Shoah (film)
Shoah is a 1985 French documentary film about the Holocaust, directed by Claude Lanzmann. Over nine hours long, it presents testimonies from survivors, witnesses, and former Nazi officials, without any archival footage or dramatizations.
Lanzmann spent eleven years making the film, conducting interviews in 14 different countries. The film's title, Shoah, is the Hebrew word for "catastrophe," often used to refer specifically to the Holocaust.
Shoah is widely considered a landmark work of documentary filmmaking and a profoundly important historical document. It diverges from traditional Holocaust documentaries by focusing almost exclusively on personal accounts and the physical locations where the events took place. Lanzmann meticulously avoids what he saw as the trivialization of the Holocaust through reenactments or symbolic representation.
The film is structured around several key locations and events, including:
- Chelmno extermination camp: Features the testimony of a survivor, Simon Srebnik, and a Polish villager who witnessed the exterminations.
- Treblinka extermination camp: Includes a detailed interview with Franz Suchomel, a former SS officer who worked at the camp. Suchomel provides a chilling account of the camp's operation.
- Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp: Contains interviews with survivors and a Polish villager who lived near the camp.
- The Warsaw Ghetto: Features Jan Karski, a member of the Polish resistance who reported on the situation in the ghetto to Allied leaders.
Shoah is notable for its length, its extensive use of first-person testimony, and its unwavering focus on the concrete details of the Holocaust. It has been praised for its unflinching portrayal of the event and its commitment to preserving the memory of the victims. It has also generated considerable debate, particularly regarding Lanzmann's interview methods and his portrayal of Polish bystanders. Despite the controversy, Shoah remains a central and influential work in Holocaust studies and documentary filmmaking.