1962 Koniówka, Poland

Ludwika Mola

Born in 1951

Koniówka, Poland

Interviewed on September 21, 2019

By Barbara Mola

My first film was one of these postwar Polish comedies. It was the first Polish film to be released after the war. I don’t really remember the plot, but it was about people living in the ruins of Warszawa. It was actually quite tragic–they were shooting a lot of people against walls; there was destruction everywhere. The film was called Zakazane Piosenki (Forbidden Songs). It was about songs that were banned from being sung during the German occupation. 

The actors were actors that were in films before the war. Danuta Szaflarska had the main role, and the rest of the actors I don’t remember. She died recently, over a hundred years old. All of her acting roles were very beautiful. 

We watched this first film in Koniówka, Poland, my hometown. It was around 1962, and I was maybe ten years old. This wasn’t like a movie theater; we didn’t have one. It was still in those years when it was very poor here. The Polish army was here, because they always were. We’re on the border of Poland and Slovakia, so the army had many bases here. The soldiers wanted to provide entertainment, so they put on a movie outside. They had a projector and so they projected it onto the wall of a building. It was free and anyone could come, and it was near my house so I just walked over. There were no concessions and I wasn’t eating anything. I was definitely sitting on the ground, probably on the grass when I was watching it. It was summer when they put the film on, so it must have been hot. I don’t remember exactly who came with me–anyone that could have come was there. 

Before they played the film, there were “kroniki filmowe” (film chronicles, newsreels) which were basically propaganda films. They were very complimentary for the regime, always showing people looking happy. Obviously, it was very, very political. They were short, usually like ten minutes, showing what the Soviets were doing. They would usually show Warszawa and make it seem like the Soviets were rebuilding it, or show workers they had given land to. It was all about how good socialism was, how everything had gotten better. In Poland it was always like this. Always before the main film we would have to watch propaganda for the Communists. As a child, I would look at the propaganda with curiosity. They would be showing the Palace of Culture, or showing what the Russians were doing in Warszawa, and I was interested in that. Obviously at home it was a different atmosphere, because at home we knew what the Communist Party was; we knew that they didn’t always tell the truth. But still, it was interesting for us to watch, very fast-paced and obviously in black and white. They wanted us to remember that Communism was a good thing. 

For us kids the film was so great, because it was our first time seeing anything like this. At that time we didn’t have televisions, so we didn’t watch anything else. Later, much later, we got a television that we all shared and watched American serials on. We loved the American television series, Bonanza especially. Everyone was watching Bonanza! And then, Doctor Gilbert was really popular, and then Zorro. Later, when we were in school, like fifth grade, we would take trips to an actual movie theater. That was a very cool experience. We would watch a lot of historical films, about the Teutonic Knights and things like that. There was a movie theater seven kilometers away, and we would go about once a year. The last film I remember watching before I left for America was in this really elegant theater in Kraków. It was Przeminęło z Wiatrem (Gone with the Wind). 

I felt really great watching this first film, really, really great. I can’t emphasize enough, even thinking about it now, how wonderful I felt watching it. It was my first film and I was so happy after viewing it. 

The army would put on these shows rarely, only once in a while. Later on, when I was about nineteen, people would film movies in our town, about the Polish highlanders or things like that. Anyone could be an extra, so everyone would be walking around in costumes. My dad and grandpa were even extras in a film. As children it was a great attraction for us. They would bring these really brights lights to film, I remember those. Another time they were filming something in the mountains, and so we all came out to watch. It was great entertainment for us.