Great Performances: Remember This

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In a powerful solo performance, Academy Award-nominee David Strathairn tells the true story of reluctant World War II hero and Holocaust witness Jan Karski. After surviving the devastation of the Blitzkrieg, Karski swears allegiance to the Polish Underground and risks his life to carry the first eyewitness reports of the Holocaust to the Western world, and ultimately, the Oval Office. Escaping a Gestapo prison, bearing witness to the despair of the Warsaw ghetto and confronted by the barbaric inhumanity of a death camp, Karski endures mental anguish and physical torture to stand tall and speak the truth. At times addressing the audience directly, Strathairn powerfully communicates this story of moral courage and individual responsibility that has become even more urgent for today’s world. Presented in stark black and white, the intimate film utilizes a minimal set that transforms into many locations through the use of dramatic lighting effects.