On Saturday, April 6,the documentary *Despite Treblinka*, produced by Universidad ORT Uruguay,premiered as part of the 20th Film Festival organized by the Uruguayan Film Archive.
The following day, Sunday, April 7, he received the Special Recognition Award in the Documentary category.
Despite the fact that *Treblinka* was filmed in Uruguay and Israel, it explores the efforts of survivors of the Holocaust—not always successful, not always unsuccessful—to rebuild their lives, overcome the trauma of orphanhood and uprooting, and come to terms with and put behind them the enormity and nature of the Holocaust.
The film takes an unusual turn, culminating in a series of vignettes and anecdotes that demonstrate the possibility of living "in spite of."
The documentary focuses on the emotional narrative and the rich nuances of the characters rather than on historical facts and statistics (there is no impersonal voice-over).
Backed by an impressive collection of archival footage and the music of the acclaimed John Zorn, the protagonists tell their story while providing a basic historical context for recounting one of the most harrowing events of World War II: the Treblinka uprising.
What is Treblinka?
In 1942, Nazi leaders met in a suburb of Berlin to organize the extermination of the Jews. They decided to start with the Warsaw Ghetto, the heart of Jewish life in Europe. They established Treblinka in a rural area near the Polish capital. They exterminated nearly 900,000 Jews and 500 Roma in 13 months.
On August 2, 1943, the prisoners destroyed Treblinka. Today, fewer than 10 survivors of that extermination camp remain worldwide. Among them is an 87-year-old industrialist who never stops hugging his brother, a painter and former partisan (and his wife, who constantly corrects him), and a retiree who testified at the Eichmann trial.