Martha
Directed by Daniel Schubert
Martha tells the story of a woman from Berehove, Czechoslovakia. When she was 14 her family was taken to the concentration camp Auschwitz. There she lost both her parents and two of her six siblings. In the documentary she recounts the horrors of her time in Auschwitz, risking getting shot just in hopes of knowing if her mother was dead, avoiding the selection of medical experimentation, and finding out about the truth of the crematorium buildings from another child. Martha visits a Holocaust museum with her grandson Daniel who directs the film. They walk around the museum looking at artifacts and she tells more details of her experiences. In one difficult moment, she enters the replica gas chamber and learns that it took up to 45 minutes for someone to die. “That was too much suffering. Too much suffering for my mother”, she says with her voice shaking, “imagine my mother with the two little children, they close the door, and they have to wait 45 minutes to die?” She had not known that gas chamber deaths took so long. After the war, she went to Vienna and met her husband Bill. They moved to Winnipeg with only 200$ saved. Martha gave birth to two children but their family struggle with money. At night she went to school with hopes to one day have a family business and a better future. “We had to forget what happened. We had to. Otherwise, we’d be dead too.” Having a family brought her happiness though she still thinks and dreams about it all. Even after being freed life was not happy for her, but they still went on living.
After everything that happened, all the nightmares and memories, Martha had so much strength when she walked into the gas chamber at the museum. I wasn’t even there nor had I known her for more than 20 minutes and I was crying. This woman has gone through so much in her lifetime but in the moments, she shared there was no trace of trauma. There was certainly sadness and grief but retelling the stories of her family you could see her face shining with love. I think we all go through some moment in our life that seems unbearable but as Martha retells her story, I thought of what we can learn. Despite not having to live through Auschwitz the principle stands, when we hold on to the past we prevent ourselves from moving forward and creating our future. Martha found a way to build a life despite not being completely blissful and free of any hardship. It was full of love and there she found moments of happiness.
The holocaust truly is one of the greatest horrors to ever happen and there will never be a day that it is not worth learning more about.
Find the documentary Martha on The National Film Board website
