Refugee children in the Middle East

Identifier
irn1000964
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1999.324.1
  • RG-60.2138
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Polish
Source
EHRI Partner

Creator(s)

Scope and Content

In Egypt, a tent city with Polish children. Daily activities in the tent city. Children at the beach, engaging in athletic activities, eating bread, playing, studying, working, etc. Field school. Polish soldiers. Refugees in tents. Sign: "TEHERAN 3 KM/WARSAWY 4,371 KM." Sign: "SZKOLA POWSZECHNA NO. 3." Visit by officials, CUs. Stage performance, children and adults performing Polish dances. Detailed cescription with original narration: 01:38:05 Narration begins in Polish: "One key responsibility of the Polish Army in the East is the caretaking of Polish children in exile. Thanks to whom will return someday to the homeland with strength of both body and spirit. They will return from these escapades as future citizens of the Polish Republic." 01:38:39 Child’s narration begins by child in form of a letter written to his mother. The letter recounts the transport of the children from Russia to Yangiyul, near Tashkent, to the Polish Military High Command. 01:39:31 General Wladyslaw Anders appears in the footage, reviewing the children. 01:39:50 The Polish children are being taught to say “I want to be a Polish soldier” in both Polish and English. 01:40:08 "In April [1942] we left on the first transport to Iran; at first by train and then via the Caspian sea via a large boat--10 times the size of Pan Tadeusz on the Vistula {literary reference} to Pahlavi (the port city in Northern Iran currently named “Bandar-e Anzali”)." 01:40:58 Images of bathing in the Caspian and discussions of typhus and cleanliness; starting over on the beach. Illnesses and people who suffered on the way. 01:41:36 "Mr. Stolarczyk who has 6 sons in the Polish army has not yet heard from any of them. Mrs. Linska’s dog has been with us since Siberia and will probably return with her to Lwow. Even a lieutenant was reunited with his family he hadn’t seen in 3 years." 01:41:49 Images of the food being cooked and served in Pahlavi. People taking good care to feed and clothe the children. 01:42:57 Polish soldiers march into the Caspian sea for bathing time; children in uniforms as Polish scouts, “Junaks,” paramilitary recruits. 01:43:09 Visit of General Wladyslaw Anders to Pahlevi/Anzali to review the troops and the refugees. Parade of youth soldiers (Junak). 01:44:08 Scenes of Tehran, where the Poles have been transferred to the school system. They have been welcomed and greeted by the locals. 01:44:50 "We are in Polish Camp #3, living in tents." The children go to school again. 01:45:28 "A kind Persian man teaches children to read and write in Persian; we teach him Polish in exchange." 01:45:56 High ranking guests and officials also visit; arts performance. Several close-ups of key political figures and of groups in folk dance.

Note(s)

  • Screenplay and text: Konrad Tom Direction and montage: Michal Waszynski Cinematography: engineers Seweryn Steinwurcel and Stanislaw Lipinski Musical illustration: Henryk Wars

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Places

Genre

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