It's at this point that the footage becomes graphic and hard to handle. Facilities were converted into murder chambers where the mass executions could be carried out. He called for their "annihilation" of the Jewish people. In 1942, with the war not going the way the Nazis wanted it to, Hitler's number two man, Himmler, gave the extermination order. It wasn't until World War II was in full swing that that genocide began. The complete opposite of what was going on in the other buildings. In contrast, we're also shown the Nazi living spaces. The surgical experiments and mutilations. The horribly prepared and unhealthy meals. The random middle-of-the-night, violence-filled searches and raids. The sleepless nights with three to a bunk. If you didn't know what happened in the holocaust, you'd assume that the bunk-filled living spaces weren't that bad – but then our narrator describes everyday living there. We are shown the 1955 remnants of the housing sturctures. The women and children worked above ground, while the men went below ground for mining and machine work. The initial purpose of the camps was to drive free slave labor. They were stripped nude, shaved, tattooed and numbered.Īlthough the inhumane acts – the physical abuse, the mental abuse, the blatant murder – was prevalent from the get-go, the mass genocide wasn't immediate. The intentions of the forceful camp staff immediately became apparent upon arrival. With most being unloaded in the dead of night, they were given the nicknames "Night and Fog." An identifiable marking was placed on their clothes. Loaded into boxcars and packed like sardines, they were transported to the camps. Shortly thereafter, Jews from all across Europe were deported. With the locals thinking the construction was a sign of a booming economy, the structures were raised. The first section tells the history of how the construction came about starting in 1933. Instead of being carried by interviews, this documentary feature a sole, somber voiceover narration by an actual survivor the effect of this narrative decision has a huge impact on the overall viewing experience.Īlthough 'Night and Fog' runs a brisk 33 minutes, it covers a lot of ground and tells historical aspects of concentration camps that certainly weren't taught to me as a kid. Knowing the heavy weight of the then-to-now contrast, Renais chose to juxtapose the new footage with archival footage and photos from when the Nazis ran the camps. None showed signs of the cruel brutality that once existed there. Each looked like a rundown facade of a suitable factory or storage facility. Each location was once filled with unimaginable horrors, but then sat vacant with beautful tall green grass covering up the grounds. In late 1954, a French historical organization commissioned a young filmmaker by the name of Alain Renais to shoot the abandoned concentration camps that were once ran by the Nazis. 'Night and Fog' is a pure and simple documentary like no other. Have you ever heard someone say something like, " is one of the best films I've ever seen – but it's one that I never want to watch again." It's understandable how that saying can ring true, but no film has ever warranted that response from me … until now.
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