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This Movie About Auschwitz Puts ‘The Zone of Interest’ to Shame
People with Israeli flags attend the International March of the Living at the former Auschwitz Nazi German death camp, in Brzezinka near Oswiecim, Poland, May 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
It’s rare that awful films are followed up by excellent ones on the same topic. After the sickening The Zone of Interest erased Jews from its drama and showed a boring life of the commandant of Auschwitz in a way that failed on every level, the new documentary The Commandant’s Shadow succeeds on every level.
The new film is a documentary that centers on Kai Hoss, the grandson of the Auschwitz commandant, Rudolf Hoss. Kai takes his father to Auschwitz, and they realize the enormity of what had taken place there.
Amazingly, in the climax of the film, they go to meet Auschwitz survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch who is mentally sharp at 98, and she asks the men if they have hate for the commandant. There is a disturbing but telling scene where the daughter of the commandant is partly in denial.
Director Daniela Volker knows what she is doing by getting to the root of the idea that while it’s not possible to forgive — nor is it possible to atone — for what an ancestor has done, a gesture is worth something. This is also a fine film to show in classrooms and is highly educational. There is narration from Hoss’ diary, which is some of the best direct evidence of the horrors of the Holocaust.
There is more emotion in any 10 seconds of this film than the entire disaster of The Zone of Interest, which somehow won an Oscar.
Kai Hoss, a pastor, deserves credit for allowing himself to be put on film when most people would hide in shame and not want it known that their grandfather was one of the most notorious murderers of all time.
Maya Lasker Wallfisch has been traumatized by her mother’s experience, and her mother admits that she was more distant than she otherwise would have been. The legacy of Holocaust victims’ children and grandchildren is something that few people contemplate — but this movie shows the legacy of the horrors done to the Jewish people.
In a social media world of disinformation, The Commandant’s Shadow could not be more timely. It is a film with heart and substance, and shows that every person must come to terms with their specific place in the world, grappling with whatever emotional beasts hound them, lest they always remain a prisoner. That a survivor and the progeny of the commandant of Auschwitz would agree to meet is remarkable, and the conversation has chutzpah and truth.
At a time when there are fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors remaining, Wallfisch is a treasure, and this film is a great gift to the world.
Volker avoids being preachy. She doesn’t think this documentary will end antisemitism, but it is some progress that a grandson wants change.
The film is slightly uplifting, and the humanity of the film comes across in a profound way. Bravo.
The author is a writer based in New York.
The post This Movie About Auschwitz Puts ‘The Zone of Interest’ to Shame 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.