Volhynia (film)

Production

The screenplay of the film was developed based on the collection of short stories titled Nienawiść (en. "Hate") by writer Stanisław Srokowski.

As the budget of the film was insufficient, the director appealed to the public for financial support in order to gather required funds to finish the film. Afterwards, the financial support was received from, for example, Telewizja Polska.

Filming took place in: Lublin, Kolbuszowa, Kazimierz Dolny, Rawa Mazowiecka, Sanok and Skierniewice, from 19 September 2014 to 21 August 2015.

Plot

The movie tells the story of young Polish girl, Zosia Głowacka, from Volhynia's village settled by Ukrainians, Poles and Jews. The story begins shortly before the outbreak of World War II in 1939 with marriage of Zosia's sister to the Ukrainian. During the wedding Zosia's father decides her to marry much older village administrator, Maciej Skiba, despite her being in deep love with a local, young Ukrainian boy Petro. There is also resentment shown by local Ukrainian population towards Polish officials, as they favor the Polish minority in Volhynia. In talks between the participants of the wedding, it is revealed that some Ukrainians carry terrorist attacks against Polish authorities and Ukrainian collaborators, and how it is met with severe actions from the Polish government including closing Orthodox churches and humiliation of Ukrainian population. It is also shown, that some parts of Ukrainian and Polish population are trying to reconcile with each other.

When the war begins, Maciej is conscripted to Polish Army fighting against Germans in 1939 September Campaign. When the campaign is lost, Maciej and other survivors are trying to return to their homes. On their way back, all members of the group except Maciej are captured by local Ukrainians, tortured and killed, scene which shows how some Ukrainians raised against the Polish State during its collapse in 1939. Maciej managed to get to the village only by disguising as Ukrainian. When at home, Maciej, Zosia and other members of the village have to meet with a new reality, as the eastern part of the Poland is occupied by the Soviet Union, and new communist rules are established in the village. The local Ukrainians and Jews population happily cooperate with the Soviet authorities with the most cooperative elements replacing pre-war Polish authorities as governors of the village.

In the meantime, Zosia got pregnant with Maciej but she is still deeply in love with Petro, the latter also still loves her a lot. As part of massive deportation carried by the Soviets against the Poles in 1939–1941, Maciej, Zosia and Maciej's children from his first marriage are about to be sent to Siberia or Kazakhstan as forced labor. Zosia and children are rescued in last moment, just before train is about to departure, by Petro who bribes the guard with vodka. When they come back to Petro's home, Zosia gets contractions. When she is giving birth to her child, the guard arrives and kills Petro. Zosia then takes care of Maciej's home and children during his absence. The children are sent to school organized by the Soviets where all children learn to inform against their parents and give up on the religious symbols they are attached to.

The plot then switches to 1941 when German Army is conquering Volhynia during Operation Barbarossa. In the changed situation, the same part of local Ukrainian population who welcomed the Soviets two years before, now greet the Germans with vodka and bread, hoping again to establish the Ukrainian state and get rid of Polish people. Germans begin to kill local Jews, organizing local police units from local Ukrainians, who actively and with enthusiasm participate in Holocaust of Jews. However, some people like Zosia or some Ukrainians are trying to help the Jews by hiding them in safe place.

In the meantime, Maciej comes back home from deportation, as the car he was in derailed which allowed him to escape. The family is trying to organize their life in changed reality, as Poles face more and more hostility from their Ukrainian neighbours, growing to the level even bigger than at the start of the war. There are increasing number of murders on local Poles by Ukrainians. In this scenario, Maciej sets out to the local market despite Zosia's protests, who is afraid for his safety. And she is right, as the other Polish neighbors arrive some days later with head of Maciej cut off by local Ukrainians.

Zosia is trying to live on taking care of the children, however, one day, when she is defending herself against rape attempt by local Ukrainian policeman, the presence of the Jews hid by her is revealed. In exchange for not revealing their presence to germans, Zosia has to regularly give herself sexually to him. The Jews (the old marriage and young unrelated boy) escape and find shelter for winter in the home of a local Ukrainian, who agrees to help after being promised large amount of money. When the Jew's wife dies and winter goes by, the Ukrainian demands the payment and when he sees the Jew cannot pay him, he kills him in the forest. The young Jew is rescued by the Ukrainian's son, a friend of his.

The plot finally goes to the summer of 1943 when news of killings of Poles by Ukrainians spread among the Poles in the village. At the time, a young Polish man, seriously injured, arrives at Zosia's home. When he is healed, he settles there as it makes Zosia feel safer. He contacts local Home Army, which by orders of Polish government in United Kingdom does not protect Polish population from Ukrainian attacks, but are prepared to fight against Germans in the future. When Zosia's man is asked to be a guide for members of the Home Army on the way to meeting with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, Zosia is trying desperately discourage him from going. She fails. When two of the members of Home Army arrive at the meeting, as agreed without weapon, they are surrounded by the members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, captured and then dismembered with the horses. Then the men from Ukrainian Insurgent Army hunt for the rest of the group and only the friend of Zosia escapes and hide in church, full of Polish population. During the sermon the local Ukrainians enter the church killing or burning everyone on the way, but Zosia's friend runs to the church's tower and somehow survives the attack.

In the meantime, in the movie there shown many scenes how the local Ukrainian population including the former Ukrainian policemen who run away to forest and joined the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and other local Ukrainians are gathering together calling to eradicate the lands from Poles, regardless of the age or sex, and to refer to any measures, deceive or murder to achieve the goal. There are two sermons from the Ukrainian Orthodox priests shown, one who preach about loving thy neighbor, and the second who calls to kill all Poles, infants or women to have finally 'pure' Ukrainian lands. It is shown as symbol how many (but not all) Orthodox priests supported the killings of Poles, consecrating the pitchforks, hammers or knifes used by Ukrainians to murder their Polish neighbors.

Soon the first survivors of the pogroms arrive to the village telling the story that Ukrainian neighbors are killing everybody who are Poles or do not want to participate in killings. The local Ukrainian village administrator arrives at Zosia's home to ensure her that she and children should stay at home, as they are not be harmed by their Ukrainians neighbors. Also other Polish people are ensured about their safety. However, this is only deceive to allow Ukrainians to kill as much Poles as possible, and do not allow any Pole to escape from killings.

Finally, the killings in the village begins at night. Zosia escapes with her child, but as she is running the scene of tortured Poles are shown by one, including pregnant women being stabbed in womb, bowels or eyes taking out alive, people crucified alive on their doors and so on. Zosia’s stepson is murdered during the massacre. Her stepdaughter, however, is rescued by Ukrainian peasant. On her way to escape from certain death, Zosia arrives with her child to the former's home of Petro, where she is rescued from the death at the hands of Ukrainian band, by the Ukrainian mother of Petro.

When Zosia is running away with her child, from place to place, she encounters in every village the corpses of mutilated Polish infants, women and the older people, each tortured before the death – she sees the signs of the genocide perpetrated by the Ukrainians on the Poles in Volhynia. In one place she runs into the unit of the German Army, which saved her from death just moment before Ukrainians were about to kill her and her child. The Germans are astonished at first why she is walking with them, but when they find more and more stacks of murdered Poles on their way, they feel sorry for her and escort her to the place where her sister lives. She is welcomed there, as husband of Zosia's sister is honest men and refuses to kill any Poles, including demands from his brother to kill, her wife, Zosia's sister. After one of argument between him and his brother, he finally kills his brother as this is the only way to save his wife and Zosia's. The night after, the whole family is attacked by the members of Polish Self-Defence who seek revenge on the Ukrainians. They kill without mercy Zosia's sister, her husband and their children. Zosia escapes again, only to be found by her friend, who managed to get carriage with horse, and lead her and her child to the safety.

Cast

Awards and nominations

Reception in Poland

In Tadeusz Sobolewski's opinion, Volhynia is a movie without precedents in Polish cinema after 1989. Piotr Zychowicz and Pawel Lisicki praised the movie, underlying its authenticity and historical accuracy. Grażyna Torbicka and Tomasz Raczek both expressed surprise the film had not received the main award at the 2016 Gdynia Film Festival in Poland. Jakub Majmurek wrote that Volhynia has met his high expectations and is one of the best movie describing the history of the "bleeding lands." The author also believes that the director of the movie, Smarzowski, presented the relations between Poles and Ukrainians honestly, and the notion of the movie is a warning against any form of radicalism. Ewa Siemaszko, who cooperates with the Institute of National Remembrance to uncover the historical facts of the massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, thinks that the movie shows the events accurately. She quoted opinions of witnesses of the genocide, who said the movie is like a documentary on the events in Volhynia. Ewa Siemaszko additionally remarked that the massacres of Poles in Volhynia was genocide with exceptional cruelty – "genocidium atrox". It was a fierce, cruel and terrible genocide.

Reception in Germany

According to Gerhard Gnauck, Volhynia is the movie the Polish society has been waiting for a very long time. On the occasion of Volhynia's premiere, Gnauck recalled the history of the region and the Polish-Ukrainian relations. The author cited expectations of some political experts that the movie may cold the relations, arouse negative emotions in Ukraine and be exploited by the Russians to unleash anti-Ukrainian propaganda. Gnauck has underlined the episode of Zosia and her child seeking shelter around a unit of the German Army. In Gnauck's opinion, the movie is very good and balance the rights of both sides.

Film banned in Ukraine

Following the recommendation of the Ukrainian ambassador to Poland, Andriy Deszczyca, the film's showing in Ukraine has been banned. Reportedly, the censorship was rationalized by the Ukrainian authorities alleging that the film "could cause unrest on the streets of Kiev." The head of the Ukrainian Association in Poland, Piotr Tyma, supported the ban asserting that the film undermines the Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation efforts. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian media accused the director of making a biased movie without seeing it. The first such screening was planned by the Polish embassy in Kiev. It was to have been followed by a discussion with the director. Among the Ukrainian guests invited to attend was the country’s president, prime minister and some MPs. However, Ukraine’s foreign ministry strongly recommended that the Polish embassy call off the screening for the sake of "public order". Accordingly, the Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Rafał Sobczak said that the introductory screening had been cancelled. Talks might be held about possible new date of limited viewing. The Polish Institute in Kiev followed the recommendation from Ukraine's foreign ministry and called-off the presentation of a film set against the backdrop of World War II massacres.

During the production of the film some Ukrainian actors, invited to play characters, rejected the offer after reading about them. They refused because they thought the movie propagates hate. Nevertheless, the film received positive reception from Nadiya Savchenko, member of the Ukrainian parliament, who welcomes the opportunity to talk about painful events of the past while noting many positive developments in Polish-Ukrainian relations of today.

Historical episodes