Fredy Hirsch was a proud Jew and openly gay man living in Nazi occupied Europe during WWII. At 19-year-old he fled from Germany to Czechoslovakia with the publication of the Nuremberg Laws. He began working as a sports teacher in a Jewish youth club, and soon became his students’ object of admiration. With the deportation of the Jews to Ghetto Terezin (Theresienstadt), Fredy was appointed head of the youth department and nurture more than 4,000 youth. When he arrived in Auschwitz, Fredy did not succumb to despair. He persuaded Mengele to set up a daycare center for children and youth and granted some 600 children their final moments of happiness. It might be that in Auschwitz, for the first time in his life, Fredy Hirsch didn't experience homophobia. He had a lover, he was out and people respected and loved him for all the good things he did. Together with members of the underground in Auschwitz, he planned a revolt that never came to pass, following his death, which remains a mystery, and which this film attempts to reveal.
Grand Prize Jury Award | QFest, Houston
Audience Award | Festival Vues d'en Face, France
Programmer's Award | Fairy Tales Film Festival, Calgary
A Film by Rubi Gat
Hebrew, English, and Czech (with English subtitles)