The Silver Sword

I first saw 'The Silver Sword' series on t.v. some 50 years ago. The fact that my recollections of it remain so vivid leads me to conclude that the story affected me profoundly.

As World War II began my father was abducted by the Nazi's from the fields of his family's farm in Poland. Eventually he escaped from a concentration camp. With the help of many people (including Germans) who had chosen to fight Hitler's tyranny he eventually joined the Allies. As part of the Sicily landings he fought north through Monte Casino and on (in Churchill's immortal words) to "the 'soft under-belly of Europe".

Maybe the empathy I felt with 'The Silver Sword' was founded in the Polish connection. Whatever, the character, Jan, conveyed the mind-set of a youth in the midst of the prevailing madness well enough to implant a fear which even now causes the odd nightmare of being chased by Nazis.

Unlike Jan, it took my father 25 years to re-unite with his family. However, one has to remember the complications of finances, naturalisation, foreign travel, the general destruction wrought upon the European infrastructure etc. etc. which posed a very real obstacle to doing so.

'The Silver Sword' is the serialisation of a powerful story which, quite rightly, has been adopted and exploited by the teaching profession as a tool for exploring man's inhumanity to man.

I would have been 8 or 9 when I watched the Silver Sword on TV. It had a lasting impression on me all my life. I searched for it on line for years hoping that it might be available on a DVD but never did find it, then a few years ago I found that you can watch the final episode at the National media museum in Bradford so on one of my trips home to the UK we drove to Bradford to tour the museum and I got to watch the final episode in a little booth, it's the episode where they are reunited with their parents. It was a great day and the museum is an interesting place to visit. I since bought the book which was written by Ian Serraillier and enjoyed the read.

I was only aged 5 when I watched the serial on the small screen, but it made an impression on me and much later I read and enjoyed the book. It's the music that accompanied it that I remember so well and every now and then I try to track it down by listening to classical music on you tube. It was stirring music which I'm sure was a genuine classical piece, not specially composed. I would love to see the serial again. I remember the ruins of Warsaw were quite graphic, and in those days there were still many ruined parts of cities (including Liverpool) where they could have filmed. It was good to read previous reviews and they echoed my thoughts about it. Perhaps I should try contacting the BBC to find an answer.