Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Hitler's Children" is a German-Israeli co-production from 2011, so this documentary has its 5th anniversary this year. The director is Chanoch Ze'evi and the crew list here includes several other Israelis, which is not too surprising though given the context. This is a film about the probably darkest era in German history, but with a very specific context. We all know that Hitler did not have any children, but other driving forces in terms of the horrendous crimes of Nazi Germany did and we get to see several people in here who were (mostly) grand children of the guys who did so much evil between 1933 and 1945. We hear all kinds of stories, about people who could not break with what their parents did and occasionally even still support their ideology, but also about people who don't want nothing to do with their ancestors anymore. A bit of everything, and certainly also something right in-between, with people who tried to find at least something good in their (grand)fathers, but may have failed, but whose examination of their family (history) also helped them in dealing with who they are and with who their own (grand)children may be. And lets be honest. Evil is often not necessarily a consequence alone of who these people were, but also with all the outer influence that somehow had an impact on their lives. And evil is not hereditary I am sure. I thought this was an interesting subject here and the filmmakers informed us on a pretty personal topic here that has not (really) been done in films yet. The question of guilt is a very big one in here from start to finish in this fairly short documentary. It only runs for 59 minutes. I recommend everybody with an interest in German history of the 20th century to check it out. Do not miss out.
dimplet
Thank you for a documentary without the special effects and booming music that are so prevalent these days! The silence allows the truth and emotions to penetrate to the viewer. "Hitler's Children" is not unduly mawkish, avoids any exploitative tone, and ends on an uplifting note. Don't be afraid to watch it, whoever you are; you will learn something. This is not just about Germany, the Nazis, the Jews. Germany has been inoculated; young Germans I have met in my travels born well after the war still show shame when the subject comes up. We can find hate, intolerance, scapegoating, in many countries, including the United States. And to label these Nazis, monsters that they were, evil is to miss the danger that you or your neighbors might be capable of this, too, in similar circumstances. It is called "conformity."It takes courage to resist these forces. And it takes courage to confront your family's past. How many of us are descended from parents or grandparents who committed some heinous wrong? How many turn away from the truth? That's also who this documentary is for. If you had a parent who was a bad person, consider this. It is a bit glib to talk about "evil" and that these were evil people. Part of what this documentary shows us is that they had families, wives and children whom they loved. Is this the face of evil? No, this is the face of real people who committed horrible acts. In the immortal words of Gilbert & Sullivan:"When a felon's not engaged in his employment or maturing his felonious little plans, his capacity for innocent enjoyment is just as great as any honest man's."This documentary shows how people with feelings can dissociate those emotions from evil acts that boggle the imagination, somehow becoming routine and "normal." Raising a family in a home separated by only a wall and gate from an extermination camp, the ashes from the bodies landing on the strawberries they ate epitomizes this dissociation. For me, it was another leaf in trying to understand my unmet family's past. For my father's family died in the Holocaust, my grandfather, after whom I was named, in Auschwitz; his name and date of death is recorded online. I sometimes try to imagine what he saw on those last days, hours, moments. I don't think he would want to be mourned so much as remembered. These children's accounts help to keep that memory alive. My parents never taught me to hate the Germans. The worst outcome of the Holocaust would be to perpetuate hate. I have known Holocaust survivors. They loved life. They, more than most, were glad to be alive. Happiness is the best revenge, they sometimes say. This is good advice for Bettina Goering, Katrin Himmler, Monika Goeth, Rainer Hoess and Niklas Frank. I can't really forgive them because I have never blamed them. But I forgive you, anyway.Note that January 27 is Holocaust Remembrance Day; Auschwitz was liberated on this day 69 years ago. Please take a moment to remember the victims, Jews and non-Jews, those who died and those who survived; and to think about all the secondary victims, the relatives and even the families of the perpetrators. I wonder, which is worse: to die or to survive with the memory, with your family, your loved ones gone? What was it like to experience being torn from the arms or your loved ones by armed guards, desperately reaching out, looking into each others' eyes for the last time, knowing each of you will be taken to death camps, to die apart?The Holocaust was an attempt at genocide, of Jews and other groups. Please remember that genocide continues today, at this moment, somewhere in the world.The Nazi crimes against humanity extend far beyond the 6 million Jews who died; historians estimate 20,946,000 people died outside of battle:"The Nazi Body Count represents non-battle deaths caused by Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945. This includes genocide, execution of civilians and POWs, forced labor that resulted in deaths, bombing of civilian populations, imposed famine and resulting diseases, and 'euthanasia.' These numbers do not include civilians who got caught in the cross-fire of battle." - R. J. RummelIt is not ancient history, not yet. Consider that someone who was 16 when Auschwitz was liberated is 85 today, with loved children and grandchildren. Those events had an impact upon my life, even to today, and so they also have had upon countless millions of relatives and descendants, still alive. It will takes decades until we all pass away, and it truly becomes ancient history. But even then it will touch countless lives of those yet unborn.
MartinHafer
"Hitler's Children" is a documentary that interviews and follows a few family members of several evil Nazis--such as Goering, Hoess, Frank and others. The thrust of the film was showing these folks and letting them tell their stories about how they have coped with the evil their relative did. Interestingly, several indicated that they were in the minority--that the rest of their family either wouldn't talk about this evil past or denied that it even occurred.This film was interesting and is worth seeing. Is it a great documentary? Not really. While I am glad I saw it and think it had an interesting message, technically speaking it was occasionally poor--with some sloppy camera-work and some very slow portions. However, I am not sure how much the film can be blamed for the latter entirely, as the version I saw on Netflix was 82 minutes long. It was too long and could have used an editing. BUT, on IMDb, the film is listed at 59 minutes--and perhaps there is a shorter and more tightly constructed film.
Red-125
Hitler's Children (2011) is a documentary directed by Chanoch Zeevi. The movie features in-depth interviews with the children or grandchildren of notorious Nazis. Obviously, there are millions of people in Germany--and elsewhere--whose parents or grandparents were members of the Nazi party. However, the people in the film are descended from the most notorious, vicious members of Hitler's inner circle: Goering, Hess, Himmler. All of the descendants of these Nazis appear to be gentle, humane people. The movie outlines the manner in which they have dealt with their unsolvable dilemma-- how can you love or respect a parent or grandparent who committed such monstrous acts?It's interesting that none of the people in the film made any attempt to excuse or explain the behavior of their relatives. This attitude has severed some family ties. Their parents or siblings sometimes cling to the "it's all lies" excuse. The people in the movie meet concentration camp survivors or the children of survivors. How can they cope?The Holocaust will remain a scar on human history as long as human history exists. Its psychological effects will always be with us, although perhaps they will diminish with time. For the people in the movie, the effects of the Holocaust are with them forever. It's an impossible situation. They have to deal with it in the best way they can.This film was shown at Rochester's Dryden Theatre as part of the wonderful Rochester Jewish Film Festival. It's definitely worth finding and seeing, and it will work well on DVD. It makes a good companion film to another JFF movie, "The Flat." In "The Flat," a daughter of a high-ranking Nazi maintains the fiction that her father was "just a journalist." He wasn't.
