"This documentary, first released in 1980, offers a window into the vitality of Polish Jewry before the Holocaust. The film directs its lens at all aspects of that now-vanished world, showing us a diverse community and culture. It encompasses city and shtetl, rich and poor, secular and spiritual, politics and society, all permeated by the distinctive character and values that developed in the Polish-Jewish community over nearly a millenium." -- Study Guide, p. 1.

Based on the YIVO exhibit and book "Image Before My Eyes" by Dr. Lucjan Dobroszycki [and] Dr. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett. Originally produced as a documentary in 1980.

Part OneSetting -- Faraway lands -- Making a living -- Zionist activity -- Part Two "To the stars" -- Secular life -- New horizons -- Among the organized -- Awakening youth -- Darkening clouds -- Great majority -- Credits.