Their family names alone evoke horror: Himmler, Goering, Göeth, Hoess. What's it like for Nazi Party members offspring to have grown up with a surname that immediately raises images of mass murder and genocide? How do they live with the weight of their ancestors' crimes? How do they cope with the fact that they are the children of one of the greatest abominations in history?
Hitler’s Children is a unique documentary film that reveals, for the first time, the ways in which family members of high rank senior Nazi officers from Hitler’s inner circle struggle with the burden of carrying a terror-inducing surname.
During detailed interviews, descendants of Frank, Goering, and Himmler, amongst many others, share the feelings of guilt and responsibility that accompany them in their daily lives. What happens when the children of the perpetrators of this genocide eventually meet with the children of the victims?
Already broadcast on BBC, Hitler’s Children distribution rights in North America have been purchased and it's expected to screen in theaters in the U.S. in 2013. Here's the trailer -
Related posts: The Real Drug Nazi
Showing posts with label genocide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label genocide. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Genocide: Worse Than War
I've discussed the horrors of genocide, and the human behavior surrounding it, a few times before on The Cynical Pharmacist. I'm always intrigued by human behavior and about what causes intelligent people to embrace the dark side of life.
Although originally produced a couple of years ago, it's just now that I discovered the documentary entitled "Worse Than War" on my local PBS station. It's a must-watch for the younger generations.
It's a film that documents the multiple genocides of our century, discussing the reasons behind them, why they continue to occur, and what can be done to prevent them. Although I disagree with Mr. Goldhagen's solution to prevent future genocide, I found his film informative and thought-provoking.
You can watch the entire film on your local PBS station, or the linked website. Here's a clip from the film of interviews with imprisoned murderers who participated in the Rwanda genocide -
There's a reason why I posted this one clip from the documentary. It highlights the mentality of those criminals who perpetrate these types of crimes against humanity. To me, most crimes are perpetrated because of two things - ignorance and selfishness.
If you notice in this clip, the one criminal discusses his crimes only as they relate to himself. He doesn't believe ignorance played a role, and doesn't see how he was manipulated by psychopathic leaders to commit his crimes. He expresses no remorse, nor empathy. It's all about him.
Like I've said in my previous posts about crimes against humanity, the small groups of selfish sociopaths and psychopaths who create these hateful situations almost never personally commit their crimes themselves, yet are still able to achieve their goals, and are seldom held accountable.
They're successful because of their abilities to manipulate ignorant and selfish people (video) into supporting their efforts and committing the crimes on their behalf. They find enablers.
And this is where I disagree with the filmmaker's solution for preventing future genocide.
To me, the only solution in preventing the further atrocities of genocide comes from within each of us. It's not something that requires "other" people to address and prevent, especially selfish, apathetic, or corrupt politicians from other countries.
Genocide would never occur again if most of us were a little more skeptical and less trusting, looked beyond our own selfish motivations, controlled our emotions, and didn't enable these psychopaths to suck us into their sinister schemes. It's often as simple as being aware, and just saying "NO".
Although originally produced a couple of years ago, it's just now that I discovered the documentary entitled "Worse Than War" on my local PBS station. It's a must-watch for the younger generations.
It's a film that documents the multiple genocides of our century, discussing the reasons behind them, why they continue to occur, and what can be done to prevent them. Although I disagree with Mr. Goldhagen's solution to prevent future genocide, I found his film informative and thought-provoking.
You can watch the entire film on your local PBS station, or the linked website. Here's a clip from the film of interviews with imprisoned murderers who participated in the Rwanda genocide -
There's a reason why I posted this one clip from the documentary. It highlights the mentality of those criminals who perpetrate these types of crimes against humanity. To me, most crimes are perpetrated because of two things - ignorance and selfishness.
If you notice in this clip, the one criminal discusses his crimes only as they relate to himself. He doesn't believe ignorance played a role, and doesn't see how he was manipulated by psychopathic leaders to commit his crimes. He expresses no remorse, nor empathy. It's all about him.
Like I've said in my previous posts about crimes against humanity, the small groups of selfish sociopaths and psychopaths who create these hateful situations almost never personally commit their crimes themselves, yet are still able to achieve their goals, and are seldom held accountable.
They're successful because of their abilities to manipulate ignorant and selfish people (video) into supporting their efforts and committing the crimes on their behalf. They find enablers.
And this is where I disagree with the filmmaker's solution for preventing future genocide.
To me, the only solution in preventing the further atrocities of genocide comes from within each of us. It's not something that requires "other" people to address and prevent, especially selfish, apathetic, or corrupt politicians from other countries.
Genocide would never occur again if most of us were a little more skeptical and less trusting, looked beyond our own selfish motivations, controlled our emotions, and didn't enable these psychopaths to suck us into their sinister schemes. It's often as simple as being aware, and just saying "NO".
Friday, June 29, 2012
PBS POV | Granito: How to Nail a Dictator
In a stunning milestone for justice in Central America, a Guatemalan court recently charged former dictator Efraín Rios Montt with genocide for his brutal war against the country's Mayan people in the 1980s — and Pamela Yates' 1983 documentary, "When the Mountains Tremble", provided key evidence for bringing the indictment.
Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, a documentary by Pamela Yates, Paco de Onís, and Peter Kinoy, tells the extraordinary story of how a film, aiding a new generation of human rights activists, became a granito — a tiny grain of sand — that helped tip the scales of justice. Here's the trailer -
Related Link: Guatemala: The Secret Files
Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, a documentary by Pamela Yates, Paco de Onís, and Peter Kinoy, tells the extraordinary story of how a film, aiding a new generation of human rights activists, became a granito — a tiny grain of sand — that helped tip the scales of justice. Here's the trailer -
Related Link: Guatemala: The Secret Files
Sunday, May 20, 2012
The Bookeeper Of Death
If you're any type of humanities history buff like I am, or if recent history has already proven it to you, then you should know that the organizers and leaders of massive crimes against humanity or society rarely suffer any consequences from their horrific deeds.
Many of these criminal leaders eventually get off Scot-free or with minimal punishment once they're brought to "justice". And it's usually only the people who foolishly listened to them, then followed and carried-out the orders from these psychopaths, who ever get severely punished for these crimes.
But yet, to this day, many people continue to follow the orders of such psychopathic leaders and enable their crimes, no matter how horrific. Just how these psychopaths are still able to convince educated people of the world to blindly do what they say continues to amaze me.
People just do not have the ability to say "NO!" in these type of situations and will always place their own selfish interests above anything else, even if to the point of torture, murder, and even genocide.
If any of my previous posts haven't convinced you of that yet, then watch the story of Comrade Duch (Kaing Guek Eav) a Cambodian mathematician who served as the Khmer Rouge commandant at Tuol Sleng prison in the late 1970s and who oversaw the torture and murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children. Out of an estimated 17,000 people imprisoned at Tuol Sleng, there were only seven known survivors.
In this documentary Comrade Duch is brought up on charges of crimes against humanity at a special UN tribunal, and three of the prison’s seven survivors describe what they endured at Tuol Sleng.
Watching wrenching footage of his own brutality and facing the distraught families of his victims, Duch apologizes—leaving many to question his sincerity and raising the issue of forgiveness in the name of reconciliation. The full documentary can be seen on Global Voices, through June 19th or on your local PBS station.
Many of these criminal leaders eventually get off Scot-free or with minimal punishment once they're brought to "justice". And it's usually only the people who foolishly listened to them, then followed and carried-out the orders from these psychopaths, who ever get severely punished for these crimes.
But yet, to this day, many people continue to follow the orders of such psychopathic leaders and enable their crimes, no matter how horrific. Just how these psychopaths are still able to convince educated people of the world to blindly do what they say continues to amaze me.
People just do not have the ability to say "NO!" in these type of situations and will always place their own selfish interests above anything else, even if to the point of torture, murder, and even genocide.
If any of my previous posts haven't convinced you of that yet, then watch the story of Comrade Duch (Kaing Guek Eav) a Cambodian mathematician who served as the Khmer Rouge commandant at Tuol Sleng prison in the late 1970s and who oversaw the torture and murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children. Out of an estimated 17,000 people imprisoned at Tuol Sleng, there were only seven known survivors.
In this documentary Comrade Duch is brought up on charges of crimes against humanity at a special UN tribunal, and three of the prison’s seven survivors describe what they endured at Tuol Sleng.
Watching wrenching footage of his own brutality and facing the distraught families of his victims, Duch apologizes—leaving many to question his sincerity and raising the issue of forgiveness in the name of reconciliation. The full documentary can be seen on Global Voices, through June 19th or on your local PBS station.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The Real Drug Nazi
Yes, there really was a pharmacist whom the world considered "The Drug Nazi".
His name was Victor Capesius, and he was the SS pharmacist-in-charge at the concentration camp Auschwitz nearing the end of World War II. It has been estimated, among other crimes against humanity, that he was personally responsible for sending approximately 8,000 people into the gas chambers and crematoriums at that camp.
I just finished reading the horrific documentary novel entitled - The Druggist of Auschwitz. In it, Romanian author Dieter Schlesak tells the story of Victor Capesius, the apothecary at Auschwitz during its most active period as a Nazi death camp.
As described by the publisher - Adam, known as “the last Jew of Schäßburg,” recounts with disturbing clarity his imprisonment at the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp. Through Adam’s fictional narrative and excerpts of actual testimony from the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial of 1963–65, we come to learn of the true-life story of Dr. Victor Capesius, who, despite strong friendships with Jews before the war, quickly aided in and profited from their tragedy once the Nazis came to power.
Interspersed with historical research and the author’s face-to-face interviews with survivors, the novel follows Capesius from his assignment as the “sorter” of new arrivals at Auschwitz — deciding who will go directly to the gas chamber and who will be used for labor — through his life of lavish wealth after the war to his arrest, eventual trial, and conviction.
The Druggist of Auschwitz further intimately details eye-witnessed accounts from Capesius's own prisoner pharmacist "colleagues" of the many other horrific atrocities that Capesius and the camp medical staff committed against thousands of innocent men, women, and children, some of whom Capesius knew personally before the war.
After being free from prosecution for approximately fifteen-years after the war, Capesius was eventually found guilty during the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial of assisting in the murder of at least 8,000 individuals, a charge his lawyer acknowledged, but one he personally denied. Other charges against him were assisting in the gas chambers, supervising the liquidation of the gypsy camp, and administering intracardiac phenol injections to kill prisoners but, because of lack of proof, these were dropped.
Some witnesses alleged that Capesius had committed other crimes as well; it was suggested that he had enriched himself by taking prisoners’ last remaining possessions, including gold fillings taken from their teeth after they were gassed, or that he assisted Dr. Mengele in cruel “medical” experiments on inmates. No hard evidence was, however, found for these truthful allegations too, and Capesius was unjustly sentenced to only nine years in prison!
While I'd recommend this novel to others, I found The Druggist of Auschwitz a slightly difficult read as it bounces between the testimony of varied eyewitnesses from trial documents, the author's own notes from personal interviews of victims and perpetrators, including Capesius himself, and the narrative of the one fictional character, Adam. However, the author eases that difficulty by including an addendum of most significant figures, and the use of italic and roman font typefaces for differentiation.
I'd also recommend watching the excellent documentary entitled "Memorandum".
In it, you'll see Capesius and his other soulless mass-murdering medical cohorts on film showing their angry contempt at being brought to justice after years of living large on the spoils of their crimes. You'll find it hard to believe that this sixty minute documentary was actually made in 1965.
Related Links:
1. Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial & Museum
2. The History of the "Business With Disease"
3. Life as a human guinea pig
His name was Victor Capesius, and he was the SS pharmacist-in-charge at the concentration camp Auschwitz nearing the end of World War II. It has been estimated, among other crimes against humanity, that he was personally responsible for sending approximately 8,000 people into the gas chambers and crematoriums at that camp.
As described by the publisher - Adam, known as “the last Jew of Schäßburg,” recounts with disturbing clarity his imprisonment at the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp. Through Adam’s fictional narrative and excerpts of actual testimony from the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial of 1963–65, we come to learn of the true-life story of Dr. Victor Capesius, who, despite strong friendships with Jews before the war, quickly aided in and profited from their tragedy once the Nazis came to power.
Interspersed with historical research and the author’s face-to-face interviews with survivors, the novel follows Capesius from his assignment as the “sorter” of new arrivals at Auschwitz — deciding who will go directly to the gas chamber and who will be used for labor — through his life of lavish wealth after the war to his arrest, eventual trial, and conviction.
The Druggist of Auschwitz further intimately details eye-witnessed accounts from Capesius's own prisoner pharmacist "colleagues" of the many other horrific atrocities that Capesius and the camp medical staff committed against thousands of innocent men, women, and children, some of whom Capesius knew personally before the war.
After being free from prosecution for approximately fifteen-years after the war, Capesius was eventually found guilty during the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial of assisting in the murder of at least 8,000 individuals, a charge his lawyer acknowledged, but one he personally denied. Other charges against him were assisting in the gas chambers, supervising the liquidation of the gypsy camp, and administering intracardiac phenol injections to kill prisoners but, because of lack of proof, these were dropped.
Some witnesses alleged that Capesius had committed other crimes as well; it was suggested that he had enriched himself by taking prisoners’ last remaining possessions, including gold fillings taken from their teeth after they were gassed, or that he assisted Dr. Mengele in cruel “medical” experiments on inmates. No hard evidence was, however, found for these truthful allegations too, and Capesius was unjustly sentenced to only nine years in prison!
While I'd recommend this novel to others, I found The Druggist of Auschwitz a slightly difficult read as it bounces between the testimony of varied eyewitnesses from trial documents, the author's own notes from personal interviews of victims and perpetrators, including Capesius himself, and the narrative of the one fictional character, Adam. However, the author eases that difficulty by including an addendum of most significant figures, and the use of italic and roman font typefaces for differentiation.
I'd also recommend watching the excellent documentary entitled "Memorandum".
In it, you'll see Capesius and his other soulless mass-murdering medical cohorts on film showing their angry contempt at being brought to justice after years of living large on the spoils of their crimes. You'll find it hard to believe that this sixty minute documentary was actually made in 1965.
Related Links:
1. Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial & Museum
2. The History of the "Business With Disease"
3. Life as a human guinea pig
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