Customer Reviews

Auschwitz: Inside The Nazi State

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After watching this documentary, I was appalled at what the Nazis were capable of doing to these people who did nothing to deserve such treatment because of one man's hatred towards them. It is a very well made documentary, it is very well narrated by Linda Hunt and it gives you an insight of what these people had to endure and go through to survive not just the war but to also be able to say I survived Auschwitz. At it's peak, this camp killed and destroyed over 1 million people and not just Jews but from all walks of life, homosexuals, gypsies, physically handicapped, the old and especially the children. During one interview with a SS Guard, he tells us how they did not feel anything killing children because they were brainwashed into thinking at the moment "The children do not hurt us now but they will later on in life because of the blood coursing through their veins".

But not all Nazis were evil like that. In one episode, one nazi is asked to make a decision on who gets to live and who gets to die, since he cannot bring himself to make a huge decision like that he hides them all and brings them to safety.

The truth one learns by watching this film is beyond belief. At the end of the documentary, please watch the dialogue for all 6 episodes. The one with the students (which is the last one) is the most touching because there is proof that good does win over evil and these children are open minded and want to learn what happened during these terrible years so we never see this kind of cruelty against another human being being done ever again.

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"Of the 7,000 members of the SS [protection squadron] who worked at Auschwitz and who survived the war, fewer than 800 were ever put on trial. Nearly 90% of those involved were never prosecuted...There are those who deny the reality of what took place here...1,300,000 people were sent to Auschwitz during the 4 1/2 years of its existence. 1,100,000 of them died here. Hundreds of Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, and other minorities were murdered. 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war; 21,000 gypsies; 70,000 polish prisoners; and 1,000,000 Jews, at least 200,000 of them children."

The above comes at the end of this chilling documentary film series. It presents the story of Auschwitz or technically Auschwitz-Birkenau, a German Nazi concentration camp established in 1940. It was a network of 45 concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich (or Nazi Germany) in Polish area annexed by Nazi Germany during World War 2.

This series (titled in the UK as "Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution'") uses primarily four elements:

(1) rarely seen archival film (mostly black and white)
(2) nearly 100 interviews with survivors and former guards (many speaking out for the first time)
(3) computer-generated reconstructions of buildings now demolished (the architectural plans for these buildings only became available in the 1990s)
(4) re-enactments of meetings and other events

This documentary is the result of three years of research.

The historical and script consultant was Professor Sir Ian Kershaw who is said to be one of the world's leading experts on Hitler and Nazi Germany.

The writer and producer of this series, Lawrence Rees, has stated:

"There is no screenwriter...Every single word that is spoken is double--and in some cases triple--sourced from historical records."

This documentary is deeply informative, easy to understand, well-written, objective, and superbly narrated (by actress Linda Hunt).

There are two things I especially liked about this documentary. First, it only gives you the facts. It's never boring (in fact, I found it riveting). Second, the archival film footage has been cleaned up. In other words, this footage is not grainy and has no blemishes as you might expect, but is unusually clear.

Finally, this DVD set was released in 2005 and has two interesting extras.

In conclusion, this documentary gives the viewer the facts behind "the biggest killing center the world has ever seen!!"

(2005; 4 hr, 50 min; 6 episodes; about 48 min/episode; 6 chapters/episode; 2 discs; BBC production; originally made for TV; wide screen)

<<Stephen Pletko, London, Ontario, Canada>>

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One can always expect the very best from the BBC and this is no exception. The history of the Final Solution phase of the Nazi Holocaust, depicting the most infamous of the death camps. Episodes take you from beginning to end showing factual and disturbing details. Stirring introduction and music, with eloquent narration by Linda Hunt. Reconstructions of key events were played by actors in major Nazi hierarchical roles. Horst-Günter Marx, is excellent as Rudolph Höss. The dialogue is in German (nb. subtitles are added!) which boosts depth and realism to each scene. Combined with real interviews from parties of all sides; ex-prisoners, old Schutzstaffel (SS) members and witnesses, evidencing a great deal of research and creativity.