The Netherlands: ‘The Forgotten Battle’: An Immersive New Dutch Movie On WWII On Netflix - by Sheena Scott

The Forgotten Battle (De Slag Om De Schelde), Netflix’s NFLX -0.9% first Dutch film, has jumped to the streamer’s Top 10 list in many countries, including Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, the U.S., and France, one day after its release on October 15. The war film won five awards for Editing, Cinematography, Production Design, Costume Design and Sound Design at the Nederlands Film Festival awards ceremony earlier this month.

The Forgotten Battle opens in September 1944, on the island of Walcheren in Zeeland, a southwestern province of the Netherlands that borders with Belgium. In the midst of the Second World War, three young lives, Netflix’s official synopsis tells us, find themselves inextricably connected.

The forgotten battle in question is the Battle of the Scheldt. Months after Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy (D-Day and the Battle of Normandy), the Allies are rapidly advancing west, defeating the Nazi troops. The Allies liberate the Belgian port of Antwerp—crucial in getting access to the North Sea and thus secure supply lines. In order to use the port though, the Allies needed to clear the region between Antwerp and the North Sea along the Scheldt River, which was occupied by Nazi troops. This task was given to the First Canadian Army, and is considered the largest operation in the Netherlands during the war.

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Poland: Reclaiming Jewish Property in Krakow

 Before World War II, the Karmel family ran a successful business in Krakow and owned a building on ul. Józefa. The family had been part of the Jewish community in the city since the 14th century. Like millions of others, they suffered the depredations of the Nazi invaders and then, when the war was over, the surviving members of the family left Poland for good. The building at ul. Józefa 1, like tens of thousands across the country, was simply abandoned. Now, almost 70 years later, New York Rabbi Joseph Karmel wants it back.

Canadian filmmaker Eric Scott became involved with Rabbi Karmel’s story when he decided to shoot a documentary about the ongoing issue of restitution in Poland. Now seeking funding to complete his project, Scott is planning to bring his crew to Krakow and ask some searching questions.

“Restitution is a documentary about an unacknowledged crime on a massive scale. Twenty three years after the fall of Communism, Poland still refuses to do what it promised to do. The government of Poland will not pass a restitution law that would either return private property or compensate Jews and their heirs for assets seized during the Nazi occupation or under the Communist regime. Poland’s unwillingness to pass such a law puts the country squarely out of step with rest of Europe,” says Scott.
 
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