Holocaust Film – The Power of Film Collected from the Holocaust

There are many historical Holocaust films that are available for viewing. While many have been compiled into compelling documentaries, others are available to view any time in short clips. The United States Holocaust Museum maintains an extensive archive of historical footage from the Holocaust. This film footage is very disturbing and can be difficult to watch. However, it should be considered required viewing for anyone who is truly looking to understand what took place during the Holocaust. The horrors are nearly unimaginable, even with the proof of these primarily black and white clips. This footage is certainly a powerful resource for bringing the Holocaust to life.
 
Viewers can learn a great many things from Holocaust film. Some of the most horrific and stunning pieces of footage were taken during and after the liberation of the concentration camps. Clips from this time show mountains of human hair and discarded clothing taken from the dead. Dentures, eyeglasses, and prosthesis were collected from the dead as well and stored in massive warehouses. In some camps, liberators found shrunken heads, preserved skin, and other horrific pieces of those who had been murdered by the Nazis. This evidence can be viewed easily for anyone who is interested in taking a closer look.
 
Holocaust film also shows the living faces of some of the prisoners in concentration camps and ghettos. Watching these films can make the suffering of these people come to life in a way that it never has before. Reading about the Holocaust is certainly important, but Holocaust film offers a missing piece for many people who have trouble actually imagining that these events took place. Holocaust deniers argue that the horrors of the Holocaust are exaggerated or fabricated. Watching Holocaust footage makes it much more difficult to take these claims seriously, because there's such strong evidence of what truly took place.
 
Watching Holocaust film is certainly a powerful experience. For those who want to go even further, it's possible to donate financial support to causes that work to share compelling footage not only from the Holocaust, but from the years since. Learning from survivors of both Jewish and Nazi families can help students today to see the truth in what happened. It's important that the events of the Holocaust are never forgotten so that the memories of those who suffered will always be respected. Looking Holocaust film in the face and accepting the truth is the first step. Sharing it with others is the final piece of the puzzle.