"Holocaust" (1978) TV mini-series

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

16 April 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance | War

Plot:

The saga of a Jewish family's struggle to survive the horror of Nazi Germany's systematic marginalization and extermination of their community.

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Germany | Doctor | Lawyer | Anti Semitism

Awards:

Won 2 Golden Globes. Another 14 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Joseph Bottoms	...	Rudi Weiss (4 episodes, 1978)
Rosemary Harris	...	Berta Palitz Weiss (4 episodes, 1978)
Tony Haygarth	...	Heinz Muller (4 episodes, 1978)
Michael Moriarty	...	Erik Dorf (4 episodes, 1978)
Deborah Norton	...	Marta Dorf (4 episodes, 1978)
George Rose	...	Franz Lowy / ... (4 episodes, 1978)
Sam Wanamaker	...	Moses Weiss (4 episodes, 1978)
David Warner	...	Heydrich / ... (4 episodes, 1978)
Fritz Weaver	...	Dr. Josef Weiss (4 episodes, 1978)
James Woods	...	Karl Weiss (4 episodes, 1978)
Käte Jaenicke	...	Frau Lowy (4 episodes, 1978)
Tom Bell	...	Adolf Eichmann (3 episodes, 1978)
Tovah Feldshuh	...	Helena Slomova (3 episodes, 1978)
Robert Stephens	...	Uncle Kurt Dorf (3 episodes, 1978)
Meryl Streep	...	Inga Helms Weiss (3 episodes, 1978)
Michael Beck	...	Hans Helms (3 episodes, 1978)
Charles Korvin	...	Dr. Kohn (3 episodes, 1978)
Stanley Lebor	...	Zalman (3 episodes, 1978)
T.P. McKenna	...	Blobel (3 episodes, 1978)
Cyril Shaps	...	Weinberg (3 episodes, 1978)
Ian Holm	...	Heinrich Himmler (2 episodes, 1978)
Lee Montague	...	Uncle Sasha (2 episodes, 1978)
John Bailey	...	Hans Frank (2 episodes, 1978)
Blanche Baker	...	Anna Weiss (2 episodes, 1978)
Isolde Barth	...	Eva (2 episodes, 1978)
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Karp (2 episodes, 1978)
Peter Garell	...	Yuri (2 episodes, 1978)
Edward Gilkrist	...	Peter Dorf - teen (2 episodes, 1978)
Werner Kreindl	...	Herr Helms (2 episodes, 1978)
Courtney Hill	...	Laura Dorf - teen (2 episodes, 1978)
Nina Sandt	...	Frau Helms (2 episodes, 1978)
Jeremy Levy	...	Aaron Feldman (2 episodes, 1978)
Irene Prador	...	Maria Kalova (2 episodes, 1978)
George Pravda	...	Otto Felscher (2 episodes, 1978)
Murray Salem	...	Analavitz (2 episodes, 1978)
Peter Weihs	...	Sacristan (2 episodes, 1978)
Gabor Vernon	...	Rabbi Samuel (2 episodes, 1978)
Peter Vogel	...	Emil Frey (2 episodes, 1978)
Kathina Kaiser	...	Sarah Ohlnick / ... (2 episodes, 1978)

Series Directed by
Marvin J. Chomsky		(2 episodes, 1978)

Series Writing credits
Gerald Green		(2 episodes, 1978)

Series Produced by
Pia Arnold	....	associate producer (2 episodes, 1978)
Robert Berger	....	producer (2 episodes, 1978)

Series Original Music by
Morton Gould		(unknown episodes)

Series Cinematography by
Brian West		(unknown episodes)

Series Film Editing by
Alan Heim		(unknown episodes)
Craig McKay		(unknown episodes)
Robert M. Reitano		(unknown episodes)
Stephen A. Rotter		(unknown episodes)
Brian Smedley-Aston		(unknown episodes)

Series Casting by
Geoffrey Johnson		(unknown episodes)

Series Production Design by
Theodor Harisch		(unknown episodes)
Wilfred Shingleton		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Direction by
Hans Jürgen Kiebach		(unknown episodes)

Series Set Decoration by
Maxi Hareiter		(unknown episodes)

Series Costume Design by
Edith Almoslino		(unknown episodes)
Peggy Farrell		(unknown episodes)

Series Makeup Department
Hasso von Hugo	....	makeup department head (unknown episodes)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bruce S. Pustin	....	first assistant director (unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
Arbit Blatas	....	draughtsman: original titles (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
William S. Scharf	....	assistant sound editor (unknown episodes)

Series Editorial Department
Irving Rathner	....	negative cutter (unknown episodes)
Stephen A. Rotter	....	supervising editor (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Georg Eisler	....	artist: Karl's artwork (unknown episodes)
Leonhard Gmür	....	location manager (unknown episodes)
Dieter Limbek	....	co-location manager (unknown episodes)
Bruce S. Pustin	....	production executive (unknown episodes)
Marc H. Tanenbaum	....	script consultant (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• Titus Productions

Distributors

• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1978) (USA) (TV)
• Image Entertainment (1994) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• RTV (1995) (Estonia) (TV)
• CBS Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Pictures (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Elephant Films (2009) (France) (all media)
• Future Film (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Hitlab (2009) (Russia) (DVD)
• Noble Entertainment (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Polyband (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Prisvídeo (2009) (Portugal) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Holocaust: The Story of the Family Weiss (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

475 min | USA:420 min (DVD) (2008) | Finland:448 min (DVD) (2008)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-18 (self applied) (2008) (DVD)

Filming Locations:

Austria

Company:

Titus Productions

Trivia:

The term 'Holocaust' didn't exist in the German language until the 1980s. Due to the great success of the 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).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: On Kristallnacht, occurring in 1938, Reinhard Heydrich wears a type of collar insignia that the SS did not use until 1942.

Quotes:

Erik Dorf: We must keep killing them, don't you see? If we stop it's an admission of guilt!
Uncle Kurt Dorf: I should strangle you as a favor to your father.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Not Only But Always (2004) (TV)

Watch it, and think how could this have happened?

Hindsight's wonderful, and it easy now to criticise this series. I saw it first in Germany and the effect it had there was quite profound. It caused a national debate and, it could be argued, helped Germany face up to what occurred between 1933 and 1945, not so much from the extermination camps, but that they, a civilised people, could be led along that path.