doesn’t have much time for his
ill friend. His research is at a critical point. As a result, while Janek
spends his day taking care of the lice infected with bacteria, Lea spends many
hours happily with her "brother." Janek gets jealous when he sees the
two deeply involved in emotional discussions as they dream of joining the
resistance movement. Since Janek heard the story of how one of his friends was
horribly tortured, he has been too afraid to even talk about such dangerous
matters.
Sybila
finds out her husband’s affair. Unable to bear the shame, she commits suicide.
Janek is shocked and outraged. His anger is directed at Anna who, in his
opinion, is the sole culprit. When he comes home that evening and surprises Lea
toying with Pawel, he loses control and orders her to leave the apartment.
Pawel intervenes and tries to correct Janek’s distorted view of women. He
admits that if it weren’t for Lea, he would have killed himself a long time ago
because he’s a worthless cripple. Unwilling to accept this explanation, Janek
refuses to go to Lea and excuse himself for his behavior.
Newsreel Footage: The
Germans deport all Jews to the Ghetto of Lwów.
Lea is so
embittered by this that she refuses to say good-bye to her friends. Her
departure throws Janek and Pawel into deep depression. Janek is overcome by
guilt and now deeply regrets his earlier conduct. But it is too late.
Pawel complains
about the growing pains and begs Janek to obtain morphine for him. Helpless,
Janek turns to his sister Barbara, the "black market expert." She
cynically asks whether she should help a brother who left her all alone at
home. Janek guiltily promises to spend time with the family – as soon as Pawel
feels better.
But
unfortunately, Pawel's situation gets worse. When an eyewitness tells him how
miserably Jola and her mother died of hunger and cruel abuse in a kolkhoz on
the steppes of Kazakhstan, he no longer can find anything positive in life.
Unable to
help his friend, Janek escapes into his work again while Pawel retreats into
intoxication. The day Janek achieves a breakthrough in his research project, he
can’t wait to hurry home and tell Pawel. But as he opens the door he finds his
friend sprawled on the floor – dead from of a morphine overdose. Janek is under
severe shock as he watches his only friend’s body being carried out on a
stretcher.
It is
Pawel's death that brings about a change in Janek's life. After a sleepless
night, he meets secretly with a man from the underground Polish Home Army
(A.K.) and asks to join the resistance movement.
He still
works at the institute, but his research is no longer the center of his world.
He has given up his obsessive ambition and even finds himself talking with and
working for Anna. Weigl entrusts him with more responsibility, but this no
longer is important to Janek. The work in the resistance movement absorbs his
entire interest. He feels how the pain of losing his friend gradually turns
into rage and displaces his fear.
As a
talented draftsman, Janek is ordered to sketch the railroad lines leading to
the Belzec concentration camp, 90 kilometers away. He grasps this opportunity
to fulfill his promise and takes Barbara on a leisurely bicycle trip to Belzec.
After a
picnic Janek proposes to draw Barbara. While his unsuspecting sister poses as a
model, Janek in reality makes a detailed drawing of the concentration camp
behind her. Assuming that Barbara – and his mother – will be proud of Janek’s
active resistance against the enemy, he reveals his underground activities. To
his utter surprise, instead of being enthusiastic, Barbara gets angry. She
accuses him of abandoning her and tells him it’s his obligation to come home,
especially now that their father has fallen sick. Janek is shocked to learn his
father has cancer. Nonetheless, it only confirms his belief that he can’t come
home since it would endanger the family. Barbara considers this an excuse and
calls him a heartless egotist. Janek has never felt more misunderstood and they
part in a fight.
Back in
Lwów, Janek tries to forget his family. His activities require complete
concentration. But one night, as Janek witnesses two Polish
"saboteurs" being shot by a German soldier on the other side of the
road, he loses control. His fear of guns makes him turn and run away. The
soldier notices this and shoots, hitting Janek in the shoulder. He still
manages to escape: He can think of no better place to hide than his parents'
garage. Fortunately, Hania discovers him. He is bleeding and desperate. To
Janek’s great surprise, his beloved Hania reveals that she has been working for
the resistance for years. Despite his pain, Janek laughs imaging his mother, if
she found out just how many “socially unacceptable” people Hania has
helped.
With
Hania's assistance, Janek manages to reach the cottage of her partisan friend,
Wanda Kranik, on the fringe of the woods. After the Soviets killed her husband,
the Ukrainian peasant woman has dedicated herself in saving the lives of many
partisans of the Polish Home Army. While Janek recovers, he learns about their
struggle in the woods. On the one hand, he admires their determination under
such difficult conditions, making his achievements suddenly appear trivial. But
he also realizes how trivial their sacrifices are in this unequal struggle,
whereas his research can help millions dying of typhus. Thus, he decides to
return to Lwów when suddenly, Lea appears before him in partisan clothes. When
she persuades him – "the bombmaker” – to stay with them in the forest, Janek
feels that she was sent to him on purpose. Regardless, seeing Lea alive again
fills him with so much relief and joy that he is willing to do anything. He
delays his return to the city.
Spurred
by Lea's courage and fighting spirit, Janek performs deeds he would never have
dreamt of before and finally realizes that he has always loved her. He is
overwhelmed and reveals his feelings to Lea – feelings she rejects. Ever since
her father was killed in an organized attempt to flee the Lwów ghetto and she
saw her mother being shot, Lea has been afraid of becoming close to anyone.
Next to his love
for Lea, Janek also bonds with three partisans, and specifically with LESZEK,
who later saves his life when he blows up a German supply train. This is the
moment Lea realizes that her painful fear for Janek is a sign of love.
Newsreel Footage: As the
Germans retreat, the partisans redouble their efforts, determined to liberate
their country before the Soviets arrive.
Janek is
overcome with optimism and makes plans to return to Lwów with Lea and continue
his research. He finally decides to seek reconciliation with his family, to
whom he will present his fiancée.
Janek’s
hopes are shattered when he arrives and is immediately led to the bedside of
his cancer-stricken father. Teresa ignores Lea and Stefan predicts the return
of the Soviets and believes the rumors that the Western Powers will yield to
Stalin’s desire to take Eastern Poland. The thought of "those bastard
Soviet Neanderthals" enrages Teresa terribly. When Janek finally has a
chance to announce the good news about his and Lea’s wedding, Barbara breaks
out in tears: "And what will become of me?" Teresa demands that Janek
leave the forest, give her up and take care of his family at
last. Janek takes Lea’s hand, calmly looks his mother straight in the eyes:
"Lea is my family."
Janek and Lea
marry in the forest a week later without Janek’s family, but surrounded by
their A.K. friends. Hania is the only family here; she has clashed with Teresa
and, as a result, has been fired. Janek and Lea are happy, but are careful to
avoid any family and future issues.
Newsreel Footage: Spring
1944, the Red Army advances into pre-WWII Polish territory and immediately sets
up a Soviet administration. The Soviet authorities trick the Polish Home Army
into cooperating with them. Their real aim is to disarm then and deport them to
the gulags.
As the Soviets
approach Lwów, Janek and Lea’s partisan detachment plan to slip through the
front to continue fighting the Germans in central Poland. As they prepare to
move westward, Janek is struck by guilt. The thought of never seeing his family
again becomes unbearable. Suddenly he has had enough of fighting and fears that
if they continue, they might die and forsake their future life. He pleads with
Lea to return to Lwów where they will be relatively "safe" in the
Soviet-occupied but still largely Polish city. At first Lea refuses and they
fight bitterly.
But this changes
when Lea's Uncle David returns from the Soviet gulag. Lea is overjoyed to have
found a member of her family still alive. She immediately finds an empty
apartment in Lwów where they can stay. At first, Janek is happy, since now he
feels he is near his family if something happens. Lea spends most of her time
with David. Janek tries to be understanding, but he feels her distance and
demands to know what’s going on.
Finally Lea
reveals what has been torturing her: She tells her husband that she can no
longer live here. David has found a way of getting to America with the help of
a Jewish refugee organization, but they have to act before the Soviets close
the borders. Janek feels the ground under his feet disappear. He appeals to her
feelings for her homeland, especially now, when they can rebuild a new and
better Poland. She tells him sadly: "Lwów is no longer my home and Poland
is no longer my homeland."
Newsreel Footage: The
Soviets try to make sure that Lwów’s Polish inhabitants feel they are no longer
welcome. They organize the so-called “repatriation” of Poles, which will resettle
them in former German territories.
As a
bombmaker, Janek is wanted by the NKVD. He realizes that he must leave Lwów. He
hides in a friend’s apartment while Lea tries her best to organize the
necessary papers.
One day ALEKS,
one of Janek’s partisan buddies finds him to tell him that partisans of
Leszek’s detachment have fallen ill with typhus. Fearing for the life of his
buddy Leszek and the others Janek immediately sends Lea to procure the vaccine
from Weigl’s institute. Lea returns empty-handed and informs him that Weigl had
left the city with the retreating Germans, for fear of the Russians. Only a
woman, whose description matches that of Anna was working in the laboratory.
After night falls, Janek sneaks into the institute and gets the vaccine from Anna,
and for the first time he understands that her dedication to science and
admires her courage to stay here all-alone.
In the
meanwhile, Aleks also shows typhus symptoms and is too weak to return to
Leszek. There is no time left to lose. But since Lea has to stay in the city
for the “repatriation” documents, Janek rejects all warnings and decides to
bring the vaccine himself. He has no other choice but to save the life of his
friends.
In a race
against time and certain imprisonment by the NKVD, Janek nevertheless manages
to find his detachment and get the vaccine to Leszek, his fighting companions
and the villagers before an epidemic can break out.
On his
way back, Lea surprises him with the news that they have only one hour to
leave. Janek opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. He is forced to leave his
home, but there is no time to say good-bye to his family. But they manage to leave Poland on the last train before the Soviets close down the borders.