ESRA’s Film Club had to hire a larger hall to accommodate all the people who wanted to see this film. In fact, so many were disappointed at not getting tickets that we put on a second showing a few days later.

Judy Maltz, the director, decided to make a documentary of her grandfather’s diaries of his experiences during the German invasion of Poland, and being hidden in the loft of his neighbor’s pigsty, along with 15 other Jews from his town of Sokal.

The Jewish population of Sokal was 6,000, and barely 30 were alive at the end of the           war. The Poles and the Ukrainians were hostile to each other, and the Jews therefore managed to escape notice. When the Germans entered Sokal in 1942, their first act was to massacre as many young Jews as they could. Then they contained all the Jews in the “ghetto”. Their last “Aktion” was deportation.

The Maltz, Kindler and Letzter families were offered a safe haven by this savior, Francisca Halamajawa. Sixteen Jews lived in a cramped loft with barely any light for nearly two years while Francisca tended to them by bringing them food and water and taking away their waste, mixing it with the pig waste, so as not to arouse the  suspicion of her neighbors.

Judy and three surviving children of the original families went back to the house on No. 4

Street of our Lady together with two of Francisca’s granddaughters, to relive their time in hiding from the Germans. One of the aunts, Chaya Dvora, died from TB during their time in the loft and was buried under the apple tree in the garden at the dead of night. There were gut-wrenching feelings when these survivors saw their hiding place after so many years.

Only when the Russians defeated the Germans did the survivors come out of hiding, bent-backed because of the lack of space in the loft and, out of habit, talking in whispers for many months afterwards. They discovered to their surprise another Jewish family whom Francisca had hidden under her kitchen floor, and even a German soldier whom she had hidden in her roof and who had later been shot by the Russians. No one knew of the others’ existence.

Judy invited the three survivors up on the dais with her to answer questions after the showing of the film. They told of their feelings and how, as they were young children, they were oblivious to the heartache their parents must have had trying to keep them happy and normal under such confined and “unliveable” conditions. They all ended up in displaced persons’ camps in Austria, before either emigrating to the States or Israel. Today, two of the survivors, Eli Kindler and Chaim Maltz, live in Israel with their families.

Judy Maltz has already won Athens and Mexico International Film Awards, the Cine Golden Eagle Award from Washington DC and an Accolade Award for Excellence in Film. This being her first movie, we congratulate her for capturing the essence of one person’s heroism without being maudlin, depicting one woman’s courage and strength and doing what she believed was right. Truly, a case of good versus evil.

Francisca Halamajawa was posthumously recognized as a Righteous Gentile by Yad Vashem for her bravery in saving 15 Jews in her town. Today, there are over 120 descendants of those 15 Jews, some in Israel and some in the USA. It is awesome to think that they have this one decent human being to thank for their lives.

Francisca Halajawa, was a shining beacon of hope in the dark evil of the Nazi extermination war machine. This film is a meaningful commemoration.