Dig into the themes of PTSD and impossible ethical choices in HBO’s Emmy-nominated film, The Survivor using the conversation and education kit that Reboot created with USC Shoah Foundation. Our toolkit examines the story of the film’s protagonist, Holocaust survivor and boxer Harry Haft, and contextualizes the themes and lessons for the modern experience. These free resources can be used individually or with your community to foster meaningful conversation and Jewish learning and offer an opportunity to take lessons from this tragic time in history.

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Barry Levinson’s The Survivor (from New Mandate Films and BRON Studios, in association with Baltimore Pictures, Endeavor Content, USC Shoah Foundation and Creative Wealth Media) tells the true story of Jewish boxer Harry Haft, played by Ben Foster, who, after being sent to Auschwitz, must test the limits of his moral and physical strength to survive a gladiatorial boxing spectacle staged between prisoners for the amusement of his captors. Levinson delivers a portrait of a man adjusting to Holocaust survival and haunting PTSD that ripples through his loved ones and subsequent generations. 

USC Shoah Foundation provided detailed historical consultation in addition to access to the testimony of Auschwitz Survivor Harry Haft, on whom the film is based. Haft’s testimony was recorded in 1995 and is preserved within USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive. Watch the trailer for The Survivor here and watch the movie on HBO and HBO Max.

Earlier this year, and in advance of the film’s premiere, Reboot and USC Shoah Foundational hosted a conversation with an inside look at the powerful HBO film. The film’s award-winning director Barry Levinson, lead actor Ben Foster who portrays the life story of Harry Haft, a boxer and Auschwitz survivor, with the film’s producer Matti Leshem, dig into the conflicts of survival, PTSD, generational trauma and the idiosyncrasies and humanity within every survivor’s story. The conversation, moderated by Sami Sage, the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor and co-founder of Betches Media can be watched here and on Reboot’s YouTube channel.

Partners:

Reboot is an arts and culture non-profit that reimagines and reinforces Jewish thought and traditions. As a premier research and development platform for the Jewish world, we catalyze our Reboot Network of preeminent creators, artists, entrepreneurs and activists to produce experiences and products that evolve the Jewish conversation and transform society.

USC Shoah Foundation’s mission is to develop empathy, understanding and respect through testimony. Founded in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, USC Shoah Foundation began as a project to preserve the stories of survivors of and witnesses to the Holocaust. Today USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive is the world’s largest archive of oral testimony on genocide, housing 55,000 testimonies conducted in 65 countries and 43 languages. USC Shoah Foundation is also a global leader in Holocaust education, reaching millions of learners around the world each year. For more information, visit sfi.usc.edu