The World at War

[Derek Smith]

I've been following the series on Yesterday. Tonight's episode was unbelievably moving. It was about the German concentration camps.

The whole series is available on Yesterday replay but if you see only one, pick tonight's.

It should be compulsory viewing for all at the age of 16, not to be anti German but as a warning that extremists should be fought as soon as they show their colours.

Really shocking. Racism written large.

Watch it if only for the sake of the 6 million.

[bstb3]

Agree with this, though I wouldn't wait until 16. I do understand that some of the scenes and imagery used can be upsetting, particularly this episode, but why wait until youngsters will already have formed quite a few of their opinions / views of the world. I'd make it lower secondary school, say around 12-13.

That said I'm not sure that even this series would carry such an impact with our desensitized youth these days, but perhaps I do them a disservice. The war in question is becoming too remote to them - perhaps a similar series based on current and recent conflicts around the world would be better (though i'd wager whoever made it would be immediately dogged by claims of bias and misinformation, such is the general distrust of things nowadays).

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Still in my opinion the greatest televisual feat ever achieved.

[oilbethere]

Derek Smith said:

I've been following the series on Yesterday. Tonight's episode was unbelievably moving. It was about the German concentration camps.

The whole series is available on Yesterday replay but if you see only one, pick tonight's.

It should be compulsory viewing for all at the age of 16, not to be anti German but as a warning that extremists should be fought as soon as they show their colours.

Really shocking. Racism written large.

Watch it if only for the sake of the 6 million.

6 million?

[Eric Mc]

Jews who died in the camps. The actual figure of all killed is probably higher.

This series and "The Nazis - A Warning from History" are both "must see".

[oilbethere]

Eric Mc said:

Jews who died in the camps. The actual figure of all killed is probably higher.

This series and "The Nazis - A Warning from History" are both "must see".

What about the other people who died?

[dieselgrunt]

i saw Night Will Fall recently and the footage from the death camps they used was horrific.

[Wacky Racer]

I remember watching the series when it was first aired on TV way back in 1973.

I have the full set on DVD.

Probably the finest documentary ever made.

Laurence Oliver narrated it superbly.

At today's prices it cost around £10 million to make.

It has been estimated that 6 million jews died during the conflict.

In addition 55,000 of our finest in Bomber Command, enough to fill Newcastle United's stadium.

[oilbethere]

Wacky Racer said:

I remember watching the series when it was first aired on TV way back in 1973.

I have the full set on DVD.

Probably the finest documentary ever made.

Laurence Oliver narrated it superbly.

At today's prices it cost around £10 million to make.

It has been estimated that 6 million jews died during the conflict.

In addition 55,000 of our finest in Bomber Command, enough to fill Newcastle United's stadium.

It's a fascinating watch.

Without sounding like a Labour party member it annoys me how the Jewish death numbers are always quoted as the be all and end all. Quick Google estimates 70-80 million overall deaths of everyone sadly involved.

[Yipper]

Russia lost the most military deaths. Germany was ruthless and Russia treated its soldiers as worthless cannon fodder.

China lost the most civilian deaths. Japan was as sick as Germany.

[Eric Mc]

oilbethere said:

What about the other people who died?

In the camps or in the war?

And, so what. Derek was talking specifically about the camps - which were a horror above and beyond the ordinary horrors of war.

[Lucas CAV]

The participation of many of the decision makers (rather than people on the ground) is part of what makes the series so powerful.

[Smiler.]

I recently watched one of the three documentaries on Amazon about the Eastern Front.

Hitler & Stalin were interchangeable evils. When the Wermacht first moved east under Barbarossa, many satellites of the Soviet Union saw it as deliverance from their long endured dictatorship.

Little did they know the plan for German resettlement driving their would be saviours.

What staggers me is how the whole thing kept going for so long. Towards the end, particularly in the east, the fight was for a different kind of survival. But still, how the whole rotten house of cards didn't fall before is almost incredible.

Then again, it took over ten times that period for the USSR to collapse.

The most depressing thing is that some people say "never again". The evil behind it is still alive & well as demonstrated on an almost daily basis.

[jjohnson23]

Watched this as a kid in the 70's.Amazing and upsetting in equal measures.
I still watch it today and am astounded how relevant it is even now considering how long ago it was made.
Some episodes are very disturbing to watch but its an excellent way for kids to see history as it really was without having to endure war for real.
I doubt many today would be prepared to sit and watch it though.

[Eric Mc]

Smiler. said:

The most depressing thing is that some people say "never again". The evil behind it is still alive & well as demonstrated on an almost daily basis.

Peoples' feelings and motivations don't change - including the dark ones. All that is required is for evil characters to arise and try to exploit those dark emotions. We are seeing plenty of examples of that today.

[MartG]

oilbethere said:

Without sounding like a Labour party member it annoys me how the Jewish death numbers are always quoted as the be all and end all. Quick Google estimates 70-80 million overall deaths of everyone sadly involved.

The difference being that the 6 million Jews ( and other minorities ) were German civilian citizens killed by their own government

[chris watton]

jjohnson23 said:

Watched this as a kid in the 70's.Amazing and upsetting in equal measures.
I still watch it today and am astounded how relevant it is even now considering how long ago it was made.
Some episodes are very disturbing to watch but its an excellent way for kids to see history as it really was without having to endure war for real.
I doubt many today would be prepared to sit and watch it though.

I also watched this as a kid when it first aired in the '70's. Some of the images were very graphic, two episodes spring to mind, the aforementioned concentration camp (one of the last episodes), and one of the US versus Japan 'Island Hopping' episodes. I still remember the scene where the soldiers turned one corpse over and he was missing half of his body.

I now have this on BR, and I still rate it as one of the best series' explaining WW2 from almost all aspects. it even has interviews from both allied and axis high command. I cannot ever see that kind of even handed coverage happening today, lest someone gets upset.

[RemyMartin81D]

Always found the combination of the music and the final image of Anne Frank used in the intro deeply unsettling

[Smiler.]

MartG said:

oilbethere said:

Without sounding like a Labour party member it annoys me how the Jewish death numbers are always quoted as the be all and end all. Quick Google estimates 70-80 million overall deaths of everyone sadly involved.

The difference being that the 6 million Jews ( and other minorities ) were German civilian citizens killed by their own government

Well more to the point was that it was a systematic programme to eliminate a selection of the populace based solely on their ethnicity.

Hitler & his cronies weren't the only ones with such aspirations, but probably not seen for a few decades since the Turks with the Armenians (shhhh) & one with far greater numbers.

[Wills2]

It's a great series and I love the fact that they interviewed lots of senior people that were at the heart of it on all sides, however I've never understood how Albert Speer managed to escape the gallows to be interviewed in the first place.