Prisoner of Paradise

I really enjoyed the film Prisoner of Paradise. I've always had an interest in the Holocaust and the innate will power humans have to survive in life threatening situations. This film examined both of these ideas in regard to Kurt Gerron's life. Gerron was a jewish actor and director who found himself at Theresienstadt concentration camp amidst WWII. Nazi's approached Gerron and requested he make a film about how wonderful the camp was to convince the outside world that the jews were being treated freely. Gerron accepted for he realized that as long as the Nazi's needed him he would not be killed.

Gerron produced a film that went above and beyond Nazi expectations, so far above and beyond he betrayed his fellow jews. I understand that Gerron did this to survive each and every day but in the end it wasn't worth it for him. He was killed at Auschwitz one day before the gas chambers were closed. Gerron betrayed his people and helped his murderers at the same time. His will to survive let down the people he cared about and made no difference in the end. To me that was the saddest part about this film. He wanted so badly to create once more and stay alive one more day he forgot to think about the diminishing lives of those around him.