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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
The 30th anniversary edition of Holocaust marks the first time this remarkable, nine-and-a-half-hour television miniseries has been released on DVD. Originally broadcast on NBC as part of an ongoing TV phenomenon in the 1970s called "The Big Event," Holocaust was an original story written by Gerald Green, who later scripted Kent State and Wallenberg: A Hero's Story, the latter another Holocaust-era tale. Holocaust narrowed the enormous story of the Nazis' systematic destruction of Jews by focusing on one family living in Berlin. Fritz Weaver plays Dr. Josef Weiss, a Pole with a longtime family practice. Weiss debates with his wife, Berta (Rosemary Harris), the wisdom of moving out of Germany with their family. She insists they should not be chased away by Hitler, and by the time she thinks otherwise, it's too late for her, her parents, Josef, and the three Weiss children: Karl (James Woods), Rudi (Joseph Bottoms), and Anna (Blanche Baker). Holocaust begins with the marriage of Karl to Inga (Meryl Streep), a Christian, an arrangement already frowned upon by the rising Nazi regime in 1935. In time, Karl, a harmless artist, is dragged off to the concentration camp at Buchenwald, leaving Inga vulnerable to a predatory camp officer who passes notes between the husband and wife. Poor young Anna meets a grim fate that reveals something of the way Hitler was determined to eliminate the mentally ill along with Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and other groups of people. The rebellious Rudi ends up fighting the Germans from a different front, while Josef is deported to Warsaw, eventually joined by Berta. There, Holocaust details the plight of the walled-in, so-called Warsaw ghetto, and the despair of the people within. Meanwhile, the destiny of another important character, a rather effete lawyer named Erik Dorf (Michael Moriarty), offers a peek into the internal workings of the Holocaust machinery. Dorf takes a much-needed job as an aide to Reinhard Heydrich (David Warner), Gestapo head and chair of the 1942 Wannsee Conference, which finalized plans for the extermination of European Jews. Holocaust was criticized at the time of its broadcast for allegedly cheapening genocide by shrinking the dimensions of the Nazis' organized evil for commercial television. But as a story free to extend into different aspects of the war on Jews, Holocaust is a real eye-opener. Tom Bell, Ian Holm, Robert Stephens, and Sam Wanamaker are also featured in the cast. --Tom Keogh

Description
An original TV dramatization of one of the most monstrous crimes in world history - the slaughter of 6 million Jews by the Nazis. Dramatically and definitively, the story covers an entire decade, the eventful years from 1935 to 1945. HOLOCAUST focuses on the tragedy and triumph of a single family - the Weiss family. Their story is told in counter-poise to that of another fictional family, that of Erik Dorf, who portrays a Nazi aide to Germany's infamous Heydrich. Starring a brilliant international cast and filmed on location in Berlin and Vienna.

Customer Reviews: Read 77 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

One of the best depictions of the Holocaust on screen! February 22, 2008
101 out of 101 found this review helpful

I used to teach Holocaust history for about 8 years at the high school level, and have not only read many books on the subject but also watched numerous films on the genre. This 1978 mini-series is in my opinion, one of the best depictions of the Holocaust on screen.

The series is set in Germany right about the time Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party are in power [the period covered is about 1935-45]. The series focusses on the trials of the Weiss family, a prominent Jewish family with the patriarch being a decorated war veteran, a grandmother, two sons, Dr Josef Weiss [Fritz Weaver] and his wife Berta [Rosemary Harris], a pharmacist Moses Weiss [Sam Wanamaker], and three grandchildren, an artist Karl [James Woods], a rebel Rudi [Joseph Bottoms], and young Anna.

The series begins with the celebration of the marriage between Karl [James Woods] and his Aryan wife Inga [Meryl Streep]. The Weiss portray the assimilated Jewish family, they are not particularly religious yet proud to be Jewish, and are at ease with their Gentile friends. Yet, dark clouds are starting to gather over them and the rest of Germany's Jews as the Nazi party's anti-semitic policies are about to be put into action. It begins with little things like Dr Josef Weiss not being able to treat his Aryan patients anymore and things get worse from that point on. Kristallnacht [Night of the Broken Glass] sees the destruction of Jewish property and businesses and worse is to come.

The series tries to portray the gradual persecution of the Jews before the escalation into the horror that became the Shoah. Dr Weiss is deported to Poland, where he ends up with his brother Moses in the Warsaw Ghetto. The other members of the family are also to suffer as Karl the artist is sent off to a concentration camp, leaving his wife Inga desperate to hear news of him. Rudi leaves home to join the partisans, and his mother and sister are left to fend for themselves.

There are some truly horrifying scenes in this series and may not be suitable for younger viewers. Mass murder, such as Jews being burned alive, the Babi Yar Massacre in the Ukraine, and of course the gassings are all portrayed with a high degree of realism that makes one flinch and grieve at the same time for all the innocent lives lost.

The series not only focusses on the Weiss family, for there is a parallel storyline involving a German named Erik Dorff [Michael Moriarty], an unemployed lawyer who at the behest of his wife decides to join the infamous SS, reporting directly to Reinhard Heydrich[ David Warner], the blond beast who was responsible for implementing many of Hitler's sadistic policies against the Jews. We see how Erik keeps justifying the murder of innocents ["We must keep killing them, don't you see? If we stop it's an admission of guilt!], and how he turns out to be such a cold-blooded human with no feelings whatsoever [a brief attack of conscience is soon forgotten]. This is very reminiscent of many of the high-ranking SS officers in history, as Rudolf Hoss, the Commandant of Auschwitz himself remained unrepentant till the end.

I am very glad that this amazing series of such important historic significance is to be finally made available on DVD and i hope that it will portray the series in its entirety with preferably added features such as interviews with the cast etc. A must-have for anyone interested in the Holocaust!

UPDATE: The DVD set contains 3 discs, and is NR. It runs approx. 7 hrs and 29 mins. There are unfortunately, no bonus features which is a disappointment considering this is the 30 year Anniversary edition. It would have been nice to have some interviews with cast members, the director, producer , even a Making Of segment.The quality of the picture transfer is average. But, given that this epic mini-series has taken 3 decades to be made available on DVD, and the discounted price here on Amazon, I have few complaints.

5 out of 5 stars

Please make this available! May 17, 2005
36 out of 38 found this review helpful

I agree with the reviewers who have lamented the fact that this excellent mini-series is not yet available on DVD. It is a profound, deeply moving presentation, with outstanding performances, including those by Meryl Streep, Fritz Weaver as the Jewish Doctor and Michael Murphy is superb at the Nazi. I highly recommend this series, and I do hope that it will be available soon.

3 out of 5 stars

GLAD IT'S ON DVD... BUT COULD BE BETTER May 29, 2008
30 out of 30 found this review helpful

I PRE-ORDERED THIS SET AS SOON AS IT WAS ANNOUNCED.I SAW THIS MINISERIES
BACK IN 1978 WHEN IT AIRED ON NBC OVER 4 NIGHTS.THE AMAZON PRICE FOR THIS
ITEM IS GREAT AT ONLY $19.95 - BUT THE CONTENT IS NOT SO GREAT.PICTURE
AND SOUND IS O.K.-NO MORE.PRINTED IN SMALL LETTERS ON THE BACK OF THE
BOX IS THE DISCLAIMER "MAY BE EDITED FROM THE ORIGINAL NETWORK BROADCAST"
MAYBE IS RIGHT..THIS SET CLOCKS IN AT ABOUT 449 MINUTES WHICH IS 26-34
MINUTES LESS THE FULL RUNNING TIME.WHATS MORE THERE ARE NO FEATURES ON
THIS 3 DISC SET-NOT A SINGLE ONE.CBS VIDEO AND PARAMOUNT SHOULD BE ASHAMED
OF THEMSELVES..THE 30 YEAR "ANNIVERSARY EDITION" OF THIS MINISERIES WHICH
WAS TRULY A TELEVISION LANDMARK DESERVED MUCH,MUCH BETTER..

5 out of 5 stars

Great mini series April 13, 2005
28 out of 30 found this review helpful

I cannot believe that this mini series has not been released on DVD. This is the best holocaust movie ever made. It shows the holocaust not only from the perspective of the Jews but of the germans also. Please bring it out on DVD so I can buy it.

5 out of 5 stars

Harrowing, Disturbing,Real. July 3, 2003
21 out of 21 found this review helpful

*(If anyone knows when this DVD will be released please say so i would very much like to know)

I have only recently come across this mini-series after renting it from my videostore and only even heard of this when researching more on Meryl Streep after viewing her incredible performnce in "Sophie's Choice".

Admirers of Ms.Streep won't be dissapointed in her performance nor will they with the rest.

Spanning over a decade (1935-1945), "Holocaust" focuses on the Weiss Family of Berlin and all the terror that each individual faces during their darkest days.

The characters are endearing and audiences will easily empathise with the strife they face.

This docu-drama is an accurate and on several occasions, highly disturbing account of man's inhumanity to mankind.

It's won 8 out of 16 emmy awards (1 Emmy which Meryl Streep won) and deserves each one.

I believe that every jewish man and woman should see this film and anyone else who is interested in History's blackest decade.

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