The film tells the story of a small town which, until World War II, belonged to the
Second Polish Republic Eastern region of
Kresy. People of different nationalities used to live there in peace:
Poles,
Ukrainians,
Jews,
Germans, and
Czechs. Kisielin was wealthy and prosperous. It had a publishing house, a library, an oil pressing factory, a distillery, a brickyard, and a dairy plant. Today, only ethnic Ukrainian villagers remain. The ruins of a Polish
Catholic church serve as witness to the tragedy that took place there during the
massacres of Poles in Volhynia. On 11 July 1943, a group of
Ukrainian nationalists slaughtered the Polish worshipers inside the Kisielin Catholic church, and set it on fire. The rest of the Polish inhabitants escaped from Kisielin, never to return. The narrators of the film belong to the same Polish family of Dębski originally from Kisielin. Among them:
Krzesimir Dębski, his mother Aniela, brother Wisław, son Radzimir, and niece Ulesława Lubek. Also, some ethnic Ukrainians make appearances – all present day Kisielin inhabitants – of whom the majority still remembers those events. The title of the film is taken from a monograph about Kisielin and its inhabitants, written by Krzesimir Dębski's late father, Włodzimierz Sławosz Dębski. The world premiere of his work was held on 17 September 2008, at the
Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra. The film is not only a story about the murdered Poles of Kisielin, it is also a reflection on the eradication of Polish culture and tradition in the entire region, and the painful legacy that lingers. ==Reception==