Set of 10 scene stills for the film “Ulica Graniczna” (1949)
Extent and Medium
.1: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
.2: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
.3: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
.4: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
.5: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
.6: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
.7: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
.8: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
.9: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
.10: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
Creator(s)
- Ken Sutak (Compiler)
- Film Polski (Production Company)
- Globe Film Distributors (Distributor)
Biographical History
The Cinema Judaica Collection consists of more than 1,200 objects relating to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical subjects, from 1923 to 2000, from the United States, Europe, Israel, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina. The collection was amassed by film memorabilia collector Ken Sutak, to document Holocaust-and Jewish-themed movies of the World War II era and the postwar years. The collection includes posters, lobby and photo cards, scene stills, pressbooks, trade ads, programs, magazines, books, VHS tapes, DVDS, and 78 rpm records. Sutak organized these materials into two groups, “Cinema Judaica: The War Years, 1939–1949” and “Cinema Judaica: The Epic Cycle, 1950–1972” and, in conjunction with the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum (now the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum in New York), organized exhibitions on these two themes in 2007 and 2008. Sutak subsequently authored companion books with the same titles.
Archival History
The scene stills were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur
Scope and Content
Set of 10 scene stills for the film, “Ulica Graniczna” (“Border Street”), originally released in Poland in 1949, and released in the United States in 1950. Scene stills are photographs taken on or off the set of a motion picture and are then used as marketing and advertising tools. “Ulica Graniczna” centers on several families in a tenement building in Warsaw, and features two Jewish children who are forced to relocate with their families into the Warsaw Ghetto. The film concludes with a dramatization of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the first on-screen representation of the event. During production in the late 1940s, increasing communist and antisemitic sentiment in Poland led the director to relocate to Czechoslovakia, where the film was completed. The intended 1948 premiere was delayed, after a Polish state-run committee deemed the film anti-Polish and lacking characters in line with a communist ideology. It was only released after revisions were made that downplayed Poland’s role in the Holocaust. Rather than focusing on the Jewish victims, Poland’s communist authorities wanted to emphasize the struggle that the Polish people shared with their Jewish neighbors. The final version of “Ulica Graniczna” shows a variety of Polish attitudes about the Holocaust and ends ambiguously, emphasizing to the audience that racism and persecution is not over. This object is one of more than 1,200 objects in the Cinema Judaica Collection of materials related to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical themes.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Restrictions on use. Copyright status is unknown.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
.1 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts a man in a dark coat outside a house, looking in through a window with sheer, floral curtains. Visible through the window, a man and woman are both examining something on a desk. The English film tile and distributor are printed in black in the bottom margin. There are creases along the top margin, and a small tear along the left edge. Depicted: Eugeniusz Kruk as Fredek Kusmirak, Irena Renardówna as Jewish Woman, Jerzy Leszczynski as Dr. Józef Bialek .2 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts a man with a submachine gun angled down, and his arm around a wide-eyed boy. A girl with braids is standing behind them. The armed man is speaking to an older man, who is standing in left-facing profile and has a tallit (a striped prayer shawl) over his head. The English film tile and distributor are printed in black in the bottom margin. The edges of the paper are slightly discolored. Depicted: Maria Broniewska as Jadzia Bialkówna, Stefan Sródka as Natan Sziuliu, Jerzy Zlotnicki as David Libermann, Wladyslaw Godik as Grandfather Libermann .3 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts a scene inside a sewing factory. A Nazi officer has his hand resting on the back of a shorter, bald man, who is standing in front of a set of stairs and looking towards three men standing at the opposite end of the room. On each side of the aisle is a row of men and women sitting at sewing machines. Piles of clothing are stacked in the lofts above their heads. The English film tile and distributor are printed in black in the bottom margin. Depicted: Unidentified .4 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts an outdoor street scene in front of a large building. A man, two women, and several children are sitting on the curb of the street with a boy and girl standing behind them. To the left is a bench with several pairs of boots lined up on top. Several people are walking on the sidewalk behind them. The English film tile and distributor are printed in black in the bottom margin. Depicted: Maria Broniewska as Jadzia Bialkówna, Jerzy Zlotnicki as David Libermann, others unidentified .5 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts a boy kneeling next to the exterior wall of a building, surrounded by flowers, with his hands clasped and head lowered in prayer. On the wall in front of him is a black silhouette of a man in a hat, riddled with several bullet holes. On either side of the silhouette is a spray-painted word. In the background, a woman and young child are standing at the corner of the building. The English film tile and distributor are printed in black in the bottom margin. Depicted: Unidentified .6 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts a scene inside a crowded bar. In the foreground, two men are sitting at a table, with their arms raised. Behind them, the other patrons also have their arms raised. A Nazi soldier is pointing a submachine gun, and another Nazi officer is holding a pistol. They are both standing in the center of the room. The English film tile and distributor are printed in black in the bottom margin. Depicted: Unidentified .7 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts five men in front of a brick column. Three men are sitting in the foreground: one in a helmet, another holding a long gun barrel, and a third wearing a black beret. Standing behind them is a fourth man, who has curly hair and has a belt at his waist. In the background is a fifth man standing underneath an arch and obscured in shadow. The English film tile and distributor are printed in black in the bottom margin. Depicted: Stefan Sródka as Natan Sziuliu, Tadeusz Fijewski as Bronek Cieplikowski .8 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts two boys hiding amongst a pile of building rubble. One of the boys is kneeling and aiming a rifle towards the left. The other boy is crouched next to him, arms wrapped around himself. The English film tile and distributor are printed in black in the bottom margin. Depicted: Unidentified .9 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts a man pulling a wagon laden with household furniture and items along a dirt road, in between brick and plaster buildings. Walking alongside the wagon, an older man in a long, black coat and a woman dressed in black with a scarf over her hair. The English film tile and distributor are printed in black in the bottom margin. Depicted: Wladyslaw Godik as Grandfather Libermann, Stefan Sródka as Natan Sziuliu, other unidentified .10 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts several people sitting amidst a pile of building rubble. In the foreground, a girl has a boy on her lap while a man leans over and grasps the boy’s shoulder with his hand. Behind them are two men, aiming rifles in opposite directions. The body of a third man is lying on the ground, to the right. The English film tile and distributor are printed in black in the bottom margin. There is a small loss in the upper left edge. Depicted: Maria Broniewska as Jadzia Bialkówna, Jerzy Zlotnicki as David Libermann, Stefan Sródka as Natan Sziuliu, others unidentified
People
- Ford, Aleksander.
- Fijewski, Tadeusz.
- Pichelski, Jerzy, 1903-1963.
- Broniewska, Maria.
Subjects
- Heroes in motion pictures.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in motion pictures.
- Captivity in motion pictures.
- Warsaw (Poland)--History--Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 1943.
- Polish people in motion pictures.
- Jews in motion pictures.
- History in motion pictures.
- Foreign language films.
- Antisemitism in motion pictures.
- Poland.
- United States.
Genre
- Film stills.
- Photographs
- Object