Born in Auschwitz

Synopsis

Born in Auschwitz is a film about Inherited Family Trauma that seeks the possibility of healing in a parent-child relationship.

In May 1944 a young Jewish woman arrived in Auschwitz. She was 2 months pregnant and immediately got selected by Dr. Mengele for medical experiments… Her baby was born with 1 kg, to be hidden for five long weeks before the liberation of the death camp.

She not only inherited the trauma of the Holocaust but passed it on to her daughter while trying to raise a survivor. Her daughter became ultra-Orthodox and works as a cancer researcher. Now she goes out of her way to stop the trauma and not to pass it on to her own children.

Mother and daughter are dealing with the past off the beaten path, traveling to places they never wanted to return to, meeting people they never imagined connecting with, from German psychotherapists to Pope Francis. The directors follow the story of these fascinating women as they discover the Holocaust’s long shadow on three generations.

About the Director

The directors of Spot Productions company, Eszter Cseke and Andras S. Takacs are award-winning documentary filmmakers with international experience in the field from the revolution in Egypt to the French Foreign Legion in Central-America. Their motto is from Robert Capa: “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” They have filmed with artists like Wim Wenders or Salman Rushdie, politicians like Aung San Suu Kyi or Ban Ki Moon, and religious leaders like the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis. Their documentary series ‘On the Spot’ aired human interest stories on public tv, Spektrum TV and SundanceTV. Episodes of On the Spot appeared in the official selection of festivals like the Krakow International Film Festival, the American Documentary Film Festival or INPUT. Spot’s approach has been called “rare and exclusive” by the BBC while the Financial Times wrote ‘On The Spot’ is “up-close and visceral”.

Artist Statement

Our film displays transgenerational trauma and seeks the possibility of recovery and healing in a parent-child relationship.

Angela was the only Jewish baby to be born in Auschwitz before the liberation and survive the horrors of the camp.

We are going beyond Angela’s miraculous life story to show how she inherited the trauma of the Holocaust, and how she passed it on to her daughter Kati by ruining her childhood with tremendous fear, trying to raise a survivor. Kati is doing everything in her power to stop the trauma and not to pass it on to her own children.

‘Born in Auschwitz’ is a family story of universal transgenerational trauma – caused by the Holocaust in this case. The trauma of the Holocaust permeates Angela’s life and her daughter’s too, but their struggle begins with the first generation, a young pregnant woman thrust into bowels of human depravity…