Watch: Exclusive clip from Destination Unknown
New film, out in UK cinemas June 16, captures the pain which still haunts Holocaust survivors 70 years after liberation
“I could forget what I had for breakfast this morning, but I will never forget what happened for the five-and-a-half years in the concentration camp.”
Marsha Kreuzman, liberated from Mauthausen, is one of twelve Holocaust survivors, whose powerful testimony is brought to the fore in Destination Unknown, which is released in UK cinemas this Friday.
Making a unique contribution to the history of the Holocaust, the film captures the pain which still haunts Holocaust survivors 70 years after liberation and the resilience which has enabled them to live with the memories.
The film is directed by Claire Ferguson and produced by Llion Roberts, who spent fourteen years accumulating the testimonies on which the film is based.
With no narration and no expert interviews, the film relies on the survivors’ own words, to weave a vivid narrative of lives stained by genocide.
A seamless mosaic of first-hand accounts, rare archive from the time, and family Super 8 footage from after the war, the film traces their journeys from the outbreak of war, through the misery of the ghettos, to the unimaginable horrors of the camps.
We see those who survived in hiding, those who fought as partisans, and those who endured camps such as Treblinka, Mauthausen and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
While a few managed to escape, most had to try to find a way to stay alive until the end of the war.
Their stories do not end with liberation. We see how they had to survive the chaos that came afterwards, and their attempts to build new lives.
The film includes an interview with one of the few escapees from the terror of Treblinka, and an exclusive interview with Mietek Pemper, who helped Oskar Schindler compile his List, as well as a revealing story about Schindler himself from one of those he saved.
Destination Unknown is in cinemas from Friday, 16 June. http://destinationunknownmovie.com/
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