The History Channel's HITLER'S HOLOCAUST (1 Viewer)

[Rob Willey]

This Friday marks the 60th anniversary of a defining moment in modern history, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union which kicked the War in Europe and the Holocaust into high gear.
The History Channel is running a six-part series on the Holocaust. It started last night and continues the rest of the week. If you think you've seen all this before, I beg to differ.
Since most of the Holocaust was perpetrated in areas that would become, after the war, "behind the Iron Curtain", there are materials and accounts that are only now being seen in the West.
In the first two episodes last night, there was all kinds of never-before-broadcast video, a lot of it in color. There were also harrowing accounts by Jews, Germans, and other combatants. Some of the Germans were abjectly apologetic over what they had seen and done, others remain stubbornly defiant in their denial.
The most chilling aspect for me was how much the Nazis relied on collaborators to take care of much of their dirty work. One story was especially disturbing. When Stalin's minions in the secret police fled the Ukraine ahead of the invading Germans, they killed thousands of political prisoners right in their jail cells.
When the Nazis arrived, they managed to convince the non-Jewish Ukrainians that the Jews had committed this horror. The resulting pogrom resulted in the murder of thousands of Jews -- by their neighbors. The grainy black-and-white video of these neighbor-on-neighbor atrocities was exceptionally sad and powerful.
With almost all original programming taking the summer off, this fresh take on a frequently visited subject is great (if disturbing) viewing. Check it out (if you have the stomach for reality TV).
Rob
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"That suits me down to the ground."

 

[DaveSarcevic]

I have been watching Hitler's Holocaust also. I'm a history buff, especially WWII history. It's hard to believe what humans are capable of. Let's hope that humans can evolve to a point where this insanity will cease. But what has been happening in my home country, Bosnia, and the atrocities in Rwanda, it seems that we havent learned anything.
I was talking to my mother who was a child in Yugoslavia during WWII and had her town occupied by the Nazis. She told me her dog was shot by a Nazi scumbag for no reason. Her life was almost taken by this piece of shit. She was saved by another nazi soldier, because he had a daughter the same age.
God, if you exist and arent to busy , please dont let this happen again.

 

[Danny R]

There is an encore presentation of the entire six parts this sunday (6/24) from 2-8 pm (EST)

 

[Jack Briggs]

The lack of remorse on some of the perpetrators' parts is chilling. This is one of the most groundbreaking series ever produced. It should be mandatory view for high-school students. Kudos to The History Channel.
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[Jim Rankin]

I have watched the last 3 episodes - a very enthralling series. The clandestine footage of the women and children heading to the showers was chilling - I have seen it several times in film, but it did not have the same impact as knowing that it is for real. I cannot conceive how such heinous crimes against humanity such as these were carried out by seemingly normal, educated people - this is a sober reminder to keep our guard up and to do what we can to stop opppression based on race, religion or ethnic background.

 

[Patrick_S]

This Friday marks the 60th anniversary of a defining moment in modern history, the German invasion of the Soviet Union which kicked WWII and the Holocaust into high gear.

I have a few friends from Poland who would say that WWII was kicked into high gear in Sept 1939 when German invaded.
Thanks for the heads up; I’ll have to check out this series.
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[Joseph DeMartino]

I have a few friends from Poland who would say that WWII was kicked into high gear in Sept 1939 when German invaded.

That's when the war started, but not when the Holocaust really got going. Although the crimes of the Nazis dated back to the days before they even came to power, wholesale genocide had to wait awhile. One of the more hideous ironies is how many of the victims in the camps died only in the closing months of the war, as the Nazis, staring defeat in the face, either decided to take their enemies with them or raced to kill them all to cover up their crimes.
(There is a not terribly good novel called Fatherland, a "what if" story in which Germany managed to reach a negotiated peace and avoid invasion. Set in 1964 during preparations for a visit from American President Joseph P. Kennedy, it tells the story of a Berlin homicide detective working on a case that has roots in events in the 1940s. In this world the Nazis completed the "Final Solution" and - because the camps were not overrun - managed to cover it up. No one inside or outside Germany knows about the camps or what happened there until the detective begins to uncover old records. Like I said, the material isn't handled all that well as I recall - it has been years since I read it - but the premise is chilling and the author manages to make the alternate history, if not the mystery story, disturbingly plausible.)
The one discordant note for me in the History Channel show was the use of what I swear are sound cues from Jurassic Park. Did anyone else notice this?
Regards,
Joe
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[Jeremy Illingworth]

Will this come to DVD? I don't have cable.
Last year I bought a huge Holocaust picture book and the most disturbing photo (and there were many) was just an old woman and her grandchildren walking to the chambers.
And it strikes me as odd that in the closing months of the war trains to the camps were given priority over troop transports and supplies headed to the front.
jeremy

 

[todbnla]

I plan to watch/tape this, how many hours is it total?
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Regards,
Todd
My HT

 

[Timmy]

I guess I'm gonna have to watch the remaining episodes. I wonder when the entire series would be re-broadcast?

this is a sober reminder to keep our guard up and to do what we can to stop opppression based on race, religion or ethnic background.

And may I add:
to keep our guard up for a government that slowly trys to take control over individuals rights.

 

[todbnla]

Timmy,
The entire series was on today and I watched it. Very Good.
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Regards,
Todd
My HT

 

[Pete_S]

I recorded the whole series this afternoon, and I hope to watch a good portion of it tomorrow. I managed to catch the first fifteen minutes today before I had to leave for work, and even the footage of Nazis making the Jews dig their own graves was just... horrific. For many of us who live sheltered, relatively carefree lives, it's easy to forget that such monstrosities are possible, and have happened so recently.
I've gotten a bad reputation to an extent with some of the people at my high school because of my interest in World War II. Sure, I read books about the war, and yes, those books involve Nazis, but I think a lot of kids my age are still sort of oblivious to exactly what happened just over fifty years ago. They seem to believe that any interest at all in what happened, and how it happened, is a bad thing. Anyway, as a high school student, I agree that all of us should be sat down and forced to watch this. No matter how terrible it is, it's still a valuable part of our past that can't just be shrugged off. A chapter in a textbook just isn't enough.

 

[Rob Willey]

Usually when I see something this good, my first question is "Where's the DVD?", but as this six-hour series wound down, I had to be honest with myself. I found this series so profoundly disturbing, I don't know that I'd go back to watch it again very much. Don't get me wrong, I think everybody should see this once. It's just that additional viewings may not be for everybody.
Every time I'm ready to write off TV as an exhausted medium, totally bereft of artistry, creativity, and originality, along comes something like this. My admiration goes out to the German production team that ferreted out all the new material seen in this series and to the History Channel/A&E for bringing it to my eyeballs and eardrums. Great stuff!
Rob
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"That suits me down to the ground."

 

[Danny R]

If anyone happens to see that this is showing again, please let me know. I lost all my recordings when my PVR got updated and my wife hasn't had a chance to see them yet.

 

[todbnla]

Danny,
Although I can't comment on the quality of my recordings, I would glady let you copy them if your are willing to pay the freight. PLMK
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Regards,
Todd
My HT

 

[Paul Jenkins]

you can purchase the tapes here...
Link Removed

 

[Grant B]

A little off the beaten path, but for anyone who likes history, there is a great show on PBSU called the Western Tradition. PBSU tends to broadcast college level classes, mostly in back to back half hour segements.
I have DirectTV.....don't know about Dish or cable
Just watched the segments on the Dark ages and it proceeds chronilogical.
Caught the segments on WWI &WWII last season (semester?) and got more insight and understanding about the conflicts in a couple hours then in watching hundreds of hours of documentaries
...also i think I hit my limit on the "people going off to their death" films. Really started putting me in this strange funk to the point of getting upset at cartoon violence. If watching it 50 years later does this to people, I just can't imagine what was going through their heads at the time