Pola's March

Pola's March is the inspirational documentary film that chronicles Holocaust survivor Pola Susswein's emotional journey back to Poland. The film travels from balmy, vibrant Israel, where Pola is an active member of her local community, to Poland, where Pola recounts for the first time her war experiences to 200 students on the March of the Living program. Aware that she is one of the last remnants of a generation that is dying out, Pola agreed to relate and examine, with extraordinary honesty and at considerable sacrifice, the most intense experience of her life. Although she had never openly discussed her traumatic past with family or friends, Pola reveals her story to this group of teenagers out of her own need to explore her experiences, and to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust are transmitted to future generations. The open dialogue that was established between Pola and the March of the Living students created an intimate and informal setting for the film. The group visits the cities of Warsaw, Lublin and Krakow, as well as the concentration camps of Treblinka, Majdanek, Plashow, Auschwitz, and Birkenau. Pola returns to her hometown of Krakow and visits her childhood home and her grandfather's bakery, remarkably unchanged in a half-century. The film also captures a touching reunion in Sweden between Pola and the long-lost family that took her in after the war. Pola fondly recalls the country and the people that brought her back to life and gave her hope again. Pola's March relies primarily on contemporary scenes for its emotional power; archival concentration camp footage is not used. The film does present poignant family and historic photographs, as well as newly recovered records and documents from Poland and Sweden. Pola's March is a film about one woman's triumph over her past, and a unique and compelling portrait of a survivor today, more than 50 years after the war.