You Are Free, Dr. Korczak

You Are Free, Dr. Korczak

7.21975· 99 min· West Germany
Drama

Based on the biography of the Polish doctor and educator Janusz Korczak, the film retells the last phase of his life. Korczak, director of the Jewish orphanage in Warsaw and a Jew himself, was forced to move to the ghetto with all the orphans living in the home in 1940 following the occupation of Poland by the Nazis. Despite the terrible conditions within the walls, Korczak continued to care devotedly for "his" children. He even managed to save cases that had been written off as hopeless. However, when Korczak's orphans were also to be deported to the Treblinka extermination camp as part of the "Final Solution" and the resulting evacuation of the ghetto, he insisted on going with them. Fully aware that he would no longer be able to help his protégés, he let the children believe that he was taking them on a trip to the countryside to alleviate their fears.

Director
Aleksander Ford
Country
West Germany, Israel

Cast

Leo Genn

Leo Genn

CW

Carlos Werner

VB

Volker Brandt

HL

Heinz Lieven

BB

Birke Bruck

ER

Elisabeth Ried

EL

Eva Lissa

WT

Walter Tschernich

HE

Hans E. Schons

OP

Orna Porat

BV

Benjamin Völz

JZ

Jean-Pierre Zola

AB

Albert Bessler