The Survivor: Biopic about Auschwitz survivor boxer Harry Haft in search of his lost childhood sweetheart
Film plot and background
Harry Haft (Ben Foster) has survived the horrors of World War II and hopes to make a fresh start in the US. Thanks to his strong nature, he fell in with SS officer Dietrich Schneider (Billy Magnussen) in Auschwitz at the age of 16, who offered him the macabre deal. He would teach him boxing. If he won an exhibition match against another prisoner, he would survive and have to enter the ring again. In the Jaworzno concentration camp, he thus escapes death by shooting or gassing in 76 fights. When the war ends, he moves to the USA.
Without knowing what happened to his family or his childhood friend Leah (Dar Zuzovsky), he makes ends meet thanks to boxing matches organised by the mafia. In the process, he publicises his story as a “survivor of Auschwitz” in the hope that he might see Leah alive again. He receives help from the caring Miriam Wofsoniker (Vicky Krieps). Thanks to his professional fight against Rocky Marciano (Antony Molinari), he should have the necessary exposure in the newspapers to get closer to Leah.
“The Survivor” – True Backstory
It’s the true story of Jewish boxer Harry Haft, who fought 22 fights in his official career, winning 14 of them. Macabre: he learned to box in a fight for life and death in a concentration camp. He climbed into the ring 76 times and emerged victorious each time. The loser was murdered on the spot by the SS men.
After moving to the USA, he lived a tranquil life surrounded by his family. Only shortly before his death did he describe his life story to his eldest son before he died at the age of 82 in 2007.
“The Survivor” – Cast, release date
For the biopic “The Survivor” Ben Foster (“Hell or High Water”) slips into the role of the boxer and Holocaust survivor. Director Barry Levinson adapted the non-fiction book by Harry’s son Alan Haft “Harry Haft – Survivor of Auschwitz, Challenger of Rocky Marciano”. As a child, Levinson’s family themselves took in a survivor of the Shoah for a fortnight; he was only able to correctly interpret the screams he heard at night years later.
In addition to Foster, the cast list includes stars such as Vicky Krieps (“Corsage”), Danny DeVito (“Twins”), Billy Magnussen (“No Time to Die”), Peter Sarsgaard (“The Batman”) and John Leguizamo (“Romeo and Juliet”). The Survivor” will be released in German cinemas on 28 July 2022.
