Our Children

In this restoration of a fascinating, rarely seen Yiddish classic from post-WWII Poland, filmmakers Natan Gross and Shaul Goskind mix fiction and documentary to address the then-recent atrocities of the Holocaust, setting their story in an actual orphanage and school near Lodz. Here, the famous Yiddish comedy duo of Shimon Dzigan and Israel Schumacher perform Sholem Alecheim’s play Kasrilevke Is Burning for an audience of Jewish children who had survived the Holocaust, which leads to a discussion about the young people’s experiences during the war. This singular document of survival stands out for its candor and complexity, and the way in which it suggests artistic expression as a way to process trauma. Author and critic J. Hoberman wrote, “Our Children is not only among the first films about the Holocaust, it is also the first to critique its representation.” Restored by The National Center for Jewish Film.