Jews in Warsaw in 1938

Identifier
irn1002056
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2000.621.1
  • RG-60.2581
Dates
1 Jan 1938 - 31 Dec 1938
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Yiddish
Source
EHRI Partner

Creator(s)

Biographical History

In 1938 and 1939, Shaul and Yitzhak Goskind of Warsaw-based Sektor Films produced six short films about urban Jewish communities in Poland. One, about Łódź, is lost. The other five-on Bialystok, Cracow, Lwow, Vilna, and Warsaw-have survived and are now called "Five Cities." These low-budget 35mm films were made for Landsmanshaften groups in America for fundraising purposes. On the eve of war, the Goskinds sent the films to Joseph Seiden, the prolific director in New York who distributed Yiddish newsreels and feature films in the US and Europe.

Scope and Content

The following notes are from NCJF documentation: The lively Jewish neighborhoods of Warsaw, including Zamenhof Street and the commercial "beehive" Nalewki Steet, were home to 400,000 Jews before World War II. "A Day in Warsaw" sets Warsaw's modern multistoried buildings and broad streets against its old market square and Jewish quarter. Trucks, trolleys, autos and buses meet horse-drawn carriages, pushcarts, and porters in the bustling commercial district. Also shown are the Yiddish Theater, Gensza Cemetery and other Jewish institutions-the community council, hospitals, schools and synagogues. At film's end, after Sabbath services, families pour into Krashinsky Park where children play and adults spiritedly debate the issues of the day.

Note(s)

  • SERIES DESCRIPTION of "Five Cities": In 1938 and 1939, Shaul and Yitzhak Goskind of Warsaw-based Sektor Films produced six short films about urban Jewish communities in Poland. One, about Lodz, is lost. The other five- on Bialystok, Krakow, Lvov, Vilna and Warsaw- have survived. This version is a restored version,produced by NCJF in 1990. Credits follow. Producer: Sharon Pucker Rivo Associate Producer: Miriam Saul Krant English subtitles: Sylvia Fuks Fried Technical Director: Loren S. Miller Title Animation: Frame Shop Laboratory: John E. Allen, Inc. Duplicate footage: Story 2481, Film ID 241. See also Story 801, Film ID 514 for some duplicate footage.

Subjects

Places

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.