The Legacy of the Holocaust
Kitty devoted her life after liberation to making sure that the Holocaust was never forgotten and that both the memories of the survivors and the memory of those who were murdered be passed from generation to generation. In asking two teen girls to accompany her to Auschwitz, Kitty is making sure that rather than simply reading about what happened in books, the girls are able to really feel the fear that Kitty must have felt, and to see for themselves the place in which the Holocaust had happened.
The theme of the documentary ties in with Kitty's intention that as well as being a film, it is also an oral history of a time in histoy she does not want to be forgotten.
Evil
As Kitty recounts her experiences, it is clear that one of the themes of the film is evil; the regime that created the death camps like Auschwitz were evil, and the acts that they performed were evil acts. There is no question in the film regarding whether the Germans were evil men, or good men committing evil acts. There is no fine line between the two and any question would seem to be semantics. The acts related by Kitty in the documentary, shared as memories, illustrate the theme of evil throughout.
Spirit of Survival
Both Kitty and her mother had a strong will to live, and part of this spirit of survival was their determination to find ways in which they could facilitate their own survival rather than hoping for luck or the law of averages to keep them safe. For example, they took jobs that were hugely unpopular amongst other prisoners, such as cleaning out the latrine, because they were jobs that had to be done, and so guaranteed that their names would not appear on the list of those scheduled to be killed each week. They also took jobs that gave them the opportunity to appropriate items from the dead that they could barter and trade for food and vital supplies with other prisoners. Finally, Kitty's mother realized that treating the camp guards with deference was a more effective way to keep her and her daughter safe, and so addressed them in formal, impeccable German, thereby flattering the egotistical Nazi operatives enough that they were able to stay together until the liberation.
