Soviet Memorial in Slovakia (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
WE SURVIVED THE GULAG (Prežili sme Gulag)
A Slovak documentary film directed by Ondrej Krajnak (2009) which includes interviews with survivors of the Soviet gulags. In Slovak with English subtitles. 45min.
Location:
Bohemian National Hall, 3rd floor
321 E 73 St
Gabriel Levicky will introduce the film and lead the discussion following the screening (RSVP: newyork@svu2000.org)
Through its dramatic, cruel history during the Stalin era, the totalitarian Soviet Union – from the 1930s through the 1950s – established Gulag camps swallowing millions of people, among them many citizens of Slovakia, illegally transported to the Gulag right after the end of the WW2. This excellent documentary film confronts and exposes the experiences of the last surviving Slovak slave laborers who, despite all odds, miraculously survived the Stalinist labor camps. The film follows their cruel fate from their arrest until their release and return, constantly surrounded by hostilities and death under dehumanizing conditions in a harsh, unforgiving natural environment.
