Search - Holocaust: The Liberation of Auschwitz on DVD

The horrors of Auschwitz as witnessed by its liberators

z hayes | TX | 01/21/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This film basically consists of black and white film footage captured by Capt Alexander Vrotsos who was part of the Soviet film crew attached to the First Ukrainian Front in 1945. When the Soviets liberated Auschwitz, the infamous Nazi death camp, they witnessed the horrors of the camp - emaciated survivors who resembled walking corpses, mounds of human bodies, the crematoria [which the Germans had tried to destroy, but still yielded plenty of evidence pointing to their atrocities], the belongings of Nazi victims who had been gassed/shot/incarcerated and many other horrors.

There's no music accompanying this film, just a monotonous background narration in a matter-of-fact manner - perhaps this was apt considering nothing could offset the horrors presented on the screen. The horrific images of the horror that was Auschwitz has been seen many times before, in other films/documentaries etc, and I think that "Holocaust: The Liberation of Auschwitz" portrays this well. However, it could have done with some extra features, such as the background history of the camp, as well as some history as to what happened to some of the infamous SS personnel associated with the camp [hence my 4 out of 5 star rating]."

Outstanding but chilling

Rebecca Mcfarlane | Tucson, AZ USA | 09/05/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This documentary of the horrifying findings at the Auschwitz death camp should stand out as stark reminder of the costs of "racial purity" and hopefully never be repeated, but as we have already seen this is not the case ( Baltic Republics, Darfur Etc.) Every one who has an interest in stopping genocide should see this as well as the other videos in this series. It should be taught in the schools and shown to world leaders. This has many never before seen images and is definitely NOT for the faint of heart. Outstanding documentation filmed by Russian film crews as the camp was liberated with a few scenes "staged" by the prisoners of the camp in the days following liberation. A testament to the horrors of the NAZI 3rd reich. May they not be forgotten and their deeds not go unpunished."