In Darknes (2011)

From NetFlix:

As Nazis overrun Warsaw, many of the city’s Jews hide out in sewers, where they encounter Leopold, an anti-Semitic sanitation worker. His prejudice reflects the rift between Poland’s Jews and Catholics in this film inspired by true events.

This true story of a Polish Christian man who protected a group of Polish Jews hiding in the sewers to escape the German massacre of Polish Jews is not easy to watch. Be sure to read the final explanatory screen shots which tell what happened in real life to the characters in the film.

Sometimes the day to day details of grubby survival seemed a bit tedious. But the intent is to show that under stress we can accommodate and life goes on.

Also evident was the extreme prejudice of Polish Catholics towards Jews. At several times a Catholic Pole is surprised to learn that Jesus was a Jew.

At one harrowing point in the film, just above a group of Jews in the sewer is a Catholic church in which children are receiving their first holy communion. At that point a heavy rain starts such that the sewers begin to fill and threaten the Jews with drowning.

To encourage you to watch a somewhat grim film, I promise you a happy ending for the Jews in hiding (thanks to the Germans evacuating to escape the Russians).

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