German troops marched into the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on July 20, 1941, less than a month after Germany invaded the Soviet Union. In short order, its 30,000 Jewish residents, comprising about one-third of the population, were singled out for persecution and mass murder in line with Nazi Germany’s genocidal policy.
Waleriy Shalyga’s spare and somber black-and-white feature film, Echoing, recounts this horrific interlude impassionately. Based on the memoirs of V.Y. Kulikov, it will be screened at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, which runs from June 5-15.
The first two graphic scenes set the tone.
Civilians are callously shot against the backdrop of a sentimental German song heard on a vinyl record. Jews are ordered to wear white armbands.
The scene shifts to a simple cottage. Hava, a Jewish woman who has just given birth to a son, regrets having remained in the city. Her mother, Dora, assures her that the Germans are civilized. She is thinking of the German troops who occupied Vinnytsia in World War I. Little does she knows what is in store for Jews.
David (Olexiy Suchanov), a watch repair technician, is equally sorry he stayed behind. He and his wife, Fanya, are filled with angst about the future. When a German engineer commandeers their home, Fanya protests, much to her detriment.
The reign of terror that the Germans impose unfolds in sickening segments. Two examples. They demand a list of Jews from the authorities. A gleeful German soldier draws a black Star of David on the forehead of a Jewish man.
There are villains and heroes among the Ukrainians.
A local collaborator steals household goods from David’s home. By contrast, Marusya (Olga Olexiy), a war widow, provides shelter and food for Sioma (Marko Herzberg), a Jewish boy whose parents have been killed in cold blood. This boy survives, appearing as an old man at the beginning and the end of the film.
A woman who works as a secretary for a German army officer warns Marusya to be careful. Ukrainians caught helping Jews are normally executed. A doctor tries to protect an elderly Jewish patient. Pavlo (Viacheslav Nikolaienko), a German collaborator, makes amends when he saves Marusya’s life.
As the German occupation deepens, the atrocities pile on.
The Germans demand the evacuation of a hospital so that their wounded soldiers can be treated. Rumors abound that the Germans plan to build a killing center, and that Jews in the nearby city of Berdichev have been killed en masse.
Jews are required to pay a hefty ransom in exchange for their lives, only to discover that the Germans are deceitful and never intended to honor their end of the bargain. As Jews are rounded up, a Ukrainian antisemite expresses joy and relief.
Vengeance is a theme in the movie. Two boys, having watched naked Jews being shot in a forest, retrieve a grenade from the corpse of a Soviet soldier and throw it into a building frequented by German troops.
The Nazi occupation of Vinnytsia took an enormous toll, as a viewer learns. Two hundred thousand Soviet nationals were executed, among whom were 20,000 Jews. Sixty one thousand residents were deported to Germany as forced laborers.
Echoing, an expertly-crafted film featuring fine performances, accentuates that point strongly.