Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive

Poland-Paris -- Benjamin Gasul -- amateur

Benjamin Gasul Collection

June? 1939

Warsaw, Poland

US Holocaust Memorial Museum

00:02:40

Title: "The Jewish Ghetto." Exquisite color footage of Jews in the Jewish quarter of Warsaw, EXTs, sunny day. Steady pan of Jews mingling in the streets, milling about, shops line the streets in the BG, signs in Polish. Two men dressed in shambles sleeping on the curb. MS, group of old and young Jews, boys horsing around and teasing another with a large satchel on his back. LS, Jewish woman wearing a wig gathers laundry in an alley. MCU, two religious Jews holding parchment papers converse on street corner. 01:02:33 LS, main street in Jewish quarter. MSs, CUs, Jews smiling, teasing each other, curiously pointing to the camera. Vendor sells sunglasses. Pan up to man in window. Another group sitting in chairs on the street, including children. 01:03:30 Close pan of large group of Jews with one blind elder standing in the center. 01:03:48 Three religious elders with beards and dark hats sitting in chairs in front of a shop, one shields his face from the camera, younger Jews crowd around them. Short LS of main cobblestone street in Jewish quarter with people, carriage, and car.

Source Note: The Gasul Family consists of Gloria Gasul Gottlieb, Sandra Gasul Dreyfuss, and Judy Gasul Simon.

Ghetto in the title card is inaccurate as this film pre-dates the creation of the Warsaw Ghetto. Note that the date is approximate and based on age of baby (born in January 1939) shown at the end of the film in Story 4570 as well as warm-weather clothing worn by individuals.

This film was preserved with a 2010 National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF) cash grant.

Mute

Amateur

Yes

Excellent

Benjamin Morris Gasul (1898-1962) was born in Latvia. He traveled to the U.S. on the "Empress of Russia" ship at the age of 16 and settled in Kenosha, WI. He graduated from Rush Medical School in Chicago and continued his studies in Vienna where he married American Lala Rosenzweig (she sang in the opera house). Dr. Gasul practiced pediatrics until 1945 when he became focused on heart disease in children. He developed an academic training program in pediatric cardiology at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, published a textbook, and established a monthly meeting where physicians consulted each other on the diagnosis and treatment of childhood heart disease. Named Gasul Club Meetings, these informal sessions still occur today. Dr. Gasul and Lala had three daughters: Gloria Gasul Gottlieb (b. 1928), Sandra Gasul Dreyfuss (b. 1934), and Judith Gasul Simon (b. January 1939; the donor).

2006.454.1 Dr. Benjamin Gasul was invited to lecture Russian doctors in 1939. He traveled there with his wife Lala and filmed their tour of Europe. In December 2006, their youngest daughter Judy donated the 16mm color film to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

CHILDREN (JEWISH)
JEWISH LIFE (PRE-WAR)
JEWS
ORTHODOX JEWS
SHOPS
STREET
WARSAW, POLAND

Dr. Benjamin Gasul

Gasul Family

16mm kodachrome camera original

16mm; HDCam; DigiBeta; Uncompressed QT; ProRes 422; Betacam SP; VHS

01:01:28 - 01:04:09

US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of the Gasul Family