, 2h23 Directed byJack Gold OriginUnited-kingdom GenresDrama, War, Thriller, Historical ThemesPrison films, Films about religion, Political films, Films about Jews and Judaism ActorsAlan Arkin, Joanna Pacuła, Rutger Hauer, Hartmut Becker, Jack Shepherd, Wolfgang Bathke Roles Gardener Rating73% The film begins with a new trainload of Polish Jews arriving for processing at Sobibor. The German Commandant gives them a welcoming speech, assuring the new arrivals that the place is a work camp. Other SS officers move along the assembled lines of prisoners, selecting a small number who have trade skills (such as goldsmiths, seamstresses, shoemakers, and tailors). The remaining prisoners are sent away to a different part of the camp from which a pillar of smoke rises day and night. It is some time before the new prisoners realize Sobibor is a death camp, all of the other Jews are exterminated in gas chambers, and their corpses are cremated in large ovens. The small number of prisoners who are kept alive in the other part of the camp are charged with sorting the belongings taken from those who are murdered and then repairing the shoes, recycling the clothing, and melting down any silver or gold to make jewelry for the SS officers. Despite their usefulness, these surviving prisoners' existence is precarious, and beatings and executions can occur at any time.