Triumph of the Spirit

Shot on location at the actual Auschwitz death camp. Some of the existing structures were utilized in the production, however, the crematorium had to be recreated since the actual crematoria in Auschwitz were destroyed by the Nazis. The ruins still exist today.

The movie shows the end phase of life in Auschwitz and the forced death march as the camp is evacuated. Salamo Arouch is sent to work in the Sonderkomando in the crematorium where suddenly he witnesses the uprising and destruction of what is clearly crematorium II or III. In reality, the uprising occurred in October 1944, months before the evacuation. The SS dismantled the crematoriums over the preceding months and the forced death march evacuations occurred in late January. (In addition, the evacuation occurred in the middle of winter, the movie shows a nice sunny day, where in reality there would have been snow on the ground.)