Holocaust Education Initiative

The Swedish Educational Radio Broadcasting Company (UR) is now showing the film on its UR Play and UR Access platforms (in Swedish).  Outside Sweden, watch on Vimeo.

The plot of the film

During World War Two the young Jewish mother Deborah lives in the Warsaw Ghetto together with her son Adam. She soon realises they have no chance of survival if they remain there. They have to flee. A non-Jewish Polish woman, Helena, takes them into her home, putting her own life at risk. Helena hides them outside the Jewish Ghetto.

Leon and Ester were just children when they were forced into some of the most notorious concentration camps. They lost everything. They would never again see their families or their home, their country, and they lost both their freedom and their youth.

The author Maria has written a book about Deborah and some of the other survivors of the Holocaust. She visits a school to discuss difficult issues about violence and vulnerability, as well as the equal value of all human life. One of the students is captivated by Maria’s words and studies the issue in depth.

The film was recorded in Gothenburg, Uppsala, Warsaw and Oświęcim (Auschwitz) and premiered in 2021.

Direction & Music: Roland Persson

Producer & Photographer: Andreas Gejke

Script: Mikaela Lund & Roland Persson

Based on the book Escape from Genocide by Maria Vajta Klamer

Participants: Ester & Leon Rytz, Pia Eklund Rosander, Sofia Hillbom, Jan Gezelius, Elin Ternström, Narav Salahaddin, and others

Animation: Gabriel Gumucio

A project in cooperation with

Photos: Andreas Gejke, Skaparkraft Film & Musikproduktion