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Born Twice

Γεννημένος δύο φορές

Aged 11, Simon Gronowski jumped from a Nazi deportation train. Eighty years later, he plays jazz, speaks to schoolchildren and befriends the son of a Nazi officer — choosing memory, forgiveness and joy over hatred.

Youth Jury Award · TiDF 2026

Synopsis

At 11 years old, Simon Gronowski jumped from a moving Nazi deportation train — the only child to escape from the infamous 20th convoy from Belgium to Auschwitz. Eight decades later, Simon revisits this act of survival not as a symbol of trauma, but as a gesture of life. Blending archival material, intimate present-day vérité and Simon’s own music, the film traces a personal history shaped by rupture and resilience. His mother and sister perished in Auschwitz; he never saw them again.

Yet this is not a story of victimhood. Simon became a jazz pianist, a lawyer and a public speaker. His path led him to a surprising friendship with Konrad Tinel, the son of a Flemish SS volunteer. Together, they confront inherited guilt and collective memory — a bond forged from opposing sides of history that becomes a quiet act of reconciliation.

Awards & festivals

Youth Jury Award, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival 2026 (world premiere) · 13th Ierapetra International Documentary Festival 2026: 1st Prize Best Greek Feature Documentary, Best Cinematography, Best Music · Selected: Braunschweig International Film Festival (40th), International Human Rights Film Festival Albania 2026, Peloponnisos International Documentary Festival 2026

Stills

Stills: Stelios Kouloglou · detail courtesy of Konrad Tinel

Credits

Written & directed by
Stelios Kouloglou
Cinematography
Xenofon Vardaros
Editor
Gogo Bebelou
Music
Panayotis Kalantzopoulos
Sound
Persefoni Miliou
Executive producer
Stelios Kouloglou
Co-produced by
Antigoni Rota, Leonidas Liambeys
Production
Long Run Productions · with tvxs.gr
Distribution support
EKKOMED – Creative Greece