A contemporary, on-line archive of Polish amateur films made between the 1950's-1980's, provides an opportunity to reflect on stories of survival and attempts at reconciliation.

Summary of Polish Narration

Song for the Morning Shift's Workman

The voice is reading Edward Stachura (well known Polish writer and poet) poem (or song) called "Piosenka dla robotnika rannej zmiany" which you can translate as "Song for the morning shift's workman."

We hear the narrator who speaks about our character in the third person. He comments on things the character is doing. It's 5:05 AM, alarm is on, and our character is waking up. He starts his daily activities automatically, still sleeping. Now we hear that he's a workman. He puts his head under the water faucet and we hear for the first time the kind of prayer that paraphrases the popular prayer to a guardian angel. However, here it's called an angel of work. Then we hear about the character's poor diet and ersatz coffee, if he has one. He's packing a second breakfast and is hurrying to the bus stop, smoking a cheap cigarette. He's riding a tram; people are packed together, some taking a nap, others standing on each other. There's text saying there's no god and once again, a prayer. After 8 hours of work, the character is back home watching a football game on TV. His team is loosing again. We hear the next part of a prayer that talks about good sleep which is best after work but instead of that, it's a nightmare of growing prices.

Wysoka

The narrator speaks about Hitler's invasion on Poland on 2/9/1939 in the village of "Wysoka," where not only the Polish army was fighting against the Nazis but also local people were helping. In revenge the Nazis burned down the village on 3/9/1939, tortured, arrested and took 52 men to the Third Reich. Then we hear different voices arguing about communication, infrastructure and educational problems in the village and that 30 years after the end of WWII, nobody from the Communist party cares about Wysoka.

Coal Mines near Walbrzych

We hear a typical newsreel narrator promoting Communist propaganda, talking about the town of Zabrze that was a part of the Upper Silesia Industrial Area (Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy—GOP). The narrator talks about mines (mostly coal mines) which are the main part of Zabrze's industry and the fact that one of every two families in Zabrze are related by their work in the mines. The biggest mine in Zabrze is (simply) called "Zabrze." Now we hear about the rules and regulations—main one is "No Smoking" underground so workers are smoking their last cigarettes before starting work. We accompany workers to where they leave all cigarettes and matches and then change their clothes, which are stored in private lockers.

Available on demand here.