A modern teenager, Kirsten Dunst, who only grudgingly accepts the Jewish faith, finds herself swept into the life of a Nazi death camp prisoner when she is asked to "open the front door" at a Seder feast. There, like a refugee Dorothy in THE WIZARD oF OZ, she experiences all the Holocaust horrors first hand and learns to understand why traditions are so important to her people. Gritty and raw, if sometimes over-preachy, this historical semi-fantasy ultimately packs a potent punch.

An American-born Jewish adolescent, Hannah Stern, is uninterested in the culture, faith and customs of her relatives. However, she begins to revaluate her heritage when she has a supernatural experience that transports her back to a Nazi death camp in 1941. There she meets a young girl named Rivkah, a fellow captive in the camp. As Rivkah and Hannah struggle to survive in the face of daily atrocities, they form an unbreakable bond.