The Last Flight of Petr Ginz

By 14 he had written five novels and penned a diary about the Nazi occupation of Prague. By 16 he had produced 170 drawings and paintings, edited an underground magazine in the Jewish ghetto, written numerous short stories and had walked to the gas chamber at Auschwitz.

Slight and stoop-shouldered, filled with intellectual curiosity but prone to mischief, Petr Ginz read voraciously, wrote constantly, developed cryptographs to record BBC broadcasts, built exploding toy cannons to frighten his classmates, and drew and painted a world full of adventure and exotic locations. In his novel, an allegory about Hitler, Petr wrote and illustrated the story of a giant robotic creature that is used by the government to terrorize the people. He ends the book with the warning: "Is it not possible that a new monster may appear on the surface of this earth, worse than this one -- a monster that...will torture mankind in a terrible manner."

Through Petr's artwork, novels, short stories and magazine articles, interwoven with fantastical animation, this unconventional documentary portrait reveals his journey from precocious child to young adult, from innocence to the painful awareness of inhumanity, from gifted artist and writer to prodigy. Although Petr's life ended at Auschwitz, it is not a story of tragedy but celebration -- a testament to how a boy's wonder and creative expression represent the best of what makes us human.

The art and writings of Auschwitz victim Petr Ginz bring his remarkable story to life in this documentary tracing a tragic and little-known chapter of the Holocaust. By the tender age of 14, young Ginz had accomplished more than many aspiring artists do in a lifetime. In addition to penning five novels, produced over 150 drawings and paintings, and served as an editor for an underground magazine in the ghetto. Sadly, his life would end at 16, when he was forced into the gas chambers of Auschwitz. In this film, we discover how Ginz's remarkable legacy lives on, despite his untimely death at the hands of a murderous regime.