Triumph of the Spirit

Triumph of the Spirit is a 1989 American film directed by Robert M. Young and starring Willem Dafoe and Edward James Olmos. The screenplay was inspired by true events. The majority of the film is set in the death camp at Auschwitz during the Holocaust and details how the Jewish Greek boxer Salamo Arouch was forced to fight other internees to the death for the SS guards entertainment. Prior to Triumph of the Spirit, no major feature film had ever been shot on location at Auschwitz.

The film follows the early life story of Salamo Arouch, though it takes some artistic liberties including the early introduction of wife Allegra a pseudonym for Marta Yechiel, whom Arouch did not actually meet until after the liberation of the camp.Young was reluctant to make the film when he was first approached with the script, finding the topic too momentous to cover he only agreed to direct when provided a script that focused only on one small element, like a cork, bubbling on the surface of the sea. The film, which positions Arouch as a witness to the horrors of the Holocaust, was shot on a budget of USmillion. Filming with permission at the Auschwitz concentration camp, producers were able to utilize some existing structures but were also tasked with recreating a crematory given the condition of those that remain. The film also shot briefly in Israel. ........

Source: Wikipedia