In the small Polish town of Gniewoszów, traces of Jewish life had been so thoroughly erased that even the gravestones from the destroyed cemetery were stolen and cut into millstones and paving stones. In a sense, this is not so different from what happens today, when facts are distorted and history is turned into a tool to advance the political ideologies of the present. As International Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches, none of us can stand idly by and allow this to happen.
When we arrived in Gniewoszów in 2014 – Anita to rededicate the Jewish cemetery where members of her family were once buried, and Yoav to make a cinematic record – we did not expect that what started as a modest act of remembrance would become a decade-long quest to uncover a story of loss, silence, complicity and the urgent need to face uncomfortable truths.
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A Polish man carries a fragment of an ancient Jewish gravestone in Gniewoszów, Poland, from the documentary ‘Among Neighbors’. (Thanks to 8 above)
So uncomfortable, in fact, that the Polish President’s office is calling for our film to be removed from Polish television and streaming services.
While many Holocaust films focus on Nazi atrocities, our film, “Among the Neighbors”, shifts the lens to the Polish people and what happened after the war, when some Jewish survivors returned home and faced violence – and even death – at the hands of their former neighbors. It is a reckoning with a chapter too often left out of the story, events that reveal the heights of human compassion and the depths of cruelty.
The city’s oldest residents, now in the twilight of their lives, break decades of silence and share secrets they will carry with them for a lifetime. Their gripping stories are brought to life with hand-drawn animated sequences, enriched with artistic touches of magical realism.
At the heart of our story are two individuals: Yaacov Goldstein, one of the last living Holocaust survivors born in Gniewoszów, and Pelagia Radecka, an 85-year-old Polish woman who courageously shares her searing eyewitness testimony.
And it took courage because the obstacles to telling the truth are enormous.
View of the main entrance to the Auschwitz camp. The sign above the gate reads “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work sets you free) in Auschwitz, Poland. (Keystone/GettyImage)
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In 2018, the Polish government passed an anti-speech law that blamed Poland for any part in the Holocaust, a move that threatened to silence exactly the kind of testimonies our film preserves. The chilling effect of such legislation is felt not only in Poland, but everywhere where historical revisionism and anti-Semitism take root.
This story matters now because the forces trying to rewrite history are not limited to one country or era. Violent anti-Semitism is also on the rise in our country, including arson attacks from a Jewish student center in San Francisco on the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion. Social media influencers proudly declare that they are part of “Team Hitler,” and famous athletes claim that Jews “own it all,” mimicking the infamous “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” forgery. Young people are too easily influenced by such voices, which takes us down a very dangerous path.
Throughout history, the well-being of Jewish communities has served as a barometer of the health of a society. When anti-Jewish sentiment spreads, it erodes progress and contributes to cultural collapse.
The list is endless of once-powerful empires that turned against their Jewish citizens, from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Arab empires, the Ottoman Empire, Spain and the Polish kingdoms – not to mention Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. They now exist only in the history books and in the fantasies of terrorists and wannabe authoritarians.
Our film is a call to action: to resist the temptation to sanitize the past, to honor the complexity of the human experience, and to recognize that the choices we make, as individuals and as societies, extend far beyond our own lives.
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“Among Neighbors” uses animation to depict Pelagia Radecka peering into what was once a Jewish shop in post-war Poland. (Thanks to 8 above)
In creating ‘Among Neighbors’ we tried to bring the past to life and ensure that the stories of the Jews who lived and died in Poland were not lost to history. In doing so, we challenged viewers to confront the uncomfortable realities that shape our world today.
As efforts to rewrite history in favor of a more politically expedient narrative gain momentum, “Among Neighbors” offers a powerful counterpoint. True patriotism lies in honestly facing the past, no matter how painful the truth may be.
That’s why we’re showing the film in theaters, film festivals, community centers and schools across the U.S. and internationally. No attempt to silence this crucial chapter of human history – in Poland or elsewhere – will stop us. Such efforts only make more people interested in our film.
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As the last witnesses fade, the responsibility to face history honestly falls on all of us. Remembrance is our legacy. Let’s not waste it.
