Nackt unter Wölfen

Although the story of Communist Buchenwald prisoners saving a three-year old-child is based on a real person, Stefan Jerzy Lec, Holocaust researcher Annette Leo recreated the true story in her book and documentary "The Child on the List" (2018). Once the boy had been found, he was put on a list of 200 children to be deported to Auschwitz, his name being the last; one of the Kapos then replaced his name (and of eleven others) with the Sinto Willy Blum, who was then transported to (and murdered in) Auschwitz in his stead (with his brother). In the film, the boy is saved because his discovery coincides with the self-liberation of the camp. In reality, his rescue was a trade off. One can only guess that this was because of the age difference (Blum was 16), but it's also possible that Sinti were victimized deliberately since no one represented them. Until the 1990s the half million Romani killed by the Nazis were ignored in schools and films alike. The first film to mention this was the French-Romanian "Train of Life" (1998). More convincing early recreations of the Holocaust can be found in the Polish "Last Stage" (1948), the Czech "Distant Journey" (1949) and the Italian "Kapo" (1960).

War reveals the evil of human nature, but it also makes the goodness of human nature shine, for example, in a child.

The Communist prisoners did not lead a revolt to liberate Buchenwald, which was liberated by the United States Army. The movie does not show one American. The German Democratic Republic set up a ceremonial entry to the camp next to the tower that predated the camp. They put up a giant statue showing armed prisoners. After unification, the German government moved the entrance to the main gate (seen often in the movie) and closed off the ceremonial entrance. The tower was closed to the public, ostensibly because it was unsafe. The statues were allowed to rust. In any event, East Germany overlooked another force for revolt, the Canadians. An article I wrote about a stamp showing the monument brought a flood of mail from Canada informing me that the Canadians, not the Communists, were at the core of the revolt.

This movie is about a group of men in a concentration camp that find a small Jewish boy in a suitcase and set about hiding him from the Nazis. There's a lot of movies set in concentration camps and this is surely one of the best, a great character study. The Nazis are played with a matter of fact, almost understated coldness. The men aren't potrayed as heroes, but just everyday guys trying to hold on to some humanity, no matter what the risk. A compelling film.

For historical significance this movie deserves more than a 7, but one should rate movies based on how much one actually liked the movie, thus my 7 rating. (This still means I liked and recommend the movie!) I watched this after seeing Frank Beyer's "Jakob the Liar," and I think "Naked Among Wolves" is the better film. One of my nit-picks with these films is that the harshness and brutality of life in the ghetto or concentration camp is not fully revealed. The films are products of their times, I suppose. And one cannot make actors look like skeletons. The most brutal portrayal of the holocaust I have seen (in a non-documentary) is in the TV mini-series "War and Remembrance." Neither of Beyer's films comes close. Again, I'm sure that there was so much an East German film director in the 1960's and 70's could do. That criticism out of the way, I think that "Naked Among Wolves" is a fine film with interesting characters and performances.