These films deal with the Holocaust in Europe, comprising both documentaries and narratives. They began to be produced in the early 1940s before the extent of the Holocaust at that time was widely recognized.
The films span a range of genres, with documentary films including footage filmed both by the Germans for propaganda and by the Allies, compilations, survivor accounts and docudramas, and narrative films including war films, action films, love stories, psychological dramas, and even comedies.
Narrative films: 1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s 1980s1990s2000s2010s2020s Documentary films: 1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s 1990s2000s2010s2020s See alsoReferences
1940s
Year Country Title Director Notes1942Once Upon a HoneymoonLeo McCarey Ginger Rogers' character helps her Jewish maid and the maid's two children escape Poland by switching passports with her. Nazi soldiers subsequently notice Rogers' character’s passport, and she and Cary Grant's character (both Irish-Americans) are put in a concentration camp populated by prisoners in Orthodox Jewish dress. Rogers and Grant are later sprung by the American consulate (as the ultimate point of the film is to portray Hitler's spread throughout Europe).1944PolandMajdanek: Cemetery of Europe Aleksander FordOne of the first films to include footage of concentration camps1945Soviet UnionThe UnvanquishedMark Donskoy First feature film to show mass murder of Jews and hunting for them on the occupied territories. 1946 Venice festival award.1946United StatesThe StrangerOrson Welles First feature film to include footage of concentration camps1946GermanyDie Mörder sind unter unsWolfgang Staudte The first Rubble Film and the first German film to address Nazi atrocities. English title: Murderers Among Us1947GermanyEhe im SchattenKurt Maetzig One of the earliest DEFA productions. English title: Marriage in the Shadows1947GermanyZwischen Gestern und MorgenHarald Braun One of the first German films to be made in Munich after the war and the first to openly address the Holocaust. English title: Between Yesterday and Tomorrow1948GermanyMorituriEugen York1948United StatesThe SearchFred Zinnemann In post-war Berlin, an American private helps a lost Czech boy find his mother.1948PolandUlica GranicznaAleksander Ford A Polish film about the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto, it premieres at the Venice Film Festival; it is released in English as Border Street in 1950.1948PolandThe Last StageWanda JakubowskaEnglish titles: The Last Stage, The Last Stop1949ItalyGoffredo Alessandrini First Italian film to openly address the Holocaust1949United StatesWest GermanyLang ist der WegHerbert B. FredersdorfMarek GoldsteinYiddish title: Lang iz der Veg; English title: Long Is the Road
1950s Year Country Title Director Notes1950CzechoslovakiaDistant JourneyAlfréd RadokEnglish title: Distant Journey1953United StatesThe JugglerEdward Dmytryk In 1949, former concentration camp inmate and Berlin native Hans Muller immigrates to Israel where, due to psychological problems, he cannot adjust to peacetime life.1956United StatesSinging in the DarkMax NosseckMusical about Holocaust survivors with amnesia1958–59United StatesPursuitIan Sharp Anthology series1959East GermanyBulgariaStarsKonrad WolfEnglish title: Stars1959United StatesThe Diary of Anne FrankGeorge StevensWon three Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress1959ItalyYugoslaviaFranceKapòGillo Pontecorvo1959PolandJerzy ZarzyckiA Jew who escaped from a transport to a concentration camp is hiding by posing for tourists disguised as a polar bear.
1960s Year Country Title Director Notes1960CzechoslovakiaRomeo, Julie a tmaJiří WeissEnglish title: Romeo, Juliet and Darkness. Concerns Operation Anthropoid.1960United StatesExodusOtto PremingerBased on the novel by Leon Uris; screenplay by Dalton Trumbo.1960YugoslaviaDeveti krugFrance StiglicEnglish title: The Ninth Circle1961ItalyGold of RomeCarlo Lizzani Italian title: L'oro di Roma1961United StatesJudgment at NurembergStanley Kramer Winner of Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay1961PolandSamsonAndrzej Wajda 1961BelgiumL'enclosArmand GattiItalian title: Otto ore al buio. Prix de la Critique at 1961 Cannes Festival.1963PolandPassengerAndrzej Munk1963East GermanyNaked Among WolvesFrank Beyer1964United StatesThe PawnbrokerSidney LumetA Jewish pawnbroker, victim of Nazi persecution, loses all faith in his fellow man until he realizes too late the tragedy of his actions.1965East GermanyChronik eines MordesJoachim HaslerEnglish title: Chronicle of a Murder1965CzechoslovakiaThe Shop On Main StreetJán Kadár & Elmar Klos1965GermanyThe InvestigationPeter WeissAlso as TV play "Die Ermittlung" (1966)1966United StatesThe Last ChapterBenjamin Rothman & Lawrence Rothman, S.L. ShneidermanDepicts the destruction of Polish Jewry by the Nazi onslaught, includes rare footage of Jewish life in early 20th century Poland.1967United StatesThe Diary of Anne FrankAlex SegalTV movie: Harrowing story of a young Jewish girl who, with her family and their friends, is forced into hiding in an attic in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam.1969FranceArmy of ShadowsJean Pierre Melville
1970s Year Country Title Director Notes1970PolandApelRyszard CzekałaAnimated short film1970PolandEpilog norymberskiJerzy AntczakTV Theatre reconstruction of Nuremberg trials1970ItalyWest GermanyThe Garden of the Finzi-ContinisVittorio De SicaItalian title: Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini; based on the novel by Giorgio Bassani; Oscar for Best Foreign Film1970YugoslaviaHranjenikVatroslav MimicaEnglish title: The Fed Ones1972United StatesThe Day the Clown CriedJerry LewisUnfinished film never shown to the general public1972United StatesCabaretBob FosseAmerican musical drama film set in Berlin during the Weimar Republic in 1931, as the Nazi Party rises towards power.1974IsraelWest GermanyAleksander FordEnglish title: The Martyr1974QB VIITom GriesTV miniseries; based on Leon Uris novel of same name1974ItalyThe Night PorterLiliana Cavani1974United KingdomWest GermanyThe Odessa FileRonald NeameBased on Frederick Forsyth novel of same name1975East GermanyJacob the LiarFrank BeyerBased on the novel by Jurek Becker1975United StatesThe Hiding PlaceJames F. CollierBased on the autobiography of Corrie ten Boom1975ItalySeven BeautiesLina Wertmüller1975United StatesThe Man in the Glass BoothArthur Hiller1976United StatesMarathon ManJohn Schlesinger1976FranceMonsieur KleinJoseph Losey1976SpainVoyage of the DamnedStuart Rosenberg1977ItalyL'ultima orgia del III ReichCesare Canevari1977United StatesJuliaFred ZinnemannBased on a chapter from Lillian Hellman's 1973 book Pentimento about the author's relationship with a lifelong friend, "Julia", who fought against the Nazis in the years prior to World War II. It received 11 Academy Award nominations including for Best Picture1978HolocaustMarvin J. ChomskyTV miniseries, popularised the term 'Holocaust'.1978YugoslaviaOkupacija u 26 slikaLordan Zafranović1979West GermanyBaranskiWerner Masten1979West GermanyThe Tin DrumVolker Schlöndorff1979West GermanyDavidPeter Lilienthal1979United StatesThe House on Garibaldi StreetPeter Collinson
1980s Year Country Title Director Notes1980United StatesThe Diary of Anne FrankBoris SagalTV movie1980United StatesPlaying For TimeDaniel MannTV film; based on the autobiography of Fania Fénelon; adaptation by Arthur Miller1981FranceLes Uns et les AutresClaude LelouchEnglish title: Bolero1982West GermanyEin Stück HimmelFranz Peter WirthTV mini-series; based on the autobiography of Janina David1982United StatesSophie's ChoiceAlan J. PakulaBased on the novel by William Styron; Meryl Streep won Academy Award for Best Actress1982AustriaGod Does Not Believe in Us AnymoreAxel Cortihttp://www.jewishfilm.org/Catalogue/films/goddoesnotbelieveinus.htm1983FranceCanadaAu Nom de Tous les MiensRobert EnricoEnglish title: For Those I Loved; based on the book by Martin Gray1983HungaryJób lázadásaBarna KabayEnglish title: Job's Revolt1983United StatesTo Be Or Not To BeAlan JohnsonA remake of the 1942 comedy, starring Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft.1983United StatesWest GermanyItalyThe Scarlet and the BlackJerry LondonTV movie; based on the J.P. Gallagher novel The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican1983United StatesThe Winds of WarDan CurtisBased on the novel by Herman Wouk;1984YugoslaviaBanjicaSava MrmakTV mini-series1984West GermanyForbiddenAnthony Page1984West GermanyWannseekonferenzHeinz SchirkTV movie1985United StatesWallenberg: A Hero's StoryLamont JohnsonFeature documentary about the effects of the Holocaust on the next generation of Jews and Germans.1985Soviet UnionCome and SeeElem KlimovRussian title: Idi i smotri, Winner Venice Classics Award for Best Restored film1985CanadaDark LullabiesIrene Lilienheim Angelico and Abbey Jack Neidik1987United KingdomYugoslaviaEscape from SobiborJack GoldBased on the book by Richard RashkeNominated for three Golden Globe Awards; won two, including Best Limited Series or Motion Picture made for Television1987FranceAu revoir les enfantsLouis Malle1988PolandUnited StatesAnd the Violins Stopped PlayingAlexander Ramati1988United StatesThe Attic: The Hiding of Anne FrankJohn ErmanTV movie1988United StatesHanna's WarMenahem Golan1988PolandKornblumenblauThe film was selected as the Polish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 62nd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.1988United StatesWar and RemembranceDan CurtisTV mini-series; based on the novel by Herman Wouk, and the sequel to The Winds of WarNominated for 15 Primetime Emmy Awards; won 3 including Outstanding Miniseries1989United StatesEnemies, a Love StoryPaul MazurskyBased on the novel by Isaac Bashevis Singer1989United StatesMusic BoxCosta-Gavras1989United StatesTriumph of the SpiritRobert M. Young1989United StatesMurderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal StoryBrian Gibson (director)
1990s