"Holocaust" is a brilliantly made mini-series that made a HUGE social impact when it debuted. Here in the US, the term 'Holocaust' was rarely used before 1978 and it's become a familiar part of our lexicon since. The series follows the Weiss family from 1935-1945 and shows how these Jews fared during the Holocaust. Additionally, the Dorf family who know the Weiss family is shown as a parallel. Unlike the Weiss clan, the Dorfs are gentiles. At first, they seem like decent people but over time, they become caught up in the SS and Erik becomes one of the architects of the Final Solution. The plots are all well-written and as the Weisses are disbursed, you see how each of them is caught up in the hate and hysteria. In addition to nice direction and writing, it didn't hurt that the show had an amazingly competent cast which included Fritz Weaver, Meryl Streep, James Woods, Sam Wanamaker, Michael Moriarty and many more.
While I truly believe that this is one of the greatest mini-series events of all-time, the show is not quite perfect. One problem is NOT the fault of the filmmakers and that is that the Jewish prisoners and ghetto residents look way too healthy. You cannot starve actors enough without killing them to really approximate how awful it really was--so it is, unintentionally, a bit sanitized. Also, while it was not necessary, it would have been nice to know the dates as events unfolded. Sometimes this is given--mostly is it not.
One final note. Although the series was apparently comprised of four episodes, on DVD, it's stretched into five.
