Documentary Screening of "The Labyrinth: The Testimony of Marian Kolodziej"

As part of the programming for our Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. exhibition, please join us for a screening and discussion of the Award-winning documentary The Labyrinth: The Testimony of Marian Kolodziej. Following the screening on June 14, join us in conversation with the film’s producer, Fr. Ron Schmidt, the film’s director, Jason Schmidt, and Dr. Michael Berenbaum, pre-eminent scholar of the Holocaust and curator of Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. The documentary was shown in 21 film festivals and aired on PBS. Dr. Berenbaum describes the film as “an historical marvel and a spiritual gem.” Copies of the DVD can be pre-purchased through our website’s registration process. To register for the event and/or to pre-purchase a DVD, please visit click here.

Marian Kolodziej was on the first transport into Auschwitz on June 14, 1940. He was given number 432. He survived and never spoke of his experience for 50 years. After a serious stroke in 1993, he began rehabilitation by doing pen and ink drawings depicting the experiences he and others endured in the concentration camp. These drawings, in their skeletal detail, are a gripping depiction of the pain, death, and horrors of the camp. While most of the drawings represent the memories of a young man’s hellish experiences in Auschwitz, some tell stories of small acts of kindness and dignity. Marian’s story of survival, of persistence, of life before, during, and after Auschwitz are a testament to the human spirit. Marian’s drawings and art installations, which he called The Labyrinth, fill the large basement of a church near Auschwitz and draw visitors into the horrific reality of the Holocaust.