Entitled The Midwife, it was written and directed by Maria Stachurska, a great-niece of midwife Stanisława Leszczyńska, and is narrated by Leszczyńska’s granddaughter, Elżbieta Wiatrowska.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture Piotr Gliński, who attended the premiere, described Leszczyńska as an invincible defender of life whose deeds were extraordinary and who, despite this, remains little known to the general public.
Gliński added that the documentary about Leszczyńska is a testimony to the ordeal of war and to heroism, as well as to the love of life and the love of other human beings.
In 1957, Leszczyńska published A Midwife’s Report from Auschwitz, in which she described the conditions in the camp. According to her report, out of the 3,000 babies she delivered in Auschwitz, 30 survived until its liberation in January 1945.
After the war, Leszczyńska returned to Łódź, where she worked as a midwife until the mid-1950s. She died of cancer in 1974. The Catholic Church started a process to beatify her in 1992.
(mk/pk)