Prussian Culture

Overview

The oldest surviving Polish film, Pruska Kultura depicts the persecution of Poles under Prussian Germanisation, drawing on events such as the 1901 Września school strike and the struggle of Michał Drzymała. Produced by Warsaw cinema owner Mordechaj Towbin, the film combines fictional drama with documentary-like elements, following a traditional Polish family subjected to violence, eviction and repression by Prussian authorities. Running just over eight minutes across twelve episodes, it culminates in an allegorical apotheosis of Poland, portraying generations and social classes united in suffering and hope for national rebirth. First shown abroad under the French title *Les Martyrs de la Pologne*, its strongly anti-Prussian message attracted international attention. The long lost French print was rediscovered in 2000 at the Bois-d’Arcy archives and returned to Poland in 2008, making this politically charged work an invaluable landmark of early Polish cinema.

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