The Shop On Main Street (1965) — A heartbreaking movie about the Holocaust

This Czechoslovak movie is one of the long-forgotten masterpieces of European cinema. Directed by Jan Kadar and Elmar Klos, The Shop On Main Street is a story of an ordinary little man caught amid the tragic events of World War II. It takes the viewer into the perspective of someone, who was neither, a Jewish person nor a Nazi ideology follower.

The movie shows life in a typical small town in Slovakia in 1942. The country is under the rule of the Nazis, but life in this particular town seems ordinary and is not affected by the horrors of war. The central figure of this story is Antonin “Tono” Brtko (portrayed by Jozef Krone) — a Slovak carpenter who keeps himself neutral against everything that happens in town. His brother-in-law holds a leading position in the local government, but Tono is too proud to ask his relative for something beneficial. It makes Tono’s wife angry since she is a very greedy woman. Her attitude towards her husband differs by the amount of money he brings back home.

Antonin Brtko (portrayed by Jozef Kroner) and Rozalia Lautmann (Ida Kaminska) in the Czechoslovak movie The Shop On Main Street (originally, Obchod na korze). Photo: magazin.aktualne.cz

When the Brtko couple gets a visit by a brother-in-law and his wife, Tono feels irritated. Yet, towards the end of the evening, he is given a document that makes him the Aryan controller of the little shop in the town’s center of the old Jewish widow — a 78-year old Rozalia Lautmann (Ida Kaminska). Tono finally gets a chance to satisfy the wishes of his wife. However, it is just a mock of his brother-in-law since the shop brings no income.

The old Lautmann lady pretends that she does not understand a thing about the ongoing situation in the town. When Tono shows a document that he is the new Aryan controller of her shop, Lautmann pretends that her sight is too bad to read. In other scenes, you can see her reading Talmud. The same goes for her deafness. The old lady prefers to live in her small, slightly nostalgic world and ignore all the upcoming madness around the town. Tono is too shy to forcefully present the bad news to the old lady and remove her from the shop. After an old friend of Mrs. Lautmann promises that the Jewish community will pay him for becoming the assistant of the old lady, Tono accepts this offer. Eventually, they get along, and although the story is about Holocaust, there are some ironic and funny moments in this movie.

Jan Kadar and Elmar Klos tried to depict a different path of an ordinary man towards evil. You won’t see a lot of violence and terrifying scenes in this movie, not at all. You will see a man going through a moral fight many people had during WWII. Tono is in a situation when he MUST make a clear choice. To remain a good man, it’s an easy choice to make, right? Tono could save Mrs. Lautmann from the concentration camp and death or become a silent bystander who accepts the horrible situation for the sake of avoiding the risk of losing his own life. Selfless choice versus selfish choice.

Personally, it was hard to get a clear opinion about Tono and the symbolism applied to his character. You cannot tell that he is a bad man. A bit of a coward, yes. A bit spineless as well. But not specifically a man with an evil heart and soul. His motifs under all the crazy circumstances going around are understandable.

It does not matter how high we value our own moral grounds, I am more than sure that no one would be excited about being put in Tono’s shoes. Being a bystander during such a tragedy is nothing to be proud of, I agree. Still, let’s not be hypocrites and remain honest. What percentage of earth’s population would choose to be heroes and lose their heads instead of staying quiet and saving their lives? To save a family member, probably, a high percentage. But to save a neighbor or just a random acquaintance? I guess, just a tiny number. That’s how selfish human nature works in most cases. The tragedy here hides in the fact that human’s selfish nature and bystander effect can give power to evil men and cause wars, genocides, and enormous losses of innocent people’s lives.

The Shop On Main Street is the best movie about Holocaust, in my view. Yes, Schindler’s List is probably on top for most of the general audience, but this Czechoslovak cinematic masterpiece gives a better insight into the causes of the Holocaust horrors without showing any violence and horror. It is an intelligent movie. You don’t need to show bloody scenes to make an impression of how terrible the Holocaust was. The depiction of concentration camps and violence can only show the process of extermination of human masses, but it won’t explain the causes. The Shop On Main Street and its characters give you pretty much a clear view of how Europe allowed the Holocaust to happen. You must keep in mind that this movie depicts the events in Slovakia and the collaborationists who supported Nazi ideology. Not Germans in Nazi Germany, but Slovaks. The bystander effect.

This movie has everything to get a rating of 10 out of 10. It deservedly won the Oscar back in 1966, when the award was still prestigious and meaningful to the filmmakers, actors, and viewers. It gives a clear message through elements of symbolism and wisely sculpted allegories. The younger generation should definitely give it a chance and watch it to have a better understanding about Holocaust.

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