ericapolitica What I most appreciated about this film is that you do not have to be of German or Jewish ancestry to understand what is being discussed, you only need to be human. Personally, I am of neither ancestry but I was moved to tears as these candid and innocent descendants of those who both inflicted and suffered through one of the worst tragedies in history. As for the German descendants, they are very much trying to keep the sins of their ancestor from defining them while admitting that they were personally affected by their atrocious actions. Some of their resemblances to their forefathers are uncanny to the point that some can easily be recognized as being the offspring of those who commanded the Third Reich, something that can be shameful or even dangerous.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Hitler's Children" is a German-Israeli co-production from 2011, so this documentary has its 5th anniversary this year. The director is Chanoch Ze'evi and the crew list here includes several other Israelis, which is not too surprising though given the context. This is a film about the probably darkest era in German history, but with a very specific context. We all know that Hitler did not have any children, but other driving forces in terms of the horrendous crimes of Nazi Germany did and we get to see several people in here who were (mostly) grand children of the guys who did so much evil between 1933 and 1945. We hear all kinds of stories, about people who could not break with what their parents did and occasionally even still support their ideology, but also about people who don't want nothing to do with their ancestors anymore. A bit of everything, and certainly also something right in-between, with people who tried to find at least something good in their (grand)fathers, but may have failed, but whose examination of their family (history) also helped them in dealing with who they are and with who their own (grand)children may be. And lets be honest. Evil is often not necessarily a consequence alone of who these people were, but also with all the outer influence that somehow had an impact on their lives. And evil is not hereditary I am sure. I thought this was an interesting subject here and the filmmakers informed us on a pretty personal topic here that has not (really) been done in films yet. The question of guilt is a very big one in here from start to finish in this fairly short documentary. It only runs for 59 minutes. I recommend everybody with an interest in German history of the 20th century to check it out. Do not miss out.

Ralph Hummel This film is fascinating, profound and moving. It raises important moral issues and shakes many conventional beliefs.How should we view crimes committed by our parents and ancestors? At what point do our ancestors' acts forfeit our natural (and culturally-encouraged) love for them? Should we even face the facts of their choices and lives? The documentary addresses these issues in the starkest case: by speaking with the relatives of men who committed the worst of crimes. These children and grandchildren bear the family-name of their infamous ancestors while not accepting and, in some cases sharply repudiating, the legacies of those ancestors.Modern society washes away what happened last week, let alone by the last generation. So the current inclination is to simply forget about the past. Yet when the past was atrocious, forgetting it is wrong. At the least, we owe victims of atrocities remembrance of their history and their suffering.This movie should be seen by more people. To understand our present, we need to grapple with our past, including the ugly parts.

MartinHafer "Hitler's Children" is a documentary that interviews and follows a few family members of several evil Nazis--such as Goering, Hoess, Frank and others. The thrust of the film was showing these folks and letting them tell their stories about how they have coped with the evil their relative did. Interestingly, several indicated that they were in the minority--that the rest of their family either wouldn't talk about this evil past or denied that it even occurred.This film was interesting and is worth seeing. Is it a great documentary? Not really. While I am glad I saw it and think it had an interesting message, technically speaking it was occasionally poor--with some sloppy camera-work and some very slow portions. However, I am not sure how much the film can be blamed for the latter entirely, as the version I saw on Netflix was 82 minutes long. It was too long and could have used an editing. BUT, on IMDb, the film is listed at 59 minutes--and perhaps there is a shorter and more tightly constructed film.