When he moved to Charleston, SC, after barely surviving the Holocaust, Polish Jew Joe Engel, born in 1927, opened a dry-cleaning business and never spoke in detail about his experiences in the Warsaw Ghetto and the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Upon retiring, however, Engel made it his mission to educate as many people as possible about what the Nazis wrought and how—still to his amazement—no one could stop it. Filmmaker Ron Small draws on archival footage capturing Nazi atrocities in this documentary that tells one more valuable story about an innocent victim’s personal nightmare. Engel’s sharp memories of barely lasting through acts of utter sadism (including being left outside in freezing weather after cold water was poured over him), and his daring escape and subsequent work with the Resistance, are both dispiriting and inspiring. Speaking calmly but firmly, Engel notes that not a day has gone by when he doesn’t think about the parents and family he never saw again—or the youth that was stolen from him. A powerful portrait, this is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (T. Keogh)
To Auschwitz and Back: The Joe Engel Story
(2017) 47 min. DVD: $24.99 ($199.99 w/PPR). DRA. Dreamscape Media. Closed captioned. Volume 33, Issue 5
To Auschwitz and Back: The Joe Engel Story
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