Bełżeccy Family Archive

Zbigniew Bełżecki (1914–2009) worked by day as a chemist in the research department of the Cracow Pharmaceutical Plant “Polfa”. His film archive consists of records of trips with his wife Jadwiga and daughter Marzena, as well as motorcycle trips around Europe. 

The trips were always preceded by long preparations, and after their completion Zbigniew wrote down the recorded audio diaries and created books from them on his own. He was also passionate about nature and photography. 

“Warsaw, London, Paris, a two-month tour in England” – informs us the opening board of the film, which consists of scenes from Zbigniew Bełżecki’s European tour. The film was probably made at the cusp of the 60s and 70s. 

Part 1

A postcard from Warsaw registered on June 17: Column of Sigismund III Vasa, sign of the Bazyliszek restaurant on the Old Town Square, Palace on the Isle in the Royal Baths Park.

Part 2

A short film recorded on June 24 in Paris. It starts with shots of the Latin Quarter. Zbigniew Bełżecki has been to Paris many times, so the film is not a typical film from a tourist trip, but an attempt to capture what fascinated the author: a bustling metropolis, streets and various tourists and residents, thriving street trade and intense road traffic. A feast of colors and sounds. The film ends with a sequence from the airport, which announces the transfer of the action to the capital of Great Britain.

Part 3

Zbigniew Bełżecki arrives in London on 26 June. It is immediately clear that the author is not a frequenter here and does not walk, as in Paris, his own paths. Scenes from the capital of Great Britain are primarily a review of the biggest attractions of London: Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the British Parliament, Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus. There are also genre scenes from the life of a large metropolis. Shots of streets and characteristic double-deckers, street advertisements and trade, as well as neon signs. In the Soho shot, we can see Windmill Cinema – the cinema that operated until 1974, which allows us to date the film.

Part 4

Stanmore – a suburb of London, where Bełżecki’s cousin lived. Bełżecki stayed here during the trip to the capital of Great Britain. Typical scenes from the family life, a shared meal in the garden, rest and fun on the grass.

Part 5

A visit to Skomer Island, an island located in West Wales. Genre scenes from a tourist trip: a ride through narrow local streets, rocky shores of the island filmed both from land and water, high waves, tourists on a stone-rocky beach.

Part 6

Back to London. Genre scenes from the life of the city, street trade, car traffic, numerous shots of streets full of passers-by, as well as tourist attractions: Trafalgar Square, the Achilles monument in Hyde Park.

Part 7

Zbigniew Bełżecki returned from London to France on July 16, which is informed by a special board. In Paris, we can see the Notre Dame Cathedral and genre scenes from the city’s life: car traffic, street trade, the neon-lit nightlife of the French capital.

Part 8

On August 3, Bełżecki goes to Apremont, a town in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, where he films genre scenes from everyday life in the provinces. 

Part 9

The documentation of the trip to Great Britain and France is crowned with a film from the trip to Mont Saint-Michel – an island on the Channel, which is connected to the mainland by an embankment that is almost 2 kilometers long. We observe genre scenes from the life of the city, as well as the main tourist attraction – Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey.

(MB)