Knights of the Teutonic Order

1960’s Knights of the Teutonic Order is one of the most watched movies in Poland’s history. According to some sources, almost everyone in the country saw it when it was released and it remains popular to this day. What is it about this tale of proud Poles taking arms against an order of corrupt German clerics dominating their country, made less than 15 years after a German invasion had propelled Europe into the Second World War, that caught the attention? The historical parallels are obvious, but there was the added bonus of the film’s anti-clerical theme chiming with the anti-religious agenda of Poland’s communist overlords. There will be no pushback from that direction. … Read more