Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State

With chilling authenticity backed by meticulous research, Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State reveals the inner workings of Hitler's infamous "Final Solution," as implemented by the Nazi regime in notorious death camps, including the titular "killing factory," which oversaw the industrialized extermination of well over one million Jews, gypsies, and other so-called "mongrel races" between 1940 and 1945. From "Surprising Beginnings" to "Liberation & Revenge," this six-chapter series chronicles the gradual process that became the Holocaust, focusing its expansive European timeline on the detailed movements of preeminent Holocaust engineers such as Heinrich Himmler, Rudolf Höss, and "death doctor" Josef Mengele. In addition to painstakingly authentic reenactments of secret Nazi meetings, the subtle but exacting use of computer-animated effects allows three-dimensional exploration of newly-discovered architectural plans and buildings destroyed long ago, revealing the transformation of Auschwitz as WWII progressed. Along with rare archival footage and frank testimony from Holocaust survivors and Nazi perpetrators (not all of them penitent about their crimes), the series features commanding narration by Oscar-winning actress Linda Hunt, who brings a necessary gravitas to a grim litany of sobering facts and figures. The result is an all-encompassing portrait of Auschwitz unlike anything seen before, masterfully written and produced by Laurence Rees with equal parts intelligence and integrity, informed by an overriding and wholly appropriate sense of moral outrage. DVD extras on this double-disc set include an interview with the director and follow-up discussions hosted by award-winning journalist Linda Ellerbee. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Shannon)