The Heart of Auschwitz: An Incredible Story of Love and Survival in a Death Camp

The story of two lovers who survived the Holocaust—one their granddaughter was able to piece together, fragment by fragment, eighty years later.
TWO NAMES. TWO CAMPS. ONE HEART.

1938. Fourteen-year-old Ginny lives in Kraków amid music and dancing and dreams of a conservatory. A meeting with a young musician, Felix, promises a future full of happiness, but war cuts short their familiar life: Ginny ends up in Auschwitz, and Felix in Dachau, and they are separated for many long years.

In the world of the camps, where any display of compassion could become a fatal risk, Felix carves a tiny leather heart out of the sole of his boot. Inside, he hides a photograph and a note promising love—and, betting everything, tries to deliver this sign to Ginny. The heart’s journey is a chain of dangerous steps and silent mutual help, where every act of assistance could turn into a sentence. For Ginny, this small talisman becomes confirmation: beyond the horror and violence, hope still remains—and the person who is waiting for her.

Decades later, their granddaughter, Darcy Lee, finds a family heirloom and rebuilds the story of Ginny and Felix from memories, diary entries, and audio testimonies—restoring the right to a voice to those whose lives the Holocaust maimed. "The Heart of Auschwitz" is a documentary tale of love, friendship, and support that arose where, it seemed, they had no place to exist—and a reminder that even the smallest gesture can preserve dignity and help one endure.