Two lives. Two stories. One wall that divided them. Witness the historic moment over 70 years after the Holocaust when the son of the Commandant of Auschwitz meets an incredible survivor.
The life of Rudolf Höss and his family was recently fictionalised in the Academy Award-winning The Zone of Interest. Now, The Commandant’s Shadow tells the story of the real people who lived on site at Höss’s death camp.
While Hans Jurgen Höss enjoyed a happy childhood in the family villa at Auschwitz, Jewish prisoner Anita Lasker-Wallfisch was trying to survive the notorious concentration camp. At the heart of this film is the historic and inspiring moment – eight decades later – when the two come face-to-face. Together with their children, the four protagonists explore their very different hereditary burdens.
The film features original excerpts of Rudolf Höss’ long-forgotten autobiography, written shortly before his execution. His words are the ultimate proof of what really happened at Auschwitz, documented by the perpetrator himself, countering denial and ignorance of the Holocaust.
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