Never Forget to Lie

Before the Holocaust, half a million Jews lived at the center of a vibrant cultural tapestry in and around the Polish city of Warsaw. By war's end, only about 28,000 survivors were left. In this PBS-aired Frontline documentary, writer-producer and Holocaust survivor Marian Marzynski returns to a "haunted past" for a cathartic dose of "self-inflicted pain." By 1940, most Jews had been rounded up and confined to a walled ghetto in preparation for shipment to the death camps. Marzynski, the son of secular Jews, lived with constant fear of being recognized as Jewish, playing hide and seek games to avoid the Germans (even being circumcised could have dire, life-changing effects). Separated from his mother, Marzynski assumed the false identity of a Christian and was hidden in a Catholic orphanage, attending services and even becoming an altar boy. Revisiting familiar ghetto scenes—now marked by trash-strewn courtyards and condemned buildings—Marzynski talks with other survivors, who provide moving and ironic commentary on a time when moral values were turned upside down: children were told "never forget to lie"—the key to their survival. Born Jewish, and raised Catholic, Marzynski eventually "abandoned" God, making survival his religion. After remaining in Communist Poland for many years, he emigrated to America, where anti-Semitism once again became a fact of life. Recalling details of life in the ghetto—both random acts of kindness and terrible betrayal—is the "unfinished business" of his life and his films. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)