London, United Kingdom – 2013, July – A shocking 44 percent of Polish students revealed
feelings of anti-Semitism when polled by the Homo Homini Institute of Public Opinion Research
earlier this year. These same students also displayed a surprising lack of knowledge about
Poland’s Jewish history, which is especially unnerving, considering that Poland was the Nazi’s
largest killing field of the Jewish people.
Polish filmmaker, Aro Korol, explained, “The Catholic church is largely responsible for the
strong anti-Semitic sentiment that exists in modern-day Poland. This is primarily due to the
influence of Father Tadeusz Rydzyk and the crippling hatred and dangerous political views that
are expressed through various programs and commentary on Radio Maryja.”
One of the most pivotal moments in Korol’s life occurred when he was 19 years old. After
selling his camera for funds, he made his way to Krakow where Schindler’s List was being
filmed by legendary Director Steven Spielberg. He managed to talk his way on set where he
became a production assistant and even earned a credit in the film.
The experience opened the filmmaker’s eyes to the reality and horror of the Holocaust. Whilst on
set, he also became entranced with the inner workings of the film industry, and later, the movie
played a large role in his decision to create the documentary, Hitler’s Daughter.
When the initial 2-minute trailer for Hitler’s Daughter was released at Galway Film Festival and
posted online, Korol was surprised at the amount of negative attention he received. He was
slandered and insulted, and a few overzealous parties even threatened him with bodily harm.
“The promotional reel caused great turmoil in the Polish media. Articles were published in
Hungary, Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic. I became the object of numerous attacks,
received many death threats and many comments very antisemitic in nature, such as ‘leave
Poland alone, you Jew, or we’ll cut your hands off’, and so on.”
Consequently, he lost financial backing for the completion of his film, but because of the
importance of his message, he has persevered, hoping that he will soon be able to complete his
project.
With the help of The Righteous United, Korol recently launched a Kickstarter campaign at
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hitlersdaughter/hitlers-daughter and is hopeful that the
campaign will garner generous donations from individuals and Organisations who, like him,
want to expose the prevalence of anti-Semitism and its negative effects on society. The aim is to
raise $76K (£50K) by the end of August 2013 in order to complete the project.
Donations on the Kickstarter page are rewarded with gestures of goodwill such as a free copy of
the completed DVD or being named in the credits of the film, more information can be found on
the website.
Similar to Schindler’s List, Korol’s documentary has the potential to be a powerful tool for social
change.
Korol stated, “We can’t let history repeat itself; it is time that hatred toward Jews cease to exist.
It is time that we teach our children to honor and respect all religions, nations, and sexual
orientations, and it is time that we show the world that no man, no organization and no church
has the right to pursue another group with hatred and discrimination.”
The young Director has battled with MP’s, the public, and Ministries throughout the making of
this film – his hope is that the Kickstarter community backs him to complete the film and release
it to the public by the end May of 2014.