August 17, March ’68

Students Hania and Janek begin a whirlwind romance after meeting at a theatre performance one evening. They are ignorant of the political uprising around them: anti-Semitism is on the rise, and the persecution of Jewish citizens is gaining momentum. Hania is Jewish, and her parents lose their jobs in the growing climate of hostility. With no money and no prospects for the future, her family decides to emigrate. But the girl does not want to leave. After Hania and Janek’s colleagues are expelled from university and the government censors an upcoming theatrical production, the two decide to act. Compelled by their love, they participate in a protest to defend freedom of the theatre and freedom of speech, but police brutality and violence ensue, separating the young couple and threatening their future together.  This dramatic love story offers a heady convergence of romance, history and politics in a rarely told story of anti-Semitism in 1960s communist Poland. (2:00)

Patio Party Hosts: Lucy Goodhart and Gordon Bennet

Guest Speaker: Evan Czyzowski

Evan Czyzowski

Humanities and Holocaust Studies teacher, and Director of theatre, at Bedford High School, New Hampshire

Evan Czyzowski is a NH native and a first-generation American of Polish and French-Canadian decent. He graduated from UNH with a BA in English, minors in philosophy and history, and an MA in literature.

Evan lived and taught in Kraków, Poland from 2006-2007, and from 2009-2011 he was Co-Director of the Polish-English Summer Program in Krotoszyn, Poland. He has taught in China with the Sino-American Bridge for English and Health (SABEH) each summer since 2012 and is currently their Director of Education.

Since 2007 he has led student trips Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Greece, Italy, Spain, England, Ireland, and China.