Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution

2005
Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1
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EP1 Surprising Beginnings Jan 11, 2005

This episode sets the stage for the series and examines the radical increase in violence against all opponents of the Nazi state. In particular, it explores the German army's invasion of the Soviet Union during the summer of 1941 and connects this campaign to the first gassing experiments in Auschwitz, Poland, which were aimed at Russian prisoners of war, not Jews.

EP2 Orders and Initiatives Jan 18, 2005

Laurence Rees continues his documentary history, marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, with an account of how the Nazis developed their ""Final Solution"". By 1942, Rudolf Hess had established the camp as a place to murder thousands of Jews, Slavs, Roma Gypsies.

EP3 Factories of Death Jan 25, 2005

The Nazis' marshalling of Jews from across Europe - including the Channel Islands- gained momentum in 1942. Unable to cope with the huge influx, Auschwitz and Treblinka were modified with bigger gas chambers and crematoria. But inspirational stories of courage and compassion could still be found among this appalling catalogue of inhumanity, including that of German officer Albert Battel, who risked his life to save detainees.

EP4 Corruption Feb 01, 2005

By 1943, life was good for many of the SS. Eyewitness accounts recall how those in power at Auschwitz lined their pockets with wealth stolen from Jewish inmates while also engaging in illicit affairs.

EP5 Frenzied Killing Feb 08, 2005

SS Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann ordered the deportation of Hungary's Jews following occupation in 1944, precipitating the most intensive period of slaughter in Aushwitz's history. The Allies, meanwhile, faced dilemmas: should they divert valuable resources to bomb transport routes to the camp? And should they consider Eichmann's offer of one million Jewish lives in exchange for certain provisions - the ""Blood for Goods"" deal?

EP6 Liberation and Revenge Feb 15, 2005

The reality of life in the concentration camps was revealed upon the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen in 1945. But what was the fate of the remaining prisoners and the SS garrisons? The final days of the war and its immediate aftermath is a story as shocking as it is surprising, with Jewish survivors facing appalling treatment in their home countries and large numbers of SS perpetrators remaining hidden.
8.6| 0h30m| TV-MA| en| More Info
Released: 11 January 2005 Ended
Producted By: BBC
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00tsl60
Synopsis

This documentary series tackles one of history's most horrifying subjects: the Holocaust and the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

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Reviews

Thaneevuth Jankrajang People involved with the production of this documentary understand and achieve the maturity in which not many people attain. It is that the facts of the Holocaust need no over-dramatisation at all. A simplistic and even storytelling, plus fairness and calmness, is just right, if one wants real impact for the audience. This piece of excellent journalism establishes the evolutionary nature of a thinking mind: it grows on you. Watching this documentary is comparable to hearing a politely confident voice taking us down the road we do not plan to complete the journey. Just like death camps themselves, or the mind of the Jewish and other victims at the time, people in the field did not know what they were up against. Unfortunate circumstances, at first, had led to bad, worse, and finally hopeless situation for those violated and abused at the extreme. Some people lost their sense of optimism and logical thinking. Some people firmly believed that "God" had completely forgotten this Hell on earth, or simply found it too much of a Hell to visit. I think that the producers and directors of this documentary had wanted to walk us step by step, without attempting to let us presume anything. Personal judgment at the end, therefore, is genuine. I believe it is by way of honouring this dark saga of human tragedy most properly. it is too large an issue to be pre-cooked. It must be knowledgeably and decently presented to the audience, and let that audience figure out themselves. This documentary feature has accomplished that task. People who watch would have the memories with them for life. I grew up all my life in Asia. Far away from Hell of Auschwitz and other death camps a million miles apart. Yet, I feel the feeling. I feel the historical task to do whatever I can about it. Yes, I share.
araujo-vivian The documentary impressed me, it has a different approach from others that I have watched. It described a detailed physical and a social situations of the camp. In the end of each chapter, you can understand a little more deeply what it had represented for the Jewish people, the foreigners, the families, the Nazis, all the horror and the distorted ideas that make all these things happened. For the people who experienced it and all the political involved, all the consequences for all nations involved and the thoughts of "Nazi", in the final I was sad and I think the history have a power to educate ourselves to be a better person, not repeat the atrocities, the ideal to exterminated a race is outrageous, we are not God and we can't decide the their destiny.
Charles Reinderhoff This series of films is a masterpiece. It's as simple at that. How one has been able to make an in depth and gruesomely precise dramatized film on such a black hole in human history is beyond me. But they have succeeded. The film is very precise, very direct, and, very honest. It tells the story of human beings at their worst. Sometimes one may want to stop the film, knowing what is going to come next, but something forces you to go on. It's like a powerful magnet, you can not stop watching. What makes this film worth while, is the way it has been built up for the viewer. It explains in clear precise words and pictures what had to be done in the Nazi state if you belonged to the chain of command in the SS organization. Most people don't realize it today, but many SS higher commanders where academically schooled in private life. Some where lawyers or doctors, others where economists or engineers. These men were intellectuals. The shocking trues is, that the SS was an intellectual elite bent into a warped idea of supremacy with no holds barred. This film makes you look at these cold hard facts. How in peacetime respectable men, became in wartime beasts and cold blooded murders. This film tells us something about...ourselves.
j_e_bryant Not for the feint of heart . . . it's such a sad chapter in human history. But this 6 disc series definitely is thorough and comprehensive. Highly recommended for those who want to know all the ins and outs of Auschwitz. From its inception to its ultimate destruction . . . and how the Nazis created efficient murder factories. Not only does it interview survivors, but also some of the SS guards. There are first hand accounts of seemingly every aspect of this concentration camp. Well made and worth watching . . .There's a little recap at the end of each Disc where a moderator discusses some issues with various academic types -- and it didn't really add too much to the series as a whole. Seems like a good educational tool for high school students, etc.