Civilians in War--Then and After: Po­land and World War II

Writer/producer/director Dr. Katherine McCarthy states in the press kit that her aim is to "counteract all the advertising for war that we get from the same old media about our glorious soldiers." She complains that more attention has been given to the military campaigns of World War II than to the unspeakable suffering of more than 50 million civilians, among them the Polish citizens who are interviewed in this video. Although it seems somewhat mean-spirited to criticize a Holocaust film, I do not believe that Dr. McCarthy has produced anything that we have not seen before. From Sophie's Choice to Schindler's List, the horrors of the War­saw ghetto have been chronicled with numbing clarity; apart from a few nut cases who deny the Holocaust ever happened, the images of that time are imbedded in our memory. If Dr. McCarthy wants people to remember the horrors of the Warsaw ghetto, she needs to present something we haven't seen before, something that would stand beside the long shuffling lines, the gaunt stick figures of old men, the smokestacks with their ribbons of smoky death wafting into the air. I applaud Dr. McCarthy's fervor and courage, but unless your collection specializes in Holocaust materials, this is strictly an optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (J. Carlson)