The Boys of Buchenwald: Difference between revisions
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| director = Audrey Mehler |
| director = [[Audrey Mehler]] |
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| producer = David Paperny |
| producer = [[David Paperny]] |
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| writer = |
| writer = [[Audrey Mehler]] |
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| narrator = [[Saul Rubinek]] |
| narrator = [[Saul Rubinek]] |
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| starring = |
| starring = |
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| music = |
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| cinematography = |
| cinematography = John Collins |
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| editing = |
| editing = Robert Landy |
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| distributor = [[National Film Board of Canada]] |
| distributor = [[National Film Board of Canada]] |
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| released = 2002 |
| released = 2002 |
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| runtime = 47 minutes |
| runtime = 47 minutes |
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| country = {{ |
| country = {{CAN}} |
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| language = [[English language|English]] |
| language = [[English language|English]] |
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Revision as of 00:12, 20 June 2012
| The Boys of Buchenwald | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Audrey Mehler |
| Written by | Audrey Mehler |
| Produced by | David Paperny |
| Narrated by | Saul Rubinek |
| Cinematography | John Collins |
| Edited by | Robert Landy |
| Distributed by | National Film Board of Canada |
Release date | 2002 |
Running time | 47 minutes |
| Country |  Canada |
| Language | English |
The Boys of Buchenwald is a 2002 documentary film produced by Paperny Films that examines how the child survivors of the Buchenwald concentration camp had to assimilate themselves back into normal society after having experienced the brutality of the Holocaust. The documentary features interviews with the survivors, including Elie Wiesel.
Plot
Over four hundred orphans from Buchenwald were sent to an orphanage in France where they were educated and cared for.[1] The documentary follows the orphans, who are now old men, as they reunite on the 55th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald by the American army.
The now-elderly men all agree that their friendships in the orphanage made the tremendous losses they suffered more manageable. “I had just lost my father, and I had witnessed my brother’s murder right next to me,” one survivor says, addressing his best friend. “And then I met you. You were a godsend.”
The inhuman treatment they had received in the concentration camps meant the boys needed to relearn how to live in society. The boys of Buchenwald spent their childhoods surrounded by terror and death, and, as a result, they were rebellious against authority, full of anger and under-educated. In fact, society viewed child survivors as damaged goods who would go on to become psychopaths.
The boys had to relearn everything — even their meals proved challenging. Their extreme hunger and inexperience with ordinary behavior robbed them of table manners. They threw food, shoved it in their pockets to save for later, and gorged themselves, clearing their plates in a matter of minutes. With the help of benevolent guardians who gave consistent discipline the boys slowly relearned how to behave.
Once it was time to leave the orphanage and go out on their own, many of the boys moved to Australia or Canada to distance themselves from their awful pasts. There, they established homes and careers near one another so that they could still come together for meals and Jewish holidays.
Awards
- Gold Remi Award at the WorldFest International Film Festival in April 2004
- Bronze World Medal at The New York Festival in January 2004
See also
- Joseph Schleifstein, survived Buchenwald at age four
- Stefan Jerzy Zweig, survived Buchenwald at age four, hidden by his father and other prisoners
- La Maison de Nina film on the same subject Template:Fr icon
- Bunce Court, German school in England that took in some child survivors after the war
References
- ^ Ramsay, Cynthia (2003-01-10), "Friendship from depths of hell", The Jewish Independent
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)