Block 10 film depicts Auschwitz medical experiments on women

A new German feature film titled “Block 10” explores the historical atrocities committed against Jewish women and girls in the Auschwitz concentration camp. In early 1943, the SS confined hundreds of victims to a sealed building known as Block 10, where gynecologist Carl Clauberg conducted experiments on behalf of Heinrich Himmler to develop methods for mass sterilization.

The film, written and produced by Alice Brauner, focuses on the agonizing procedures that many victims did not survive. It also examines the moral dilemma of Maximilian Samuel, a Jewish doctor forced by the SS to collaborate under the threat to his daughter's life. The narrative highlights the psychological conflict of a physician tasked with mutilation rather than healing.

Brauner, who previously worked with the Shoah Foundation, notes that the film portrays the “grey zone” of morality described by Primo Levi. The production emphasizes the resilience of the female prisoners, who maintained their humanity through shared songs and poetry, elements drawn from historical diaries and camp accounts.