The Invasion of Poland
Clip: Season 50 Episode 10 | 2m 54sVideo has Closed Captions
David Strathairn as Jan Karski reenacts the invasion of Poland.
David Strathairn as Jan Karski reenacts the invasion of Poland and the story of how he became a prisoner of war.
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Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
Major series funding for GREAT PERFORMANCES is provided by The Joseph & Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, Sue...
The Invasion of Poland
Clip: Season 50 Episode 10 | 2m 54sVideo has Closed Captions
David Strathairn as Jan Karski reenacts the invasion of Poland and the story of how he became a prisoner of war.
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipThe Germans bomb our camp.
Men are dying.
I retreat.
I crawl back to the station.
[airplane sounds] [bullet sounds] I don't even know who is firing, who is on our side.
Total devastation.
Chaos.
The Blitzkrieg.
I see the destruction of everything I have believed in.
Poland is strong.
Poland is an empire.
Poland is the whole world to me, and that whole world is destroyed.
Everything I have believed in up until now no longer applies.
Poland loses the war in 20 minutes.
I walk, a refugee.
It is summer and the heat is terrible.
We don't know where we are going.
Thousands with no place to go.
Who will take us?
I try to walk on the softer sides of my feet.
They are so blistered.
15 days, I walk.
I see tanks, the hammer and sickle.
Soviets have entered Poland.
Polish captain waves a white handkerchief.
They take us to labor camp.
We sleep in a warehouse beneath the Red Star and a portrait of Stalin.
We shiver in the raw tunnel wind and barbed wire in circles.
Cold?
Are you Poles cold?
That's because your bones are hollow, and your blood runs weak.
Exploiters, blood suckers.
You will learn how to work in Russia.
Your backs will ache, your hands will bleed, your fingernails will break open, but you will learn how to work."
Behind the Scenes of "Remember This"
Video has Closed Captions
Listen to the creative team explain how they adapted the play for the screen. (2m 1s)
Video has Closed Captions
Explore the legacy of Jan Karski, reluctant World War II hero and Holocaust witness. (1m 15s)
Video has Closed Captions
"Remembering Jan Karski" goes behind the scenes of the remarkable film, "Remember This." (19m 52s)
Video has Closed Captions
Experience David Strathairn as reluctant Holocaust witness, Jan Karski. (30s)
A Plea to Churchill and Roosevelt During the Holocaust
Video has Closed Captions
A politician in exile writes to Churchill and Roosevelt to intervene in the Holocaust. (1m 39s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
Major series funding for GREAT PERFORMANCES is provided by The Joseph & Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, Sue...