Aus Galizien in den Aargau

Jerzy Czarnecki, the protagonist of the film, could have contented himself with a quiet retirement after many years of work for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy in the field of radiation protection. But he is driven to act: he has unique memories and feels a pressing obligation to share them. Starting with a journey to Mosty Wielkie (in today's Ukraine), the town where he spent his youth and which he had to leave in 1942, the film tracks the key places and events in Jerzys life.

These include his flight from the Nazis in the Second World War, adopting a false “arian” identity, forced labour in Germany, starting a new life in Warsaw after the war and finally emigration to Switzerland, because of a new rush of antisemitism in Poland. Jerzy's is a long road, paved with tragic and dramatic experiences - from life in a small Galician shtetl to Windisch in the Swiss canton of Aargau.

Trails of a Jewish European in the 20th century

«60 years have passed and I have never found the courage to return to my home town Mosty Wielkie. I have thought about it for a very long time. Does it make any sense? Why should I want to return? I have no friends there anymore, I have no family there anymore.»
Jerzy Czarnecki

There is an epilogue to the film you can view here for free: Aus Galizien in den Aargau - Epilog (DE)