The World Will Tremble (2025) is a haunting and poignant war drama inspired by the true story of Solomon and Michael—two Jewish prisoners whose daring escape from the Chelmno death camp provided the first eyewitness testimony of Nazi gas chamber executions. As the first cinematic retelling of their overlooked yet crucial journey, the film stands as a powerful historical record, shedding light on the desperate, early efforts to reveal the horrors of the Holocaust to a world unwilling to believe.
This article contains spoilers.
The World Will Tremble (2025) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The film opens in a forested area. In September 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, occupying its western regions. Jews were forced into ghettos. The story is set on January 19, 1942, in Chelmno, Poland. Nazi Germany set up labor camps in Chelmno. Among the jobs for the Jews are grave digger jobs. While digging a pit, a group of men discuss an escape plan. One man named Michael tells Wolf to give his love to Michael’s wife and kids if Wolf manages to escape. It is Wolf’s idea to escape from the camp and take the others with him. So, Wolf asks Michael to give his love to his family on his own after escaping.
People hope the Russians will help, but Wolf realizes the Jews are on their own. Something is hidden in the pits, and the men need to distract the German soldiers. So, Wolf breaks his shovel, allowing him to distract the soldiers. At that time, Monik removes a blade hiding in the mud and hides it. As the soldier deals with Wolf, he gets a message from another soldier that trucks are arriving. The soldiers needed a workforce, so the Germans pulled Solomon and Michael out to join Wolf for other work. On the walk to the next destination, Wolf shares the escape plan with the others.
What are the Jews told at the Kulmhof transit center?
When the group gets into the truck for work, they cut the sides of the truck with the blade that Monik is hiding. After that, they enter the forest and go towards the river. Upon finding the river, the group heads downstream and goes towards Grabow. There, the group needs to meet Rabi Schulman, who has connections to the Warsaw underworld. From the Rabbi, word can get out about what the Germans are doing to the Jews. However, Michael and Solomon are afraid to take the chance as many others who have tried to escape have been killed. From Wolf’s perspective, they will die even if they don’t escape from the camp. To remind Solomon about the uncertainty of life, Wolf asks Solomon if it wasn’t enough to bury his own family in this camp.
The trio arrives at the Kulmhof transit center. There, they need to do sorting jobs. Unlike Wolf and Solomon, Michael has done this work before. A truck filled with Jews arrives, and the Nazi Commander Lange and assistant Lenz talk to the Jews. The promise they make is to end their suffering because of war and living conditions in the Ghetto. Additionally, they will be moved to Leipzig, where the families will have work and food. Before that happens, the families must shower and disinfect their belongings. Once the families enter the building, Michael, Wolf, and Solomon sort all the Jews’ belongings.
Why was Monik killed?
Inside the room, Wolf sees a sharp pencil and steals it. After the sorting is done, the trio is asked to wait outside. Outside, a truck is ready for the Jews to be pushed inside. Once the Jews are inside the truck, the soldiers attach the vent at the back of the truck to gas the Jews. The bangs and screams begin. The truck is slowly driven around. The trio is asked to walk behind it. Hundreds of Jews were killed because of gassing. After confirming the Jews’ death, the truck is driven to the grave sites. Now, they started burying all the bodies in one large pit. As Michael digs, he sees his wife and children’s bodies, and he breaks down. Unable to cope with the loss, Michael asks the soldiers to shoot him. However, the soldiers think Michael is strong and can be put to work.
The group decides to escape the following day. While having supper, Wolf tells the group how to reach Grabow if they get separated. After supper, Lange proudly announces that they have taken care of 10 trucks, but orders from Berlin say they need to have 12 trucks transported every day. After that, Lange makes the group exercise. At that time, the blade fell out of Monik’s hand. Using the same blade, Lange slits Monik’s throat. To lighten the mood, Lange asks his subordinates to bring out one woman Jew they have kept alive to exploit her sexually.
How did Solomon end up in the death camp?
A violinist is brought out to play some music. The violinist plays music, and the Jews are asked to dance. While the Jews dance, the soldiers fire at the ground at random as it seems funny to them. Accidentally, the female Jew is killed. The next task was for the Jews to hold a glass bottle on their head so the soldiers could practice target shooting. During this activity, Wolf is killed.
However, Wolf hands Solomon a glass piece so he can use it to escape the camp. The soldiers are sent to their room. In the room, Solomon shares with the group that the Germans visited his village, saying they needed strong workers. Among them was Solomon’s neighbor, who got lost while getting into the truck. At that time, none of them knew about the German camps and killing, so the neighbor came running behind the truck in the hope of getting work.
Soon after, Solomon’s family was killed. Now, Solomon is determined to escape along with Michael. However, Goldman says if Solomon and Michael escape, then the soldiers will show their anger towards the ones in the camp. So Solomon apologizes and promises to pray for everyone who was and is at the camp. Suddenly, the soldiers arrive, saying another truck has arrived. On the way to the destination, Goldman helps Solomon by distracting the soldiers. Taking the chance, Solomon cuts the side of the truck. Without thinking much, Solomon and Michael leap out of the truck.
What happens after Michael and Solomon escape?
Unfortunately, the soldiers notice and chase after Solomon and Michael. However, the duo are fast and reach the river. The temperature is chilly, but still, they know they need to jump into the river to survive. From above, the soldiers shoot at Solomon and Michael. After reaching their next destination, Michael says he is shot in the leg. Thankfully, the bullet grazed and passed right through the other side. As the duo walk up the forest, they hear trucks and hide behind the bushes. Once the trucks and the soldiers leave, Solomon and Michael begin their journey.
Somewhere in the forest, the duo finds a house with a barn. They see a woman by the well there, and another man arrives on a bike. Once they enter the house, Solomon and Michael run inside the barn. When the lady opens the barn door, she is scared and runs out. Unsure of what to do, Solomon picks up a sickle to defend himself. From the window, Michael notices that the woman is coming back alone. Inside the barn, the woman gives them both railway uniforms, which can help them survive, and a piece of bread. Once the woman enters her house, Solomon starts the bike, and they ride toward Grabow.
Will Solomon and Michael reach Grabow?
On their way, they come across Germans torturing Jews in a nearby village. Unfortunately, they can’t turn around as more trucks are coming from behind them. Solomon and Michael decide to push the bike and walk past the Germans. Suddenly, a soldier stops them, asking for help to move the truck. The soldier notices a temporary bandage on Michael’s leg. So, the duo makes up some excuse, and the German calls his medic to tend to the wound. The railway uniforms helped as the Germans did not suspect them. They ride their bike and reach Grabow. They realize it’s a curfew there, so they walk around stealthily to find Rabbi Schulman.
The duo spots a man entering a house, so they run behind him and start banging on his door. Inside, the duo explain they need to see Rabbi Schulman, so the man gives them directions. They reach Rabbi Schulman’s house without getting caught, where Schulman ensures Solomon and Michael eat. A doctor is called to take care of Solomon and Michael. After that, Solomon explains that Nazi Germans are not building work camps but death camps. However, Schulman is unwilling to believe this horrific story. Suddenly, German soldiers arrive at Schulman’s house as they believe Schulman has guests. Thankfully, Schulman gives some excuse and sends the soldiers away.
The World Will Tremble (2025) Movie Ending Explained:
Solomon tells Schulman about what happened to Michael’s and Solomon’s family. Also, Solomon asks Schulman to send a word to Warsaw and London as the world needs to know what the Germans are doing to the Jews. Hearing about the underground network, Schulman is confused about how these men know about it. So, Solomon mentions Wolf and also says he is dead. Seeing Solomon’s sincerity and desperation, Schulman decides to help. As Solomon begins the story, he starts to break down. As promised, Schulman uses his network to send messages to London. Solomon’s testimony became the first eyewitness account of Nazi’s mass murder. On June 26, 1942, BBC Radio broadcasted the testimony.
This marked the first-ever news report of the Holocaust. Following the horrors at Chelmno, the Nazis expanded their use of gas chambers to Treblinka and Auschwitz. Of the 220,000 Jews sent to Chelmno, only four survived. Tragically, just three weeks after meeting with Solomon and Michael, Rabbi Schulman and the entire Jewish community of Grabow were deported to Chelmno and murdered in the gas vans.
In April 1942, while searching for surviving relatives, Solomon was captured. He was immediately sent to the Belzec death camp, where he was gassed. Before his death, Solomon managed to send one final letter detailing the atrocities and gassings he witnessed in Belzec. After parting ways with Solomon, Michael managed to survive the war by hiding on a Polish farm. He later emigrated to Israel, where he remarried and became the father of two sons. Michael would go on to become a key witness in the 1962 Nazi war crime trials in West Germany.
The film includes authentic footage of Michael recounting how German soldiers, moved or confused by his grief, spared him after he discovered the bodies of his wife and children. In a powerful post-credits sequence, the actual BBC radio broadcast reporting the Chelmno gas killings is played, underscoring the historical weight of their testimonies. While Solomon did not survive, Michael lived to bear witness—and to speak the truth in a courtroom decades later.
Their story marks the first known escape from a Nazi extermination camp by Jews who had personally witnessed the earliest gas chamber atrocities. Though the BBC broadcast spread their warning, it tragically failed to stop the Nazi machine, which went on to construct even deadlier camps and murder millions more. The film leaves viewers reflecting on the grim realities of war, the indifference of world powers, and the terrifying momentum of unchecked evil.
What sets this film apart from other Holocaust narratives is its raw, historically grounded focus on the real-life escape and testimony of Solomon and Michael—the first known Jewish voices to emerge from the gas chambers and try to warn the world. Their message, though ignored at the time, now echoes as a haunting reminder of what happens when truth is met with silence.
