Based on real events about a nurse and teacher , Elizabeth Eidenbenz, who hides fugitives and rescues people during Nazi occupied France . In 1942, after three years of bringing back dignity to mothers interned in refugee camps and saving the lives of their babies, the Maternity of Elna and its director Elisabeth Eidenbenz : Noémie Schmidt has been ordered to close it's doors by the French authorities. Then Elisabeth Eidenbenz, the mothers and their collaborators who have helped to make everything possible, will try to prevent it.
This film from Spain tells the story of Elisabeth Eidenbenz , as the flick narrates faithfully her fights , ambitions , dreams , aims , and dangerous activities . This interesting story is inspired on actual facts , dealing with the incredible life of Elizabeth, who not only fed and clothed fleeing refugees, but also attempted to smuggle prisoners out of prison camps. This engaging story drags in some place but was professionally realized and contains nice cinematography and evocative musical score . Stars Noémie Schmidt as a tenacious and brave nurse who opens paths in the field of freedom and in the defense of the prisoners and rights of the pursued people , her acting is full of vitality and enthusiasm , along with other familiar faces , such as Nausicaa Bonnín, Natalia de Molina, Blanca Romero , Nora Navas and Pere Ponce . The film rises above this convention owing to the enjoyable script and direction, and the efforts of its ensemble cast. Well filmed entirely on location in France and Spain . The motion picture was adequately directed by Silvia Quer.
The facts are the following ones : Elisabeth was a young teacher from Switzerland, teaching in Switzerland and Denmark until she decided to join the Asociación de Ayuda a los Niños en Guerra ("Association to Aid Children in War"). After the fall of the Spanish Republic many Republican exiles sought refuge in France, including the Roussillon, which is part of the Northern Catalonia region. But almost all of them were stopped and held in concentration/internment camps. There, fenced in the beach without any infrastructure, with the sand as the only protection and without any sanitary measure, many of them died of malnutrition, disease and other afflictions. Many pregnant woman lost their unborn children or died in childbirth. Elisabeth had arrived in Madrid on April 24, 1937 as a volunteer as part of the aid team Ayuda Suiza but had relocated to the south of France. She spoke both Spanish and Catalan and, appalled by the situation of mothers and children amongst the refugees, Elisabeth decided to convert an abandoned mansion in Elne (adjacent to Argelès-sur-Mer) into a maternity home. The group initially relied on voluntary donations from Europe, but after the start of World War II, funds dried up while refugees began to arrive from France and the rest of Europe. These were mainly Jewish women fleeing the Nazi occupation. Therefore, the group was forced to associate themselves with the Red Cross, and to abide by the policy of neutrality. This would have prevented them from sheltering political refugees, mostly Jews. It was therefore decided that the identity of most of the refugees would be hidden in order to circumvent these laws. They were harassed by the Gestapo and on one occasion detained. Some 400 Spanish children and 200 Jews from Europe were saved throughout this period. Some of the children born in the motherhood were called Nael (boys), Elna or Elisabeth (girls), in honor of her. She retired later in life to Rekawinkel, 30 km from Vienna (Austria) and in 2009 moved to Zurich. In 2002 her work started gaining recognition with the publication of several books on her life and a reunion just before Easter 2002 when 60 of the survivors she helped save reunited in Elne to honour La Señorita. .She subsequently was awarded the status of Righteous among the Nations by the Government of Israel in 2002 , made an honorary citizen of Elne , awarded the Orden Civil de la Solidaridad Social by the Spanish Government in 2006 , awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi by the Generalitat of Catalonia in 2006 , awarded the star of the Légion d'honneur by the French Government in 2007.
