Holocaust documentaries on Netflix include movies like 1. Operation Finale, 2. The Forgotten Battle, 3. My Best Friend Anne Frankis and seven others.
Holocaust is one of history’s most disgraceful and miserable events. During World War II, Nazi forces and their collaborator executed a massacre that killed many Jews.
Such films have prioritized not only the dreadfulness performed during World War II but also in the decades following the war where the crimes were seen. People have been treated badly and freedom was lost in many wars from the start.
The Nazi concentration camps, where Jews, prisoners of war, and resistance fighters were imprisoned, were comparable to nightmares.
Many movies have focused on the main ideas and forgotten heroes who saved the Jewish people. Though, there is a small portion of such films on Netflix.
Here is a list of some of the Holocaust movies available on Netflix now.
10. The Last Days
The Last Days is a documentary movie from 1998 that James Moll directed.
The movie speaks about the stories of five Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. It focuses on World War II when Nazi Germany occupied Hungary and started the mass displacement of Jews in the country to the destruction of camps, mainly Auschwitz.
It portrays the horrors and struggles of life in camp but also strains the optimism and perseverance of the survivors.
The documentary includes interviews with five Hungarian Jews who survived Auschwitz and lived through the Final Solution.
June Beallor and Kenneth Lipper produced the film. Similarly, the production company is Shoah Foundation. The movie was first released in 1998 and was re-released on May 19, 2021, on Netflix, and the total running time was 87 minutes.
At the 71st Academy Awards, the film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. And has been nominated for American Cinema Editor for Best Edited Documentary Film, Awards Circuit Community Awards for Best Documentary Feature, and Online Film and Television Association for Best Documentary Picture.
The Last Days received positive reviews from critics. The Rotton Tomatoes website has given a 92% of approval rating. On Metacritic, it secures a score of 85 out of 100. Likewise, IMDb has rated it 1.9 out of 10.
Cast Members of The Last Days
- Bill Basch as Holocaust Survivor
- Warren Dunn as US Army
- Hans Munch as Nazi Doctor
- Randolph Braham as a Historian and Holocaust Survivor
- Dario Gabbai as Sonderkommando, Birkenau and others
9. Anne Frank Parallel Stories
Anne Frank Parallel Stories is an English-language Italian documentary film of 2019. Sabina Fedeli and Anna Migotto directed the movie.
The family was captured by Gestapo in 1944 and shifted to camps when Anne was just a girl when she hid for two years. Only Anne’s father survived the war, and he published his daughter’s diary as The Diary of a Young Girl. Here, Helen recalls the events of the little girl’s life in the movie.
The movie is based on five surviving children of the Holocaust who are seen in a movie with grandchildren. These survivors are interviewed in the film.
Franco Di Sarro, Didi Gnocchi, Nexo Digital, and others produce the documentary. In American theatres, it was released on January 22, 2020, while it premiered on Netflix on July 2, 2020. The total running time of the movie is 92 minutes.
The film was received positively by critics. The Rotton Tomatoes holds an 89% approval rating. Similarly, IMDb has rated it 6.5 out of 10. Critics have said that the film is a moving documentary about the Holocaust that would help viewers connect to the past.
Cast Members in Anne Frank Parallel Stories
- Helen Mirren
- Anne Frank (archive footage)
- Martina Gatti
- Arianna Szorenyi
8. The Pianist
The Pianist is a 2002 war drama film produced and directed by Roman Polanski.
The Pianist is based on an autobiography of the same name released in 1946 by Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Holocaust survivor. The musician is renowned as the best pianist in Poland.
The movie is not a thriller and it avoids any desire to activate suspense as the pianist witness what he saw and what happened to him.
That he survived was not an achievement when all the people whom he loved died. Polanski has said his mother’s demise in the gas chambers remains so hurtful while talking about his own experiences.
The film illustrates the trouble of the Szpilan family forced into a Ghetto and later shifted to the extermination camp Treblinka. Szpilan survives and someone recognizes him as a famous pianist.
He is kept alive through several barriers along the way. It was shot in Poland, Prague, and a German studio.
The producers of the film are Roman Polanski, Alain Sarde, and Robert Benmussa. And, the production companies are Canal and Studio Babelsberg StudioCanal. The release date of the film was on September 6, 2002, with a running time of 150 minutes.
The Pianist has won 57 awards and has been nominated for 74. Some of his winning lists are Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, Association of Polish Filmmakers Critics Awards, Awards Circuit Community Awards, and more.
On review, Rotton Tomatoes holds a rating of 95% with an average rating of 8.20 out of 10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 85% out of 100. Additionally, IMDb has rated it 8.5 out of 10.
Cast
- Adrien Brody as Wladyslaw Szpilman
- Thomas Krestschmann as Captain Wilm Hosenfeld
- Frank Finlay as Samuel Szpilman
- Maureen Lipman as Edwarda Szpilman
- Emilia Fox as Dorota
- Ed Stoppard as Henryk Szpilman and others.
7. Hitler-A Career
Hitler-A Career is the movie of 1977. Christian Herrendoerfer and Joachim Fest directed it.
This film is one of the most inspiring documentaries on the life of Hilter and the time when he shows ambitious power to other people. The abuses of power committed by Hilter are appropriately reflected in the film so that people can understand who the person he is.
Articles, videos, and picture reels of Hitler’s speeches are shown in Hitler: A Career, all of which are important moments in history.
Werner Rieb produces the movie. The movie was released on July 8, 1977, with a total running time of 150 minutes.
The film was initially received with discussion among some critics, mainly in Germany. IMDb has rated the movie 7.5 out of 10. Similarly, 56% of google users liked the film.
Cast
- Gert Westphal as Narrator
- Stephen Murray as Narrator of the English version
- Artur Axmann (Archive footage)
- General Bergeret (Archive footage)
- Ernest Bevin (Archive footage) and others.
6. Hitler’s Circle of Evil
Hitler’s Circle of Evil is a British documentary television series.
This is the story of the rise and fall of the Third Reich told like the drama it was: through the personal relationships of the movers and shakers of the Nazi Party.
It is a character study of the key players around Hitler who dominated the Nazi party and enabled Hitler’s plans, from Goebbels and Goring to Himmler and Hess.
There are a total of ten episodes of the document series each of fifty-two minutes. The series was released in 2018.
The Movie has received critical acclaim. Similarly, IMDb has rated it 8.0 out of 10.
Crew Members of the Movie
- Guy Walters a Historian and Author
- Alisdair Simpson as Narrator
- Michael Lynch at the University of Leicester
- Richard Overy at the University of Exeter
- Thomas Weber at the University of Aberdeen
- Toby Thacker at Cardiff University and others.
5. Operation Finale
Operation Finale is a 2018 American historical film directed by Chris Weitz.
The film is directed from a screenplay by Matthew Orton about a 1960 secret operation by Israeli commandos. They were to capture former SS officer Adolf Eichmann and shift him to Argentina for a trial on charges of crimes against humanity in 1961.
Following the affirmation of Eichmann’s existence in Argentina, a team of Israeli agents travels to Argentina. They spend days detecting his house and updating his daily schedule.
The kidnapping, however, notifies his guards, and the Israelis soon find themselves in a dangerous game of hiding with police and Nazi officials as they try to run another country.
Matthew Orton wrote the movie and it is edited by Pamela Martin. The production companies of the film are Automatik Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was officially released in the United States on August 29, 2018. The total run time of the movie is 123 minutes.
It has been awarded as Cinema for Peace Award of 2019 and the International Film Music Critics Award of 2019.
Despite the good performance of the performers the movie has received average reviews from the viewers. The Rotton Tomatoes has given it 61% and IMDb has rated it 6.6 out of 10.
Cast
- Oscar Isaac as Peter Malkin
- Ben Kingsley as Adolf Eichmann
- Lior Raz as Isser Harel
- Nick Kroll as Rafi Eitan
- Joe Alwyn as Klaus Eichmann
- Haley Lu Richardson as Sylvia Hermann
- Michael Aronov as Zvi Aharoni and others.
4. The Forgotten Battle
The Forgotten Battle is a 2020 Dutch World War II film directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr that represents the Battle of the Schekdt in 1944.
The movie is a narrative of situations that unite three appearing unrelated persons in the days leading up to the Battle of the Scheldt, set in German-occupied Zeeland.
The first one of the three, Teuntje Visser is a disinclined resistance newcomer who finds comfort in the cause after her brother is executed for attacking a convoy by the Nazis.
Marinus van Staveren, a Dutch Nazi volunteer, commiserates with Teuntje and attempts to diminish her brother’s sentence, but the system is finally achieved.
Let down by the Nazi autocracy and everything it stands for, Staveren begins to doubt his commitment to the Nazi cause. At the time, Sergeant Will Sinclair of the Glider Pilot Regiment and a few others crash in the vicinity before engaging German troops in combat.
The events leading up to the Battle of Walcheren Causeway are beautifully presented in the movie.
The producers of the movie include Matthew Barrett, Martin Hughes, Phil Howard Jones, Philip Nugus, and Antony Oliphant. Similarly, the production company of the film is World Media Rights.
Jonathan Martin has written the movie and was narrated by Robert Powell. There is a total of thirteen episodes in the film with a running time of approximately 10 hours and 33 minutes. It was first released in 2008-2009.
Awards granted for movies such as Golden and Platin Film, Nederlands Film Festival. It has also been nominated for Nederlands Film Festival.
The movie has received average reviews. The Rotton Tomatoes has given it 31% overall. Likewise, IMDb and Letterboxd have ranked it 5.8 out of 10 and 2,5 out of 5 respectively.
Cast
- Gijs Blom as Marinus van Staveren
- Jamie Flatters as William Sinclair
- Jan Bijvoet as Doctor Visser
- Tom Felton as Tony Turner
- Coen Bril as Henk Schneijder
- Scott Reid as Nigel
- Theo Barklem-Biggs as John and others.
3. My Best Friend Anne Frank
My Best Friend Anne Frank is a 2021 Dutch film directed by Ben Sombogaart.
The film represents the story of the friendship between Hanneli Goslar and Anne Frank. It is based on Memories of Anna Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend. It is the first Dutch cinema film about the life of Anne Frank.
The writers of the movie are Marian Batavier and Paul Ruven and the editor is Herman P. Koerts. Similarly, producers include Julia Berkes, Ben Bouwmeester, Marcel de Block, Ate de Jong, and many others.
In October 2021 the film won the Golden Film award after having sold 100,000 tickets. Part of the film was filmed in Hungary. The movie was released on September 9, 2021, on Netflix.
IMDb has rated it 6.2 out of 10. Similarly, Rotton Tomatoes has given it 63% as the average audience score.
Casting Members of the movie
- Anne by Aiko Beemsterboer
- Hannah by Josephine Arendsen
- Vader Frank by Stefan de Walle
- Fritz by Zsolt Trill
- Officer Bruno by Bjorn Freiberg
- Moeder Goslar by Lottie Hellingman and others.
2. Camp Confidential: America’s Secret Nazis
Camp Confidential: America’s Secret Nazis is a short documentary movie of 2021 featuring animation.
The documentary focused on the story of a top-secret POW camp that was classified for over five decades. Amid WWII, a group of young Jewish refugees is assigned to guard a top-secret POW camp near Washington, D.C.
The Jewish soldiers soon discover that their prisoners are no other than Hitler’s top scientists; they get shocking news when tasked with a different mission. A mission that would question their moral values, revealing a dark secret from America’s past.
The film was directed by Daniel Sivan and Mor Loushy and produced by Benji and Jono Bergmann.
Three nominations have been given to the movie, including Critics Choice Documentary Award for Best Short Documentary. Hollywood Music In Media Awards for Best Original Score- Short Film and News and Documentary Emmy Awards for Outstanding Music Composition.
The Rotton Tomatoes have given it 100%, whereas IMDb has rated it 6.6 out of 10.
Cast
- Alferd Bomberg
- Arno Mayer
- Rudolph Pins
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Peter Wiess
- Wernher von Braun
1. The Resistance Banker
The Resistance Banker is a 2018 Dutch World War II drama directed by Joram Lursen.
The story is based on the life of banker Walraven Van Hall who subsidized the Dutch resistance during the war. It takes place during the 1940s Dutch resistance. The film opens in the German-occupied Netherlands.
One of the antagonistic members appeals to Van Hall, asking for cash through his outreach. Then he creates a foolproof network of forged loans with his brother to support guerilla warfare and assist those in exile.
The twins then defraud the Dutch bank of millions of guilders to aid the resistance cause directly in front of the Nazis’ eyes. Soon after 1945, Holland is released.
Marieke van der Pol and Thomas van der Ree wrote the documentary, which Peter Alderliesten edited. It was released on March 8, 2018, with a total running time of 123 minutes.
It has been awarded Golden and Platin Film of 2018, Nederlands Film Festival of 2018 for Best Production Design, Best Film, Audience Award, Best Director of a feature film, and others.
At the same time, the movie has been nominated for Buma Music in Motion, De Zilveren Krulstaart, Nederlands Film Festival, and Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Overall, The Resistance Banker is a gripping thriller that uniquely tells the story.
Here, The Rotton Tomatoes has given 100% from its side. Likewise, IMDb has rated it 6.9 out of 10.
The Resistance Banker Cast
- Barry Atsma as Walraven van Hall
- Jacob Derwig as Gijs van Hall
- Pierre Bokma as Meinoud Rost van Tonningen
- Raymond Thiry as Van den Berg
- Steef de Bot as Jonas van Berkel
- Fockeline Ouwerkerk as Tilly van Hall
- Ali Zijlstra as Jeanette Veentra and others.