And Along Come Tourists

Sven is a rudderless but amiable enough young man who signs up for a year of civil service abroad rather than serving in the German army. He's sent to Oswiecim in Poland — a place of humdrum lives and youth unemployment, but also sunlit meadows and a new factory, signaling possibilities for the future. The past looms heavily over this foreign place Sven has come to serve. It used to be called Auschwitz, and unspeakable things once happened here. Now he's charged with the thankless task of assisting at the memorial museum and keeping a watchful eye on an irritable concentration camp survivor named Krzeminski who repairs suitcases for the museum. The old man and his cronies, as well as the young locals, all heckle him. “Look!” they crack, “the German army's back in Auschwitz!” Their humor is lost on Sven. His one solace is his budding friendship with Ania, a Polish museum interpreter. Slowly, as he begins to live and breathe this place, Sven sees how Krzeminski's dignity is subverted by the needs of educational tourists and small-time German dignitaries. Perhaps more importantly, he comes to understand why it is so very important that Krzeminski keep repairing suitcases. (In German and Polish with English subtitles) – BB