Review of In Darkness (2011) by Jon A — 10 Aug 2012

âWhosoever saves a single life, saves an entire universe" (Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:5). âIn Darknessâ? is a gritty, unsentimental look at the lengths people will go to in order to survive and the portrait of a man evolving past base instincts into righteousness.

Based on true events, the film follows a group of Jews in the occupied Polish city of Lvov who escape certain death in their ghetto by escaping into the filthy, rat infested city sewers. A Catholic, anti-semitic sewer worker, Leopold Socha, initially demands to be paid to help them hide and for bringing them food and supplies, but continues to risk his life to help them after the money runs out.

Israel posthumously named Socha one of âThe Righteous Among Nationsâ?: gentiles who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.