People with Israeli flags attend the International March of the Living at the former Auschwitz Nazi German death camp, in Brzezinka near Oswiecim, Poland, May 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
It’s rare that awful films are followed up by excellent ones on the same topic. After the sickening The Zone of Interest erased Jews from its drama and showed a boring life of the commandant of Auschwitz in a way that failed on every level, the new documentary The Commandant’s Shadow succeeds on every level.
The new film is a documentary that centers on Kai Hoss, the grandson of the Auschwitz commandant, Rudolf Hoss. Kai takes his father to Auschwitz, and they realize the enormity of what had taken place there.
Amazingly, in the climax of the film, they go to meet Auschwitz survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch who is mentally sharp at 98, and she asks the men if they have hate for the commandant. There is a disturbing but telling scene where the daughter of the commandant is partly in denial.
Director Daniela Volker knows what she is doing by getting to the root of the idea that while it’s not possible to forgive — nor is it possible to atone — for what an ancestor has done, a gesture is worth something. This is also a fine film to show in classrooms and is highly educational. There is narration from Hoss’ diary, which is some of the best direct evidence of the horrors of the Holocaust.
There is more emotion in any 10 seconds of this film than the entire disaster of The Zone of Interest, which somehow won an Oscar.
Kai Hoss, a pastor, deserves credit for allowing himself to be put on film when most people would hide in shame and not want it known that their grandfather was one of the most notorious murderers of all time.
Maya Lasker Wallfisch has been traumatized by her mother’s experience, and her mother admits that she was more distant than she otherwise would have been. The legacy of Holocaust victims’ children and grandchildren is something that few people contemplate — but this movie shows the legacy of the horrors done to the Jewish people.
In a social media world of disinformation, The Commandant’s Shadow could not be more timely. It is a film with heart and substance, and shows that every person must come to terms with their specific place in the world, grappling with whatever emotional beasts hound them, lest they always remain a prisoner. That a survivor and the progeny of the commandant of Auschwitz would agree to meet is remarkable, and the conversation has chutzpah and truth.
At a time when there are fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors remaining, Wallfisch is a treasure, and this film is a great gift to the world.
Volker avoids being preachy. She doesn’t think this documentary will end antisemitism, but it is some progress that a grandson wants change.
The film is slightly uplifting, and the humanity of the film comes across in a profound way. Bravo.
The author is a writer based in New York.
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