I’ve seen documentaries on JPII many times since the early 1980s. But this is different. This is history, not merely piety. Based on the biography written by George Wiegel it tells the story of the nearly 5,000 priests and nuns who “were sent to Concentration Camps and how all polish cultural activity was forbidden on pains of death. Had Karol Wojtyla been betrayed or found out he would have received the death sentence for acting in a clandestine theater and studying in an underground Seminary.

“Shaped by the terrors of Nazi-occupied Poland and subsequent brutalities of the Communist regime,. With rare historical stills and footage, along with new location footage taken in Rome and richly textured film traces the personal life and struggle of the first non-Italian pope in over 450 years.”. Then there was Joseph Stalin.

WITNESS TO HOPE is a complete and intimate portrait of the most beloved pope of the 20th century.”

Directed by JUDITH DWAN HALLET

* The Real Holocaust Narrative