Не бегите! Идите шагом! Как мы пережили Холокост

V 2006 godu v ramkakh intervʹi͡u, provedennykh Fondom Shoa, Roman Polanski, oskaronosnyĭ rezhisser, akter i kinoprodi͡user, zapisal svoi detskie vospominanii͡a o zhizni v Polʹshe vo vremi͡a Vtoroĭ mirovoĭ voĭny. Minimalʹno otredaktirovannye, sokhranivshie unikalʹnyĭ golos detstva, oni zvuchat kak budto ustnyĭ rasskaz. Ti͡azhelyĭ i t͡sennyĭ. V ėtu knigu takzhe vkli͡ucheny pisʹma ego ott͡sa, kotorye tot napisal po prosʹbe syna v 1973 godu. Oni publikui͡utsi͡a vpervye. Okkupat͡sii͡a Krakova, getto, begstvo, odinochestvo, golod, strakh, vstrechi s nasiliem, ti͡uremnai͡a logika kont͡slageri͡a, vyzhivanie - svidetelʹstva uzhasov togo vremeni ot pervogo lit͡sa i vazhnai͡a istoricheskai͡a pami͡atʹ, peredannai͡a cherez lichnui͡u travmu. Byvalo, chto zhiznʹ stanovilasʹ kraĭne ti͡azhela, no meni͡a ėto niskolʹko ne ogorchalo. Deti privykai͡ut ko vsemu bystro. Oni grusti͡at, kogda razlucheny s roditeli͡ami. I stradanii͡a mne prichini͡alo imenno ėto - togda i͡a dumal o tom vremeni, kogda my snova budem vmeste, kruglye sutki. Dazhe vo sne i͡a dumal ob ėtom. Unikalʹnye foto avtora iz lichnogo arkhiva. Odnazhdy matʹ prinesla sakhar, kotoryĭ sobrala na razrushennoĭ fabrike. On byl peremeshan s peskom. Ona razvela ego v nebolʹshom kolichestve vody. Rastopila i prot͡sedila cherez tkanʹ. Tak u nas poluchilsi͡a sakhar, kak ranʹshe - skoree bolʹshimi kuskami, chem kristallami. I vot iz ėtogo, iz muki i eshche chego‑to - uzhe ne pomni͡u - ona delala pirozhnye i prodavala ikh na ulit͡se. Dli͡a tekh, kto interesuetsi͡a istorieĭ vtoroĭ mirovoĭ voĭny. Mne bylo shestʹ let i trinadt͡satʹ dneĭ, kogda razrazilasʹ voĭna, i dvenadt͡satʹ let - kogda ona zakonchilasʹ. Bolʹshe vsego stradaniĭ v to vremi͡a mne prichini͡ali ne materialʹnoe polozhenie, ne nishcheta, ne golod i dazhe ne strakh. Khuzhe vsego byli otsutstvie ri͡adom roditeleĭ, zhguchee zhelanie vnovʹ uvidetʹsi͡a s nimi, odinokoe sushchestvovanie v chuzhom i kholodnom mire.

In 2006, as part of an interview conducted by the Shoah Foundation, Roman Polanski, an Oscar-winning director, actor and film producer, recorded his childhood memories of life in Poland during World War II. Minimally edited, preserving the unique voice of childhood, they sound like an oral story. Heavy and valuable. This book also includes letters from his father, which he wrote at his son's request in 1973. They are published for the first time. The occupation of Krakow, the ghetto, escape, loneliness, hunger, fear, encounters with violence, the prison logic of the concentration camp, survival — evidence of the horrors of that time in the first person and an important historical memory transmitted through personal trauma. It happened that life became extremely difficult, but it did not upset me at all. Children get used to everything quickly. They feel sad when they are separated from their parents. And that's what caused me suffering — then I thought about the time when we would be together again, around the clock. Even in my sleep, I thought about it. Unique photos of the author from his personal archive. One day, my mother brought sugar, which she had collected from a destroyed factory. It was mixed with sand. She diluted it in a small amount of water. Melted and filtered through a cloth. That's how we got sugar, as before — in large chunks rather than crystals. And from this, flour, and something else‑I don't remember anymore—she made cakes and sold them on the street. For those who are interested in the history of the Second World War. I was six years and thirteen days old when the war broke out, and twelve years old when it ended. It wasn't my financial situation, poverty, hunger, or even fear that caused me the most suffering at that time. The worst part was the absence of her parents, the burning desire to see them again, and the lonely existence in a strange and cold world.