Escape from Auschwitz: A Multi-Dimensional Sequel

Max Drimmer and Herman Shine spent 1939 to 1942 in Sachsenhausen concentration camp and 1943 to 1944 in Auschwitz from which they escaped.

They narrated many of the dramatic highlights of their Nazi imprisonment and their escape in 2001 in Escape From Auschwitz: A Portrait of Friendship produced by public radio station KCSM.

This new Sequel transcends the time limitations of the broadcast documentary to give the viewer a greater picture of their powerful story through a unique blending of narrative styles.

The Historian's Perspecitve
Respected Holocaust historian John K. Roth further examines and explains the survivor testimony of Max Drimmer and Herman Shine in the framework of a broader teaching about the history of the period 1933 through 1945
In never before seen footage from the original documentary, and footage not included in the original documentary, Prof. Roth draws upon themes from the highly regarded book he co-authored with Prof. Richard L. Rubenstein, “Approaches to Auschwitz: The Holocaust and Its Legacy" (Athens, Georgia: John Know Press, 1987)

The substantive topics of instruction by Prof. Roth include the following items:
1. Scope and Purpose of Holocaust Studies
2. Hitler’s Ascent to Power
3. The conditions of Jewish Life in Germany in 1939
4. Life in the Camps: Sachsenhausen and Auschwitz
5. Profiles of Survivors
6. Taking Risks, including escape.

The Prisoner's Perspective
In never before seen footage from the original documentary, and footage not included in the original documentary, Herman Shine’s recounts his encounters with significant historical figures of this period. These figures include:

Rudolf Hoss, Commandant of Auschwitz

 

 

Otto Moll, Commandant of crematoria in Birkenau and Gleiwitz

 

 

General Ivan Chernyakhovsky, One of the two Russian generals leading the Soviet drive towards Berlin. Chernyakhovsky was Yiddish speaking and identified as a Jew.


Herman Shine, at age 93, is probably the only living survivor to have escaped Auschwitz. In a message he made for the 70th Anniversary Observance of the Liberation of the Sachsenhausen camp Herman Shine adds a poignant present day connection to these past events and brings them alive.

Message from Herman Shine

Blending of Narrative Styles
Professor John Roth and Herman Shine excel as storytellers. In this sequel, Roth the historian storyteller and Shine the prisoner storyteller combine narratives to provide a synergistic depth to the period from 1933 to 1946.

Complementarity of Original and Sequel
Arrangements have been made with Dan Odum, the narrator of the original documentary, to narrate the expanded version and give it a cinematic unity with the original.

Each documentary can be viewed independently. When viewed together form an integrated unit.

A Study Guide will be created to accompany the set of documentaries.

About the Filmmakers

DAVID RICHARDSON, DIRECTOR

David Richardson is a talented filmmaker and audiovisual engineer with 30 years of field and studio experience. His credits include co-production of The Haunting of the USS Hornet. His most recent reference account is the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley. There he worked with the Director of Media, Jon Plutte, to film and edit selected videos for the museum’s current ten-year run of its Revolutions Exhibit showing on 46 Personal Viewing Stations throughout. He has been the principal technical consultant and filmmaker for Remembrance Cinema since its inception.

OSCAR ROSENBLOOM, ADMINISTRATOR

Oscar Rosenbloom has been practicing law in Silicon Valley for thirty years specializing in intellectual property matters in the computer industry. Before practicing law, he did graduate studies in social science specializing in African studies. He acquired title to Escape From Auschwitz: Portrait of a Friendship to insure its availability to the public for purposes of Holocaust education.

 

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