Who saves one life saves the whole world (Talmud)

It is this well-known expression of the Jewish Talmud that became the leitmotif of our film. We are talking about people who, risking their own lives, saved Jews during the Second World War. Such people are called the Righteous of the World, and Ukraine shares the 4th place with France in terms of the number of heroes with such an honorary title.

Наш документальный проект – фильм-размышление, фильм-исследование, в котором мы не просто отдаем дань памяти тем, кто проявил героизм и человечность, но и пытаемся понять феномен человека, его веру и способность, несмотря на обстоятельства, оставаться таким, каким задумал его Бог.

History is about people. Therefore, each episode of the film is dedicated to a separate story of one of the righteous heroes. They tell about the occupation of Ukraine by Romanian and German troops, about the inhuman and horrific methods of extermination of Jews: the cleansing of territories, mass executions and exiles, during which people walked incredible distances in severe frost, experiencing hunger, suffering from diseases. And the more you immerse yourself in the material, the more consciously you understand the need to convey to a modern person the idea of mercy, compassion, the truth that exists despite beliefs, religious preferences, skin color and nationality.

Modern reality, as in the years of the Second World War, again poses before us the questions that our ancestors asked: if such an evil happens again, how will others behave? People of other blood and other faith? Will they turn away? Breathe a sigh of relief that they haven't touched their own yet? Or will they still open the door, hiding other people's children at the risk for the whole family?

«The Righteous of the World» is dozens of interviews and thousands of kilometers of roads, interweaving of destinies, stories of entire families and individual destinies. This is a film about two peoples living side by side for a long time and sharing the hardships and horrors of war. Peoples who now share a common memory and look to the future with hope.

What to do to understand history and not forget the lessons of the past? The answer is to meet people whose actions still cause surprise and admiration. How could an ordinary person decide to risk not only himself - the life of his family - in order to keep, preserve, save someone else's? What motivated these people? Courage? Protest? Or just love and faith?