| Director | Gillo Pontecorvo |
|---|---|
| Genre | drama film, war film |
| Runtime | 116 min |
| Country | France, Italy, Yugoslavia |
Edith, a naïve 14-year-old French Jew living in Paris, and her parents are sent to a concentration camp, where the latter are killed. Sofia, an older political prisoner, and a kindly camp doctor save her from a similar fate by giving her a new, non-Jewish identity, that of the newly dead Nicole Niepas.
As time goes by, she becomes hardened to the brutal life. She first sells her body to a German SS guard in return for food. She becomes fond of another guard, Karl. The fraternization helps her become a kapo, one of those put in charge of the other prisoners. She thrives while the idealistic Sofia grows steadily weaker.
When she falls in love with Sascha, a Russian prisoner of war, Edith is persuaded to play a crucial role in a mass escape, turning off the power. Most of the would-be escapees are killed, but some get away. Edith is not one of them. As she lies dying, she tells Karl, "They betrayed us, Karl, they betrayed both of us." She dies saying the traditional Jewish prayer Shema Yisrael.