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Holocaust

  • TV Mini Series
  • 19781978
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 7h 55m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
5K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,541
402
Episode guide
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
James Woods, Meryl Streep, and Michael Moriarty in Holocaust (1978)
Holocaust
Play trailer2:14
1 Video
41 Photos
  • Drama
  • History
  • Romance
The saga of a Jewish family's struggle to survive the horror of Nazi Germany's systematic marginalization and extermination of their community.The saga of a Jewish family's struggle to survive the horror of Nazi Germany's systematic marginalization and extermination of their community.The saga of a Jewish family's struggle to survive the horror of Nazi Germany's systematic marginalization and extermination of their community.
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
5K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,541
402
  • Stars
    • Joseph Bottoms
    • Tovah Feldshuh
    • Rosemary Harris
Top credits
  • Stars
    • Joseph Bottoms
    • Tovah Feldshuh
    • Rosemary Harris
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 51User reviews
    • 13Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 8 Primetime Emmys
      • 18 wins & 11 nominations total

    Episodes5

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated
    1 Season
    1978

    Videos1

    Holocaust
    Trailer 2:14
    Holocaust

    Photos41

    Holocaust (1978)
    James Woods, Meryl Streep, and Michael Moriarty in Holocaust (1978)
    James Woods and Meryl Streep in Holocaust (1978)
    James Woods, Meryl Streep, and Michael Moriarty in Holocaust (1978)
    James Woods, Meryl Streep, David Warner, Joseph Bottoms, and Fritz Weaver in Holocaust (1978)
    James Woods, Meryl Streep, Michael Moriarty, and Fritz Weaver in Holocaust (1978)
    James Woods, Meryl Streep, and Michael Moriarty in Holocaust (1978)
    James Woods, Meryl Streep, and Michael Moriarty in Holocaust (1978)
    Meryl Streep, Blanche Baker, Joseph Bottoms, Rosemary Harris, and Fritz Weaver in Holocaust (1978)
    Meryl Streep in Holocaust (1978)
    Meryl Streep in Holocaust (1978)
    Meryl Streep, Blanche Baker, Joseph Bottoms, Rosemary Harris, and Fritz Weaver in Holocaust (1978)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Joseph Bottoms
    Joseph Bottoms
    • Rudi Weissas Rudi Weiss
    4 episodes4 eps • 1978
    Tovah Feldshuh
    Tovah Feldshuh
    • Helena Slomovaas Helena Slomova
    4 episodes4 eps • 1978
    Rosemary Harris
    Rosemary Harris
    • Berta Palitz Weissas Berta Palitz Weiss
    4 episodes4 eps • 1978
    Tony Haygarth
    Tony Haygarth
    • Heinz Mulleras Heinz Muller
    4 episodes4 eps • 1978
    Michael Moriarty
    Michael Moriarty
    • Erik Dorfas Erik Dorf
    4 episodes4 eps • 1978
    Deborah Norton
    Deborah Norton
    • Marta Dorfas Marta Dorf
    4 episodes4 eps • 1978
    George Rose
    George Rose
    • Franz Lowyas Franz Lowy…
    4 episodes4 eps • 1978
    Robert Stephens
    Robert Stephens
    • Uncle Kurt Dorfas Uncle Kurt Dorf
    4 episodes4 eps • 1978
    Sam Wanamaker
    Sam Wanamaker
    • Moses Weissas Moses Weiss
    4 episodes4 eps • 1978
    David Warner
    David Warner
    • Heydrichas Heydrich…
    4 episodes4 eps • 1978
    Fritz Weaver
    Fritz Weaver
    • Dr. Josef Weissas Dr. Josef Weiss
    4 episodes4 eps • 1978
    James Woods
    James Woods
    • Karl Weissas Karl Weiss
    4 episodes4 eps • 1978
    Charles Korvin
    Charles Korvin
    • Dr. Kohnas Dr. Kohn
    4 episodes4 eps • 1978
    Stanley Lebor
    Stanley Lebor
    • Zalmanas Zalman
    4 episodes4 eps • 1978
    Käte Jaenicke
    • Frau Lowyas Frau Lowy
    4 episodes4 eps • 1978
    Tom Bell
    Tom Bell
    • Adolf Eichmannas Adolf Eichmann
    3 episodes3 eps • 1978
    Meryl Streep
    Meryl Streep
    • Inga Helms Weissas Inga Helms Weiss
    3 episodes3 eps • 1978
    John Bailey
    John Bailey
    • Hans Frankas Hans Frank
    3 episodes3 eps • 1978
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The term "Holocaust" didn't exist in the German language until the 1980s. Due to the great success of this mini-series, it became common knowledge, and was chosen as "word of the year 1979" by the "Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache" (Society for German Language).
    • Quotes

      Moses Weiss: I have the right name but I'm afraid I can't lead you to the promised land.

    • Alternate versions
      Polish authorities protested against a scene in which soldiers dressed in Polish uniforms executed Jewish prisoners. The poles didn't have any "Quisling army" during the war. The scene was trimmed and now shows the rifles and the arms of the soldiers in question. Even so, both versions apparently remained in circulation as Danish TV originally showed the original version, and Swedish TV the trimmed version within weeks of each other.
    • Connections
      Featured in The 30th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1978)

    User reviews51

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    Extraordinary scope, superb acting
    While the Holocaust has been treated in many excellent films and television shows, the 1978 TV mini-series "Holocaust" remains one of the finest. This was the second mini-series ever produced for television, and like it's predecessor, "Roots," the producers attempted to create something that would rival the best that Hollywood could produce for the movies, with the added ability of telling much more of the story by virtue of having much more time to do it in. Thus, the 1978 television mini series "Holocaust" is as well-produced, written and acted as Spielberg's extraordinary film "Schindler's List."

    Particularly good performances are given by Meryl Streep as the aristocratic German wife to a Jewish artist, Karl Weiss, played by James Woods. (Did you know that Woods can be as good as a good-guy as he can as a bad-guy?) Karl Weiss is the eldest son of a prominent Berliner Jewish family. We follow him into the concentration camps, including Treblinka (the "show" camp) and eventually to Auschwitz (Oswiecim). Streep follows, sacrificing everything to try to stay with him, or at least near him, and to keep him alive.

    Grandpa Weiss is a Jewish German patriot who fought for the Kaiser during WWI and is proud of it, and never can come to terms with the betrayal of his fellow patriots. Fritz Weaver is Papa Weiss, whose story takes us through the siege of the Warsaw Ghetto as he attempts to create some kind of order and safety in the midst of chaos and doom.

    David Warner is remarkably sinister and urbane as Reinhard Heydrich, who came up with the legal gobbledygook to create the "Final Solution." Michael Moriarity plays Heinrich's assistant Erik Dorff, a former student and friend of the Weiss family. Moriarty chillingly portrays the seductive nature of National Socialism for the intellectual: He is given the choice of becoming a Nazi, and later Heinrich's assistant, or becoming cannon fodder on the Russian Front. He chooses the former, and goes about his task of carrying out the annihilation of the Jews, including his former good friends the Weiss', with cool logical efficiency. This may be Moriarty's finest hour as an actor.

    Other actors of note include the actor's actor Ian Holm, former Brittish grand dame of the theater Rosemary Harris, Joseph Bottoms, Sam Wanamaker and Tovah Feldshuh.

    This is entertaining history at its very best. Don't miss it.
    helpful•14
    9
    • ncgordon651
    • Jun 29, 2004

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 16, 1978 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Burmese
    • Also known as
      • Holocaust: The Story of the Family Weiss
    • Filming locations
      • Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Austria
    • Production company
      • Titus Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      7 hours 55 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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