Histories of the Holocaust: Buchenwald 1942-45 (2010)

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Of the many death-laden sites erected and maintained by the Gestapo during World War II, arguably none were quite as bizarre as the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Situated only a few miles from the Weimar Republic - the cultural heart and soul of Germany - Buchenwald grew even viler with the… More Of the many death-laden sites erected and maintained by the Gestapo during World War II, arguably none were quite as bizarre as the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Situated only a few miles from the Weimar Republic - the cultural heart and soul of Germany - Buchenwald grew even viler with the enlistment of Commandant Herman Pister in 1942. With the psychopathic Pister leading the way, the site built up a campaign of twisted medical experiments including typhus and viral "research" and various methods developed to make homicide easier. But this medical experimentation only represented the beginning of the atrocities enacted at Buchenwald: Nazi leaders also ran an "SS Death Railway" - a mode of transport used to carry goods made at the camp factories, on which prisoners were literally worked to death. And to top it all off Buchenwald proprietors built up a team of "Kapos," inmates who doubled as guards in exchange for camp privileges. This earnest yet deeply disturbing documentary draws on newsreel footage and other sources to carry viewers inside of the Buchenwald horror. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi