Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is the worst holocaust movie I have seen. There is no character development at all. Many scenes do not make sense for anyone familiar with WWII history. A perfect example is when, at the very beginning just before the break of the German-Soviet war, the two girls stop by a fashion store and admire a dress displayed at the window. Does anyone truly think that stores like this existed in Union of Socialist Republic, controlled by NKVD, where millions of peasants have just died of hunger as a result of Stalin's Collectivization? Other scenes are equally as inaccurate and/or unconvincing. The film gives an impression of being a girls scout outing more than a WWII movie. Fusia behaves in front of Germans like she was untouchable, perhaps because she is not Jewish. A perfect example for it is the scene when she challenges a Ghetto guard and threatens to report him to the authorities. Does anyone really think that a ghetto guard, perhaps a Ukrainian supporter of the 3rd Reich, would even hesitate for a second before killing the person who challenges him? The film does shows the Germans and/or their supporters executing Jews. However, the scenes appear almost infantile. Screams that accompany the killings in some scenes are equally unrealistic. As any holocaust survivor can attest, witnesses remained silent when others were killed. After all, any screaming person was likely to be the next victim of the Ukrainian or Polish police... The conspiracy scenes are equally as unconvincing. Again, does anyone believe that all it took to hide from the Germans was to run fast? Conspiracy takes hard work, the Germans were brutally efficient and had numerous supporters among the local population... The characters are strangely emotional in many scenes. Fusia and the Jewish survivors cry many times in this movie. In reality, shortly after the beginning of the war, most surviving Jews have used up all their tears. They did not have the emotional or physical strength for the emotional reunions shown a number of times in the movie. In fact, the survivors have often described themselves as living robots. To a large extend, the same applies to most Poles, as well. A particular scene that put me off is the one showing Fusia bribing a Guard at the entrance to the camp with a donut. Does anyone believe that a Nazi guard of a death camp, where people were executed daily, could be bribed with a donut? I short, this movie fails to convey the terror experienced by Jews and gentiles during the German occupation. Although based on a true story, it gives a completely false impression on what the atmosphere was like in the territories occupied by the Nazis during WWII. It does not portray at all the many collaborators, who assisted the Germans in finding the few brave Poles trying to help the Jews, usually for monetary awards. It does not portray faithfully the slave labor in factories which operated in conquered lands. I do not recommend it to anyone who want to have an accurate picture of a small Polish city conquered by Germany during WWII.