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LADDERin the
LIONS’ DEN Freedom Is a Choice
LA
DD
ER in the L
ION
S’ DEN
A Film byBernhard Rammerstorfer & A. Ferenc Gutai
Nazi Concentration CampSurvivor Leopold Engleitner: A 107-Year-Old EyewitnessTells His Story
Why would a man faced with death in three Nazi concentration campsnot sign a document granting him his freedom?
This is the true story of Leopold Engleitner—now 107 years old.Given the choice between life and death, he found
the courage to stand by his conscience.
His refusal to join Hitler’s army and to give the“Heil Hitler” salute put him and thousands
of other Jehovah’s Witnesses in thecrosshairs of the Third Reich.
As if receiving a “Ladder in the Lions’ Den,”he was given a way out. In exchange for his
freedom, he was handed a documentrenouncing his faith and swearing
allegiance to Hitler. He refused.
After surviving Buchenwald, Niederhagen,and Ravensbrück concentration camps,he weighed less than sixty-two pounds,
but his will remained unbroken.
Spotlighted by the perspective of others,such as Renée Firestone, a JewishAuschwitz survivor, and Gottlieb
Bernhardt (former SS bodyguard ofHitler), who himself faced a pivotal
crisis of conscience, Leopold’sstory resonates with the power
of conviction and hope.
If not for a chance meeting withBernhard Rammerstorfer, Leopold
would have disappeared into theshadowed subtext of history.
Together, they have traveled around the world promoting peace and tolerance. Their lectureshave taken them to Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, UCLA and Georgetown Universities,the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., the Los AngelesMuseum of the Holocaust, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, as well as other notedinstitutions throughout the United States, Europe, and the Russian Federation.
Order information: E-mail: [email protected] Web sites: www.unbrokenwill.com or www.rammerstorfer.cc
Format: 16:9
Total Running Time:40 minutes
Producer:Bernhard Rammerstorfer
Co-Producer:A. Ferenc Gutai
Directors:Bernhard RammerstorferA. Ferenc Gutai
Script:Bernhard RammerstorferA. Ferenc Gutai
Narrator:Frederic G. Fuss
Voice of Leopold Engleitner:Gordon Piedesack
Based on the book “Unbroken Will”by Bernhard Rammerstorfer
40 mins.Cover designed by Christian Höllinger
All rights reserved. Copyright © 2012
AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDFOR A DOCUMENTARY
Los Angeles CountyCalifornia
WINNER
MARINA DEL REYFILM FESTIVAL
2013
FESTIVAL OF TOLERANCE
OFFICIALSELECTION
1st RIJEKA JEWISHFILM FESTIVAL
2013
FESTIVAL OF TOLERANCE
OFFICIALSELECTION
7th ZAGREB JEWISHFILM FESTIVAL
2013
