Six Million and One

Plot Summary

An eloquent and intense portrait of documentary filmmaker David Fisher and his siblings as they follow in the footsteps of their late father Joseph-a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who was interned in Gusen and Gunskirchen, Austria. After reading their father's diary, found only after his death, the three brothers and sister embark on a journey from Israel to Austria that is both literal and psychological. At first David's siblings refuse to confront the content of their father's diary, but for David it becomes a compass on a journey of discovery. David travels to the U.S. and meets with American WWII veterans still experiencing post-traumatic stress caused decades before by witnessing the suffering at Gunskirchen concentration camp. He then convinces his brothers, Gideon and Ronel, and sister Estee to join him on a sobering trip to Austria. His hope - this shared journey might release tensions and make them as close as they once were. In Austria, the four Fisher siblings descend into the dark underground shafts of Bergkristall, where their father once slaved during the Holocaust; Bergkristall was built by slave labor from the Nazi Concentration Camp Gusen II. Illuminated only by flashlights, the Fishers seek meaning in their personal and family histories inside the dark labyrinth of Gusen's tunnels-a metaphor for the murky history of the Holocaust itself. Six Million and One is unique in the way it explores the filial bonds, trauma and even humor shared by adult siblings. The Fishers joke, kibitz and quarrel on their journey. Ultimately, through their camaraderie and humanity-and the alchemy of David Fisher's filmmaking-these four siblings become emblematic of an entire second generation still grappling with the legacy of their survivor parents and the enormity of what they endured. Their experiences, though specific to children of Holocaust survivors, tell a universal story of people whose parents' lives have been disrupted by history, genocide and war.