Our feature film Under Jakob's Ladder is inspired by the life of a man named Jakob Seel. Who was this man? He was born and raised in Ukraine. He witnessed the upheaval of the advent of communism, and watched as--one by one--each of his freedoms were taken away from him and his people.
Jakob's life story is representative of so many others who lived during Stalinist great purges.
This movie, in part, means to take a look at how the Soviet system impacted ordinary people, like Jakob, in the era of the 1930s and up to World War II.
Jakob's German-speaking ancestors had been among those invited to settle in the Russian territories between the mid-1700s to the early 1800s. The initial invitation came from Catherine the Great, with subsequent invitations coming from her son and grandson who ruled after her. Today, Jakob's people are known as the Germans from Russia.
One of the initial attractions for settling these lands was exemption from military service offered by Catherine the Great. However, by the time of World War I, this pledge was revoked. While certain Germans from Russia emigrated at that time out of the Russian/Ukrainian territories, Jakob's family were among those who remained. Subsequently, Jakob fought in the Russian army against the Kaiser during the first World War.
But then came the upheavals of the Russian Revolution.
Communist rule was established, and by the time Stalin came to power, life in Ukraine was drastically altered.
Jakob, a teacher/preacher in his village, was removed from his positions. All churches were shut down (many were turned into granaries). Little by little, their freedoms began to disappear...
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