Lost Childhood: The Story of the Birkenau Boys

Schindler's List has encouraged a flood of documentaries and first person accounts from Holocaust survivors. This award-winning video recounts a journey that took the "boys from Birkenau" back to the death camps at Auschwitz. The "boys" are among 89 'lucky' souls whom the "angel of death," Dr. Mengele, selected for unknown reasons to be spared the horrors of the gas chambers. With considerable emotion and some black humor, they recall chilling encounters with the infamous Mengele, searing memories of arriving at Auschwitz on crowded cattle cars, and wrenching final moments of parting between family members. The men also visit mass burial sites on the edge of the camps. Unlike other inmates, these boys had relative freedom to move about the camp, giving them special importance as witnesses to the reality of the killing fields. The film raises an important question: namely, should the camps be allowed to disappear or must they be preserved for future generations? Videos like this offer unforgettable testimony to man's inhumanity, and remind us that we should never forget. Complete with study guide, this film is a fine addition to Holocaust collections, and would be a good companion to The Journey of Butterfly (VL-9/96). Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)