Róża

Wojciech Smarzowski : 2011

Summer 1945. The end of World War II brought continuing chaos and violence for Poles living in former East Prussia, the lands that had belonged to Germany and after the war were granted to Poland. This harrowing tale of survival centres on Róża, a Masurian woman whose German soldier husband was killed in the war, leaving her alone on their farm. As a single woman she had no defence against Russian soldiers who raped as a form of revenge, nor against plundering Poles who found themselves in desperate straits. The law of the jungle had replaced the rule of law. Help arrives for Róża in the form of Tadeusz, a former officer in the Polish Home Army who survived the Warsaw uprising and is attempting to hide his identity. Against the background of a landscape devastated by war, where hope has become a propaganda tool, two people from distant worlds meet and love is born. This award winning drama explores the suffering of the Masurian population, considered traitors by everyone, and also the fate of the forlorn wartime women, who, whilst not cannon fodder were fodder for sexual abuse.