Recommended by my sister-in-law, this is a good documentary about the descendants of some of the most notoriously evil Nazis: Heinrich Himmler, Hans Frank, Hermann Goering, Amon Goeth, and Rudolf Hoess.
Amongst these descendents, feelings vary greatly: a relative of Himmler explains that she believes the idea that the evil can be inherited ridiculous, while a relation of Goering states that she and her brother had themselves sterilized to try to end the line.
The son of Hans Frank hates his parents, something that alienated him from much of the rest of his family. Goeth's daughter recalls having an anxiety attack after seeing her father portrayed in Schindler's List -her mother had tried to downplay his role in the atrocities, saying that he was merely the head of a work camp.
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| Rainer Hoess meets with an Auschwitz survivor. |
The most powerful portion to me was when the grandson of the Commandant of Auschwitz (Rudolf Hoess), Rainer Hoess, visits Aushwitz for the first time. He carries photographs of his grandfather at the camp, and is able to find the places they were taken. He agrees to answer the questions of visitors, some of who were survivors of the camp or lost relatives there. Some of the visitors are extremely emotional, crying and angry when asking him if he feels responsible. He answers that he does feel guilty (though it doesn't sound like he ever even met his grandfather). When asked what he would do if faced with his grandfather now, he says he would kill him himself, which causes quite a stir. Finally a survivor of Auschwitz shakes his hand and tells him not to feel guilty because it's not his fault, which causes Rainer to break down. After, people went up to hug him, and one even gave him her necklace -it was very moving to see how people got a sense of closure confronting the descendant of Rudolf Hoess, and hearing him say he's sorry. Rainer was able to apologize for a man who couldn't and probably wouldn't have apologized for himself, and they in turn were able to forgive Rainer for something that he blamed himself for, even though the guilt is not rightfully his. Powerful stuff.
The WW2 era was so history-dense, it has always fascinated me. T and Bo as well - I was born a little less than 5 years after the wars ended and WW2 era history was in its infancy. The books you and T and Bo got me for Father's Day were recent and were built on the 65 years of scolarship accumulated since those dark times. I was also unaware of this film, but am now putting it on my list!
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