Belgian poster for the film “Ostatni Etap” (1948)
Extent and Medium
Overall: Height: 23.500 inches (59.69 cm) | Width: 16.500 inches (41.91 cm)
pictorial area: Height: 16.500 inches (41.91 cm) | Width: 12.625 inches (32.068 cm)
Creator(s)
- Film Polski (Production Company)
- Progres Films SA (Distributor)
- Ken Sutak (Compiler)
- J. Lichtert & Fils (Printer)
Biographical History
The Cinema Judaica Collection consists of more than 1,200 objects relating to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical subjects, from 1923 to 2000, from the United States, Europe, Israel, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina. The collection was amassed by film memorabilia collector Ken Sutak, to document Holocaust-and Jewish-themed movies of the World War II era and the postwar years. The collection includes posters, lobby and photo cards, scene stills, pressbooks, trade ads, programs, magazines, books, VHS tapes, DVDS, and 78 rpm records. Sutak organized these materials into two groups, “Cinema Judaica: The War Years, 1939–1949” and “Cinema Judaica: The Epic Cycle, 1950–1972” and, in conjunction with the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum (now the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum in New York), organized exhibitions on these two themes in 2007 and 2008. Sutak subsequently authored companion books with the same titles.
Archival History
The poster was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur
Scope and Content
Belgian poster for the film, “Ostatni Etap,” (“The Last Stop” or “The Last Stage”) originally released in Poland in March 1948, and released in Belgium as “La Derniere Etape” and “De Laatste Etappe.” The film centers on prisoners staffing the women’s camp hospital at Auschwitz and their attempted resistance activities. The film was the first theatrical Holocaust feature made in Eastern Europe following the war, and was one of the earliest epic films to center on women. It was filmed in and around the actual camp at Auschwitz, giving it a sense of accuracy and authenticity not found in other portrayals. In addition, the director, writers, and many of the cast and extras were themselves former concentration camp prisoners. Although the film centered on Nazi brutality against the Jewish population, it also depicted prisoners from other groups. “Ostatni Etap” served as a major influence on later films about the Holocaust, such as Steven Spielberg’s 1993 feature, “Schindler’s List.” This object is one of more than 1,200 objects in the Cinema Judaica Collection of materials related to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical themes.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Restrictions on use. Copyright status is unknown.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
French and Dutch-language poster for the film, “The Last Chance,” printed on rectangular, cream-colored paper and mounted on a larger, white linen backing. The poster has a narrow margin on three sides and a wide margin on the top. A large, rectangular, central image in black-and-yellow depicts a woman wearing a striped concentration camp uniform dress, kerchief, and apron hanging limply by one arm on a barbed wire, electric fence. Overlaying the top right corner of the image is French text in purple and yellow, and in the bottom left corner is small, black text. Across the bottom of the poster is a purple bar containing large, white, Dutch text. A black studio logo is printed in the top left margin and printing information is in black in the bottom margin. The paper is discolored throughout, and the surface layer has peeled-off in two spots in the upper margin, possibly where something was previously adhered. Depicted: Unidentified
People
- Jakubowska, Wanda, 1907-1998.
- Bartówna, Wanda, 1917-1980.
- Schneider, Gerda.
- Dziewoński, Edward.
- Gorecka, Tatiana.
- Vinogradova, Marii︠a︡, 1922-1995.
Corporate Bodies
Subjects
- Nazis in motion pictures.
- Holocaust survivors in motion pictures.
- Foreign language films.
- Poland.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in motion pictures.
- Biographical films.
- Imprisonment in motion pictures.
- Jewish women in motion pictures.
- Belgium.
Genre
- Object
- Posters
- Posters.