Synopsis:
A look inside the Nazis' horrible "Final Solution" - and one of the most infamous death camps it produced.
Disc 1:
Surprise Beginnings (Surprising Beginnings) - German commanders discover the efficiency of gassing prisoners, and Auschwitz is transformed from a small camp for those resisting the Nazi occupation of Poland into a large-scale extermination camp for the Jewish people.
Orders and Initiatives - Complications arise with Auschwitz's makeshift gas chamber as the number of people the Nazis want dead continues to increase.
Factories of Death - The Nazis begin to comb Western Europe, grabbing Jewish people from as far afield as the British Channel Islands.
Disc 2:
Corruption - Corruption runs rampant at Auschwitz-Birkenau, and the camp discovers a new source of income: clothes and valuables stolen from the people arriving to be gassed.
Murder and Intrigue - As the number of people killed at Auschwitz grows, the Nazis attempt to create confusion among the Allies in the East, and the Allies in the West make tough decisions regarding negotiations with the Nazis and the possibility of bombing a death camp.
Liberation and Revenge - Red Army soldiers liberate the prisoners at Auschwitz-Birkenau, and the world is appalled as the hideous nature of the death camps is revealed. Survivors struggle to return to normal life, and Nazis are captured and placed on trial.
Year: 2005
Genre: Documentary/History/War
Edition/Collection: DVD
Rating: NR
Runtime: 5 Hours
Style & Screen Ratio: 2D, Widescreen
Subtitles, Closed Captioning, & Languages:
Original Language: English
Subtitles: none
Captions: English
Additional Languages: none
Special Features:
Disc 1:
none
Disc 2:
Interview with Laurence Rees
Follow-Up Discussions Hosted by Linda Ellerbee - Michael Berenbaum, Melvin Jules Bukiet, Claudia Koonz, Edward Kissi, Debórah Dwork, John Roth, David Marwell, Doris Bergen, Deborah Lipstadt, Gayle Smith, Jerry Fowler, & Students