TELEVISION: A Small Light - episode 6
Oct. 26th, 2024 09:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllA Small Light - 1.6 Boiling Point
It certainly lived up to its episode title. The opening sequence was both flashy and not, because it had purpose, with a flashback to Miep and Jan being the Franks’ guests in 1941 to go see their first orchestral concert, the irony being that it was for Jews only, so they had fake papers, just in case. Also it was a dressier, posher event than they’d ever been to, and they’d be hearing world-class musicians who’d been chucked out of other countries by the Nazis. Through the first violinist, this switched into the present, where she was still playing but to the Jews of the city, rounded up together, apart from the kids over the road. Apart from Max, all these were new characters, and we watched as a pair of nurses convinced a young mother to hand over her baby to them so that they could send her to the country instead of to a camp. The handover was executed under the nose of a Nazi guard, via the cover of a tram, to, of course, Jan.
Miep’s day started with seeing a dead Jewish man fished out of the canal, something that would stay with her as her eight responsibilities were getting careless, she thought. They wanted to listen to the radio, because the men and the kids were hopeful about what the Allies were going to do next. But she and we got increasingly worried about Mrs Frank (I thought she was physically sick), who was cracking under the strain of confinement. Miep found her wandering downstairs alone at a time when anyone could have seen her, craving daylight. The potato man suspected they were hiding Jews, which was probably all right. Less all right was the return of the Nazi would-be blackmailer to the office.
At home, well, a Nazi had moved in upstairs, Jan was listening to Mendelssohn on their illegal radio, their illegal flatmate was not being particularly quiet, even though he knew there was a Nazi upstairs. And then some more Nazis came calling, looking for the long-gone Jewish flat owner. Although he was a bit sick, their secret housemate had to dodge them, and they vowed to return to confiscate all the furniture.
Meanwhile at the Jewish holding camp, the Nazis marched into the nursery, announcing that all the kids would be sent on to one of the other camps right then. It was awful. A small party and one nurse were able to sneak away, but the story followed the nurses, Max and his wife, coming to the Gieses’ flat, where an increasingly stressed Miep thought they couldn’t keep them safe. Jan said they had to for the night, and he’d come up with a plan, honest. Except their sick room-mate was really sick and the nurses, not knowing what it was, thought he needed to go to hospital. Miep sent Jan out to get some willow bark, while she went out to work.
Jan had got the willow bark, but walked into a couple of Nazis who wanted to requisition his bike for the rubber. He said they couldn’t because he needed it for work (also a Dutchman’s bike is sacrosanct), and these slightly younger men didn’t like his attitude, and so he was arrested. He protested that he was a social worker, naming his boss, which turned out to be a good thing, because one of the Nazis secretly released him. But when he made it home, Miep flew at him for not bringing the willow bark, as their houseguest really was worsening, until he screamed with pain and…got a blood clot out of his nose. The Nazi neighbour came a-calling, Jan lied successfully, the patient said he was feeling better, Miep found out Jan had been arrested – they did get to let off a little pressure when they communicated with each other. The body was bugging Miep, while being arrested is a valid reason for forgetting anything. But it all kept building.
Jan would lead the four Jews from their flat to a contact who would get them out of the city, although that was now extremely difficult. But they baulked when it looked as though a Nazi was going to round them up in their van. Jan soothed them, it was the double agent from the other day (still a big ask of the escapees), whisking them away in the light of day.
Miep was taking their illegal radio to her eight when a couple of Nazis in a motorbike and sidecar ran her down. She was okay, but irate, and threw vegetables at them. It was awful. Fortunately, they laughed at her and rode away. At the office, the potato guy had some strawberries if wink, wink, nod, nod, she knew anyone who would appreciate them. And so she had a day of jam-making, and D-Day happened and they all, including Mrs Frank, had hope. Miep did celebrate the win, but admitted to Jan that she couldn’t look forward to the future until the war was over.
And then the episode ended with her facing the barrel of a gun at her workplace…
Very effective as things got ever worse and the wear of two years of worsening conditions told on everyone – you could see the coarsening effect on the Nazis, you could see how Jewish mothers who were having perfectly natural strong reactions to being separated from their children were also being difficult in this particular situation. Apart from the foreshadowing talk of Anne’s diary, this show has shown the broad impact on a society of occupation and of the othering that comes with anti-Semitism.
It certainly lived up to its episode title. The opening sequence was both flashy and not, because it had purpose, with a flashback to Miep and Jan being the Franks’ guests in 1941 to go see their first orchestral concert, the irony being that it was for Jews only, so they had fake papers, just in case. Also it was a dressier, posher event than they’d ever been to, and they’d be hearing world-class musicians who’d been chucked out of other countries by the Nazis. Through the first violinist, this switched into the present, where she was still playing but to the Jews of the city, rounded up together, apart from the kids over the road. Apart from Max, all these were new characters, and we watched as a pair of nurses convinced a young mother to hand over her baby to them so that they could send her to the country instead of to a camp. The handover was executed under the nose of a Nazi guard, via the cover of a tram, to, of course, Jan.
Miep’s day started with seeing a dead Jewish man fished out of the canal, something that would stay with her as her eight responsibilities were getting careless, she thought. They wanted to listen to the radio, because the men and the kids were hopeful about what the Allies were going to do next. But she and we got increasingly worried about Mrs Frank (I thought she was physically sick), who was cracking under the strain of confinement. Miep found her wandering downstairs alone at a time when anyone could have seen her, craving daylight. The potato man suspected they were hiding Jews, which was probably all right. Less all right was the return of the Nazi would-be blackmailer to the office.
At home, well, a Nazi had moved in upstairs, Jan was listening to Mendelssohn on their illegal radio, their illegal flatmate was not being particularly quiet, even though he knew there was a Nazi upstairs. And then some more Nazis came calling, looking for the long-gone Jewish flat owner. Although he was a bit sick, their secret housemate had to dodge them, and they vowed to return to confiscate all the furniture.
Meanwhile at the Jewish holding camp, the Nazis marched into the nursery, announcing that all the kids would be sent on to one of the other camps right then. It was awful. A small party and one nurse were able to sneak away, but the story followed the nurses, Max and his wife, coming to the Gieses’ flat, where an increasingly stressed Miep thought they couldn’t keep them safe. Jan said they had to for the night, and he’d come up with a plan, honest. Except their sick room-mate was really sick and the nurses, not knowing what it was, thought he needed to go to hospital. Miep sent Jan out to get some willow bark, while she went out to work.
Jan had got the willow bark, but walked into a couple of Nazis who wanted to requisition his bike for the rubber. He said they couldn’t because he needed it for work (also a Dutchman’s bike is sacrosanct), and these slightly younger men didn’t like his attitude, and so he was arrested. He protested that he was a social worker, naming his boss, which turned out to be a good thing, because one of the Nazis secretly released him. But when he made it home, Miep flew at him for not bringing the willow bark, as their houseguest really was worsening, until he screamed with pain and…got a blood clot out of his nose. The Nazi neighbour came a-calling, Jan lied successfully, the patient said he was feeling better, Miep found out Jan had been arrested – they did get to let off a little pressure when they communicated with each other. The body was bugging Miep, while being arrested is a valid reason for forgetting anything. But it all kept building.
Jan would lead the four Jews from their flat to a contact who would get them out of the city, although that was now extremely difficult. But they baulked when it looked as though a Nazi was going to round them up in their van. Jan soothed them, it was the double agent from the other day (still a big ask of the escapees), whisking them away in the light of day.
Miep was taking their illegal radio to her eight when a couple of Nazis in a motorbike and sidecar ran her down. She was okay, but irate, and threw vegetables at them. It was awful. Fortunately, they laughed at her and rode away. At the office, the potato guy had some strawberries if wink, wink, nod, nod, she knew anyone who would appreciate them. And so she had a day of jam-making, and D-Day happened and they all, including Mrs Frank, had hope. Miep did celebrate the win, but admitted to Jan that she couldn’t look forward to the future until the war was over.
And then the episode ended with her facing the barrel of a gun at her workplace…
Very effective as things got ever worse and the wear of two years of worsening conditions told on everyone – you could see the coarsening effect on the Nazis, you could see how Jewish mothers who were having perfectly natural strong reactions to being separated from their children were also being difficult in this particular situation. Apart from the foreshadowing talk of Anne’s diary, this show has shown the broad impact on a society of occupation and of the othering that comes with anti-Semitism.
