
"You're free. Go home" Most Holocaust films end with these words, the very words that survivors heard at liberation. After Auschwitz begins with these words, inviting audiences to experience what happened next. For survivors, liberation from the camps was the beginning of a life long struggle. They wanted to go home, but there was no home left in Europe. They came to America and wanted to tell people about their pasts but were silenced for over three decades. "You're in Ameri... (Full plot summary below)
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"You're free. Go home" Most Holocaust films end with these words, the very words that survivors heard at liberation. After Auschwitz begins with these words, inviting audiences to experience what happened next. For survivors, liberation from the camps was the beginning of a life long struggle. They wanted to go home, but there was no home left in Europe. They came to America and wanted to tell people about their pasts but were silenced for over three decades. "You're in America now, put it behind you". After Auschwitz is a "Post-Holocaust" documentary that captures what it means to survive and try to life a normal life after unspeakable tragedy. Six extraordinary women who all survived Auschwitz take us on a journey that American audiences have never seen before. These women all moved to Los Angeles, married, raised children and became "Americans" but they never truly found a place to call home. What makes the story so much more fascinating is how these women saw, interpreted and interacted with the changing face of America in the second half of the 20th century. They serve as our guides on an unbelievable journey, sometimes celebratory, sometimes heart breaking but always inspiring. It is also the only "Holocaust" film that includes Ricardo Montalban, George W. Bush and an appearance at The Kennedy Center Honors. After Auschwitz gives us the story that we have always wanted to see and one that in many ways is as important as the stories of the camps themselves.
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| Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenKean's perceptive film does an effective job of keeping their moving, lucid observations vitally alive. |
| Film ThreatJoshua SpeiserAfter Auschwitz: The Story of Six Women is beautifully shot, crisply edited and scored, and directed with purpose and clarity. The documentary is an affecting, tender, and moving work of filmmaking. |
| Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerThe film’s thesis is that the struggle to survive did not end with the camps. Each of the women profiled recounts, with varying degrees of intensity, the difficulties in creating a “normal” life in a world where the concept of “home” can no longer fully resonate. |
| Washington PostMichael O'SullivanAfter Auschwitz also addresses more mundane subjects as well: making a wedding dress from leftover parachute silk, emigrating to America, finding jobs, buying cars, registering to vote. The smallest things become imbued with an importance out of proportion to their significance to the rest of us. |
| AARP Movies for GrownupsTim AppeloThe timing is excellent for Jon Kean's documentary featuring six women who entered the Nazi camp at ages 18 to 23 and made new lives in America, from a fashion designer to a Hollywood deli owner. |
| Film Journal InternationalFrank LoveceLively and moving documentary about six women who survived the Holocaust to live fruitful lives that serve to defy the Nazis' extermination plans. |
| User ReviewMyra CVery compelling, both truthful and honest, non-schmaltzy or sentimental story of six women who did not let their awful experiences in Auschwitz totally destroy their lives even though their lives were tinged by them. |