A new American documentary "Prisoner of Her Past" will have its premiere launching in Poland at the Jewish Historical Institute on October 18, 6.00 pm. The film is based on the book by Howard Reich, who described the life of his mother, a Holocaust survivor and a victim of late onset PTSD: "The First and Final Nightmare of Sonia Reich".

The film is the first to illuminate a little known illness, late-onset Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and show its devastating effect on its victims and their families. “Prisoner of Her Past,” shows Sonia Reich, now 79, struggling with late-onset Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She believes there is a Star of David on her clothes and that everyone is trying to kill her.  In addition the film highlights programs that are presently aiding young trauma survivors of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Another hero of the film is Leon Słomiński, a Polish Jew and a Holocaust survivor, who lives in Warsaw and sets on a mission to see his cousin Sonia whom he had not seen almost 60 years to help her cope with her illness and her memories.

This 57’ long film takes place in the US, Poland and Ukraine. It is now playing across the United States and around the World. On October 14 the Czech premiere of “Prisoner of Her Past” will be presented by the Jewish Museum in Prague, the U.S. Embassy in Prague, the Institute Rafael and the European Shoah Legacy Institute.

Mr. Howard Reich himself is coming to our show directly from Prague. The other participant of the event will be Professor Jacek Bomba from Collegium Medicum at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, who, as a major scholar in psychiatry and specialist in this particular field will speak about the PTSD of Holocaust survivors.

Organization of the movie show was possible thanks to the generosity of the U.S. Embassy as well as The Michael Traison Fund for Poland.