Escaping Russia

How to remember while forgetting? 

Meet Stanley Opalka, who in 1940, at the age of 7, together with his large family, was among 2 millions of Poles, sent by the Soviets to Siberia.  It was a cruel time.  Hunger, humiliations, illnesses, communist indoctrination, death of half of his family.

70 years later Stan Opalka, a former history teacher and the author of memoirs “Escape from Russia”, constantly remembers the painful past.  At the same time he attributes his success in life to the ability to forget of the horrors of the past.   How can these two emotions be combined?

A 21 minute vimeo version is here