Children must laugh

Collection

Scope and content:: A re-editing of a pre-war Polish-Jewish film recording the work of the Medem Sanatorium for children from the Warsaw Ghetto slums.The re-editing makes the point that, although Warsaw conditions were exacerbated by "superstitions and a darkness of the mind", slum conditions (and therefore the need for this kind of action) exist the world over: "the battle against them must be our great concern when the rebuilding of Europe is at the forefront of our minds", it also notes, in a closing title, that the Gestapo in 1942 destroyed the Sanatorium, staff and children. The film itself, after introductory scenes showing living and working conditions in the slums, illustrates the work of the Sanatorium both generally and by dramatised incidents involving 3 newcomers. Founded by workers' subscriptions and as self-sufficient as possible, the Sanatorium provides the children with medical care, exercise and fresh air, but also seeks to develop their minds, encouraging self-confidence, modern life-style and socialist 'citizenship' awareness (democratic running of sanatorium, expressions of solidarity with striking miners, revolutionary songs etc).

Subject terms:: Children; Health and medical matters; Holocaust; Holocaust--Ghettos

Access, restrictions:: Visit IWM website for Research Room access provisions see https://www.iwm.org.uk/research/research-facilities

Links to finding aids:: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060022171

Scope and content:: A re-editing of a pre-war Polish-Jewish film recording the work of the Medem Sanatorium for children from the Warsaw Ghetto slums.The re-editing makes the point that, although Warsaw conditions were exacerbated by "superstitions and a darkness of the mind", slum conditions (and therefore the need for this kind of action) exist the world over: "the battle against them must be our great concern when the rebuilding of Europe is at the forefront of our minds", it also notes, in a closing title, that the Gestapo in 1942 destroyed the Sanatorium, staff and children. The film itself, after introductory scenes showing living and working conditions in the slums, illustrates the work of the Sanatorium both generally and by dramatised incidents involving 3 newcomers. Founded by workers' subscriptions and as self-sufficient as possible, the Sanatorium provides the children with medical care, exercise and fresh air, but also seeks to develop their minds, encouraging self-confidence, modern life-style and socialist 'citizenship' awareness (democratic running of sanatorium, expressions of solidarity with striking miners, revolutionary songs etc).

Subject terms:: Children; Health and medical matters; Holocaust; Holocaust--Ghettos

Access, restrictions:: Visit IWM website for Research Room access provisions see https://www.iwm.org.uk/research/research-facilities

Links to finding aids:: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060022171