Yoav Potash went to Poland to film a commemorative event. Upon arriving, his curiosity drove him to check out the community. He finds a Jewish grave-marker in an old man’s backyard scrapheap. Then he observes that Jewish markers became foundational rocks in roads, walls, and house foundations all over Poland. But a new Polish law forbid asking questions.
Freedom of speech and expression meets historical revisionism, just like right here in America. For example, did you know the Smithsonian exhibit on MLK was replaced by one on Elvis by government directive?
Back to Poland and Potash
The Polish Holocaust Law of 2018 criminalized “claims of Polish responsibility or complicity in Nazi crimes during the Holocaust.” So, when Potash first went to film in Poland, he learned he could not ask questions about why all the grave-markers in the Jewish cemetery had gone missing. But he’s a smart man and found a way.
An Eye-Witness spoke out
Threaded through “Among Neighbors” is the quest of a neighbor, Pelagia, for her childhood friend, Janek Weinberg. She willingly talks about the days before and after Nazi infiltration into their tiny town of Gniewoszów. Her family and the Weinbergs were friends, but they were too scared to harbor them when the Jews were rounded up. Potash, around 70 years later, is the first one she dares tell about what happened after Germany surrendered and the Weinbergs returned to town.
Key to the Holocaust Law
Potash did some research and found the young man Pelagia remembered. He had become a history professor in Israel who had written a memoir. After the Nazis had loaded his family into carts, his mother took him by the hand. They had quietly jumped out and rolled down an embankment into the forest.
Janek’s life became a series of miracles and tragedies.
The most stunning part of Potash’s documentary, which is interspersed with archival footage and superb animation to show the life of Janek, is what Potash discovered as he followed the thread of persecution after the war. Then he fully understood why Poland issued their Holocaust law.
Oscar Prediction
Poised for an Oscar nomination, “Among Neighbors” is a dramatically-propelled documentary that ticks off all the qualifications for outstanding work. That its story of suppression coincides with American government attempts to ignore or discard museum and history book accounts of slavery, Indian abuse and civil rights history, makes it all the more poignant and important for American audiences.
Rating: 10/10
Credits
Director/Producer/Writer: Yoav Potash
Executive Producer: Anita Friedman
Cinematographers: Yoav Poash and Błażej Pyrka
Animation: Animation Atlantica, Boxel studio and Yellow Tapir Films
Editors: Lauren Schwartzman, Yoav Potash and Aaron I. Butler, A.C.E.
Website: https://www.amongneighbors.com/
Release: Oct. 10, 2025
Opening at the Quad Cinema in NYC on Oct. 10 and at Laemmle Theaters in LA on Oct. 17.
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