Night Will Fall

Villagio · 25-01-2015 02:54PM #1

Did anyone watch this documentary on channel 4?

It's about the allied crews in world war 2 who were assigned with filming footage of scenes at the concentration camps as they were being liberated. I've never seen anything as disturbing in my life before.

wretcheddomain · 25-01-2015 02:55PM

I'm afraid not. I was too busy doing something interesting.

Timberrrrrrrr · 25-01-2015 02:56PM

Villagio wrote: »

Did anyone watch this documentary on channel 4?

It's about the allied crews in world war 2 who were assigned with filming footage of scenes at the concentration camps. I'very never seen anything as disturbing in my life before.

Watched it last night, pity it was on late on a Saturday. More people need to see this sort of programme to remind them of the atrocities that happened not so long ago.

Menas · 25-01-2015 02:56PM

I watched it this morning. I had seen most of the footage before but it is still harrowing. It does still amaze me the scale of the killing and dehumanisation that went on in those camps.
What I liked about Night will fall was that it showed the healing process too...people getting better, getting clothed etc.

Villagio · 25-01-2015 02:58PM

The scenes of emaciated bodies being dumped in pits like trash were shocking. Was just watching the end of it now, had to turn it off.

Birneybau · 25-01-2015 03:01PM

wretcheddomain wrote: »

I'm afraid not. I was too busy doing something interesting.

Well done you.

Those that forget history are condemned to repeat it.

Harry Palmr · 25-01-2015 03:01PM

Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »

Watched it last night, pity it was on late on a Saturday. More people need to see this sort of programme to remind them of the atrocities that happened not so long ago.

9 PM isn't late

I saw it, nothing that I haven't seen before so not shocked in that regard but its worth the occasional reminder as to what man can do to man when ideology begets psychopathic madness on an industrial scale. Certain every teenager should be made to watch it.

Ghost Buster · 25-01-2015 03:15PM

wretcheddomain wrote: »

I'm afraid not. I was too busy doing something interesting.

What a waste of a 2,701 st post

diddley · 25-01-2015 03:25PM

Ya I saw it, awful stuff but I'd seen it before.

I read something recently about the director of the Auschwitz museum saying the upcoming anniversary (70th) could well be the last 10 year anniversary with survivors in attendance so it's important for us to remember.

One eyed Jack · 25-01-2015 03:31PM

Christ, I was about to ask the OP for a link so I could watch it as it sounded like something from the "World at War" series, but after reading this -

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/22/hitchcock-holocaust-documentary-belsen-night-will-fall

I realise other posters here weren't exaggerating. I'll be giving it a miss tbh, nobody should be made to watch that kind of horror.

Menas · 25-01-2015 03:33PM

One eyed Jack wrote: »

I'll be giving it a miss tbh, nobody should be made to watch that kind of horror.

I would disagree with you there. People should watch it to know what man kind is capable of and to help prevent it from happening again.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 25-01-2015 04:49PM

Trigger Happy wrote: »

I would disagree with you there. People should watch it to know what man kind is capable of and to help prevent it from happening again.

+1

The disturbing thing for me was the people living locally around the camps and directly benefiting from its existence who were unable or unwilling to witness the mass corpses and graves being filled with the slave labour they used in their houses and farms.

Amica · 25-01-2015 05:22PM

I mostly agree that people should watch it to really understand the horrors of genocide and I also feel some sort of duty toward the victims (sort of like, they had to endure it - the least we can do is not turn our gaze away). However it is obviously very distressing to watch and I don't think people should be forced to watch - more encouraged.

I actually know somebody who believes the Holocaust never happened...very difficult for me. I wish this documentary would change his mind but I know it won't :-(

qt3.14 · 25-01-2015 05:24PM

Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »

Watched it last night, pity it was on late on a Saturday. More people need to see this sort of programme to remind them of the atrocities that happened not so long ago.

I think not. Everyone but the wilfully ignorant knows enough about the actions of the Nazis to be horrified. Very few people seem to know what Stalin got up to, or the Turks in Armenia or a host of other atrocities.

Timberrrrrrrr · 25-01-2015 05:28PM

Harry Palmr wrote: »

9 PM isn't late

I saw it, nothing that I haven't seen before so not shocked in that regard but its worth the occasional reminder as to what man can do to man when ideology begets psychopathic madness on an industrial scale. Certain every teenager should be made to watch it.

Not "late" per se but it's a time and day when many young people (who should be educated about the past) are out.

Timberrrrrrrr · 25-01-2015 05:30PM

Trigger Happy wrote: »

I would disagree with you there. People should watch it to know what man kind is capable of and to help prevent it from happening again.

Agree, i would go as far as saying it should be a compulsory subject in secondry school (history classes tend to gloss over it) to educate the young.

Pwindedd · 25-01-2015 05:36PM

For any one that missed it, it's on 4OD for next month. I downloaded the app just to watch it. Horrifying stuff. Far more detailed and graphic than anything I'd seen before and I've seen a few documentaries on the subject.

Mam of 4 · 25-01-2015 06:07PM

Pwindedd wrote: »

For any one that missed it, it's on 4OD for next month. I downloaded the app just to watch it. Horrifying stuff. Far more detailed and graphic than anything I'd seen before and I've seen a few documentaries on the subject.

Thanks for that, was just about to ask if anyone knew if it would be repeated.
Although I know it will be hard to watch .

conorh91 · 25-01-2015 06:14PM

Must get around to watching this online, if possible.

I only saw Schindler's List for the first time over the Christmas, and it weighed on my mind for days afterwards. Unbelievably brutal period in Europe's history.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 25-01-2015 08:10PM

Shoah: First Era on BBC 4 atm recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as victims.

Leogirl · 25-01-2015 08:34PM

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Shoah: First Era on BBC 4 atm recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as victims.

Thanks for that, been meaning to watch this for a while.

As for last nights one- I've watched so many documentaries and movies on the holocaust but this one really got to me. Very disturbing but it was also good to see how the victims started to recover & begin to feel human again. I think it will stay on my mind for a while. As it should.

Venus In Furs · 25-01-2015 08:45PM

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

The disturbing thing for me was the people living locally around the camps and directly benefiting from its existence who were unable or unwilling to witness the mass corpses and graves being filled with the slave labour they used in their houses and farms.

Probably too overcome with guilt.

qt3.14 wrote: »

I think not. Everyone but the wilfully ignorant knows enough about the actions of the Nazis to be horrified. Very few people seem to know what Stalin got up to, or the Turks in Armenia or a host of other atrocities.

I'd say it's a lot more than "very few people" in relation to Stalin. The Turks in Armenia, yeh - not a known one.

sadie06 · 25-01-2015 08:55PM

I'm afraid to say there is no way I would be able to watch it. I think it is fantastic that this period was documented in film format, and that the work has finally come to the fore and is being viewed by so many. I'm glad I read the thread and that I am aware of the documentary and the shocking nature of its content.

Unfortunately, I'd be likely to throw myself under a bus in despair if I viewed the footage. Likewise, I can't engage fully with present-day events in Nigeria, Syria, and elsewhere as I just can't cope with the full and brutal reality of the situation.

It's a mad, mad world!

Jawgap · 25-01-2015 08:56PM

Shoah - the shortened 4.5 hr version of it is on BBC 4 at the moment - if you're interested in that topic.

Autonomous Cowherd · 25-01-2015 09:01PM

qt3.14 wrote: »

I think not. Everyone but the wilfully ignorant knows enough about the actions of the Nazis to be horrified. Very few people seem to know what Stalin got up to, or the Turks in Armenia or a host of other atrocities.

The Gulag Archipelago gives some insight into Stalin's atrocities and Primo Levi's ''If This Is A Man' gives insight into an Italian man's experience in Auschwitz. Both are very poignant books, especially i would say Levis. It is true what that there are atrocities we do not remember well. As far as I am aware there has been no literature published by those who experienced the Rwandan massacres for example, when (as my husband regularly says in disbelief) they were rounding up the casualty figures to the nearest million.

Gonna check out that documentary in OP. Thanks.

Autonomous Cowherd · 25-01-2015 09:08PM

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/holocaust-night-will-fall/on-demand/57245-001
available here for a month

Yurt2 · 25-01-2015 09:17PM

Jawgap wrote: »

Shoah - the shortened 4.5 hr version of it is on BBC 4 at the moment - if you're interested in that topic.

Harrowing yet compelling viewing. Watched the entire thing in almost a single sitting over a weekend, and was zoned out for a couple of days afterwards. The bit where he tracks down the SS guy and he's working as normal punter in a restaurant in West Germany sticks with me the most for some reason. Almost unbelievable how such a sophisticated and learned civilization like Europe (it was enabled by more than the Germans) collapsed into insanity and murder for murder's sake. But it happened and logically it could happen again.

Birneybau · 25-01-2015 09:39PM

Jawgap wrote: »

Shoah - the shortened 4.5 hr version of it is on BBC 4 at the moment - if you're interested in that topic.

Full length version, second half on next week. Recording it myself, couldn't sit through 4 and a half hours of it in one go.

Bruthal · 25-01-2015 09:39PM

wretcheddomain wrote: »

I'm afraid not. I was too busy doing something interesting.

Id say a closed mind would be a great thing to lose.

Mam of 4 · 25-01-2015 09:43PM

Birneybau wrote: »

Full length version, second half on next week. Recording it myself, couldn't sit through 4 and a half hours of it in one go.

Also recording it to watch when I have a quiet house .

25-01-2015 09:51PM

I didn't see that (I wasn't aware that it was on) but I did visit Auschwitz in the 1990s, seeing the place really reinforces all you've ever heard or seen on the TV.

Night Will Fall

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