Inside the Walls

Rumkowski remains shrouded in mystery and much controversy, and though my own view may be biased, I am convinced that he cared deeply about the Jews in the ghetto.

An idealist and a dreamer, young Eddie Klein recites poetry in the Lodz ghetto, where his talent is noticed by an important member of the Jewish administration. When Eddie is orphaned, he comes under the protective wing of those in charge of the ghetto, including the powerful Mordechai Rumkowski, and his life takes a decidedly different path, giving him a bird’s-eye view of a house of privilege and a polarizing, controversial figure. But in August 1944, Eddie’s fate changes as he is deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and forced to face, alone, each precarious moment. When Eddie is finally liberated, he is met with indifference about his experiences and he does not speak about the Holocaust for more than fifty years. Inside the Walls, Eddie’s return to the past, is a testimony to one man’s luck, his fight for survival and his courage to speak out.