Films to remember the Holocaust: more than Schindler's List

On January 27, 1945, the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz was liberated. Millions of Jews and Roma, homosexuals and people with disabilities were subjected to every possible form of torture in the concentration camps. Over the years, the film industry has produced true masterpieces to understand this and not forget it.

Not only "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" by Mark Herman (the film adaptation of John Boyne's novel of the same name), "The Pianist" by Roman Polanski or "La vita è bella" by Roberto Benigni, but many, many more were made not to forget the mistakes of the past, mistakes that we relive, unfortunately in different guises, in the present.

Here is a selection of 5 films about the Holocaust.

1. Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Directed by Taika Waititi, this film tells the story of Jojo, a German boy who is a member of the Hitlerjugend (his imaginary friend is a grotesque, caricatured version of Adolf Hitler). His worldview is turned completely upside down when he discovers that his mother is hiding a young Jewish girl in their house. The film cunningly combines comedy and drama, offering a unique perspective on the Holocaust.

2. My Best Friend Anne Frank (2021)

Directed by Ben Sombogaart, this Dutch film tells the story of the friendship between Anne Frank and Hanneli Goslar and sheds new light on Anne's life before and during the war.

3. The Photographer from Mauthausen (2018)

Mar Targarona directed this film about the true story of Francisco Boix, a Spanish photographer imprisoned in the Mauthausen concentration camp who managed to save photographic evidence of the atrocities committed by the Nazis.

4. The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)

This film, directed by Niki Caro is based on the true story of Antonina Żabińska and her husband Jan: during the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, they managed to save hundreds of Jews by hiding them in the zoo of which they were managers.

5. Son of Saul (2015)

This film by László Nemes follows the story of Saul Ausländer, a Hungarian prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp. He is forced to work in the crematoria and desperately tries to give a dignified burial to a boy he is convinced is his son.

(MP/©GreenMe.it/Translation and adaptation: The Global Entertainment/Illustration: picture alliance / NurPhoto | Artur Widak