And Along Come Tourists

AND ALONG COME TOURISTS Auschwitz wasn't what Sven, a young German, had in mind when he signed up to do his civil service abroad. For him, Auschwitz is a small town in Poland, a strange language, a concentration camp, all the musty grayness of high-school German history classes. To make matters worse, he's got to care for an unpleasant old man, Stanislaw Krzeminski, a former inmate who never left the camp and now spends his time either giving contemporary-witness lectures or repairing suitcases. Krzeminski‘s world revolves around the suitcases taken from the Jews as they arrived at the concentration camp from all over Europe. Besides having to endure Krzeminski‘s haughty, gruff manner, Sven also has to put up with the barely concealed contempt of various locals. Luckily, there's Ania, a young guide who lets Sven stay at her place... As the weeks go by, Sven begins to discover both Auschwitz and Oswiecim, the place of horror and the Polish town ... www.german-films.de