Irenas Geheimnis

Polish nurse Irena Gut is separated from her family after the invasion of the Wehrmacht. The German occupiers force her to work in a munitions factory. Shortly afterwards, the SS entrusted her with the task of supervising Jewish forced laborers. This gives her an insight into the dramatic situation of the men and women. After she is assigned as a housekeeper for a German officer, she is impressed by the size of his villa. This is because it can be used for a humanist endeavor: She decides to hide Jewish people there to save them from certain death in a concentration camp.

The bio-pic is based on the play of the same name by Dan Gordon and thus on the true story of Irene Gut Opdyke (1922-2003), who rescued numerous Jewish people and, from the 1970s onwards, dedicated herself to remembrance work as a contemporary witness and worked resolutely against the denial of the Shoah. Among those rescued was Roman Haller (*1944), who will take part in the panel discussion following the film screening.

Canada/Poland 2023, 121 min.

Director: Louise Archambault

Screenplay: Dan Gordon

With: Sophie Nélisse, Dougray Scott, Andrzjef Seweryn and others.