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New Hulu Mini-Series ‘We Were the Lucky Ones’ Details True Story About Holocaust Survivors With All-Jewish Cast
The sign “Arbeit macht frei” (“Work makes you free”) is pictured at the main gate of the former Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz in Oswiecim, Poland. Photo: Reuters/Pawel Ulatowski
The cast and crew behind the new Holocaust drama We Were the Lucky Ones streaming on Hulu have emphasized the continued need to share stories about the Nazis’ systematic slaughter of the Jewish people amid a global rise in antisemitism and Holocaust denial.
The limited series is based on the 2017 New York Times best-selling novel of the same name by Georgia Hunter and is inspired by the true story of how Hunter’s Jewish relatives, the Kurc family, were separated at the start of World War II in Radom, Poland, and made all efforts to survive and reunite. Logan Lerman and Joey King lead the show’s all-Jewish main ensemble and play two of five Kurc siblings in the eight-episode series.
Lerman’s own personal connection to the Holocaust stems from his grandfather, who was born in Germany and had to flee his home country at the age of seven to escape the Holocaust. He and his family found refuge in Shanghai. In We Were the Lucky Ones , the 32-year-old plays Addy, who is Hunter’s grandfather.
At the We Were the Lucky Ones premiere in Los Angeles, Erica Lipez — showrunner, writer, and executive producer of the limited series— told Variety about the importance of relaying stories about the Holocaust.
“I think I took for granted growing up that it would be a subject matter that was always taught, and it’s not being taught in the same way that it used to be,” Lipez explained. “I think Holocaust denial is still out there and antisemitism is on the rise. And I think we need to understand how something like this can happen more than ever.”
Actress Robin Weigert, who stars as a member of the Kurc family, echoed similar sentiments while talking to Variety about the show’s impact on young audience members.
“I think a lot about World War II has been a bit buried for younger people,” she said. “They don’t necessarily understand the extent of the horror perpetrated upon the Jews in the second World War. [In We Were the Lucky Ones] the camera stays very tight with these young people as they’re having an experience of it and the empathy that it evokes — because it’s good storytelling — I think that has a tremendous value.”
Israeli actor Michael Aloni, who also stars in the show, said he hopes the mini-series will educate audiences about World War II and the horrors that many Jewish families faced under the reign of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
“I’m thinking [that] this series can do a lot of good in educating people and telling them [that] this [the Holocaust] is not stories, this is real life that happened and not so long [ago],” the former Shtisel star told the New York Post. “We Were the Lucky Ones is about a family that survived, so many families weren’t that lucky … This is a black hole in human history and it’s an important lesson to know so you won’t repeat it again.”
King, who is Jewish but does not identify as religious, told People magazine she felt “lucky to be part of a show that celebrates Jews.”
“I was always really proud to be who I am, but working on a show where it’s the theme 24/7, you are dealing with this heavy subject matter and your own background tied with it, it was a really beautiful thing,” she noted.
We Were the Lucky Ones is now streaming on Hulu.
The post New Hulu Mini-Series ‘We Were the Lucky Ones’ Details True Story About Holocaust Survivors With All-Jewish Cast first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.