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Description: An original TV dramatization of one of the most monstrous crimes in world history ? the slaughter of 6 million Jews by the Nazis. Dramatically and definitively, the story covers an entire decade, the eventful years from 1935 to 1945. HOLOCAUST focuses on the tragedy and triumph of a single family ? the Weiss family. Their story is told in counter-poise to that of another fictional family, that of Erik Dorf, who portrays a Nazi aide to Germany?s infamous Heydrich. Starring a brilliant international cast and filmed on location in Berlin and Vienna.

Amazon.com: The 30th anniversary edition of Holocaust marks the first time this remarkable, nine-and-a-half-hour television miniseries has been released on DVD. Originally broadcast on NBC as part of an ongoing TV phenomenon in the 1970s called "The Big Event," Holocaust was an original story written by Gerald Green, who later scripted Kent State and Wallenberg: A Hero's Story, the latter another Holocaust-era tale. Holocaust narrowed the enormous story of the Nazis' systematic destruction of Jews by focusing on one family living in Berlin. Fritz Weaver plays Dr. Josef Weiss, a Pole with a longtime family practice. Weiss debates with his wife, Berta (Rosemary Harris), the wisdom of moving out of Germany with their family. She insists they should not be chased away by Hitler, and by the time she thinks otherwise, it's too late for her, her parents, Josef, and the three Weiss children: Karl (James Woods), Rudi (Joseph Bottoms), and Anna (Blanche Baker). Holocaust begins with the marriage of Karl to Inga (Meryl Streep), a Christian, an arrangement already frowned upon by the rising Nazi regime in 1935. In time, Karl, a harmless artist, is dragged off to the concentration camp at Buchenwald, leaving Inga vulnerable to a predatory camp officer who passes notes between the husband and wife. Poor young Anna meets a grim fate that reveals something of the way Hitler was determined to eliminate the mentally ill along with Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and other groups of people. The rebellious Rudi ends up fighting the Germans from a different front, while Josef is deported to Warsaw, eventually joined by Berta. There, Holocaust details the plight of the walled-in, so-called Warsaw ghetto, and the despair of the people within. Meanwhile, the destiny of another important character, a rather effete lawyer named Erik Dorf (Michael Moriarty), offers a peek into the internal workings of the Holocaust machinery. Dorf takes a much-needed job as an aide to Reinhard Heydrich (David Warner), Gestapo head and chair of the 1942 Wannsee Conference, which finalized plans for the extermination of European Jews. Holocaust was criticized at the time of its broadcast for allegedly cheapening genocide by shrinking the dimensions of the Nazis' organized evil for commercial television. But as a story free to extend into different aspects of the war on Jews, Holocaust is a real eye-opener. Tom Bell, Ian Holm, Robert Stephens, and Sam Wanamaker are also featured in the cast. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Where Is The Whole Movie? Huh? January 8, 2009
I have to agree with the negative reviews of this DVD version of "Holocaust". This presentation of the horrific murder of millions of people during WWII is timeless and educational. However; the transfer could have been better. The video contranst is bright and the audio is a little muddy at times. The biggest gripe is that this version has been edited from the orginal. Buy if you must but you won't be getting the full meal deal. HEY PARAMOUNT AND CBS: restore, remaster and reissue an uncut version of this mini-series and charge $39.95. You'll make millions.

Must See Miniseries!! January 6, 2009
Although this miniseries is depressing, it should be mandatory viewing for all people, especially in High School! Great directing and acting!

Still a great mini series (2 of 2 Found this Helpful) November 12, 2008
I remember watching this when I was a junior high student. It was the first I had heard of the horrible fate of six million European Jews under Hitler's Nazi Europe. It was so moving and heartbreaking that I remember crying several times. When I visited the Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C., one of the curators told me that this series really gave Americans their first realistic glimpse of Jewish life in Nazi Germany

I watched it again and was still incredibly moved. The Family Weiss is the story of many families in 1930's Germany, Josef, the kind hearted doctor, heads the family, his wife Berta, the strong musically gifted mother, Karl, the shy sensitive artist so in love with his Christian wife Inga, Rudi the hotheaded athlete just coming into manhood and finally teenager Anna. Paralleling the lives of the Weiss family is the Dorf family Erik is the up and coming SS man and his wife is the ambitious proud Aryan who totally believes in the new Germany.

This movie unfolds over time and the viewer sees the seeds of Nazi destruction right from the beginning. Karl, played by a very good James Woods, is married to his wife Inga (Meryl Streep, also very good) right before laws are passed forbidding marriage between Jews and Christians. Brown shirts are visible even at the wedding.

Soon more anti-Semitic Nazi ideology is sweeping across Germany and the Weiss family is separated, Karl is imprisoned in Buchenwald and Dr. Weiss, a Polish citizen is deported to Poland, even young Anna is separated due to a breakdown. These scenes are absolutely heart wrenching, especially so is Anna's.

Feeling restless, Rudi leaves the family and joins resistance fighters in Eastern Europe. Along the way he finds a woman he grows to care for greatly. The horrors they see of mass killings are nightmarish.

Meanwhile Berta joins her husband in Poland and there they try to piece together a semblance of sanity without their children in Warsaw. Soon, though the empty freight trains headed toward Auschwitz arrive to empty the Warsaw ghetto.

Inga and Karl's love is touching and Inga is willing to do anything to be with her husband, even if it means demeaning herself. Meryl Streep is fantastic; she adds just the right touch of desperation in her voice whenever she even mentions her husband's name.

The Dorf family's rise to fame is parallel to the Weiss's demise and the amazing part of this story is that these two families know one another, were once cordial and friendly. So easily Erik Dorf (Michael Moriarty is good as a shy somewhat awkward SS man in the beginning) forgets his scruples all in the name of personal ambition.

This is a must see miniseries because the content is so important. I highly recommend it.

Holocaust October 30, 2008
I watched this series when it first screened many years ago. It is as I remembered, well worth watching My only criticism is the accents. No effort appears to have been made to make the accents authentic, otherwise an excellent production. One would hope that the events portrayed are never allowed to happen again. Watching this series is very harrowing but very worthwhile.

THE MINI SERIES ' HOLOCAUST' (2 of 5 Found this Helpful) October 30, 2008
I am a a student of history and militaria and first saw this programme whilst in hospital in 1978. When I saw the DVD was available and I had to obtain it for my library as it such a good production. I could finally 'pension off' my old VHS tapes.

That said, my complaint concerns the uniforms. The rank collar patches for some of the SS Officers, especially Heydrich, were incorrect and on one occasion an SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer [ Lt Colonel ] is referred to a Major [ SS-Sturmbannfuhrer ].

The black SS uniform was phased out in 1938 and replaced by the field gray to match the Army and Waffen [ armed ] SS formations. The SS Officers in 'Holocaust' are still, on occasion, seen wearing the black uniform.

The ReichsSicherheitDienst [ SD ] RFSS was the internal and external intelligence and information office and its members wore the field grey uniform and carried SS ranks. The right hand collar patch in the SS carried the runes but in the SD the patch was black. The SD was identified by the letters SD inside a diamond shaped badge called a rauter that was displayed on the lower left sleeve of the tunic.

If a member of the SD was also in the Geheime StatsPolizei [ GeStaPo ] the silver letters SD were edged in silver instead of the plain black badge. When Dorf joined the SS he was depicted with both the SS runes and the SD rauter on his uniform - the two were not worn together.

The collar rank patches for the SS were re-designed in 1942 when a new rank of SS-Oberstgruppenfuher [ eq to the Army's Generaloberst ] was promulgated. The new rank had three oak leaves pointed inward and three diamond shaped pips.

At the time of his assassination in Prague Heydrich was an SS-Obergruppenfuhrer [ General ] and his collar patches in the later part of the series should have been depicted as three oak leaves pointed inward above two diamond shaped pips. I don't believe this was accurately illustrated.

I have noticed on many occasions concerning German [ especially SS ] uniforms where accuracy has been ignored. The SS - Standartenfuhrer [Colonel ] in 'Indiana Jones/ Last Crusade' was wearing at one time the SS black uniform then, in the desert scenes, a uniform I don't believe ever existed in the SS. He also had black lampassen [ stripes on the trouser legs ]- this distinction was only for generals. I may be wrong but I believe the SS generals did not have lampassen on their uniforms.

Himmler, Reichsfuhrer - SS, was very pedantic on uniform matters and issued orders that SS men were not to address each other by Army titles, as some did. Some SS officers also wanted to have coloured piping on their caps to denote their specialist fields [ as the Army did ]. Himmler insisted that the piping was to be silver only.

Roger DESHON

Holocaust

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