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Sudden need for horse bits signals end of war

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Polish reality at the end of the war
Andrzej Wajda Film-maker
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When we reached that small village near Kazimierz, we encountered a sizable unit of several hundred soldiers and a few officers who were wondering what they should do because they knew the Germany army was at their back, and that they had only remained because they had been away from the main body of the army. They felt they should disband and disperse. I remember hearing for the first time my mother's conversation with these officers who suddenly asked my mother what she thought about them disbanding. That's when I realised that if this is what reality's like, then we were completely lost. They were asking my mother, but how was she supposed to know what they should do? Their problem did not lie, as I understood it, in their tactics, their problem lay in moral responsibility, was it permissable to do this? Should they leave those soldiers and allow them to go home, to disband in the situation that had arisen, or should they go off and fight somewhere? I have to say that this was etched on my memory, it was part of my education which I later needed when I came to make war films once the war was over. This was a moment that I remembered well.

Kiedy przyjechaliśmy do tej niewielkiej wioseczki koło Kazimierza, zastaliśmy dosyć duży oddział kilkuset żołnierzy i paru oficerów, którzy zastanawiali się co mają zrobić, bo wiedzieli, że armia niemiecka jest już na tyłach, że oni zostali tylko dlatego, że zostali gdzieś na boku, że powinni się rozformować i rozejść i pamiętam, że pierwszy raz słyszałem rozmowę mojej matki z tymi oficerami, którzy nagle pytali się mojej matki, co ona o tym myśli, że oni się rozformowują. Ja wtedy zdałem sobie sprawę, że jeżeli taki wygląda rzeczywistość to znaczy, że jesteśmy już totalnie zgubieni. Pytają się mojej matki, a skąd moja matka miała wiedzieć, co oni mają zrobić. Ich problem nie polegał na tym, jak wtedy zrozumiałem na taktyce, ich problem polegał na moralnej odpowiedzialności, czy to wolno tak zrobić. Czy oni mają zostawić tych żołnierzy i pozwolić im iśc do domu i rozformować się w tej sytuacji, która się wytworzyła, czy oni jeszcze gdzieś powinni walczyć dalej i muszę powiedzieć, że to dobrze utkwiło w mojej pamięci, to była część mojej edukacji, która potem była mi potrzebna jak zacząłem robić po wojnie filmy wojenne. To jest taki moment, który dobrze zapamiętałem.

Polish film director Andrzej Wajda (1926-2016) was a towering presence in Polish cinema for six decades. His films, showing the horror of the German occupation of Poland, won awards at Cannes and established his reputation as both story-teller and commentator on Poland's turbulent history. As well as his impressive career in TV and film, he also served on the national Senate from 1989-91.

Listeners: Jacek Petrycki

Cinematographer Jacek Petrycki was born in Poznań, Poland in 1948. He has worked extensively in Poland and throughout the world. His credits include, for Agniezka Holland, Provincial Actors (1979), Europe, Europe (1990), Shot in the Heart (2001) and Julie Walking Home (2002), for Krysztof Kieslowski numerous short films including Camera Buff (1980) and No End (1985). Other credits include Journey to the Sun (1998), directed by Jesim Ustaoglu, which won the Golden Camera 300 award at the International Film Camera Festival, Shooters (2000) and The Valley (1999), both directed by Dan Reed, Unforgiving (1993) and Betrayed (1995) by Clive Gordon both of which won the BAFTA for best factual photography. Jacek Petrycki is also a teacher and a filmmaker.

Tags: village, soldiers, army, officers, disbanding, mother

Duration: 1 minute, 49 seconds

Date story recorded: August 2003

Date story went live: 24 January 2008