Triumph of the Heart Parent Guide

It’s July 1941 and a prisoner has escaped from Auschwitz. As the Germans hunt the missing man, the concentration camp’s guards seize the opportunity to terrorize the prisoners by imposing collective punishment. Ten men are pulled out of the line and assigned to starve to death in retaliation for the man’s escape. As the tenth man pleads for his life, a man steps forward. “I can take his place,” he says softly.

That man is Maximilian Maria Kolbe and Triumph of the Heart is the story of how this Catholic priest’s commitment to a Christian ethos of love shines a bright light into a place of darkness, evil, and horror.

Once the ten men are thrust into an underground cell, they are denied food and water as the guards lay bets about how quickly they will die. The prisoners not only endure the agonizing physical and mental ordeal of starvation, but they also face regret, guilt, and interpersonal conflicts, along with the sadistic cruelty of the camp’s commander, Karl Fritzsch, who is determined not only to kill Father Kolbe, but to break his spirit. Fritzsch believes that an ignoble death on the part of the priest would be a useful propaganda tool for the German Reich – but he hasn’t considered that an indomitable priest could have the power to inspire more than the nine men who share his cell…

I’m certain I’m not the only person who finds Auschwitz movies hard to watch. The cruelty, the ceaseless abuse, the denial of humanity’s inherent dignity is hard to stomach and I always finish these films in tears. Triumph of the Heart deserves credit for telling its heart-wrenching tale without excessive violence or gore. Yes, there are on-screen beatings, shootings, and horrific abuses, but none of the material is graphic or excessive. You simply can’t make a movie about a concentration camp without violence or you are whitewashing history. (Although, to be honest, I could have done without the scene of men eating a recently killed rat: I was gagging in my seat at the sight and had to close my eyes.)

Along with the violence, occasional profanity, and brief scenes of smoking and alcohol use, the film also features an abundance of positive messages. This is a riveting tale of sacrifice, selflessness, courage, patriotism, and unity. Catholic, Jew, Communist, agnostic, soldier, butcher, academic, student, journalist – despite their diverse backgrounds and beliefs, the ten prisoners come together as they share differing perspectives, confess personal failings, sing religious and patriotic songs, and help one another bear the pains of starvation. They don’t shy away from difficult conversations, but challenge one another on religion, the existence of God, and the challenges of maintaining faith inside a man-made hell. It’s a script that makes audiences think about goodness, evil, redemption, and what endurance and victory really mean. And Father Kolbe manages, through his life and death, to become a witness and conduit of God’s love, even in a death camp built by hate. It is no surprise that he was later canonized as a saint by Pope John Paul II.

Above all, Triumph of the Heart is a story about the power of love. It’s love for their families and comrades that sustains these men and gives them the ability to die with dignity. Maximilian Kolbe’s words to them are as true today as in those dark days of 1941, “Love is the realest thing. No one can take that from us. Even now.” It’s a message that resonates beyond the Catholic audiences that will certainly love this show: I’m a non-Catholic Christian and I find the film deeply moving. In fact, if I believed in the intercessory power of saints, I just might carry a medallion of St. Maximilian to remind me of the courage born from the faith of this remarkable man.

About author

Kirsten Hawkes

Kirsten Hawkes has a BA in Political Science and English and has worked in international development and medical education and marketing. Kirsten enjoys reading, watching movies, and debating politics with her husband and sometimes unwilling children.