Summaries

In late 1944, even as they faced imminent defeat, the Nazis expended enormous resources to kill or deport over 425,000 Jews during the "cleansing" of Hungary. This Oscar-winning documentary, executive produced by Steven Spielberg, focuses on the plight of five Hungarian Jews who survived imprisonment in Auschwitz.—Jwelch5742

Five Jewish Hungarians, now U.S. citizens, tell their stories: before March, 1944, when Nazis began to exterminate Hungarian Jews, months in concentration camps, and visiting childhood homes more than 50 years later. An historian, a Sonderkommando, a doctor who experimented on Auschwitz prisoners, and US soldiers who were part of the liberation in April, 1945, also comment. Most telling are details: Renée packing her bathing suit, Irene swallowing the diamonds her mother gave her to buy bread, Alice's memorial for her sister Klara, Bill escaping police by jumping into a line of Jews going to Buchenwald, and Tom told by a US soldier to have "all the damn bananas and oranges you can eat."—<[email protected]>

Details

Keywords
  • nazi
  • u.s. soldier
  • concentration camp
  • auschwitz
  • buchenwald
Genres
  • War
  • Documentary
Release date Jul 14, 1999
Motion Picture Rating (MPA) PG-13
Countries of origin United States
Official sites Official site
Language English German Hungarian
Filming locations Uzhhorod, Zakarpattia Oblast, Ukraine
Production companies Ken Lipper/June Beallor production Shoah Foundation Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation

Box office

Gross US & Canada $421432
Opening weekend US & Canada $20492
Gross worldwide $421432

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 27m
Color Color Black and White
Sound mix Dolby SR
Aspect ratio 1.85 : 1

Synopsis

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