Simon Schama: The Holocaust, 80 Years On

Tracing the Beginning of the Holocaust

The town of Kaunas was once home to a vibrant Jewish community, the second largest in Lithuania. But in the summer 1941, the German army and the local population began a violent persecution that would escalate throughout Europe. It was here that the Germans first discovered that others might actually want to support them in the mass murder of European Jews.

Tracing the Beginning of the Holocaust

2m 55s

  • Simon Schama: The Holocaust, 80 Years On: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Simon Schama: The Holocaust, 80 Years On

    55m 14s

    Amid rising antisemitism around the world and 80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Simon Schama traces the historical road of horror that culminated in the death camps. From Lithuania to Poland, the Netherlands and, finally, Auschwitz, Schama confronts the enormity of the Holocaust as both historian and 80-year-old Jew, to understand how it happened and in the hopes of never again.

WETA Passport

Stream tens of thousands of hours of your PBS and local favorites with WETA Passport whenever and wherever you want. Catch up on a single episode or binge-watch full seasons before they air on TV.