The Buchenwald Ball

The Buchenwald Ball tells the story of 45 orphans who escaped the Holocaust and found their way to Australia after their liberation from the Buchenwald concentration camp. These child survivors came to be known as the Buchenwald Boys, a group of friends who drink hard, argue with gusto, sustain one another, and dance to live. The film documents their struggles, their humor, and ultimately the tenacity of their human spirit in the aftermath of unimaginable tragedy. Four of the men, Szaja Chaskiel, Sam Michalowicz, Henry Salter, and Joe Szwarcberg, now in their seventies and eighties, share stories from before and after their liberation, revealing memories of childhood homes, the last moments with murdered parents, surviving Nazi ghettos, camps and death marches, and their emigration to Australia. In 2006 they held the 60th anniversary Buchenwald Ball.