You guys ever heard of a documentary titled, "Shoah"? It was made in 1985 and is 9 1/2 hours long! If you guys have seen it what was it like? Is it just a documentary with interviews or renactments?
I've saw bits of it. If I remember right there was lots of film of travel by train. There was a lot of narrative with not a lot happening as I remember. I think Channel four showed it but can't be sure.
It's the most amazing collection of interviews and visits to sites mentioned. It is long, but stick with it - it becomes compelling as it eases you back into that world and that time. The segemnet that has stuck with me concerns a young boy who was saved from death by his beautiful singing voice. he is retunred to the Polish village he came from and the reactions of the villagers is revealing. There was also an account of a man who ran to catch the train for Auschwitz. It is one of the most moving docus I have ever seen.
HHHmm,what do you mean buy revealing eh? The fact that Poles are a bit sick of people coming back and claiming everything in sight as theirs or their grandparents? Not a bad documentry ,I sat and watched all the way through a couple of years back when it was on telly over here. Its good to see it had balance,for every loon that claimed all Poles were virulent anti semites there were at least 3 Jewish Poles claiming the opposite. Especially moving were the sections with Jan Karski,the Catholic Pole who smuggled himself into the Warsaw Ghetto to seee first hand what was what and was then stabbed in the back by the west who claimed he had made the horror stories up.
'HHHmm,what do you mean buy revealing eh? The fact that Poles are a bit sick of people coming back and claiming everything in sight as theirs or their grandparents?' No, it was more complex than that. The villagers were shocked, guilty, compassionate, afraid, remembering, not wanting to remember. ..all at once. I don't think they knew how to handle the situation - but then who would? People react according to their natures, not their nationality. That came out very strongly in the documentary - as you say, it was balanced.
Sorry for jumping Marina,its a bit of a pet peeve of mine. There is undoubtadly a "holocaust industry" ,a vile little sideshow but one that does have many willing to lap up all absurdities,and within that is a definate strain of anti Polish rascism from many jewish people who should know better. I think of all the holywood holocaust films and blanche,if people made up the same lies about jews as they did poles they would end up in court. What always seems to be forgotton is that Poland lost 6 million people in the war,3 million jewish and 3 million "other". ,while one set of victims has the world keening and wailing never again the other set of victims are often painted as evil nazi collaberators. See Schindlers list..Lena my hundred children...escape from sobibor etc etc ad nauseum.
why dont we say Poland lost 6 million people. I was in Poland in 2001 and our guide always said 3m Poles and 3m Jews This is a very difficult area so easiest to say Poland civilian deaths=6m approx Of course the interpretation of the Holocaust/Shoah under the Communist regime in Poland was very different to that of today in terms of numbers of deaths 4m+ at Auschwitz alone the political basis of the holocaust. Better close now as I might be a bit closethe guidelines on this subject and I dont want to be reprimanded on my second day on the site.
its available on dvd from amazon with an 80 page booklet In fairness the dvd may well be available from other stockists. Has been shown on British television a few years ago on Channel 4 in 2 parts.
thats the thing about interviews on film we get to see peoples faces and expressions see the Nazis a warning from history for some classic examples of this juxtaposition of interviewees thoughts and views with what was actually going on at the time. you dont need to edit what people say on a subject just put in context and not just what people say in an interview but the use of silence/reflections of interviewees is incredibly moving and says so much.
Wasn't one of the aims of this film to prove beyond any doubt that the holocaust did take place, on the scale it did. It is extremely methodical, and provides overwhelming evidence that even David Irving would struggle to deny. I recall scenes filmed in Eastern European villages where there was plenty of evidence that they had once had a large Jewish population - abandoned synagogues, graveyards, old records. Then the question was asked 'where did all these people go?'
