No. 4 Street of Our Lady
March 2, 2009 at 9:20 pm Barb Marshall 3 comments
Francisca Halamajowa with daughter Hela
I went to the State Theatre yesterday to see the premiere of No. 4 Street of Our Lady, a documentary made by three filmmakers from Penn State and chronicled in the November/December Penn Stater. What a powerful movie. Barely a dry eye at the end.
It told the story of Francisca Halamajowa, a Polish Catholic who risked her life by hiding 16 of her Jewish neighbors in her home during World War II—one family in a hole under her kitchen floor, and two families in a hayloft in her pigsty.
All this happened while there were Nazi troops camped out by the pigsty. The very shrewd Francisca warned the troops that if they stayed there and the pigsty were hit, well, you can imagine what would happen—so the troops moved a few hundred feet from there, although they remained on her property. Of the Jews harbored by Francisca, 15 survived. They have 100 descendants living today. Herb Maltz, one of the survivors and the father of Penn State filmmaker Judy Maltz, was among the people at the screening. (Today’s Centre Daily Times also has a good article about the screening.)
During a brief Q & A after the show, the question was asked, “Would you do the same?” I believe that without a doubt, I would. If I could help save one or more lives and it cost me my own, it would be well worth it.
Judy Maltz and the other Penn State filmmakers—Barbara Bird and Richie Sherman—plan to release the movie in several languages, including Hebrew, German, French, Spanish, and Ukrainian. Another screening, for middle and high school students, is scheduled for April 22 at Drew University in Madison, N.J.
Barb Marshall, editorial assistant
Entry filed under: College of Communications, Faculty research, The Penn Stater magazine, University Park campus. Tags: Barbara Bird, Francisca Halamajowa, Holocaust, Judy Maltz, No. 4 Street of Our Lady, Penn State filmmakers, Richie Sherman, Righteous Gentiles, World War II.
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1. ‘Street of Our Lady’ in Philadelphia « The Penn Stater | March 30, 2009 at 3:27 pm
[...] but a genealogical blogger lists the film as having been confirmed for showing. The film made its world premiere in State College at the beginning of [...]
2. ‘Street of Our Lady’: A Q&A with the Filmmakers « The Penn Stater | November 3, 2009 at 9:10 pm
[...] did a story about the film in our November-December 2008 issue, on the eve of the movie’s premiere last winter. You can download a PDF of our article [...]
3. Ada Rusinek Klein | November 15, 2009 at 1:38 am
I just saw “No. 4 Street of our Lady.”
Powerful and moving. Still digesting it.
There was a very interesting Q&A session at the end where I learned many interesting details. But I have one question now which was not dealt in the movie or asked after.
Question: Many survivors of any calamity experience guilt. Why did they survive and not the others? So many people died in Sokol, and this small group managed to scape alive. Did they feel guilty? Besides all the scars from the horrowing experience, did they carry the extra burden of guilt?