Destination Unknown

At the core of filmmaker Claire Ferguson's exceptional Holocaust documentary is filmed testimony from 12 aged survivors, whose painful recollections are accompanied by historical footage and family photographs. Some of the interviewees, such as Eli Zborowski, tell of brave gentiles who risked their lives to hide Jewish neighbors, and of their own alliance with Soviet military personnel in a bid to disrupt the Nazi occupation. Most, however, were inmates in German concentration camps, and they not only describe the horrors they witnessed, but also the trauma experienced in the years since. Among the dozen are several who were imprisoned at Plaszów, including Mietek Pemper—aide to the notorious commandant Amon Göth—who was instrumental in preparing Oskar Schindler's list and testified against Göth after the war (excerpts from home movies show Göth at the camp). Considerable attention is also devoted to Ed Mosberg, who dresses in the striped prisoner's uniform he wore at Mauthausen, where he delivers passionate descriptions of his suffering to visitors; Stanley Glogover, who details his search for relatives after the camps' liberation; Victor and Regina Lewis, who were reunited and wed after the war; and Marsha Kreuzman, whose memories remain so horrific that she admits that she still wants to die of grief. An extraordinarily powerful and moving addition to documentaries about the victims of Hitler's Final Solution, Destination Unknown is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)