104-458: Raymond Roman Thierry Polański ( né Liebling ; born 18 August 1933) is a French and Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and convicted sex offender. He is the recipient of numerous accolades , including an Academy Award , two British Academy Film Awards , ten César Awards , two Golden Globe Awards , as well as the Golden Bear and a Palme d'Or . In 1977, Polanski
208-442: A woman's surname at birth that has been replaced or changed. In most English-speaking cultures, it is specifically applied to a woman's maiden name after her surname has changed due to marriage. The term né can be used to denote a man's surname at birth that has subsequently been replaced or changed. The diacritic mark (the acute accent ) over the e is considered significant to its spelling, and ultimately its meaning, but
312-484: A 1994 interview with Diane Sawyer , but Nastassja says the rumors are untrue; they were never lovers or had an affair. She admits that "there was a flirtation. There could have been a seduction, but there was not. He had respect for me." She also recalls his influence on her while filming: "He was really a gentleman, not at all like the things I had heard. He introduced me to beautiful books, plays, movies. He educated me." On an emotional level, she said years later that "he
416-482: A Ministerial Counselor, instructing them to draft a law forbidding sexual relations or marriages between Jews and non-Jews. They, in turn, summoned Franz Albrecht Medicus [ de ] and Bernhard Lösener of the Interior Ministry to Nuremberg to assist with the hurried drafting of the legislation. The two men arrived on 14 September. That evening, Hitler ordered them to also have ready by morning
520-591: A Polish couple who helped him hide and escape the Nazis. Stefania and Jan Buchala were recognized by Yad Vashem , Israel's Holocaust memorial, as "Righteous Among the Nations". Polanski recalled Stefania Buchala as being an "extremely noble" and courageous person. After the war, Polanski was reunited with his father and moved back to Kraków. His father remarried on 21 December 1946 to Wanda Zajączkowska (whom Polanski had never liked) and died of cancer in 1984. Time repaired
624-405: A Spy (2019). Polanski has made 23 feature films to date. Roman Polanski was born on 18 August 1933, in interbellum Paris. He was the son of Bula (aka "Bella") Katz-Przedborska and Mojżesz (or Maurycy) Liebling (later Polański), a painter and manufacturer of sculptures, who after World War II was known as Ryszard Polański. Polanski's father was Jewish and originally from Poland. Polanski's mother
728-548: A Wardrobe (1958) and When Angels Fall (1959). He graduated in 1959. Knife in the Water (1962) Polanski's first feature-length film, Knife in the Water , was also one of the first significant Polish films after the Second World War that did not have a war theme. Scripted by Jerzy Skolimowski , Jakub Goldberg , and Polanski, Knife in the Water is about a wealthy, unhappily married couple who decide to take
832-677: A certain extent I must say that I somehow perpetuate the ideas of that movie in what I do." Polanski attended the National Film School in Łódź , the third-largest city in Poland. In the 1950s, Polanski took up acting, appearing in Andrzej Wajda 's Pokolenie ( A Generation , 1954) and in the same year in Silik Sternfeld's Zaczarowany rower ( Enchanted Bicycle or Magical Bicycle ). Polanski's directorial debut
936-614: A crippling economic and social impact on the Jewish community. Persons convicted of violating the marriage laws were imprisoned, and (subsequent to 8 March 1938) upon completing their sentences were re-arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Nazi concentration camps . Non-Jews gradually stopped socialising with Jews or shopping in Jewish-owned stores, many of which closed due to a lack of customers. As Jews were no longer permitted to work in
1040-455: A documentary film, described the demands of young movie viewers who he said always wanted to see something "new" and "different". Rosemary's Baby (1968) Paramount studio head Robert Evans brought Polanski to America ostensibly to direct the film Downhill Racer , but told Polanski that he really wanted him to read the horror novel Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin to see if a film could be made out of it. Polanski read it non-stop through
1144-511: A draft of the Reich citizenship law. Hitler found the initial drafts of the Blood Law to be too lenient, so at around midnight Frick brought him four new drafts that differed mainly in the severity of the penalties they imposed. Hitler chose the most lenient version but left vague the definition of who was a Jew. Hitler stated at the rally that the laws were "an attempt at the legal settlement of
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#17327660224721248-483: A financial success and was well received by both critics and the public. Polanski won France's César Awards for Best Picture and Best Director and received his fourth Academy Award nomination (and his second nomination for Best Director). The film received three Oscars: best cinematography, best art direction, best costume design, and was nominated for best picture. At the time, there were rumors that Polanski and Kinski became romantically involved, which he confirmed in
1352-445: A fugitive from American justice and could no longer work in countries where he might face arrest or extradition. Tess (1979) He dedicated his next film, Tess (1979), to the memory of his late wife, Sharon Tate . It was Tate who first suggested he read Tess of the d'Urbervilles , which she thought would make a good film; he subsequently expected her to star in it. Nearly a decade after Tate's death, he met Nastassja Kinski ,
1456-520: A lavish period piece starring Walter Matthau as Captain Red, which the director intended as an homage to the beloved Errol Flynn swashbucklers of his childhood. Captain Red's henchman, Jean Baptiste, was played by Cris Campion. The film is about a rebellion the two led on a ship called the Neptune , in the seventeenth century. The screenplay was written by Polanski, Gérard Brach, and John Brownjohn. The film
1560-406: A little went a long way. I lapped up every kind of film." As time went on, movies became more than an escape into entertainment, as he explains: Movies were becoming an absolute obsession with me. I was enthralled by everything connected with the cinema—not just the movies themselves but the aura that surrounded them. I loved the luminous rectangle of the screen, the sight of the beam slicing through
1664-464: A model and aspiring young actress who had already been in a number of European films. He offered her the starring role, which she accepted. Her father was Klaus Kinski , a leading German actor, who had introduced her to films. Because the role required having a local dialect, Polanski sent her to London for five months of study and to spend time in the Dorset countryside to get a flavor of the region. In
1768-453: A mysterious hitchhiker with them on a weekend boating excursion. Knife in the Water was a major commercial success in the West and gave Polanski an international reputation. The film also earned its director his first Academy Award nomination (Best Foreign Language Film) in 1963. Leon Niemczyk , who played Andrzej, was the only professional actor in the film. Jolanta Umecka, who played Krystyna,
1872-409: A person's name include middle names , diminutive forms, changes relating to parental status (due to one's parents' divorce or adoption by different parents), and gender transition . The French and English-adopted née is the feminine past participle of naître , which means "to be born". Né is the masculine form. The term née , having feminine grammatical gender , can be used to denote
1976-535: A problem, which, if this proved a failure, would have to be entrusted by law to the National Socialist Party for a definitive solution". Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels had the radio broadcast of the passing of the laws cut short, and ordered the German media to not mention them until a decision was made as to how they would be implemented. The two Nuremberg Laws were unanimously passed by
2080-531: A propaganda campaign authorised at the highest levels of government. Most non-party members ignored the boycotts and objected to the violence out of concern for their own safety. Israeli historian Otto Dov Kulka argues that there was a disparity between the views of the Alte Kämpfer (longtime party members) and the general public, but that even those Germans who were not politically active favoured bringing in tougher new antisemitic laws in 1935. The matter
2184-473: A psychological horror film focusing on a young Belgian woman named Carol ( Catherine Deneuve ). The film's themes, situations, visual motifs, and effects clearly reflect the influence of early surrealist cinema as well as horror movies of the 1950s—particularly Luis Buñuel 's Un chien Andalou , Jean Cocteau 's The Blood of a Poet , Henri-Georges Clouzot 's Diabolique and Alfred Hitchcock 's Psycho . Cul-de-sac (1966) Cul-de-sac (1966)
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#17327660224722288-667: A racial characteristic, rather than in terms of their previous characterisation as an 'anti-social' element of society. This work was advanced by Robert Ritter of the Racial Hygiene and Population unit of the Ministry of Health, who by 1942, had produced a scale of ZM+, ZM of the first and second degree, and ZM- to reflect an individual's decreasing level of Romani ancestry. This classification meant that one could be classified as Roma and subject to anti-Roma legislation based on having two Roma great-great-grandparents. According to
2392-498: A scene, and received an X rating because of its graphic violence and nudity. In his autobiography, Polanski wrote that he wanted to be true to the violent nature of the work and that he had been aware that his first project following Tate's murder would be subject to scrutiny and probable criticism regardless of the subject matter; if he had made a comedy he would have been perceived as callous. What? (1972) Written by Polanski and previous collaborator Gérard Brach , What? (1972)
2496-580: A screenplay with the Shakespeare expert Kenneth Tynan . Jon Finch and Francesca Annis played the main characters. Hugh Hefner and Playboy Productions funded the 1971 film , which opened in New York and was screened in Playboy Theater. Hefner was credited as executive producer, and the film was listed as a "Playboy Production". It was controversial because of Lady Macbeth's being nude in
2600-521: A strange habit: clenching my fists so hard that my palms became permanently calloused. I also woke up one morning to find that I had wet my bed. Polanski's father was transferred, along with thousands of other Jews, to Mauthausen , a group of 49 German concentration camps in Austria. His mother, who was four months pregnant at the time, was taken to Auschwitz and killed in the gas chamber soon after arriving. The forced exodus took place immediately after
2704-467: A strong central government, increased Lebensraum (living space) for Germanic peoples, formation of a Volksgemeinschaft (people's community) based on race, and racial cleansing via the active suppression of Jews, who would be stripped of their citizenship and civil rights. While imprisoned in 1924 after the failed Beer Hall Putsch , Hitler dictated Mein Kampf to his deputy, Rudolf Hess . The book
2808-643: A supporting role, and was the last film Polanski directed in the United States. In 1991, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" and it is frequently listed as among the best in world cinema . The Tenant (1976) Polanski returned to Paris for his next film, The Tenant (1976), which
2912-483: A tax upon leaving the country. Anyone caught transferring their money overseas was sentenced to lengthy terms in prison as "economic saboteurs". An exception was money sent to Palestine under the terms of the Haavara Agreement , whereby Jews could transfer some of their assets and emigrate to that country. Around 52,000 Jews emigrated to Palestine under the terms of this agreement between 1933 and 1939. By
3016-571: A young housewife who is impregnated by the devil. Polanski's screenplay adaptation earned him a second Academy Award nomination. On 9 August 1969, while Polanski was working in London, his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, and four other people were murdered at the Polanskis' residence in Los Angeles by cult leader Charles Manson 's followers . Macbeth (1971) Polanski adapted Macbeth into
3120-540: Is a bleak nihilist tragicomedy filmed on location in Northumberland . The tone and premise of the film owe a great deal to Samuel Beckett 's Waiting for Godot , along with aspects of Harold Pinter 's The Birthday Party . The Fearless Vampire Killers/Dance of the Vampires (1967) The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) (known by its original title, "Dance of the Vampires" in most countries outside
3224-607: Is a mordant absurdist comedy loosely based on the themes of Alice in Wonderland and Henry James . The film is a rambling shaggy dog story about the sexual indignities that befall a winsome young American hippie woman hitchhiking through Europe. Chinatown (1974) Polanski was an outstanding director. There was no question, after three days seeing him operate, that here was a really top talent. Co-star John Huston Polanski returned to Hollywood in 1973 to direct Chinatown (1974) for Paramount Pictures . The film
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3328-657: Is an autobiography and exposition of Hitler's ideology in which he laid out his plans for transforming German society into one based on race. In it, he outlined his belief in Jewish Bolshevism , a conspiracy theory that posited the existence of an international Jewish conspiracy for world domination in which the Jews were the mortal enemy of the German people. Throughout his life, Hitler never wavered in his worldview as expounded in Mein Kampf . The Nazi Party advocated
3432-471: Is kidnapped. He attempts, hopelessly, to go through the Byzantine bureaucratic channels to deal with her disappearance, but finally takes matters into his own hands. The film was a commercial failure but received positive reviews from critics. Birth name#Maiden and married names A birth name is the name given to a person upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname , the given name , or
3536-417: Is sometimes omitted. According to Oxford University 's Dictionary of Modern English Usage , the terms are typically placed after the current surname (e.g., " Margaret Thatcher , née Roberts" or " Bill Clinton , né Blythe"). Since they are terms adopted into English (from French), they do not have to be italicized , but they often are. In Polish tradition , the term z domu (literally meaning "of
3640-413: Is widely considered to be one of the finest American mystery crime movies, inspired by the real-life California Water Wars , a series of disputes over southern California water at the beginning of the 20th century. It was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including those for actors Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. Robert Towne won for Best Original Screenplay. It also had actor-director John Huston in
3744-804: The 1936 Summer Olympics , held in Berlin. After Hitler rose to power in 1933, the Nazis began to implement antisemitic policies, which included the formation of a Volksgemeinschaft (people's community) based on race. Chancellor and Führer (leader) of the Nazi Party Adolf Hitler declared a national boycott of Jewish businesses on 1 April 1933, and the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service , passed on 7 April, excluded so-called non-Aryans from
3848-638: The Board of Deputies of British Jews ). In response, Hitler declared a national boycott of Jewish businesses on 1 April 1933. By that time, many people who were not Nazi Party members were advocating for segregating Jews from the rest of German society. The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service , passed on 7 April 1933, forced all non-Aryans to retire from the legal profession and civil service. Similar legislation soon deprived Jewish members of other professions of their right to practice. It also barred Jews from teaching at universities. In 1934,
3952-576: The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring (passed on 14 July 1933), which called for the compulsory sterilisation of people with a range of hereditary, physical, and mental illnesses. Under the Law against Dangerous Habitual Criminals (passed 24 November 1933), habitual criminals were forced to undergo sterilisation as well. This law was also used to force the incarceration in prison or Nazi concentration camps of "social misfits" such as
4056-536: The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour (15 September 1935), marriages were forbidden between Jews and Germans; between Mischlinge of the first degree and Germans; between Jews and Mischlinge of the second degree; and between two Mischlinge of the second degree. Mischlinge of the first degree were permitted to marry Jews, but they would henceforth be classed as Jewish themselves. All marriages undertaken between half-Jews and Germans required
4160-769: The Madagascar Plan proved to be impossible for the Nazis to carry out, and starting in mid-1941, the German government started mass exterminations of European Jews . The Nazi Party was one of several far-right political parties active in Germany after the end of the First World War . The party platform included removal of the Weimar Republic , rejection of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles , radical antisemitism, and anti- Bolshevism . They promised
4264-615: The Nazi Party . The two laws were the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour, which forbade marriages and extramarital intercourse between Jews and Germans and the employment of German females under 45 in Jewish households; and the Reich Citizenship Law, which declared that only those of German or related blood were eligible to be Reich citizens. The remainder were classed as state subjects without any citizenship rights. A supplementary decree outlining
Roman Polanski - Misplaced Pages Continue
4368-554: The invasion of Poland . Kraków was soon occupied by the German forces, and the racist and anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws made the Polańskis targets of persecution, forcing them into the Kraków Ghetto , along with thousands of the city's Jews . Around the age of six, Polanski attended primary school for only a few weeks, until "all the Jewish children were abruptly expelled", writes biographer Christopher Sandford . That initiative
4472-580: The "tangible atmospheres he conjures up on film". By the time the war ended in 1945, a fifth of the Polish population had been killed, the vast majority being civilians. Of those deaths, 3 million were Polish Jews, which accounted for 90% of the country's Jewish population. According to Sandford, Polanski would use the memory of his mother, her dress and makeup style, as a physical model for Faye Dunaway 's character in his film Chinatown (1974). In October 2020, Polanski went back to Poland and paid respects to
4576-518: The Citizenship Law that a person must prove "by his conduct that he is willing and fit to faithfully serve the German people and Reich" meant that political opponents could also be stripped of their German citizenship. This law was effectively a means of stripping Jews, Roma, and other "undesirables" of their legal rights and their citizenship. Over the coming years, an additional 13 supplementary laws were promulgated that further marginalised
4680-625: The German liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto , a real-life backdrop to Polanski's film The Pianist (2002). Polanski, who was then hiding from the Germans, saw his father being marched off with a long line of people. Polanski tried getting closer to his father to ask him what was happening and got within a few yards. His father saw him, but afraid his son might be spotted by the German soldiers, whispered (in Polish), "Get lost!" Polanski escaped
4784-636: The Jewish community in Germany. For example, Jewish families were not permitted to submit claims for subsidies for large families and were forbidden to transact business with Aryans. Translations of the laws below are provided by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum . While both the Interior Ministry and the Nazi Party agreed that persons with three or more Jewish grandparents would be classed as being Jewish and those with only one ( Mischlinge of
4888-452: The Jewish minority as a way of expressing their frustrations. A Gestapo report from early 1935 stated that the rank and file of the Nazi Party would set in motion a solution to the " Jewish problem ... from below that the government would then have to follow". Assaults, vandalism, and boycotts against Jews, which the Nazi government had temporarily curbed in 1934, increased again in 1935 amidst
4992-464: The Kraków Ghetto in 1943 and survived with the help of some Polish Roman Catholics, including a woman who had promised Polanski's father that she would shelter the boy. Polanski attended church, learned to recite Catholic prayers by heart, and behaved outwardly as a Roman Catholic, although he was never baptized. His efforts to blend into a Catholic household failed miserably at least once, when
5096-426: The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service because of their status as war veterans were forced out of their jobs on this date. A supplementary decree issued on 21 December ordered the dismissal of Jewish veterans from other state-regulated professions such as medicine and education. While Frick's suggestion that a citizenship tribunal before which every German would have to prove that they were Aryan
5200-700: The Ministry of the Interior, the "Gypsy problem" could not be dealt with by forced resettlement or imprisonment within Germany, so they prepared a draft of a Reich "Gypsy Law" intended to supplement and accompany the Nuremberg Laws. The draft recommended identification and registration of all Roma, followed by sterilisation and deportation. In 1938, public health authorities were ordered to register all Roma and Roma Mischlinge . Despite Himmler's interest in enacting such legislation, which he said would prevent "further intermingling of blood, and which regulates all
5304-582: The Nazi Party published a pamphlet titled "Warum Arierparagraph?" ("Why the Aryan Law?"), which summarised the perceived need for the law. As part of the drive to remove what the Nazis called "Jewish influence" from cultural life, members of the National Socialist Student League removed from libraries any books considered un-German, and a nationwide book burning was held on 10 May. Violence and economic pressure were used by
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#17327660224725408-512: The Reichstag on 15 September 1935. The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour prohibited marriages and extramarital intercourse between Jews and Germans, and forbade the employment of German females under 45 in Jewish households. The Reich Citizenship Law declared that only those of German or related blood were eligible to be Reich citizens; the remainder were classed as state subjects, without citizenship rights. The wording in
5512-660: The United States and cemented his status in the film industry by directing the horror film Rosemary's Baby (1968). He made Macbeth (1971) in England and Chinatown (1974) back in Hollywood. His other critically acclaimed films include The Tenant (1976), Tess (1979), The Pianist (2002) which won him the Academy Award for Best Director , The Ghost Writer (2010), Venus in Fur (2013), and An Officer and
5616-486: The United States) is a parody of vampire films. The plot concerns a buffoonish professor and his clumsy assistant, Alfred (played by Polanski), who are traveling through Transylvania in search of vampires. The Fearless Vampire Killers was Polanski's first feature to be photographed in color with the use of Panavision lenses, and included a striking visual style with snow-covered, fairy-tale landscapes, similar to
5720-465: The approval of a Committee for the Protection of German Blood. Few such permissions were granted. A supplementary decree issued on 26 November 1935 extended the law to "Gypsies, Negroes, and their bastards". Persons suspected of having sexual relations with non-Aryans were charged with Rassenschande (racial defilement) and tried in the regular courts. Evidence provided to the Gestapo for such cases
5824-541: The chronically unemployed, prostitutes, beggars, alcoholics, homeless vagrants, Black people, and Romani (referred to as Zigeuner "Gypsies"). The Central Office for Combatting Gypsies was established in 1929, under the Weimar Republic. In December 1938 Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler issued an order for "combatting the Gypsy plague". Romani people were to be categorised in terms of their Roma ancestry as
5928-436: The civil service or government-regulated professions such as medicine and education, many middle-class business owners and professionals were forced to take menial employment. Emigration was problematic, as Jews were required to remit up to 90% of their wealth as a tax upon leaving the country. By 1938 it was almost impossible for potential Jewish emigrants to find a country willing to take them. Mass deportation schemes such as
6032-576: The concept of a Volksgemeinschaft ("people's community") with the aim of uniting all Germans as national comrades, whilst excluding those deemed either to be community aliens or of a foreign race ( Fremdvölkische ). Discrimination against Jews intensified after the Nazis came into power; a month-long series of attacks by members of the Sturmabteilung (SA; paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party) on Jewish businesses, synagogues, and members of
6136-506: The darkness from the projection booth, the miraculous synchronization of sound and vision, even the dusty smell of the tip-up seats. More than anything else though, I was fascinated by the actual mechanics of the process. Polanski was above all influenced by Carol Reed 's Odd Man Out (1947) – "I still consider it as one of the best movies I've ever seen and a film which made me want to pursue this career more than anything else ... I always dreamt of doing things of this sort or that style. To
6240-421: The definition of who was Jewish was passed on 14 November, and the Reich Citizenship Law officially came into force on that date. The laws were expanded on 26 November 1935 to include Romani and Black people . This supplementary decree defined Romani people as "enemies of the race-based state", the same category as Jews. Out of foreign policy concerns, prosecutions under the two laws did not commence until after
6344-500: The entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth register may by that fact alone become the person's legal name . The assumption in the Western world is often that the name from birth (or perhaps from baptism or brit milah ) will persist to adulthood in the normal course of affairs—either throughout life or until marriage. Some reasons for changes of
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#17327660224726448-427: The faith or had a Jewish spouse. The supplementary decree outlining the definition of who was Jewish was passed on 14 November, and the Reich Citizenship Law came into force on that date. Jews were no longer German citizens and did not have the right to vote. Jews and Gypsies were not allowed to vote in Reichstag elections or the 1938 Austrian Anschluss referendum . Civil servants who had been granted an exemption to
6552-613: The family contacts; Polanski visited them in Kraków, and relatives visited him in Hollywood and Paris. Polanski recalls the villages and families he lived with as relatively primitive by European standards: They were really simple Catholic peasants. This Polish village was like the English village in Tess . Very primitive. No electricity. The kids with whom I lived didn't know about electricity ... they wouldn't believe me when I told them it
6656-570: The family from his birthplace in Paris back to Kraków in 1937. Two years later, the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany started World War II, and the family found themselves trapped in the Kraków Ghetto . After his mother and father were taken in raids, Polanski spent his formative years in foster homes, surviving the Holocaust by adopting a false identity and concealing his Jewish heritage. In 1969, Polanski's pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate ,
6760-465: The film, Kinski starred opposite Peter Firth and Leigh Lawson . [Polanski] took a lot of time, two years, preparing me for that film. ... He was strict with me, but in a good way. He made me feel smart, that I could do things. Nastassja Kinski Tess was shot in the north of France instead of Hardy's England and became the most expensive film made in France up to that time. Ultimately, it proved
6864-405: The general belief that Jews were a separate race, but also because to oppose the regime meant leaving oneself open to harassment or arrest by the Gestapo. Citizens were relieved that the antisemitic violence ceased after the laws were passed. Non-Jews gradually stopped socialising with Jews or shopping in Jewish-owned stores. Wholesalers who continued to serve Jewish merchants were marched through
6968-590: The house", de domo in Latin ) may be used, with rare exceptions, meaning the same as née . Nuremberg Laws The Nuremberg Laws (German: Nürnberger Gesetze , pronounced [ˈnʏʁnbɛʁɡɐ ɡəˈzɛtsə] ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of
7072-489: The law did not permit capital punishment for racial defilement, special courts were convened to allow the death penalty for some cases. From the end of 1935 through 1940, 1,911 people were convicted of Rassenschande . Over time, the law was extended to include non-sexual forms of physical contact such as greeting someone with a kiss or an embrace. For the most part, Germans accepted the Nuremberg Laws, partly because Nazi propaganda had successfully swayed public opinion towards
7176-489: The legal profession followed. On 21 March 1933, former U.S. congressman William W. Cohen , at a meeting of the executive advisory committee of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States , urged a strict boycott against all German goods. Later that month, a worldwide boycott of German goods was declared, with the support of several prominent Jewish organisations (though with the abstention of others, such as
7280-440: The legal profession, the civil service, and from teaching in secondary schools and universities. Books considered un-German, including those by Jewish authors, were destroyed in a nationwide book burning on 10 May. Jewish citizens were harassed and subjected to violent attacks. They were actively suppressed, stripped of their citizenship and civil rights, and eventually completely removed from German society. The Nuremberg Laws had
7384-508: The long-awaited anti-Jewish laws. In a speech on 12 September, leading Nazi physician Gerhard Wagner announced that the government would soon introduce a "law for the protection of German blood". The next day, Hitler summoned the Reichstag to meet in session at Nuremberg on 15 September, the last day of the rally. He then spoke with Hans Pfundtner , State Secretary in the Reich Interior Ministry, and Wilhelm Stuckart ,
7488-408: The most pressing questions which go together with the existences of Gypsies in the living space of the German nation", the regime never promulgated the "Gypsy Law". In December 1942, Himmler ordered that all Roma were to be sent to Nazi concentration camps. Disenchanted with the unfulfilled promise of Nazi Party leaders to eliminate Jews from German society, SA members were eager to lash out against
7592-477: The new laws would be marriage laws to prevent "racial defilement", stripping Jews of their German citizenship, and laws to prevent Jews from participating freely in the economy. The seventh annual Nazi Party rally, held in Nuremberg from 10 to 16 September 1935, featured the only Reichstag session held outside Berlin during the Nazi regime. Hitler decided that the rally would be a good opportunity to introduce
7696-415: The night and the following morning decided he wanted to write as well as direct it. He wrote the 272-page screenplay in just over three weeks. The film, Rosemary's Baby (1968), was a box-office success and became his first Hollywood production, thereby establishing his reputation as a major commercial filmmaker. The film, a horror-thriller set in trendy Manhattan, is about Rosemary Woodhouse ( Mia Farrow ),
7800-654: The parish priest visiting the family posed questions to him one-on-one about the catechism , and ultimately said, "You aren't one of us". The punishment for helping a Jew in German-occupied Poland was death. As Polanski roamed the countryside trying to survive in a Poland now occupied by German troops, he witnessed many horrors, such as being "forced to take part in a cruel and sadistic game in which German soldiers took shots at him for target practice". The author Ian Freer concludes that Polanski's constant childhood fears and dread of violence have contributed to
7904-431: The regime had initiated in 1933, which intensified after the Nuremberg Laws were passed. Former middle-class or wealthy business owners were forced to take employment in menial jobs to support their families, and many were unable to find work at all. Although a stated goal of the Nazis was that all Jews should leave the country, emigration was problematic, as Jews were required to remit up to 90 per cent of their wealth as
8008-619: The regime to encourage Jews to voluntarily leave the country. Legislation passed in July 1933 stripped naturalised German Jews of their citizenship, creating a legal basis for recent immigrants (particularly Eastern European Jews) to be deported. Many towns posted signs forbidding entry to Jews. Throughout 1933 and 1934, Jewish businesses were denied access to markets, forbidden to advertise in newspapers, and deprived of access to government contracts. Citizens were harassed and subjected to violent attacks. Other laws promulgated in this period included
8112-439: The region. Nationalistic and xenophobic people in other countries pressured their governments not to accept waves of Jewish immigrants, especially poverty-stricken ones. The Madagascar Plan , a proposed mass deportation of European Jews to Madagascar, proved to be impossible to carry out. Starting in mid-1941, the German government began resorting to mass exterminations of European Jews. The total number of Jews murdered during
8216-443: The rest, I felt compelled to watch. One older woman at the rear of the column couldn't keep up. A German officer kept prodding her back into line, but she fell down on all fours ... Suddenly a pistol appeared in the officer's hand. There was a loud bang, and blood came welling out of her back. I ran straight into the nearest building, squeezed into a smelly recess beneath some wooden stairs, and didn't come out for hours. I developed
8320-560: The resulting Holocaust is estimated at 5.5 to 6 million people. Estimates of the death toll of Romani people in the Porajmos range from 150,000 to 1,500,000. Some of the other Axis powers passed their own versions of the Nuremberg Laws. An original typescript of the laws signed by Hitler was found by the U.S. Army's Counterintelligence Corps in 1945. It ended up in the possession of General George S. Patton , who kept it, in violation of orders that such finds should be turned over to
8424-400: The screen through the barbed wire. I remember watching with fascination, although all they were showing was the German army and German tanks, with occasional anti-Jewish slogans inserted on cards. After the war, Polanski watched films, either at school or at a local cinema, using whatever pocket money he had. Polanski writes, "Most of this went on the movies, but movie seats were dirt cheap, so
8528-543: The second degree) would not, a debate arose as to the status of persons with two Jewish grandparents ( Mischlinge of the first degree). The Nazi Party, especially its more radical elements, wanted the laws to apply to Mischlinge of both the first and second degree. For this reason Hitler continued to stall, and did not make a decision until early November 1935. His final ruling was that persons with three Jewish grandparents were classed as Jewish; those with two Jewish grandparents would be considered Jewish only if they practised
8632-452: The segment removed from all releases of the film.) However, Polanski found that in the early 1960s, the French film industry was xenophobic and generally unwilling to support a rising filmmaker of foreign origin. Repulsion (1965) Polanski made three feature films in England, based on original scripts written by himself and Gérard Brach , a frequent collaborator. Repulsion (1965) is
8736-476: The start of the Second World War in 1939, around 250,000 of Germany's 437,000 Jews had emigrated to the United States, Palestine, Great Britain, and other countries. By 1938 it was becoming almost impossible for potential Jewish emigrants to find a country that would take them. After the 1936–39 Arab revolt , the British were disinclined to accept any more Jews into Palestine for fear it would further destabilise
8840-534: The streets with placards around their necks proclaiming them as traitors. The Communist Party and some elements of the Catholic Church were critical of the laws. Concerned that international opinion would be adversely swayed by the new laws, the Interior Ministry did not actively enforce them until after the 1936 Summer Olympics , held in Berlin that August. The Interior Ministry estimated there were 750,000 Mischlinge as of April 1935 (studies done after
8944-481: The violent behaviour of the Alte Kämpfer and SA because of its negative impact on the economy. The violence also had a negative impact on Germany's reputation in the international community. For these reasons, Hitler ordered a stop to "individual actions" against German Jews on 8 August 1935, and Frick threatened to take legal action against Nazi Party members who ignored the order. From Hitler's perspective, it
9048-457: The war put the number of Mischlinge at around 200,000). As Jews became more and more excluded from German society, they organised social events, schools, and activities of their own. Economic problems were not so easily solved, however; many Jewish firms went out of business due to lack of customers. This was part of the ongoing Aryanisation process (the transfer of Jewish firms to non-Jewish owners, usually at prices far below market value) that
9152-610: The work of Soviet fantasy filmmakers. In addition, the richly textured color schemes of the settings evoke the paintings of the Belarusian-Jewish artist Marc Chagall , who provides the namesake for the innkeeper in the film. The film was written for Jack MacGowran , who played the lead role of Professor Abronsius. Polanski met Sharon Tate while making the film; she played the role of the local innkeeper's daughter. They were married in London on 20 January 1968. Shortly after they married, Polanski, with Tate at his side during
9256-635: Was also in 1955 with a short film, Rower ( Bicycle ). Rower is a semi-autobiographical feature film, believed to be lost, which also starred Polanski. It refers to his real-life violent altercation with a notorious Kraków felon, Janusz Dziuba, who arranged to sell Polanski a bicycle, but instead beat him badly and stole his money. In real life, the offender was arrested while fleeing after fracturing Polanski's skull, and executed for three murders, out of eight prior such assaults which he had committed. Several other short films made during his study at Łódź gained him considerable recognition, particularly Two Men and
9360-455: Was around age four or five. He recalls this period in an interview: Even as a child, I always loved cinema and was thrilled when my parents would take me before the war. Then we were put into the ghetto in Krakòw and there was no cinema, but the Germans often showed newsreels to the people outside the ghetto, on a screen in the market place. And there was one particular corner where you could see
9464-513: Was arrested for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl . He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful sex with a minor in exchange for a probation-only sentence. The night before his sentencing hearing in 1978, he learned that the judge would likely reject the proffered plea bargain , so he fled the U.S. to Europe, where he continued his career. He remains a fugitive from the U.S. justice system. Further allegations of abuse have been made by other women. Polanski's Polish Jewish parents moved
9568-470: Was based on a 1964 novel by Roland Topor , a French writer of Polish-Jewish origin. In addition to directing the film, Polanski also played a leading role of a timid Polish immigrant living in Paris. Together with Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby , The Tenant can be seen as the third installment in a loose trilogy of films called the "Apartment Trilogy" that explores the themes of social alienation and psychic and emotional breakdown. In 1978, Polanski became
9672-590: Was born in Russia. Her own father was Jewish and mother was a Gentile , but Bula had been raised in the Catholic faith. She had a daughter, Annette, by her previous husband. Annette survived Auschwitz , where her mother was murdered, and left Poland forever for France. Polanski's parents were both agnostics. Polanski later stated that he was an atheist. The Polański family moved back to Kraków, Poland, in early 1937, and were living there when World War II began with
9776-548: Was discovered by Polanski at a swimming pool. Polanski left then-communist Poland and moved to France, where he had already made two notable short films in 1961: The Fat and the Lean and Mammals . While in France, Polanski contributed one segment ("La rivière de diamants") to the French-produced omnibus film, Les plus belles escroqueries du monde (English title: The Beautiful Swindlers ) in 1964. (He has since had
9880-436: Was enough to turn on a switch! Polanski stated that "you must live in a Communist country to really understand how bad it can be. Then you will appreciate capitalism." He also remembered events at the war's end and his reintroduction to mainstream society when he was 12, forming friendships with other children, such as Roma Ligocka , Ryszard Horowitz and his family. Polanski's fascination with cinema began very early when he
9984-425: Was imperative to quickly bring in new antisemitic laws to appease the radical elements in the party who persisted in attempting to remove the Jews from German society by violent means. A conference of ministers was held on 20 August 1935 to discuss the question. Hitler argued against violent methods because of the damage being done to the economy and insisted the matter must be settled through legislation. The focus of
10088-442: Was largely provided by ordinary citizens such as neighbours, co-workers, or other informants. Persons accused of race defilement were publicly humiliated by being paraded through the streets with a placard around their necks detailing their crime. Those convicted were typically sentenced to prison terms, and (subsequent to 8 March 1938) upon completing their sentences were re-arrested by the Gestapo and sent to concentration camps. As
10192-742: Was murdered, along with four friends by members of the Manson Family in an internationally notorious case. Polanski's first feature-length film, Knife in the Water (1962), made in Poland, was nominated for the United States Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film . After living in France for a few years, he moved to the United Kingdom, where he directed his first three English-language feature-length films: Repulsion (1965), Cul-de-sac (1966), and The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967). In 1968, he moved to
10296-602: Was not acted upon, proving one's racial heritage became a necessary part of daily life. Non-government employers were authorised to include in their statutes an Aryan paragraph excluding both Mischlinge and Jews from employment. Proof of Aryan descent was achieved by obtaining an Aryan certificate . One form was to acquire an Ahnenpass , which could be obtained by providing birth or baptismal certificates that all four grandparents were of Aryan descent. The Ahnenpass could also be acquired by citizens of other countries, as long as they were of "German or related blood". Under
10400-603: Was one of the people in my life who cared, ... who took me seriously and gave me a lot of strength." She told David Letterman more about her experience working with Polanski during an interview. In 1981, Polanski directed and co-starred (as Mozart ) in a stage production of Peter Shaffer 's play Amadeus , first in Warsaw, then in Paris. The play was again directed by Polanski, in Milan, in 1999. Pirates (1986) Nearly seven years passed before Polanski's next film, Pirates ,
10504-506: Was raised to the forefront of the state agenda as a result of this antisemitic agitation. Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick announced on 25 July that a law forbidding marriages between Jews and non-Jews would shortly be promulgated, and recommended that registrars should avoid issuing licences for such marriages for the time being. The draft law also called for a ban on marriage for persons with hereditary illnesses. Hjalmar Schacht , Economics Minister and Reichsbank president, criticised
10608-535: Was shot on location in Tunisia, using a full-sized pirate vessel constructed for the production. It was a financial and critical failure, recovering a small fraction of its production budget and garnering a single Academy Award nomination. Frantic (1988) Frantic (1988) was a Hitchcockian suspense-thriller starring Harrison Ford and the actress/model Emmanuelle Seigner , who later became Polanski's wife. The film follows an ordinary tourist in Paris whose wife
10712-466: Was soon followed by the requirement that all Jewish children over the age of twelve wear white armbands, with a blue Star of David imprinted, for visual identification. After he was expelled, Polanski would not be allowed to enter another classroom for six years. Polanski witnessed both the ghettoization of Kraków's Jews into a compact area of the city, and the subsequent deportation of all the ghetto's Jews to German death camps . He watched as his father
10816-431: Was taken away. He remembers from age six, one of his first experiences of the terrors to follow: I had just been visiting my grandmother ... when I received a foretaste of things to come. At first, I didn't know what was happening. I simply saw people scattering in all directions. Then I realized why the street had emptied so quickly. Some women were being herded along it by German soldiers. Instead of running away like
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