While he was up in Prague during the Holocaust, Petr Ginz dreamed about space and documented the horrors around him in his diary.
However, in 1944, he died alone at Auschwitz, leaving behind five novels, a diary, an underground magazine and more than 100 drawings and paintings.
He was 16 years old, but some people believe he could have been the next Leonardo DaVinci.
To commemorate Ginz’s life, the Bob Graham Center for Public Service will screen the documentary “The Last Flight of Petr Ginz” at 6:30 tonight at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
UF partnered with Wake Forest University to produce the film, said Churchill Roberts, co-director of the documentary. It will feature animations of Ginz’s work.
“It’s a different Holocaust story,” he said. “It’s aimed as much at a young audience as it is an older audience.”
The screening is also sponsored by UF Performing Arts, UF’s Center for Jewish Studies, the College of Journalism and Communications, UF’s Jewish Student Union, UF Hillel and Accent Speaker’s Bureau.
Tickets are free and will be available at noon at the Phillips Center Box Office with a limit of four tickets a person.
A panel discussion will follow the movie. The panel will include Roberts, Kenneth D. Wald, a UF political science professor, and Ginz’s former bunkmate, Sydney Taussig, Churchill said.
David Colburn, interim director of the Graham Center, wants students who see the film to think about the importance of democracy and freedom.
“It’s such a remarkable film,” he said.
