Random but lifesaving acts of kindness are celebrated in a new documentary featuring the stories of members of Melbourne's Jewish community who survived the Holocaust.

Ever Grateful was co-produced by Philip Maisel, one of five survivors who recalled the moment an enemy's unexpected humanity altered their fate.

Mr Maisel, 94, is the keeper of personal histories that must never be forgotten.

He runs the Testimonies Project at the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Elsternwick, which recorded the accounts of 1,600 survivors.

"I feel that my work is very, very important. To teach people about humanity. This is my message of the documentary," he said.

In the film, Mr Maisel described when he was a 17-year-old in Lithuania, hiding from soldiers as they swept through the ghetto, rounding up people for transport to work camps.

Survived due to the kindness of other people

Pressed hard against the wall of a darkened room and trying not to breathe, he heard footsteps climb the stairs, then felt a soldier's hand upon his chest.

"I was fully aware of the danger which threatened me," he said.

One and a half million children were killed in the Holocaust. ( ABC TV )

But the lights did not go on, and he heard the soldier report that the room was empty.

"This unexpected relief I could never forget," Mr Maisel said.

"Why did he do it? Even today I can't answer that question. I think about it often but I can't answer it."

Over the next five years, Mr Maisel witnessed unspeakable suffering and cheated death a number of times before he was liberated from a death march.

"I survived due to the kindness and humanity of other people. It helps me very much to compensate for the tragic events," he said.

"Life is very unpredictable. And a lot of things happen which we can only explain as a miracle.

"We are part of the human race. These feelings of humanity come out in the most unexpected moments in your life and it has consequences beyond belief."

Mrs Bassat lost everyone in her family but her mother due to a soldier's random act of kindness. ( ABC News )

Grateful survivor told to 'disappear'

The former president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Nina Bassat, also features in Ever Grateful.

One-and-a-half million children were killed in the Holocaust.

At the age of three, she was in line for transport to a death camp when a German soldier took pity on her mother's pleas.

"He told my mother to take me and disappear," she said.

Mrs Bassat with her grandfather who was killed during the Holocaust. ( ABC News )

"But he did not let my grandmother go."

Mrs Bassat lost nearly everyone in her family except her mother, who brought her to Australia after liberation.

"I'm incredibly grateful that this one random act has allowed me to live a very long and fulfilling life," she said.

She paid tribute to Mr Maisel's work in preserving the accounts of survivors, and shining a light on the unsung acts of humanity during a time of abject evil that have never been acknowledged - except by the individuals they saved.

"We are a dying breed, Holocaust survivors. And there is nothing quite as powerful as personal testimony," she said.

The documentary marks the establishment of The Gratitude Project. Mr Maisel said a register would be created to record as many stories of anonymous rescue as possible.

Ever Grateful on Sunday November 27 at the Holocaust Centre in Elsternwick.