Synopsis
- "I built Auschwitz... because I arrived in the first transport." Memory, art and hell collide as an Auschwitz survivor finally confronts the horrors of his past after 50 years of silence. Marian Kolodziej, prisoner number 432, was 17 and on one of the first transports to enter Auschwitz on June 14, 1940. Kolodziej, a Polish Catholic, survived five years imprisonment and never spoke of his experience until after a serious stroke in 1993. He began physical rehabilitation by doing pen and ink drawings depicting his memories of that horrific experience at Auschwitz 50 years earlier.Kolodziej's drawings and art installations, which he called The Labyrinth, fill the large basement of a church near Auschwitz. In The Labyrinth, Kolodziej takes the audience on a journey through his drawings and art installations. Through the blending of his testimony and graphic drawings, we explore the memories and nightmares that were buried for years. The documentary is eyewitness testimony to the horrors of Auschwitz that is unique in the annals of documenting the Holocaust. Marian Koldziej's story of survival and persistence, of life before, during, and after Auschwitz is a testament to courage, the power of faith and the resilience of the human spirit.
Crew
- Director: Jason Schmidt
- Screenplay: Jason Schmidt, Ron Schmidt
- Director of photography: Christof Wolf, Jason Schmidt, Gregory J. Schmidt, SOC
- Editor (Cut): Jason Schmidt
- Producer: Jason Schmidt, Ron Schmidt
- Production company: December 2nd Productions
- coproduced by: Loyola Productions Munich GmbH
Awards
- (2010) Redemptive Story Teller Award, Virginia Beach, U.S.A.
Festivals
- (2010) Docuweeks L.A., Los Angeles, U.S.A
- (2010) Boston Film Festival, Boston, U.S.A.
- (2010) Santa Barbara Inter. Film Festival, Santa Barbara, U.S.A.
- (2011) Boulder Inter. Film Festival, Colorado, U.S.A.
- (2010) Plus CameraImage, Poland
- (2010) Redmptive Film Festival, Virginia Beach, U.S.A.
- (2010) John Paul II Film Festival, Miami, U.S.A.
