SHOAH is one of the most radical and comprehensive records of the extermination of European Jews under National Socialism.

The nine-and-a-half hour documentary SHOAH features statements from people who were directly involved in the National Socialist extermination of European Jews, either as victims, perpetrators or observers, many of whom tell their story for the first time in 30 years. According to the director, this is not a film about survival but a “testimonial of death”. Lanzmann not only asks the witnesses to recall their experiences; his questioning technique prompts his interviewees to relive the past events. Lanzmann’s questions revolve around events at the sites where Jews were murdered, touching upon the bureaucratic mechanism of extermination, which began in the ghettos and was eventually implemented in the concentration and extermination camps. The footage shows the death camps as they were at the end of the seventies and the beginning of the eighties. The film’s edifying effect is created by the montage of statements from witnesses and sequences of the places referred to in their memories. “I travelled to the places on my own and I realized that you have to combine the two aspects. You have to know and see, and you have to see and know. That’s why the problem with the places is so immense. It is a down-to-earth film, a topographical and geographical film.” (Lanzmann)


Reviews and Recommendations:

“Claude Lanzmann’s great skill lies in his ability to give places a mouthpiece, a voice which brings them to life once again, and, beyond all words, to express the unspeakable, the unthinkable through faces.” (Simone de Beauvoir, Le Monde, Paris 1985)
“Shoah leaves viewers dumbstruck. It overwhelms them and, with immense tenderness and care, ultimately leaves behind a wound, a scar. […] Shoah teaches us the meaning of the word ‘inconsolable’.” (Jim Hobermann, The Village Voice, New York, 1985)
Awards worldwide (selection): Prix des Arts, des Lettres et des Sciences of the Foundation for French Judaism (1985), Flaherty Documentary Award (1986), Caligari Film Award and FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival (1986), Honorary César (1987).

Production Country

France (FR)

Production Period

1985

Production Year

1985

Duration

Feature-Length Film (61+ Min.)

Type

Documentary, Expanded Cinema

Topic

Violence, Film History, Holocaust, National Socialism

Available Media

DVD

Original Version

English (en), German (de), Polish (pl), Hebrew (he)

DVD

Subtitles

German (de), English (en), Spanish (es), French (fr)

Note on the Format

4 DVDs: gesamt: 566 min.
DVD 1: 147 min.
DVD 2: 116 min.
DVD 3: 140 min.
DVD 4: 140 min.