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Auschwitz

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This 2011 film, directed by Uwe Boll, shows the horror of the concentration camps, without the “special people” or “saviour” that shows up in most WWII films. He wanted to show what it was really like, because most Jews and other persecuted people were not saved or protected by anyone.

This film doesn’t have big name actors. It’s a very small credited cast, and most stick mostly to documentaries and other politically or historically important pieces. Boll himself plays an SS guard.

This film includes interviews between Boll and youth from various areas, trying to figure out what young people know of these horrors in today’s world. These interviews could be very useful as practice for AP listening, for example. They speak at a fairly regular pace, there are some points of clarification where things are rephrased. The questions cover history, but also pieces of education, family discussions, and comparisons to the world today (today, of course, being nearly a decade ago at this point).

There are several flashes of non-sexual nudity as new prisoners are looked over and checked in, and others are killed in gas chambers. These flashes come and go throughout the film. The gas chamber scenes are, as one might expect, very disturbing. We also see what happened to the very young children, those too young to work. These scenes are very graphic as well.

I may recommend the interviews for upper level high school students, but the film itself may be more appropriate at the university level.