''Out of the Ashes'' is a 2003 American made-for-television

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

that was released by Showtime. It is a dramatization of the life of

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

concentration camp survivor

Gisella Perl Gisella Perl (10 December 1907 – 16 December 1988) was a Hungarian Jewish gynecologist deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944, where she helped hundreds of women, serving as an inmate gynecologist for them. She worked without the b ...

and is based on her book ''I Was a Doctor in

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...

''. The film is dedicated to the memory of

Richard Crenna Richard Donald Crenna (November 30, 1926 – January 17, 2003) was an American film, television and radio actor. Crenna starred in such motion pictures as '' The Sand Pebbles'', ''Wait Until Dark'', ''Un Flic'', '' Body Heat'', the first three ...

, who died three months before it was released.

Plot

, a Jewish-Hungarian gynecologist from Sighetul Marmatiei,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, testifies before an

Immigration & Naturalization Service The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1933 to 1940 and the U.S. Department of Justice from 1940 to 2003. Referred to by some as former INS and by others as legacy INS, ...

(INS) review board consisting of three men. Perl is seeking to be granted citizenship after passing the New York State Medical Licensing Board examinations, wishing to begin practicing in New York. She recounts her early life when she aspired to be a doctor despite the admonishments of her father, her time practicing as a gynecologist before the

German invasion German invasion may refer to: Pre-1900s * German invasion of Hungary (1063) World War I * German invasion of Belgium (1914) * German invasion of Luxembourg (1914) World War II * Invasion of Poland * German invasion of Belgium (1940) * G ...

, and her experiences as prisoner #25404, where she provided what medical care she could to fellow prisoners. Her most controversial actions included providing late-term abortions to pregnant women in order to save their lives. These pregnant women would otherwise have been killed immediately or subjected to the torture of horrific "medical" experiments. Perl is accused of "colluding" with the Nazi doctor

Josef Mengele , allegiance = , branch = Schutzstaffel , serviceyears = 1938–1945 , rank = '' SS''-'' Hauptsturmführer'' (Captain) , servicenumber = , battles = , unit = , awards = , commands = , ...

who directed experiments on pregnant female inmates at the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. I ...

. As the review board questions her over several days, she becomes increasingly emotional and questions her own determination to survive, as well as her guilt at having lived while so many others did not. She testifies that despite her intention to keep herself and others alive, she unknowingly became part of the Nazi efforts to kill, but she held on to the hope that the lives of the women she saved would undermine the efforts of the Nazis to exterminate the Jewish race. After she is granted citizenship and begins to practice in New York, she gets a call to attend one of the women whose first baby she had aborted in the camp. She delivers the baby and sees her wish that the Jewish race will survive fulfilled.IMDb Plot summary
/ref>

Cast

Christine Lahti Christine Ann Lahti (born April 4, 1950) is an American actress and filmmaker. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1984 film '' Swing Shift''. Her other film roles include '' ...And Justice for All'' (19 ...

Beau Bridges Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor and director. He is a three-time Emmy, two-time Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee. Bridges was awar ...

as Herman Prentiss *

as Jake Smith *

Bruce Davison Bruce Allen Davison (born June 28, 1946) is an American actor and director. Davison is well known for his starring role as Willard Stiles in the cult horror film '' Willard'' (1971) and his Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning perfor ...

as Peter Schuman *

Jonathan Cake Jonathan James Cake (born 31 August 1967) is an English actor who has worked on various TV programmes and films. His notable screen roles include Jack Favell in '' Rebecca'' (1997), Oswald Mosley in '' Mosley'' (1997), Japheth in the NBC telev ...

as Dr. Mengele *

Zoie Palmer Zoie Palmer is a Canadian actress best known for her roles as Dr. Lauren Lewis in the Showcase supernatural drama ''Lost Girl'' and as the Android in the SyFy science fiction series ''Dark Matter''. Early life Palmer was born in Camborne in Co ...

as Didi Goldstein *Jolyon Baker as Frederick Krauss *Jessica Beitchman as Marta Weiss *

Oliver Cotton Oliver Charles Cotton (born 20 June 1944) is an English actor, comedian and playwright, known for his prolific work on stage, TV and film. He remains best known for his role as Cesare Borgia in the BBC's 1981 drama series '' The Borgias''. Early ...

as Moshe Perl *Michelle Fine as Fanny Perl *Maria Ricossa as Esther Jacob *

Ingrid Veninger Ingrid Veninger (born August 21, 1968) is a Canadian actress, writer, director, producer, and film professor at York University. Veninger began her career in show business as a child actor in commercials and on television; as a teen, she was fea ...

as Zozia *Emma Wellbelove as Young Gisella *

Nina Young Nina Young (born 1966) is a British-Australian actress. Early life Nina Young was born in 1966. She is the daughter of Perth businessman Peter Young and Tania Verstak, a woman of Russian origin who was Miss Australia 1961 and Miss Internati ...

Irma Grese Irma Ilse Ida Grese (7 October 1923 – 13 December 1945) was a Nazi concentration camp guard at Ravensbrück and Auschwitz, and served as warden of the women's section of Bergen-Belsen. She was a volunteer member of the SS. Grese was convict ...

* as David Perl *Inga Tuminiene as Cilla Perl *Adrija Cepaite-Palsauskiene as Rose Perl *Inga Maskarina as Helen Perl *Nola Augustson as Sarah Goldstein *Alan Jordan as Isaac Goldstein *

Judah Katz Judah Katz (born June 23, 1960) is a Canadian actor born in Montreal, Quebec. He has worked in Toronto and Los Angeles for more than 30 years, appearing in both TV series and films. Winning an ACTRA award (now called a Gemini Award) for his ve ...

as Dr. Jonas Ruben *Monika Biciunaite as Dr. Ruth Stern *Viola Kilimciauskaite as Katya Weiss *Kristina Mauruseviciute as Leitu *Getter Kosolov as Young Cilla Perl *Aurelija Pasmuntaite as Young Rose Perl *Joonas Suokko as Young David Perl *Elena Stonciute as Young Helen Perl *Sara Jessica Karimjee as Hannah Mary Lal

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Out Of The Ashes (2003 Film) 2003 television films 2003 films American biographical drama films 2003 biographical drama films Films based on biographies Films about the aftermath of the Holocaust Showtime (TV network) films Films directed by Joseph Sargent Films scored by Charles Bernstein Cultural depictions of Josef Mengele 2003 drama films American drama television films 2000s American films