7 Darws at Auschwitz - 30MilesFilm_en

7 Dwarfs at Auschwitz

Incredible and implausible, as only true life itself can sometimes be incredible and implausible, and beyond any possible imagining—this is the most common reaction when one first learns of the extraordinary story of the Ovitzes.
 
This is clear from the very beginning: not one, not two, not three, but seven dwarf siblings who are always together, just as in the very famous fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. Seven dwarfs who are musicians and dancers, who, for some time, under the name of the Lilliput Troupe, had performed in the most prestigious theaters across Europe.

Further, the seven dwarfs are of Jewish heritage and religion, a destiny that involves them in the moment of human history that was consumed by Nazism, which perpetrated the most appalling and despicable murder of all time against the Jews. An extermination, it is worth remembering, that was planned to physically suppress even those who would later become known as the handicapped, those who were guilty of undermining the purity of the Aryan race.
 
The Ovitzes, therefore, faced a double threat, and the virtually foregone conclusion of death: they grappled with the most horrific of concentration camps, Auschwitz, where they ended up in the hands of the sadistic doctor, Josef Mengele, one of the worst criminals the world has ever known. Instead, they miraculously survived, trusting in their unity as a group.

It might have ended right there, and it would have already been a great deal, but instead there was no peace for the Ovitzes. Back in the country of their birth, in a Romania that had just emerged from Antonescu's anti-Semitic dictatorship, they participated in the establishment of a regime that would soon, after its initial clemency of the Jews, have treated them in the same way pro-American fascists were treated.
 
The Ovitzes had no choice but to move once again, before it was too late, to their only safe harbor: the newly formed state of Israel, the promised land, where they finally managed to lead a peaceful and dignified life, one that was richly deserved, where they brilliantly resumed their artistic careers.
 
The wonderful story of the Ovitz siblings—one that is heroic, adventurous, moving, and gripping, like no other story—should always be told and be more widely known for its high civic value, a value that time has not tarnished at all. It sets an auspicious example for everyone who still believes in the need to fight for a better world, a world free from prejudice and fanaticism, tolerant of what is different, or what purports to be. Because in the end, the Ovitzes, with the help of God, win their war. As giants.