{"id":160,"date":"2026-03-15T22:32:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T20:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/borntwice.tvxs.gr\/about-the-film\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T21:50:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T19:50:32","slug":"about-the-film","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/borntwice.tvxs.gr\/en\/about-the-film\/","title":{"rendered":"About the Film"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Born Twice<\/h1>\n

In 1943, when the Nazis transported his family and hundreds of Belgian Jews to Auschwitz, Simon Gronowski\u2019s mother pushed him off the train.<\/p>\n

The 11-year-old Simon made his way back to Brussels through a series of perilous adventures, went into hiding until liberation, and then tried to rebuild his life without his parents and his sister.
\nHe says that if he had known he would never see his mother again, he would not have jumped from the train.<\/p>\n

Eighty-three years later, Simon is a lawyer defending the vulnerable, performing with his own jazz band, and playing with Woody Allen\u2019s orchestra in New York. He speaks in schools and communities about democracy, the dangers of the far right, and forgiveness.<\/p>\n

In his deeply moving talks, he explains why he remained silent about his story for 60 years.
\nHis friends wanted to enjoy life, not hear yet another tragic story from the war.
\nHe himself carries guilt: why did he survive, when so many others perished in the Holocaust?<\/p>\n

The Documentary<\/h2>\n

The story and life of this remarkable man are captured in \u201cBorn Twice\u201d<\/strong>, the new documentary by Stelios Kouloglou.<\/p>\n

The music is composed by Panagiotis Kalantziopoulos, whose mother,
\nRachel Hassid-Kalantziopoulou, was a survivor of the notorious Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.<\/p>\n

The Friendship with Koenraad Tinel<\/h2>\n

Simon\u2019s closest friend is the anti-fascist artist Koenraad Tinel, the youngest son of a notorious Belgian collaborator.<\/p>\n

His father was sentenced to death after the end of the Occupation, as were Koenraad\u2019s two older brothers who had served in the SS. In the end, however, none of them were executed.<\/p>\n

Koenraad carries the burden of his family\u2019s guilt. He never had the chance to ask his father to explain his devotion to Hitler. In front of the camera, the two friends raise the question:<\/p>\n

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Is it better to be the son of a Nazi, or the son of someone who lost his family to the Nazis?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

One of Koenraad\u2019s brothers defended Hitler\u2019s bunker in Berlin.
\nThe other was Simon\u2019s guard at the Brussels transit camp \u2014 the man who led him, along with his mother, onto the train to Auschwitz.<\/p>\n

This brother later asks Simon for forgiveness. Koenraad does not believe his older brother has truly repented. Simon is called upon to decide, in a deeply moving film about memory, forgiveness, and the unlikely friendship between two men divided by History.<\/p>\n

Credits<\/h2>\n