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Holocaust   Review by Suzanne Lanoue 9/20/19

This was a miniseries in the 1970's. I used to watch a lot a lot of them back then, and in the 80's. I don't think I saw this one, which is too bad. It's pretty good. This Blu-Ray edition is a welcome addition to any collection.  It's cool seeing a very young Meryl Streep and James Woods, and s slightly-young David Warner.

The series follows a couple of families, starting in the early days of Hitler.  Meryl Streep plays, Inga Helms, a young girl from a Christian German family that marries Karl Weiss, an artist from a Jewish family.  The Weiss patriarch Josef (Fritz Weaver) is a respected doctor.  Erik Dorf (Michael Moriarty) plays a young lawyer struggling to provide for his family. He joins the Nazi party and, pushed by his wife, becomes an important part of the SS and their plans to get rid of Jews. 

As the show progresses, the Weiss and Helm families are torn apart and the Dorf family prospers.  David Warner is great (as always) playing Heydrich (a real-life Nazi - most of the others are fictional), Erik's boss. Meryl Streep, of course, is excellent; as is Joseph Bottoms, who plays Karl's young brother Rudi; Fritz Weaver as Josef, the doctor that is sent back to Poland; veteran character actor Sam Wanamaker as his brother; and Rosemary Harris as Josef's wife....among many others. It's a great production.

Now, remember, this is from TV of the 70's, so it's not as realistic as, say, "Schindler's List."  It's a very good drama for its time, though, and it talked about The Holocaust in a way that hadn't been done before on U.S. TV.  It was also broadcast in Germany, where it really educated the younger people. According to Wikipedia, "has been credited with making many Germans come to grips for the first time with ordinary peoples' roles in allowing, supporting, and perpetrating the Holocaust."

Even though it's 41 years old, I didn't find it to be dated or too slow.  Some shows from back then drag terrible. This one moves along nicely.

Michael Moriarty won an Emmy for his merciless portrayal. Meryl Streep and Blanche Baker (Anna Weiss) also won Emmys, as did the series.  Most of the rest were nominated as well.

If you've never seen this, you should definitely watch it. 

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