''Hitler's Children'' is an Israeli-German 2011

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed by

Chanoch Zeevi Chanoch may refer to: * Chanoch Henoch Bornsztain (died 1965), Polish-born rabbi * Chanoch Henoch Eigis (1863–1941), Lithuanian rabbi * Chanoch Ehrentreu (born 1932), German-born rabbi * Chanoch Nissany (born 1963), Israeli-born Hungarian racing ...

that portrays how relatives of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

's inner circle deal with the burden of that relationship and the identification of their surname and family ties with the horrors of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. They describe the conflicted feelings of guilt and responsibility they carry with them in their daily lives and the disparate reactions of their siblings and other family members.

Synopsis

The film consists primarily of interviews with the descendants of several of the most powerful figures in the Nazi regime, including

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

Hans Frank Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and lawyer who served as head of the General Government in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member of the German Workers' Party ...

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

Amon Göth Amon Leopold Göth (; alternative spelling ''Goeth''; 11 December 1908 – 13 September 1946) was an Austrian SS functionary and war criminal. He served as the commandant of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp in Płaszów in German ...

and

Rudolf Höss Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss (also Höß, Hoeß, or Hoess; 25 November 1901 – 16 April 1947) was a German SS officer during the Nazi era who, after the defeat of Nazi Germany, was convicted for war crimes. Höss was the longest-serving comm ...

, whose ties of kinship associate them with notorious criminals. Amongst them are

Katrin Himmler Katrin Himmler (born 1967) is a German author. She is the granddaughter of Ernst Himmler (1905–1945), who was the younger brother of Heinrich Himmler, one of the leading figures of Nazi Germany. Therefore, she is the great-niece of Heinrich Himm ...

, and Niklas Frank. They discuss the delicate balance they have managed to achieve in negotiating between the natural bonds between children and parents and earlier generations on the one hand and their innate revulsion at their crimes. It also includes documentary footage of one's visit to

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

, others speaking with relatives, or visiting schools to talk about their personal and family histories. Their personalities and personal histories are varied and have produced a range of solutions as some have decided to discuss their situation in public–several have authored books–or decided whether or not to keep the family name, to have children, to live in Germany, or celebrate their German heritage. The film also explores one's relationship to the victims of the Holocaust.

Release

''Hitler's Children'' was completed in 2011 and was produced by

company Maya Production, in co-production with the German company Saxonia Entertainment. The film was first broadcast on Israeli Channel 2 on 1 May 2011, the eve of the Israeli Holocaust Memorial Day, and was first shown internationally in November 2011 at the

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam. Over a period of twelve days, it has screened more than 300 films and sold more than 250,000 tic ...

. The documentary has been shown at several documentary film festivals and by a number of TV broadcasters, including

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

and the Swedish network

Kunskapskanalen Kunskapskanalen (in English: ''The Knowledge Channel'') is a Swedish language television channel broadcasting educational and factual programming between 9 a.m. and 01 a.m. all days of the week. The channel is operated by Sveriges Television (SVT) ...

. The film reached the finals in the category of Best TV Programmes Broadcast in Europe in the

Prix Europa {{notability, Events, date=March 2021 PRIX EUROPA – The European Broadcasting Festival – is the Europe's largest annual tri-medial festival and competition. The event takes place in the third week of October in Berlin, Germany. PRIX E ...

2012 competition.

Critical response

The documentary received critical acclaim in several UK newspapers after being broadcast on

on 23 May 2012. The film won the 2012

Boston Jewish Film Festival The Boston Jewish Film Festival (BJFF) is an annual film festival that screens the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world. The festival presents features, shorts, documentaries, and conversations with visiting artists in o ...

Audience Award for Best Documentary film.

Production

According to Zeevi, a personal meeting with Hitler's former secretary,

Traudl Junge Gertraud "Traudl" Junge (; 16 March 1920 – 10 February 2002) was a German editor who worked as Adolf Hitler's last private secretary from December 1942 to April 1945. After typing Hitler's will, she remained in the Berlin ''Führerbunker'' unt ...

, in 1999, triggered the film. He said: "When I sat in front of her I suddenly understood that the need to try and understand the evil that led to the horrors of the Holocaust was an integral part of the narrative. I understood that the dialogue with the 'other side' can teach us many new things on the fertile ground on which the hatred grew and in parallel convey a message of hope for the future". He said he hoped to provoke discussion of the Holocaust "in an intelligent manner and from a new point of view" and to "provide an indisputable answer to Holocaust deniers".Official website for ''Hitler's Children''
Retrieved 5 February 2013

References

External links