‘The Champion of Auschwitz,’ tells the story of Tadeusz “Teddy” Pietrzykowski, and his fight for survival in a concentration camp, is a phenomenal achievement in filmmaking, and a story and film that you will not forget anytime soon.
It is 1940. The first transport of prisoners arrives at the newly created concentration camp Auschwitz. One of them is Tadeusz “Teddy” Pietrzykowski (played by Piotr Glowacki in an amazing performance), one of the first inmates at the concentration camp, who was a pre-war boxing champion of Warsaw. Assigned as prisoner number 77, the camp officers forced him to fight in the ring for his and other prisoners’ lives the entire 3-year imprisonment in the camp. However, his every win (over 40) strengthens the hope that Nazis are not invincible. Auschwitz officers notice the growing resistance. The confrontation with the authorities of the camp becomes inevitable. Pietrzykowski, and his wins, become a symbol of hope for victory over Nazi terror. Pietrzykowski’s on-screen history has been documented in detail based on archival statements of former prisoners of Auschwitz and the memories of the boxer himself.
The film’s director, Maciej Barczewski who is the grandson of Holocaust survivors, said this of the film; “‘The Champion of Auschwitz ‘ is a story about an extraordinary man who, thanks to his skills, not only fought for his life in the place of extermination but also gave others hope that their tormentors were not invincible.” This film is a must see – the concentration camp scenes look at too real, as if it were a documentary. And you, like me, will be routing for Pietrzykowski. His spirit for survival was larger than life itself.
The Champion of Auschwitz will be available in UK/EIRE Cinemas from 3rd September