The Champion of Auschwitz - The incredible true story of the boxing champ who fought for his life in Auschwitz

 

The incredible true story of the boxing champ who fought for his life in Auschwitz   Heading for UK/EIRE Cinemas this September

Parkland Entertainment is delighted to announce that The Champion of Auschwitz, the phenomenal story of Tadeusz “Teddy” Pietrzykowski and his fight for survival will be heading to UK/EIRE Cinemas from 3rd September.   The Champion of Auschwitz tells the unknown story of one of the first inmates of camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, prisoner number #77. During his 3-year imprisonment in the camp, Tadeusz “Teddy” Pietrzykowski fought over 40 victorious duels, becoming a symbol of hope for victory over Nazi terror. His on-screen history has been documented in detail based on archival statements of former prisoners of Auschwitz and the memories of the boxer himself.   It is 1940. The first transport of prisoners arrives at the newly created concentration camp Auschwitz. One of them is Tadeusz “Teddy” Pietrzykowski, pre-war boxing champion of Warsaw. The camp officers force him to fight in the ring for his and other prisoners’ lives. However, his every win strengthens the hope that Nazis are not invincible. Auschwitz officers notice the growing resistance. The confrontation with the authorities of the camp becomes inevitable.

The film's director, Maciej Barczewski who is the grandson of Holocaust survivors said this of the film;  "The Champion of Auschwitz is a story about an extraordinary man who, thanks to his skills, not only fought for his life in the place of extermination, but also gave others hope that their tormentors were not invincible."   Lead actor, Piotr Głowacki added; "Tadeusz "Teddy" Pietrzykowski was a man who, thanks to a strong will to survive and a passion for boxing, has shown that even the greatest, unimaginable evil can be defeated."   The Champion of Auschwitz will be available in UK/EIRE Cinemas from 3rd September   - ENDS -

TADEUSZ "TEDDY” PIETRZYKOWSKI (1917 – 1991)   Born in 1917 in Warsaw, brought up in a traditional Polish family, in which patriotism and Catholic values played a great role, adamant in the realization of his sports dreams and life decisions, Tadeusz Pietrzykowski is a model for generations. At the age of 11, he joined the scouting movement, which, as he recalled: it was first and foremost my first and most important school of life. (...) I had my first contact with gloves at a gathering. I caught the boxing bug and this skill of boxing, which I encountered in scouting, deepened in the WKS Legia sports club, exerting a decisive influence on my life. Until 1939, representing Legia, fighting under the pseudonym “Teddy”, taken from Teddy Yarosz - his boxing idol, he won the championship of Warsaw several times and the vice-championship of Eastern Poland in the bantamweight. The outbreak of World War II interrupted a very promising boxing career. Tadeusz Pietrzykowski took part in the defense of Warsaw, then he wanted to fight for a free Poland in Polish military units forming in France. Caught during the illegal crossing of borders, he was deported in the first transport of Polish political prisoners to KL Auschwitz, where on June 14, 1940 he was given the number 77. In March 1941, he was the first boxer to fight a victorious boxing duel with a German kapo.