The Identity of the Title Character of the Film “Edek” is Established

Klara Jackl / English translation: Andrew Rajcher, 16 May 2019
After almost eighty years, survivor Janine Webber discovered the fate of Edek, the young man who, during World War II, helped her and her family hide on an estate near Lwów. The search for information about her rescuer was undertaken by the creator of the film “Edek”. Thanks to some help from the Archives, it was possible to ascertain that he was Franciszek Rzottky, who was active in the underground in Lwów.

We wrote about this film project in November 2018. At that film, during the 16th Jewish Film Festival, a film was screened in which Janine Webber, origi9nally from Lwów and aged today 86, tells the story of her survivor from the Holocaust. She speaks about Edek, a young man who helped her and her family, during the war, near Lwów. At that time, she neither knew his name nor what happened to him. In April 2019, the creators of the film “Edek” ascertained that the man was Franciszek Rzottky of Lwów and that he had died many years agoy.

Rzottky was a member of the underground. Together with his brother, he worked on the Persenkówka estate near Lwów. During the war, he helped thirteen Jews to hide on the farm property. Among them was eleven-year-old Janine Webber. She was brought there by her uncle Selig after she had fled from the Lwów ghetto, where she had lost her close family. At Persenkówka, she met up with her uncle and aunt. The thirteen member group arranged a hideout under the barn and hid there for over a year. Franciszek provided them with food. All of them survived the war. More about Janine Webber's story can be found on the website of the film “Edek”.

The identity of her rescuer was ascertained thanks to help from the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem and the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. Those archives contained wartime reports about Rzottky, his sister, Janine's uncle andz Tadeusza Lewandowski, who supported the group of Jews financially. It was established that, after the war, Franciszek Rzottky became a priest in Kraków, where he died in 1971. He was posthumously awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations. A presentation ceremony for him never took place.

Janine Webber and the film's creators plan to recall the wartime deeds of Franciszek Rzottky. The British press have written about this discovery.  

The creator of the film “Edek” is Malcolm Green. The project is being carried out by NHC Arts & Green Cave People and supported the UK National Holocaust Centre and Museum in London. The film is not a tradional recounting by a witness to history. Kapoo, a young rapper, also takes part. This original combination of history and rap is designed to serve as an educational exercise - to interest young viewers in the story.