At the beginning of March, “White Courage” arrives in Polish cinemas. The production is already causing serious controversy. De Rzyce warned from the beginning that German collaborators were being laundered using Polish taxpayers' money. Rafael Zemkiewicz writes about this in his text “The Making of Contempt” (“Do Rzeczy” 8/2021).
The film's director is Marcin Koszalka. Actors such as Filip Bowiec, Sandra Dzimalska, Jakub Jershal, Julian Świszewski, Adam Voronović and Wiktoria Gorodecka will appear on the screen. The production cost amounts to PLN 16 million. So much for Polish conditions. In December 2020, the Polish Film Institute granted funding to the film “White Courage”. The Institute of National Remembrance confirms that it did not participate in preparing the final script for the film “White Courage.”
Juralinfolk in Polish Cinema
The film tells the story of two brothers who come from a respected highland family in Zuarata. The youngest, Jederik, falls in love with the beautiful Bronka, but the woman is married to his brother Maciej. After the outbreak of war, both men face a dangerous dilemma.
“The proud Jędrek leaves his homeland in search of oblivion among the Bohemia of Kraków. On his way, he meets the German scientist and mountaineer Wolfram, who spreads the theory that the Highlanders are descended from the ancient Germanic tribe of Bragots. When war breaks out, the Germans offer cooperation to the people of Podhaly. Maciej Szorat refuses “Several prominent families strongly support this proposal. However, after Wolfram is convinced, Gedric cooperates, hoping to win back his lover and save his community from the devastation of war,” read the film's description.
During the war, the Germans actually made an offer of cooperation with the Highlanders. On this basis, in November 1939, Goralenverein was created – an organization aimed at gathering the highlanders in support of the German occupiers. It should be noted that not all representatives of highland organizations have joined this initiative. From the beginning, the Polish resistance movement fought Goralienverein.
“White Courage” in cinemas. Comment by Lisicki and Zemkiewicz
In the last episode of the program “Polska Do Rzeczy”, Paweł Lisicki and Rafał Ziemkiewicz, among others, commented: “White Courage”. – I wanted to return to your text that you wrote a few years ago in the weekly magazine “Du Rizzi”. The text relates to the soon-to-be-released film – “White Courage”. It is supposed to show cooperation between the Highlanders and the Germans. This is a story about Juralinfolk, which should have been very popular – said Pawel Lisicki.
The idea of turning a marginal issue into a major event under the slogan “We are settling scores with our past,” as if cooperation was a public issue, was ridiculous in itself. I wrote this text and I remember the anger, how can we publish such texts. I am talking about this because at that time the film was in the making stage, and now it is being aired and we are facing more and more resistance from the angry people of Bodhali. Suddenly they appear as those who were willing to cooperate, added the editor-in-chief of De Résice.
– Poland, which was bleeding terribly, and if we look at the World War II calendar, not a day went by without a group of Poles being shot, and she makes a movie about that bunch. Historians agree that this was not a body in a closet. There were a few collaborators, and they were hanged as soon as possible. The pinnacle of cooperation was the attempt to create an SS Highlander unit. Finally, there were about a dozen people who, when they woke up, immediately deserted. And make a movie out of it? – Rafael Zemkiewicz was surprised.
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