There
are those who use the term “right of return” as a holy mantra, but if it were
ever granted to the Jewish diaspora in every country that ever dispossessed
their Jewish citizenry, nearly all of Europe and the Middle East would face serious
legal implications. However, at least one nation would readily welcome them
back. That would be Poland, which has embraced its Jewish history in recent
years, even though its Jewish population remains small. Nevertheless, there are
a significant number of Poles who belatedly learned of their families’ secret
Jewish heritage in the post-Communist era. In very different ways, four such
women will chose to embrace their Jewish roots in Adam Zucker’s The Return (trailer here), which screens
during the American Museum of Natural History’s 2014 Margaret Mead Film Festival.
During
the National Socialist occupation, anyone whose family was the smallest part
Jewish had every reason to keep it secret. The circumstances were somewhat less
dire under Communism, but it is important to remember the atheistic Party
periodically launched its own anti-Semitic campaigns. However, in a modern
Poland shaped by Walesa and Wajda, attitudes are dramatically different. In one
scene, we see a long abandoned provincial synagogue with the words “Jews, we
miss you” scrawled across it, in a weird but affecting graffiti tribute.
Tusia
and her boyfriend are scouting that building, hoping they can repurpose it into
some sort nonprofit that will serve both the local town and pay tribute to
those who once worshipped there. However, their future is uncertain, because
they both feel the lure of Bushwick, Brooklyn (there’s no accounting for taste).
In fact, all four women profiled share a common dilemma. Do they stay in Poland
to rebuild the Jewish community or do they go abroad for the sake of their
families and careers? Both Kasia, a leftwing activist, and Maria (who alone
among Zucker’s subjects was born and bred Orthodox) find the grass is greener
in Israel, either for academic research or raising children. Similarly, Katka,
a Slovakian Orthodox convert, will debate where she should pursue her studies.
One
of the great ironies of Return is the
sort of ambiguous state Kasia and those whose mothers were not Jewish find
themselves in. While not technically considered Jewish, they would have been
more than Jewish enough to be persecuted under the previous regimes. It is a
thorny question that the Kasia and Katka resolve in their own ways.
