Der gelbe Stern - Ein Film über die Judenverfolgung 1933-1945

Using archive sourced from Berlin, Paris, Washington and London this is quite a comprehensive and harrowing documentary depicting the rise of the Nazi party in Germany and the ultimate decimation of the Jewish, Romany and homosexual populations in the ever increasing expanses of Europe that Adolf Hitler ended up controlling. From his vaguely democratic legitimacy in the 1930s when the ageing President Hindenburg agreed to suspend the Weimar constitution, the writing was soon on the walls for those who did not confirm to the Arian societal norms. The imagery here illustrates really effectively the gradual encroachment of the state into the lives of those whom it determined to ostracise and persecute, and whilst some were able to make good an escape, the vast majority were condemned to their grisly fate - even those who had made it to Austria or Poland or, even, France. I saw this in it's recently restored English language version but to be honest, the commentary really isn't so very necessary. Just watching this ghastly and unrelenting series of films, supported by some out of vision commentaries taken from contemporaneous writings and diaries does quite enough to make one shudder. I have seen much of the photography before in strands like "The World at War" but never quite so intensely as are edited together here and in a world where it is so easy to become immune to pictures of violence and despair, these really do cut through and are truly shocking.

Dieter Hildebrandt's documentary is an interesting and overviewed source with plenty of unseen footage, sound clips and propaganda from WWII and before that, which makes this a must-see film for those who want to learn more about the persecution suffered by the Jews between the decades of 1930 and 1940. More experienced viewers, myself included, won't find this much different from what's presented in several existing documentaries except one thing or another, so it can be a very repetitive experience but worth watching nonetheless.

It's all very briefly presented in nine or ten chapters, that goes from Hitler's rise to power (1933), the first laws preventing Jews of doing many things; the magnificent and huge campaign built by the government with the 1936's Olympics and also deceiving the German population into thinking the Jews are part of the nation's problems; 1938's Night of the Broken Glass with attacks to synagogues, stores, many people died or were injured; later on it culminates with war, final solution in the concentration camps and gas chambers.

Parallel to that, we are presented some of the Nazi propaganda of the period, one of them is a film (never showed to the public even back then) that paints a friendly picture about "the reality" of the Jews in the labor camps, with the victims happily acting before cameras as if they were working in an ordinary factory. Truly appalling.

Technically speaking the movie is very well put together, consisting mostly of archive footage, narrated by a tiring voice and dubbed in some parts during German speeches (captions would be better) or when presenting reflections of people who escaped the persecution. 99% archive, except for one introduction by Simon Wiesenthal, one of the film's producers.

Good film, highly informative and historical. 8/10