'To Auschwitz And Back: The Joe Engel Story' DVD Review

The Holocaust has to be one of the worst periods in human history. The Nazis were attempting to cleanse civilization of the unclean. The Jews were their number one on their list of unclean. Followed by Gypsies, Poles, and Russians just to name a few others. It didn’t matter what age or sex all were considered unclean.

Joe Engel is now around 90 years of age. He was born in Zakroczym, Poland in 1927. He was captured by the Nazis at the young age of 14. He would never see most of his family or friends including his parents. He would live in the Warsaw Ghetto and eventually make his way to Birkenau concentration camp. He finally ended up at Auschwitz at the young age of 17. He would be moved onto a death train headed to Germany. The transport had no roof and he escaped and hid in the snow. He would join a resistance group and fought against the Nazis. He would make it to New Orleans and later to Charleston, South Carolina. He would talk of his life as a prisoner of the Germans and the horrors of the camps.

Filmmaker Ron Small has taken Engels stories and brought them to the film. As more and more holocaust survivors are passing away The Holocaust Education Film Foundation is telling the stories of those still alive. Engel's number tattoo is fading but his stories are still as vivid as ever. This August 14th, 2018 the Holocaust Education Film Foundation brings the DVD to us. The quality of the DVD is excellent and the sights and sounds are wonderful. The legacy of the Holocaust should never be forgotten. The horror of the period should never again be seen on the face of the Earth. This is a must for all to see. We should never forget the Holocaust.