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The film showcases a special type of prisoner in the death camps known as the ‘sonderkommandos’, who would, under penalty of death, assist with the rounding up of other prisoners to put into the gas chambers, sift through their clothing for valuables, and also dispose of their bodies, which are subsequently burned into ashes. We follow one sondercommando called Saul, a Hungarian of Jewish descent, who is tasked with the nightmarish responsibility that will likely only grant him a few extra months of life, as they learned too many secrets to keep alive for long. During one of the gas chamber sessions, he discovers a young boy who manages to survive the extermination, only to have the Germans make sure it isn’t for long. The Germans want to study the body further, but Saul decides he won’t let this happen, eventually coming to the determination that the child should have a proper burial with a Rabbi to deliver some final words. Saul risks his life, as well as of many others, to try to find such a man in the midst of all of the chaos, eventually getting caught up in a potential uprising that might mean an end to the nightmare for many in the camp.
