The Merry Flea - Ada Lichtman

Overview

Ada Lichtman was faced with absolute horror from the start: the day the Germans invaded Poland, all the men in Wieliczka – a little town near Kracow where she lived – were rounded up by the Germans, driven to a nearby forest and executed. Ada Lichthman explains how, after being transported to Sobibór, one of her tasks included washing and dressing dolls stolen from Jewish children on the transport that could then be passed on to Nazi officers. It’s a small anecdote among many, but one that succinctly locates the trauma of reliving the bizarre meld of cruelty and irrationality that these [Four Sisters] films examine with unshowy virtuosity.