In this powerful, true story, boxer Salamo Arouch (Willem Dafoe) is interned in the Nazi death camp Auschwitz with his family and friends. For the amusement of his captors, Salamo is forced to fight his fellow inmates in brutal contests that send the loser to the gas showers. Salamo's prowess in the ring is both his salvation and his nightmare, as his "victories" condemn others to death. Still he fights on, hoping to somehow save his father and friends...perhaps even his soul.