The Oscar-winning film "Zone of Interest" was one of the most talked about in 2023. The film by the British Jonathan Glazer focuses on the family life of Rudolf H (the commandant of Auschwitz).

The camera follows - from behind the keyhole of his front door - the peaceful family life, when next to the verdant "paradise" dominates the absolute Hell of humanity: Auschwitz.

Now a documentary has been released that takes the film's theme one step further. "The Commandant's Shadow" focuses on Es's son Gergen and his time living on the side (partition wall...) of the infamous concentration camp during World War II.

Unlike the fictional film 'Zone of Interest', based on the novel by Martin Amis, the documentary 'The Commandant's Shadow' penetrates the depths of Auschwitz and the inhumane treatment of those held at the infamous concentration camp through human contact. The camera follows son Ess and his grandson as they travel back in time to the former's life, with the two meeting 98-year-old Holocaust survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, the 'Auschwitz cellist', and her daughter.

According to the production company's official synopsis, this is "the first time the descendant of a despicable war criminal meets a Holocaust survivor in such a private and intimate setting, Anita's London drawing room."

Ess claims in the documentary that he did not know what was going on in Auschwitz, explaining to the documentary's participants that he thought "it was a prison and his father was the commandant", adding: "I had a really wonderful and idyllic childhood in Auschwitz"!

That's something his grandson can't understand: "It's just shocking when you think about it." Along with showing these newly filmed scenes, the documentary also uses archival footage to tell the story of Auschwitz, which combined with the writings of Rudolf H. himself, presents a complete picture of the concentration camp and its lasting effect on people in and out of it.

The documentary "The Commander's Shadow", directed by Daniela Volker, premiered at the Docaviv Festival in Israel, winning the "Yad Vashem" award for documentary film related to the Holocaust.

"In the wake of the horrors of October 7 and at a time when anti-Semitism has reached levels not seen since the Holocaust, 'The Commander's Shadow' is a stark reminder that there can be no reconciliation without a true and honest assessment of past. Only then can we hope to avoid history repeating itself and build a better future," writes the production company: Warner Bros-Discovery.

The Commandant's Shadow

"The Commandant's Shadow" has received mostly positive reviews, as evidenced by the 91% rating it currently holds on Rotten Tomatoes. Nick Schager of the US news website The Daily Beast called the film "a compelling work of penetration and confrontation, and a timely and urgent warning about the continuing threat of anti-Semitism". Leslie Combemale of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists wrote that "this documentary is so powerful, it shakes you even days later".

We are waiting for it!

SOURCE: NATION, 20.6.2024

Related: See HERE the documentary trailer