Synopsis
Auschwitz – unique symbol of methodically perfected horror, and at the same time destination for daily streams of tourists. How can an encounter with this place avoid the banality of a visit? This question was asked by New York Zen master Roshi Bernhard Glassman. His answer: the „Auschwitz Retreat“. He invites people of different ethnicity and belief to face Auschwitz directly and without cover. The group will spend five days in meditation, silence, prayer and sharing on the very grounds of the termination camp. An encounter happens between Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists. Descendants ofvictims meet descendants of perpetrators.
The film portrays five participants and follows closely their inner development. They are changing. Beliefs are undermined, old wounds torn open, reconciliation begins. It is no longer they who come to Auschwitz, it is Auschwitz that comes to them. In silence they bear witness to what happened there.
