The Last Survivors

Since the next decade or so will witness the deaths of the last Holocaust survivors, it is critical to ensure that the memories of death camp survivors are recorded and preserved, painful though they might be. Filmmaker Arthur Cary’s eloquent PBS-aired Frontline documentary concerns a handful of survivors who were children during WWII and are now in their late 80s and 90s. For years, they avoided talk of the camps, but now they describe happy childhoods that were uprooted by family separation, constant terror of the unknown, hunger, living with disease and death, and the unspeakable horrors of the life/death selection process, firing squads, and gas chambers. Among these traumatic moments, they also remember fleeting instances of normalcy, kindness, hope, and even humor. All dealt with the loss of siblings, disappearances, and dehumanization, including waking up in the morning and perhaps finding your neighbor or bedmate dead. Years later, they describe various aftermaths—coping with the loss of faith, deciding whether or not to revisit homelands or death camps, embracing forgiveness, dealing with survivor's guilt, and their feelings about modern-day neo-Nazis. All feel that it is essential to bear witness and remember. One speaks during a meeting that includes German chancellor Angela Merkel, while another decides to return to Germany to unveil a plaque honoring a murdered brother. Offering powerful witness to the 20th century’s most horrific tragedy, this is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)