What I'd like most to know is what happened afterwards- I had to do extensive research of my own to discover there's an educated guess of over 100,000 souls buried in this ground, but there's no mention of the volume anywhere in the documentary.
There's no mention of what Lithuanian officials have done with the land- only that there were plans to raze the buildings currently there at the time of the documentary, and I understand there wasn't anything done when they completed filming, but an explanation wouldn't take much. Even a short text card in closing to state what's occurring would have been welcomed.
Another huge complaint I have is Dr Freund, the lead researcher who led the archeological study, passed away last summer and there was absolutely no mention of him (other than a moniker at a point to say who he was) and a brief statement by him a few times, but no mention of his work (which was extensive) or giving his work much acknowledgment at all. I feel like this was a big failure on the part of the producers to make others aware of the work and all he had discovered prior to his death.
I understand this family who were survivors seemed to be the focus (though I feel like this was a huge missed opportunity) but to bring to the world the bigger picture here and how this was not as uncommon as we've been led to believe would have done far more- there were large populations of Jews outside of the concentration camps who were subjected to almost as deplorable of conditions and survivors emerged.
The whole thing felt very disjointed and amateurish- we get lots of 'oh look Jonathan! Jonathan look at this!' when there's incredibly educated, well-versed, and knowledgeable people on Jewish history all over this production and all but ignored in favor of pieces of things that don't fit together very well. Like Dr. Freund- he was a department head for Jewish studies, on several holocaust boards and organizations, served as a fellow, and could have given so much insight into this, but alas, now he's gone, and so is the opportunity to gain a perspective that only his knowledge could give.
It just feels very juvenile and immature in presentation and could have offered so much more to the general public who previously had no idea this had happened, and will walk away with no much more than they had coming in. Like even a brief history of how Lithuanian society became a part of the Nazi regime? How these apartments in the complex were built for poor Jews prior to the war then taken over by Nazis to house Jews in a ghetto? The end of WWII was in May of 1945, yet this just sort of suddenly halts July 1 1944, doesn't talk about how all these survivors were found, how they tried to rebuild their lives, where they went, WHO WERE THE SURVIVORS? I realize there were approximately 100 people left, but a few cards to show their names, a descendant total approximation, etc.
Such a wasted opportunity with people who could have been such a Godsend but instead were glossed over in favor of trivial things.
