Genocide (1982)

Genocide
Directed by Arnold Schwartzman
Written by Martin Gilbert, Martin Hier, and Arnold Schwartzman
1982/US
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube (free)

Narrator: Small wonder then, that the 9.5 million Jews who still lived in Europe at the end of the First World War looked forward with great hope to the new world, the world of Democratic Europe, the world President Wilson promised would be made safe for democracy.

I think I may be maxed out on Holocaust documentaries. They are just so sad and infuriating.

This one is ably narrated by Orson Welles and Elizabeth Taylor. It follows the progress of the persecution and murder of Jews in Europe from Hitler’s rise to power to the end of WWII. It contains many images and clips I had not seen before. The best part covers Jewish life just before Hitler.

This is a powerful reminder of just how bad and out of control people can get.  The news now is so depressing I just don’t watch it.  But it could be so much worse and I get to live in my little bubble of prosperity.  Heartbreaking really.

Genocide won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.