Herman and Lotte Bland emigrated from Poland to the United States settling in Chicago and Milwaukee. Herman (1893-1945) was born in Filipow and Lotte (Zlata Marks, 1896-1953) was born in Suwalki. In 1937, they decided to visit their birthplaces with their children, Leonard and Harold. They traveled from New York to Le Havre on the SS Normandie. Herman, a motion picture operator and theater owner, brought along a Bell and Howell 16mm motion picture camera. At the age of twenty, Leonard, shot most of the footage and thus is not pictured in the film. Zawel Borodowski was a butcher in Filipow and was murdered during the Holocaust. Many of his family members were exiled to Grodno, then to Slonim, where they perished. Two of his brothers (Israel and Abe) immigrated to the US and changed their name to Brown. Zawel's daughter immigrated to Israel in 1935, where she was able to reunite with her husband (originally from Przerosl) and raise a family. Herman and Lotte Bland emigrated from Poland to the United States settling in Chicago and Milwaukee. Herman (1893-1945) was born in Filipow and Lotte (Zlata Marks, 1896-1953) was born in Suwalki. In 1937, they decided to visit their birthplaces with their children, Leonard and Harold. The family traveled from New York to Le Havre on the SS Normandie. Herman, a motion picture operator and theater owner, brought along a Bell and Howell 16mm motion picture camera. At one point in the trip the family came across"Kill the Jew" inscribed in Polish in newly poured cement around the Suwalki outdoor market. The Americans filmed the graffiti and were taken to the police station where the film in the camera was confiscated. The poverty, use of peat for heating, washing of clothes in the river, and antisemitism witnessed throughout the trip greatly affected the Blands. As a result, Lotte became very involved in charitable work, serving as President of the Women's Auxiliary of Hebrew Theological Seminary.
Henryk Olszewska appears in this film of Filipów, and perished at the end of World War II.
Some members of the Borodowsky family were exiled at the beginning of World War II to Grodno, then to Slonim, and perished during the Holocaust. Peretz, Razel, and Nahum Lansky managed to leave Filipow for Israel where they lived in a kibbutz.
Original metal reel labeled:"Filipo"
Country road. Lottie poses with locals and relatives, probably in Suwalki, including Peretz Lansky and his wife Razel, Nahum Lansky (01:00:10), Zawel Borodowski (man with cane), next to Labe Hirsch Borodowsky (man with hat), next to Rivka Borodowsky with her children David and Eliyahu Vinizky at 01:00:16, and Rachel and Shlomo Quint at the end of the group (cousins); some children, probably Avraham and Binyamin Borodowsky, hide behind Zawel. A different group poses for the camera on cobbled streets. The countryside around Filipow, LS of town square. The American Blands arrive in a horse-drawn wagon. Cemetery of Filipow, distant view and close-ups of several head stones. Rabbi and the gates of the cemetery. The front of the synagogue in Filipow. CU of horse cart displaying required license for the butcher, Zawel Borodowski. The Americans walk through town. 01:08:20 Bland relatives in Filipow with worn shoes and some with bare feet. The young woman at the top of the stairs is Rachel Lea Borodowsky (01:08:26). Harold drives a horse-drawn cart, and rides a horse. 01:09:43 Digging and transporting peat from peat bogs. Filipow from below. Young children play in bogs and ponds. CUs of town buildings made of stone, mud and wood, including a synagogue. 01:15:51 COLOR Farm houses in Filipow, pan of town. Unknown man stands with Herman. Road leading out of Filipow with local children.
Cemetery, daily activity, and synagogue in Filipow