''The U.S. and the Holocaust'' is a 2022 three-part documentary

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

about the United States' response to the Holocaust. The series was directed by

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary film, documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle United States, American History of the United States, history and Culture of the ...

, Lynn Novick, and Sarah Botstein, and was written by frequent Burns collaborator

Geoffrey C. Ward Geoffrey Champion Ward (born 1940) is an American editor, author, historian and writer of scripts for American history documentaries for public television. He is the author or co-author of 19 books, including 10 companion books to the documentar ...

. The miniseries premiered on PBS on September 18, 20, and 21, 2022 and has since then been available to stream on PBS.org and the PBS video app.

History and production

The miniseries was partially inspired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's "Americans and the Holocaust"

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

and Burns' production of it coincided with the ongoing exhibit. Work on the miniseries began in 2015, after Burns and Novick received questions about the American response to the Holocaust following the release of Burns’ documentaries '' The War'' and '' The Roosevelts: An Intimate History''. Voice actors and

narrators Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the a ...

for the miniseries include Liam Neeson, Matthew Rhys, Paul Giamatti, Meryl Streep, Werner Herzog, Joe Morton and Hope Davis.

Synopsis

The miniseries begins in

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

, covering the national culture of the U.S. before World War II and the Holocaust, including topics such as

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

, racism, the

eugenics movement Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

and how Nazi Germany used Jim Crow laws in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

as models for its own racial policy, including the Nuremberg Laws and other pieces of antisemitic legislation. Through interviews with Holocaust survivors, historians and witnesses, as well as through historical footage, the series examines the U.S. response to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust. The miniseries ends with footage of recent events in the U.S., including the 2015

Charleston church shooting On June 17, 2015, a mass shooting occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, in which nine African Americans were killed during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Among those people who were killed was the senior past ...

, the 2017 Unite the Right rally, the 2018

Pittsburgh synagogue shooting The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting was an antisemitic terrorist attack which took place at the Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The congregation, alo ...

and the 2021 January 6 United States Capitol attack.

Episodes

The original airing of Episodes 2 and 3 was postponed for one day in honor of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on September 19.

Release

''The U.S. and the Holocaust'' was shown at the 2022 Telluride Film Festival, which Burns has frequently attended. To promote the film’s release, PBS held in-person and virtual roundtable discussions with

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

, author Michael Abramowitz, CNN anchor Jake Tapper, the

International Rescue Committee The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 as the International Relief Association, at the request of Albert Einstein, and changing its name in 19 ...

and

Freedom House Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...

. In the UK, ''The U.S. and the Holocaust'' was released on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

weekly from January 9, 2023, with all episodes dropping on the BBC's

iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...

streaming service.

Reception

''The U.S. and the Holocaust'' was received overwhelmingly positively by critics. As of October 2022, it has a 100% rating on film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. John Berman of CNN's '' New Day'' on September 15, 2022 called the series "breathtaking."

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

winning journalist

Dorothy Rabinowitz Dorothy Rabinowitz is a Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist and commentator. She was born in New York City, and attained a bachelor's degree at Queens College. She worked toward a doctorate at New York University from 1957 to 1960, but did ...

of ''Wall Street Journal'' wrote that the series was "sublime" and "shined a light on political aspects" of the Holocaust "never before addressed in a TV documentary." Matthew Gilbert of '' The Boston Globe'' wrote, "Compelling, and delivered by a series of articulate historians."

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:U.S. and the Holocaust, The 2022 films 2022 documentary films Documentary films about United States history Documentary films about the Holocaust Films directed by Ken Burns American documentary films Documentary films about immigration to the United States Films about Franklin D. Roosevelt Documentary films about refugees