New visions of hell – Auschwitz Untold: In Colour

A two-part series with never before seen colourised images from Auschwitz aims to remove the barrier separating contemporary audiences from the scale of the horror

By Francine Wolfisz
  • Francine Wolfisz is the Features Editor for Jewish News.
26 January 2020, 9:24 am
Auswitchz: Untold in Colour: Jewish men wearing yellow Star of David badges arrive at Auschwitz

The brutal reality of the Holocaust has been brought into sharp focus with a hard-hitting documentary featuring previously unseen footage of Auschwitz in colour.

Produced by James Corden’s company, Fulwell73, the groundbreaking two-part series, Auschwitz Untold: In Colour, is available to watch Monday on More4, and coincides with today’s 75th anniversary of the liberation of the former Nazi death camp.

The documentary also features the moving testimony of 16 survivors, now in their 80s and 90s, including a member of the Jewish underground who participated in armed resistance against the Nazis as her entire family was being murdered in a death camp, and the seldom-heard voice of a Romani
Holocaust survivor.

Development producer Sheldon Lazarus said: “The 16 survivors who feature in this series tell their extraordinary accounts of survival and resistance against all odds in their own voices, and accompanied by remarkable colourised footage from the archives, we hope this series will help remove a barrier that separates contemporary audiences from the reality of the Holocaust so that we never ever forget the atrocities of the past.

“With the 75th anniversary to commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz in 2020, we felt it was really timely and important to bring to life the untold stories of the Holocaust in a new way.”

BAFTA winner David Shulman, who produced and directed the film, said:
“My ambition in making Auschwitz Untold was to have as much contemporary resonance as possible. 

Yisrael and Zelig, the brothers of Lily Jacob, who was deported with her family to Auschwitz in late May 1944 from Bilke

“The colourisation of black and white archive is one aspect of making this history more accessible to a younger audience and giving greater humanity to the people seen in the footage.   

“Also, by including a Jewish resistance fighter from Vilna and a Roma Holocaust survivor from France, Auschwitz Untold: In Colour adds unique perspectives typically overlooked by most documentaries about
the Holocaust.”

Fulwell73 was set up in 2005 by lifelong friends Ben Winston, Leo Pearlman and brothers Ben and Gabe Turner, and has been behind a string of acclaimed documentaries, including I Am Bolt, Hitsville: The Making
of Motown, Sunderland ‘Till I Die and Class
of ’92.

• Auschwitz Untold: In Colour airs, Monday, 27 January, at 9pm on More4 and is available on catch-up

 

 

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