Wolyn [DVD] (English subtitles)

Wolyn is a Polish war drama movie about one village located in Lviv region where Poles and Ukrainians lived side by side, but as WW2 starts and the area gets occupied by the Soviets, during that time many ukrainians enlist to the red army and use this position to abuse Polish rights and send them to Siberia to be deported. During German occupation Ukrainians switch sides and eliminate the local jewish and polish population but the spring of 1943 changes everything when UPA decides to eliminate Polish people from the region. I have to say this is one of the really good war dramas out there, it's realistic, very harrowing and I liked the cinematography and characters, but I must WARN you that this movie has some truly disturbing scenes and if you get easily upset of seeing children, women and men brutally killed, then this movie might not be for you. This movie is banned in Ukraine because of this theme! It's a touchy subject in Ukraine about UPA and Bandera, the actors who were Ukrainian were fired from their jobs. And no this movie isn't Russian or Polish propaganda, it's a good film that tells the truth from both sides.

My mother survived these horrors, however, her father and two sisters were brutally murdered by the Ukrainian nationalists. I found the film extremely emotional and in line with my mother’s narrative of what she experienced. The film shows this traumatic part of Polish/Ukraine history exactly how it happened.

This film narrates an extremely violent period of history which is unfamiliar to most people outside Poland and the Ukraine.. While most of the cruelty is perpetrated by Ukrainians no one ethnic group is stereotyped.....Ukrainians ,Poles ,Russians,Jews and Germans show both virtue and depravity although it is the latter which predominates. The photography ,atmosphere and acting are of high quality. Be warmed .....while the display of violence is not gratuitous it is extreme. You will not sleep easy after watching.....nor should you.

Excellent film of the dark Ukrainian massacres of Polish populace in the area. Dark side that Ukraine wants to keep quiet. Very traitorous nation

Very realistic,graphic and horrifying WWII drama.Be aware! This is really depressing to watch.

Brilliant film English subtitles

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a hard subject, a great movie

I have scores of books on the Wolyn genocide committed by Ukrainians on helpless Polish population. Yes... I saw the photos... I listened to survivors... I read the listings of elaborate methods used to slaughter children, women and old people (the able and military trained Polish men were "done with" already by Soviets either in Katyn or were perishing in Syberia after mass deportations). But it was all terrifying but also impersonal until I watched the movie. This movie made it personal. Not the red color of blood... But the feelings and day-to-day relations of people living together that were so well shown in the movie. What makes this horror different from the Holocaust or Stalinist terror is that it was not "institutionalized". Yes... The Germans occupying those terrains at that time "divided and conquered". And yes, the Germans were killing Jews with their perfectly organized institutional machine to which they employed also Ukrainians. But here, the neighbors were killing neighbors. The Ukrainian husbands were killing their Polish wives. And former friends were killing friends. And while some Ukrainian priests were trying to appeal to butchers, their voices were muted or they would also fell under butcher's ax "for aiding the enemy". The Poles and Ukrainians lived there together for ages. They were neighbors... They were family connected. They knew Polish and Ukrainian and often spoke a mixture of both. Poles with their long history of statehood and clear sense of national identity were obviously more prominent, better represented in the pre-war administration and often more wealthy. But they were not enemies and enriched the villages and towns of Ukraine. Looking at Lviv now and Lwow in 1939 you may think that those are two different towns. Ukrainians striving to get their national identity chose the worst possible path to it, through ethnic cleansing of their neighbors. To this day many Ukrainians honor their butchers ("rezuny") as heroes and name the streets after them rather than face the truth about crimes of their ancestors. There are no more Poles living there, and the Polish cemeteries (or what is left of them) are vandalized, while churches went to rubble. Obviously, the third party, the Russians, feeds the flame of hatred, since rebuilding the Polish-Ukrainians relations based on truth and reconciliation is "bad for geopolitics". Ukrainians and Poles have great history of fighting for independence after World War I. This could be a start of friendship and cooperation. Somehow, looking at the political landscape in Ukraine, Ukrainians often choose to base their national pride on the horrific genocide that their fathers had committed.

Another important film telling the ugly but true side of WWII. Great cast/acting and storyline. Well recommended.

Jest dość poruszający i wstrząsający. Świetnie zagrany. A nawiązanie sceną początkową ślubu do ostatniej sceny z siostrą to już fantastyczne nawiązanie i kontrast

Please note this is Region 2 DVD, it can be vieved only on multi-region DVD players. It will not play on DVD players sold in the US or Canada. DVD features English subtitles. The Wolyn (Volhynia) massacre and its aftermath is a story that needs to be told. I started researching the history of the Ukraine during WW II. Wołyń" accurately portrays ethnic cleansing of Polish inhabitants of Wołyń in all its despicable cruelty performed by their Ukrainian neighbours lead by UPA but it's targetted against extreme nationalism and chauvinisme. Not against Ukrainians. As the director stated, it is intended as a bridge, not a wall. "Wołyń" is an honest movie. It skillfully shows multiple points of view, introduces viewers to a large variety of characters: noble, brave, open, opportunistic, doubting, prejudiced - among both - Poles and Ukrainians. It is also a universal movie. Wołyń was not the only tragedy of this kind - immediately Rwandan genocide comes to my mind. It shows what can lead to it. Additionally, on a strictly artistic level it is a masterpiece of filmmaking worthy of all praises. It is uncomfortable to watch but one cannot take one's eyes off the screen. 150 minutes pass in an instant. 7.7/10 IMDb Some managed to escape the massacre. Ukrainians helped them ... Nothing is black and white people. The massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia was an anti-Polish ethnic-cleansing operation carried out by Ukrainian nationalists. The Ukrainians themselves who are rewriting their history as well as glorifying their Nazi collaborating past, and building monuments to war criminals like Stefan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych (organizers of anti-Polish ethnic cleansings). Apparently, this film has been banned in Ukraine but widely reported on and shown in Russia. I began to find it hard to sympathize with their national aspirations and their struggle with the Russian separatists as well as with the Russian Federation. I have also found some ugly Ukrainian anti-Polish hate sites and footage of young Ukrainians parading about in the uniform of the SS Galicia. The Polish Government must be crazy to have allowed almost a million Ukrainians into their country, as many of these would be Bandera fans and certainly not friends of Poland. I note now that there are protests in Poland about the Ukrainian behavior​ and about some of the ugly incidents at the Polish and Ukrainian border where Ukrainians have attacked Poles.

Alles gut