gilligan1965 This really saddens the heart, strengthens the soul, and, angers the mind!This is a very personalized mini-series-true-story centered around a German-Jewish family (The Family Weiss) who is victimized by the tyrannical and newly-formed Nazi regime that they never saw coming nor took seriously; and, thought was only a 'phase' lead by a 'nut' (Hitler) whom would be thrown out of office after only a short time.Before all of this became a reality, these Jews were not only German citizens, but, German Patriots who loved Germany. One grandfather was even awarded The Iron Cross in World War I while fighting for Germany.People don't seem to realized that Jews were not only murdered by the Nazis; but, before the Nazi revolution began, many Jews were Very Patriotic Germans who fought in German Wars and earned Iron Crosses of all Classes and became heroes of Germany.How that must feel to have the very nation that your family has lived in for generations, even centuries; and, has even fought and spilled blood for...suddenly brand you 'an enemy of the state' and take away all of your possessions; your property; your livelihood; your status; your family; and, place you in a jail; beat you; and, then send you to a concentration camp to feel that death is the only way out of this sudden state of Living-Hell!?!? Most of these family members, as with most Jews (and, others, like Gypsies) went along quietly and were worked to death; or, worked almost to death and murdered.BUT...Rudy Weiss, the youngest son, whom his dad called "My Little Street Fighter," was not one of them! This guy was someone whom the Jews must have, or, should have, canonized as a Jewish Saint! This guy had 'Balls-of-Steel' and 'A-Heart-of-Gold' and 'just would not give up, nor, stop bringing the fight to the Nazis!'This is a 'must-see' mini-series for anyone and everyone that proves that 'as long as there is opposition to a bully, there is a chance to beat that bully!'

MartinHafer "Holocaust" is a brilliantly made mini-series that made a HUGE social impact when it debuted. Here in the US, the term 'Holocaust' was rarely used before 1978 and it's become a familiar part of our lexicon since. The series follows the Weiss family from 1935-1945 and shows how these Jews fared during the Holocaust. Additionally, the Dorf family who know the Weiss family is shown as a parallel. Unlike the Weiss clan, the Dorfs are gentiles. At first, they seem like decent people but over time, they become caught up in the SS and Erik becomes one of the architects of the Final Solution. The plots are all well-written and as the Weisses are disbursed, you see how each of them is caught up in the hate and hysteria. In addition to nice direction and writing, it didn't hurt that the show had an amazingly competent cast which included Fritz Weaver, Meryl Streep, James Woods, Sam Wanamaker, Michael Moriarty and many more.While I truly believe that this is one of the greatest mini-series events of all-time, the show is not quite perfect. One problem is NOT the fault of the filmmakers and that is that the Jewish prisoners and ghetto residents look way too healthy. You cannot starve actors enough without killing them to really approximate how awful it really was--so it is, unintentionally, a bit sanitized. Also, while it was not necessary, it would have been nice to know the dates as events unfolded. Sometimes this is given--mostly is it not.One final note. Although the series was apparently comprised of four episodes, on DVD, it's stretched into five.

Robert J. Maxwell In 1988, we had "War and Remembrance," which gave us a graphic and multi-faceted tale of the Nazi's genocidal program. In 1993, we had Schindler's list, which gave us a less panoramic but equally explicit display of what went on in the death camps."Holocaust" was shown in 1978, preceding the others, and is the least careful about the material. It's budget must have been small because there are no epic scenes of the nightmarish conditions and events. It looks like the TV movie it was, even the credits.The performances are mostly fine. Michael Moriarty could hardly be better as the baby-faced, imaginative SS officer. Tovah Feldshuh is perfect as the pretty but tough Czech resistance fighter, and Sam Wanamaker with his gray hair and rugged features does a good job as the pharmacist who finally realizes what's going on. Sam Bottoms disappoints. He looks hardy enough but isn't much of an actor. I've seen better on the stage of a community college in St. George, Utah. Meryl Streep doesn't really have much to do but she certainly looks the very Aryan part, and she's sexy too. The writing doesn't do Moriarty any favors. Unemployed, the non-political lawyer applies for a job with the SS and gets it. Next time we see him, he's fully committed to his awful task. It takes him about ten second of screen time to convert from human to beast. He does away with himself at the end, but I don't know why, and neither will you. Some of the film was shot in the spring and summer, which is a relief because, judging from most other depictions of the events, everything seemed to take place under gloomy skies and in muddy fields with patches of snow.If there's a message, it's that absolutely nobody -- not Nazis, not anti-Nazis, not nationalist partisans, not Christians, not foreigners -- has any interest in the plight of the Jews who are being systematically swept up and exterminated. Their only recourse is to stick together, fight before they die, and hope to reach Palestine some day.The people who put stories like this together have to be careful because they are dealing with one of the more horrible events in recent history and the narrative is extremely emotional, especially to Jews and others who lost family members in Europe. It's rather like the crucifixion is to Christians. The very subject deserves delicate treatment. "Holocaust" reads more like a primer, full of stereotypes.Yet I'm glad it was made. People forget rather easily. And they seem to forget most quickly those things that make them uncomfortable to think about. Moreover, an astonishing number of younger people don't know what happened before and during the war. A survey of high school students about five years ago showed that many of them didn't know who fought against whom. A survey by the Chicago Tribute revealed that almost 25% of 17-year-olds couldn't identify Adolf Hitler. In 2010, a survey showed that one in five Americans didn't know which country the United States had won its independence from. Collectively, we don't seem to show much curiosity about anything that doesn't directly affect our body sheaths.If this was an artistic disappointment, it was a valuable history lesson. It took another ten years for "War and Remembrance" to bring us another, more polished, reminder, and five years more for "Schindler's List." For elderly Jews, history may be a nightmare from which they are trying to awake, to quote another derided ethnic, but for the satisfied kids skateboarding on the quiet residential street of No Problem Drive, and playing video games and watching "World's Wildest Police", it's all becoming as remote as Nova Zembla. "Why should I have to know anything about what happened so long ago, and why do I have to memorize the names of all fourteen planets?" Well, I suppose it's because if your mind finally becomes a complete blank, you'll all follow World War II down the memory hole.

Jess Thomsen In my honest opinion "Holocaust" is terrifying experience of the way humanity can act when the horrors of Nazi Germany is thrown upon it.The cast with Meryl Streep, Michael Moriarty and Joseph Bottoms in the leads shows the struggle of Jewish family from when the Nazi comes into power and until the liberation of the survivors in the death camps in 1945 and the Exodus to Israel.The great achievement of the series is the ability to demonstrate the degradation of man when it has little or no hopes of survival at all. Furthermore "Holocaust" displays how the common man (Michael Moriarty) is lured into believing the Nazi regime is the way out of the economic slump which befell Europe in the early years 1930th following the fold of Wall Street in 1929.I was only young teenager when I first saw the series on Danish television in 1979, but I've never forgotten the series and till today I stand firmly on the belief that neither any series nor movie have portrayed the Shoah with such conformity with the reality - Only Steven Spielbergs "Schindlers List" comes close.Rating 9/10