462 - A Film Unfinished, Germany/Israel, 2010. Dir. Yael Hersonski.
"Purposeful work under such conditions is admirable. And yet we do it every day."
So writes Auerswald in his journal.
Auerswald is a Jewish man who has been conscripted by the Nazis--conscripted, meaning forced under threat of death--to administrate the Warsaw Ghetto.
When the German army invaded and occupied Poland in 1940, they created what is known as a ghetto. Not as the term is often used, as in a slum, but rather in the sense of a prison city. Or shall we say a prison neighborhood.
Then they made a movie about it.
Or they started to make one.
It would end up being a film unfinished.
His diaries would tell a different story from the one the Nazis were trying to tell.
Those autocrats who kept such meticulous records and filmed nearly everything they did.
Most people when they do something bad--sin, commit crime--would prefer that others do not know about it. But what if they do world historical bad? What if they commit mass acts of evil?
The Nazis did not try to hide what they were doing. They had a certain predilection for history. They recorded everything.
Which is not to say they did not lie. They were all about propaganda. But if any crime ever needed evidence in order to be prosecuted, they may have left behind the most.
The Ghetto was propaganda.
In a concrete vault hidden in a forest. Thousands of films produced by Hitler's propaganda machine.
And in one canister. One of those thousands of films.
A rough first-draft. Of what would have been the longest of the Nazi propaganda films. If it had not been a film unfinished.
Years later filmmaker Yael Hersonski watched the unused footage. Found five survivors. Showed it to them. Got their reactions and memories. Found a cameraman. Wally Wist. Who had long since tried to disappear. Interviewed him. And obtained Auerswald's diary.
The true story was not what the propaganda claimed.
600,000 Jews--400,000 Warsaw residents and 200,000 more brought in--were placed in this prison neighborhood, surrounded by walls of fewer than 3 square miles.
The Ghetto was propaganda.
It showed "wealthy Jews" living the life of luxury, overlooking their less fortunate neighbors, portraying them as the Nazis wanted them to be portrayed.
Until about a decade later. When someone found a stash.
Until about a decade later. When someone found a stash.
And in one canister. One of those thousands of films.
Years later filmmaker Yael Hersonski watched the unused footage. Found five survivors. Showed it to them. Got their reactions and memories. Found a cameraman. Wally Wist. Who had long since tried to disappear. Interviewed him. And obtained Auerswald's diary.
The true story was not what the propaganda claimed.
That is 200,000 people per square mile.
Let us take a moment to try to imagine that.
200,000 people per square mile.
Nothing in America comes close. New York City, with 8,175,133 people (2010 census) and 302.6 square miles, has a population density of 27,016 people per square mile.
The Warsaw Ghetto was 7 times more crowded than New York City.
If we isolate Manhattan, we find 1,537,195 people and 22.83 square miles, for a population density of 69,468 people per square mile.
The Warsaw Ghetto was nearly 3 times more crowded than Manhattan.
Brooklyn and Queens both have more people, but they have much more land, so their population densities are 35,369 and 20,554 people per square mile respectively.
The worldwide leader is Manila, with 1,780,148 people in 16.55 square miles, and a population density of 107,561 people per square mile.
The Warsaw Ghetto was nearly twice as crowded as Manila.
But then it drops off precipitously.
Second place is Mumbai, with 12,478,447 people covering 169 square miles, and a population density of only 73,837 people per square mile.
Not too much more crowded than Manhattan.
My town, Huntsville, Alabama, has a population of 193,079 people and covers 214.7 square miles. So I am currently used to a population density of 899.30 people per square mile.
My other town, Pasadena, California, has a population of 142,059 people and covers 23.13 square miles. So I was used to a population density of 6,141.76 people per square mile. Much higher than Huntsville but insignificant compared to the Warsaw Ghetto.
Here are a few others:
Chicago, 2,705 million people, 234 square miles, 11,560 people per square mile.
Philadelphia, 1.568 million people, 141.7 square miles, 11,066 people per square mile.
Los Angeles, 3.967 million people, 503 square miles, 7,887 people per square mile.
Houston, 2.303 million people, 627 square miles, 3,673 people per square mile.
I am taking the time to do this because I want to drive home the point of the overcrowding the people experienced. Imagine living in Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, or Houston, and then imagine the population density of The Warsaw Ghetto being 17 to 54 times larger than your town.
In a 3-square mile area.
The square root of 3 is 1.73. So visualize 1.73 miles. Or about a mile and three-quarters. From your house to where? Walk that far. Then make a right angle and walk that far again.
Now imagine 600,000 people inside that perimeter. Without any tall buildings.
The people living in the Warsaw Ghetto had nowhere to go.
They were crammed together.
Imprisoned.
Starved.
Many died of starvation. Many more died of typhus. And still many others were sent to concentration camps. And died there.
Those caught smuggling food or attempting to escape were immediately captured and shot.
And yet they took baths and brushed their teeth. Got dressed and went outside. Talked to their friends. Danced. Sang. Told stories. Laughed.
To preserve their dignity. To honor the beauty and value of life.
Some did not make it.
They dropped trash out the windows. Because they were too weak to walk down the stairs. And the garbage collected in piles in the streets.
There were those who had seen The Ghetto who were misled by its propaganda. For years. People thought there were "wealthy Jews" living the life of luxury, overlooking their less fortunate neighbors.
But the historians who found the footage, and Yael Hersonski, who came along later and put it together, have helped the world see the truth.
Because the Nazis kept such meticulous records and filmed nearly everything they did.
Even, and especially, in this film unfinished.
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