A shocking story our Grandmother told us about the hell she survived in the German concentration camp AuschwitzBirkenau.

| NOTE |
Due to many comments about too loud music, we suggest watching the movie on headphones or larger speakers than those on phones, tablets and some laptops. This problem occurs mainly with such tiny speakers due to their limited processing bandwidth. We can NOT correct it anymore because YouTube doesn't allow changes to already published videos.
By the way, information for people who question the choice of music or the legitimacy of its presence: Chopin was Grandma's favorite composer and that is why we deliberately used his music in the background of the film as a tribute to Grandma.
In addition, please remember that this film is primarily our amateur, family souvenir, which we make available here to fulfill Grandma's last will that is, to share her story with the world. This is not a professional, commercial production where everything should be perfect. Thank you for understanding!


We are publishing this film today, June 3, 2020, on the day of the 100th anniversary of Grandma's birth, which unfortunately she did not reach. She died six months earlier, on Christmas. Two months before her death, we managed to convince Grandma to tell her story in front of the camera, and two years earlier we went together to the AuschwitzBirkenau State Museum, to the place of the former camp, where Grandma dared to face the demons of the past and visit the places where seventyseveral years ago the greatest trauma of her life took place. She led us to these places and told a story that for us, living in completely different times, seems to be a horror movie rather than a story about real life.

Grandma was born on June 3, 1920 in Radom as Zofia Stępień. After the war, she earned two more names after her husbands: Ratynska and Bator. She was 19 when the war broke out. She developed artistically, went to school, had family, friends as well as first boyfriends. Like every young woman, she also had many dreams. All this was taken from her brutally. As a young and brave patriot, she became involved in the resistance movement and became a liaison in the Gray Ranks, where she actively worked for freedom until the day she got arrested. After many months of unsuccessful interrogations in prison, she was taken along with other prisoners to the AuschwitzBirkenau, german concentration camp, where she fought for survival and helped others survive for almost 3 years. After liberation, she returned to Radom, where she found her mother and brother alive. All others with whom she associated her future died during the occupation. Her later life was not easy either, as her trauma and broken hopes left a heavy burden. Grandma had a passion for painting since childhood, which to some extent helped her survive the camp. After the war, she painted a lot, which brought her joy and relaxation.

We invite you to watch the first part of the documentary, which tells the story of how Grandma got to the camp and how life in this monstrous place looked like during the first period of her stay. She talks about the extraordinary will to survive in conditions of extreme degradation that we, living today, cannot imagine. We encourage reflection and sharing with others, never to let such tragedies happen again. Soon we will publish the second part of the story and then the report from Grandma's visit to the former camp.

We would like to thank the AuschwitzBirkenau National Museum for providing us with archival materials for the purposes of this document. We would also like to thank all Museum employees who were involved in Grandma's visit to the site of the former camp and enabled us to enter all the places Grandma talked about, for hospitality and great organization, and for the respect, warmth and care towards Grandma over the years. Above all, however, we thank Grandma for having agreed to tell us about such tragic experiences, for the courage to show us these places and for being the best Grandma imaginable.

Shortcuts:
00:25 Introduction
01:53 Arresting and interrogation by the Gestapo
09:10 Sending to camp journey
14:10 Arrival at KL AuschwitzBirkenau
18:24 Admission to the camp
23:47 – Admission to the block
26:55 Tattooing of camp numbers
28:19 Forced, heavy work
33:46 Illness and staying in a camp hospital
45:04 Recovery and first drawings
48:09 Behaviours of function prisoners
49:59 A story of a miraculous recovery
55:55 Grandmother's camp drawings
57:53 Final credits

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