Search Film, Company, People...

OF ANIMALS AND MEN

O ZWIERZĘTACH I LUDZIACH

By Łukasz CZAJKA

Jewish - Completed 2019

- Year of production
- 2019
- Genres
- Jewish, Documentary
- Countries
- POLAND
- Languages
- POLISH, ENGLISH-UNITED STATES
- Duration
- 58 mn
- Director(s)
- Łukasz CZAJKA
- Synopsis
- Every zoo aims to protect animal species from extinction. During WWII, the Warsaw Zoo carried out its function in a rebellious manner. Once the war began, the Germans killed some animals and transferred the others to the Third Reich. The abandoned enclosures were taken over by the species most endangered by warfare: the man. The Jews escaping the inevitable death and the Home Army soldiers found shelter in the empty stables, kennels, and aviaries as well as in the house of Jan Żabiński, the then Director. The zoo offered a hiding place – sometimes for a day, rarely for a few months – to several hundred people. The exact number remains unknown. The film tries to tell this incredible story using metaphorical shots of animals, abundant archive footage, and interviews with the last living witnesses.