Verdict on Auschwitz: The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial 1963-1965

The trial of more than 20 West German defendants who served at the notorious death camp Auschwitz was not held until some two decades after World War II and extended over two full years. But it was of extraordinary significance: not only in the interests of justice—however delayed—but also because the trial compelled the relatively complacent people of postwar Germany to confront their past. In 1993, Rolf Bickel and Dietrich Wagner drew on the 400-plus hours of audio testimony, together with newsreel footage, stills, and interviews with witnesses, prosecutors, judges, and observers, to create a three-hour televised documentary, divided into segments titled “The Investigation,” “The Trial,” and “The Verdict.” In 2005, the pair re-edited the series into a single hour-long film, replacing the German narration with an English track. Both versions are included on this double-disc set, and while the longer one obviously contains more material—including substantial treatments of figures such as Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele—both programs are able accounts of the trial and powerful contributions to Holocaust history. One might question some editing choices—a summary of the Nazis' anti-Semitic policies, for example, is held back until the close of the third episode in the original series—but overall, the direct and unvarnished approach taken in both versions of Verdict on Auschwitz results in a movingly understated testimony to the heroism of survivors and dedicated judicial officials, as well as a quietly devastating commentary on the brutality of which human beings are capable. DVD extras include information on the archive of audio tapes, director filmographies, a contemporary newsreel on the trial, and clips from public readings of trial testimony held simultaneously in East and West Germany in a rare Cold War gesture of cooperation. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. [Note: this is also available in a single-disc edition featuring the three-hour film from First Run Features, priced at $26.99.] Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)