Letters of Hope [Documentary film]
"If we lost our father, we would be completely alone in the world," wrote fourteen-year-old Jerzy Chmiel, son of a member of the Fourth Board of the Freedom and Independence Association, to President Bolesław Bierut in October 1950. He pleaded for the salvation of his father, Karol, on behalf of himself and his nine-year-old brother, Zbigniew. The boys' mother had been dead for nine years. "We and our mother have no one to help us" (original spelling) – eight-year-old Haneczka pleaded for the life of her beloved father, WiN officer Tadeusz Pleśniak, on behalf of herself and her three siblings. Many Polish children sent such requests to Bierut.
The quoted excerpts from the harrowing letters are a testament to the inhumane times and the installation of totalitarian, communist rule in our country. The children of patriots sentenced to death begged the President of the Republic of Poland, Bolesław Bierut, to spare the lives of their fathers. For the daughters and sons, including activists from the Freedom and Independence Association (Zrzeszenie Wolność i Niezawisłość), awaiting execution, a pardon from the head of state was the last chance to save their beloved father. Therefore, they tried to move the president by appealing to his humanity. The Soviet governor in Poland, Bierut, failed to do so, so their fathers were murdered as a criminal offense.
The film presents the dramatic stories of activists and soldiers of the post-war independence underground and their families. It also depicts the situation in Poland after World War II. The documentary shows how totalitarian systems, Nazism, and communism destroyed people and nations. A key element of the film is its emphasis on universal and enduring values: loyalty, honor, faithfulness, honesty, responsibility, and sacrifice.
Director: Piotr Zarębski.
Screenplay: Tomasz Plaskota, Piotr Zarębski.
The film was created under the substantive and scientific supervision of the Institute of National Remembrance. 👀 FOLLOW the website 👉 https://warszawa.ipn.gov.pl/ and
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