Rating: PG-13
Documentarian Jared Webber interviews his grandfather, Max Fromenburg, about his experiences as a Polish Jew living in Powiak Prison Camp. Fronenberg describes the carnage he saw, how he helped 17 people escape from the camp… and meeting a girl, Rena Rosenbaum. Max and Rena describe their surprising romance—reconnecting after the war, both marrying other people and becoming widowed parents, then discovering their love is still there.
Webber’s narration is a bit flat, but he clearly summarizes the Holocaust. He also combines dramatized scenes with archival footage and interviews (with Fronenberg, Rosenbaum, and with several prisoners that Fronenberg helped escape) into a coherent story. The documentary is inspiring for obvious reasons, showing Holocaust survivors who built new lives after terrible trauma. However, it doesn’t become too saccharine because it emphasizes the long path the romance took (each thinking the other was dead, marrying other people and starting separate families, and coming back together when they least expected it). A Holocaust movie that inspires without ignoring the pain, and tells a story that seems too surprising to be true.
Photo Credit: Webber Film