RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Verdict on Auschwitz: The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial 1963-1965
Verdict on Auschwitz: The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial 1963-1965

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Bookmark and Share

Verdict on Auschwitz: The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial 1963-1965 (2007)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
100 %
Tomatometer

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted: 18

Fresh: 18

Rotten:0

Average Rating: 8.5/10

Consensus: Using audiotapes from the Auschwitz Trail, intermixed with archival footage and photographs, Verdict on Auschwitz is an illuminating historical document and a damning indictment of the people who perpetuated those horrors.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 3 hrs

Genre: Education/General Interest

Theatrical Release:Jan 12, 2007 Limited

Synopsis: This harrowing documentary chronicles the Frankfurt trial of 22 SS soldiers who served at the notorious Polish concentration camp, Auschwitz. Of course there's no way to convey the actual horrors... This harrowing documentary chronicles the Frankfurt trial of 22 SS soldiers who served at the notorious Polish concentration camp, Auschwitz. Of course there's no way to convey the actual horrors endured by the survivors of the camp, where millions of Jews were killed and abused, and though the trial was not filmed, hundreds of hours of audio tapes from the hearing have allowed documentarians Rolf Bickel and Dietrich Wagner to provide the film with an intense soundtrack of survivor's testimony. Anguished voices recount the daily horrors they endured, with refugees coming from all over the world to testify against their former oppressors. The tapes are underscored with footage from SS archives and the Russian liberation of the camp as well as the courtroom and modern-day Europe. Originally aired on German television in 1993 in three parts--"The Investigation," "The Trial," and "The Verdict"--it plays to devastating effect as a three-hour omnibus. The film, which was released to American theaters in a limited run shortly after the execution of Saddam Hussein, is a chilling testament to the quickness with which even the most horrific crimes can become buried by time and change, only to be uncovered as raw and festering as ever. [More]

Director: Rolf Bickel, Dietrich Wagner

Director: Rolf Bickel, Dietrich Wagner
Studio: First Run Features

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
1 - 3 of 3

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Apr 17, 2007

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Verdict on Auschwitz: The Frankfurt Auschwitz...

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 18 (sorted by date)
Text View
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Even if you have seen all the other Holocaust documentaries or visited the memorial museums, there is still more to be learned here about Auschwitz and post-war Germany.

Full Review Source: Film-Forward.com | comment Comment
12/10/08
Nora Lee Mandel
Film-Forward.com

The filmmakers want to cover all aspects of the individuals involved and the film sometimes digresses into side cases. Yet, as history goes, it is hard to present such an important event without showing the monumental evidence.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
04/13/07
Marta Barber
Miami Herald

This exceptional film shows us the lower-echelon henchmen, the ones who enabled the master-racists.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
02/09/07
Bill Stamets
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[A] scrupulous, haunting and necessary documentary.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
02/08/07
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Not a pleasure to watch, but informative &successful at detailing an event that is quite well known, but perhaps not well enough felt&feared by those not directly affected.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
01/31/07
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

Valuable and instructive as it is, Verdict on Auschwitz can sometimes be so focused on the details it fails to show us the forest for the trees.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
01/26/07
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

... filmmakers Rolf Bickel and Dietrich Wagner provide a deconstruction of the mechanics of life at Auschwitz so exhaustive, it would make Claude Lanzmann proud.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
01/25/07
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly

Verdict on Auschwitz not only tracks the 20-month trial but meticulously re-creates it.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
01/25/07
Scott Brown
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This damning documentary serves as a sobering, if painful reminder of one of the most shameful chapters in human history.

Full Review Source: BlackFilm.com | comment Comment
01/15/07
Kam Williams
BlackFilm.com

A monumental achievement.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
01/12/07
Timothy Knight
Reel.com

Relying heavily on audiotapes from the trial, this documentary conveys the horrors of the Holocaust in a way even the best Hollywood movies can't.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/12/07
Neil Genzlinger
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

... in the wake of the sectarian lynching that was the execution of Saddam Hussein, a film like Verdict on Auschwitz takes on a particularly strident aura of necessity.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/12/07
Chris Barsanti
Filmcritic.com

A fascinating reflection on Germany's ongoing attempts to come to terms with its past.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
01/11/07
Ronnie Scheib
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As both historical document and human document, this 180-minute epic is infinitely valuable.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
01/11/07
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor

That our fascination with mostly recorded words can be successfully sustained for three hours is a tribute to the fine work by filmmakers Rolf Bickel and Dietrich Wagner.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
01/11/07
Gene Seymour
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A monumental, powerful achievement.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
01/11/07
Phil Hall
Film Threat

Verdict on Auschwitz similarly juxtaposes archival footage and postwar material (both 1963 and 1993) to produce shocking eruptions of past atrocities in the context of an orderly everyday Europe.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
01/09/07
J. Hoberman
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You hear the note of disbelief in the trembling voices of survivors, and the absence of emotion in the tones of the accused -- men locked in a denial that seems as much pathological as self-serving.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
01/08/07
David Edelstein
New York Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 18 (sorted by date)
Text View
all

Latest News for Verdict on Auschwitz: The Frankfurt...

January 11, 2007: Critical Consensus: "Invisibles" Lacks Focus; "Stomp" Comes Up Short; "Curse" Is A Mixed Blessing; "Dog" Has Bite; "Primeval" Not Screened
This week at the movies, we've got a kid who ventures into a magical world ("Arthur and the Invisibles," with voice work from Robert De Niro and Madonna), a frat... More...

See More Topics...

Related Forums for Verdict on Auschwitz: The...

Click here to be the first to post a message on this forum.

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
79%
79%
Gran Torino
30%
30%
12 Rounds
23%
23%
Confessions of a Shopa…
—
The Code
39%
39%
Inkheart

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
22%
22%
Push
12%
12%
The Unborn

More New Releases…

RT On Current TV

What’s Hot On RT

Deconstructing Harry

Deconstructing Harry

Pt. 3: Cuaron's darker Prisoner of Azkaban

Best Mockumentaries

Best Mockumentaries

From Borat to Spinal Tap, this one goes to 11

Humpday Clip

Humpday Clip

An exclusive peek at the indie comedy!

Half-Blood Prince

Half-Blood Prince

How good is the 6th Harry Potter?

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: T.J. Hooker Film in Development
20
  • Warners Shortens Green Lantern Wishlist Source: Hollywood Reporter
96
  • Harold Ramis Talks Ghostbusters 3 Source: MakingOf.com
32
  • Spider-Man 4 Gets Its Third Writer Source: Latino Review
60
  • Warners Wins Favorable Ruling in Superman Case Source: Variety
18
  • Remo Williams Rides Again Source: Risky Biz
10
  • Mortal Kombat 3 Filming in September? Source: Slashfilm
82
  • MacGruber Gets a Director Source: Variety
39
  • PG-13 Turns 25 Source: VideoETA
8
  • Weekly Ketchup: Universal Takes on Asteroids
92
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Deconstructing Harry, Day 1: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
67
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Transformers and Ice Age Tie for Top Spot
59
  • Deconstructing Harry, Day 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
52
  • Weekly Ketchup: Universal Takes on Asteroids
46
  • Total Recall: Mock Docs That Rock
42
  • Critics Consensus: Bruno is Certified Fresh
41
  • Five Favorite Films with Kathryn Bigelow
39
  • RT on DVD: Knowing, Push, The Unborn Unleashed
26
  • Deconstructing Harry, Day 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
20
  • Five Favourite Films with Jaime Winstone
19
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • RT Interview: Director Carlos Cuaron on Rudo and Cursi
0
  • RT Interview: Tony Scott on The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
10
  • Cannes 2009: RT Interview - Sally Hawkins on We Want Sex
2
  • RT Interview: Tilda Swinton on Julia
5
  • Hollywood Legend Debbie Reynolds Reflects On her Life in Showbiz
10
  • Exclusive: McG Talks Terminator Salvation
24
  • Georgia Groome - Fresh Talent on RT
5
  • RT Interview: Reading The Reader with Stephen Daldry
11
  • RT Interview: Oscar Nominee Melissa Leo
7
  • Carey Mulligan - Fresh Talent on RT
7
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Verdict on Auschwitz: The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial 1963-1965 at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
Point-Counterpoint: Bruno
Point-Counterpoint: Bruno External Link

MSN's David Fear and Frank Paiva go head to head discussing the pros and cons of Bruno star Sacha Baron Cohen.

The New Cult Canon
The New Cult Canon External Link

The AV Club's Scott Tobias takes a second look at David Lynch's cult classic, Lost Highway.

Tom Cruise's 10 Best Roles
Tom Cruise's 10 Best Roles External Link

TIME takes us on a 25-year long journey into the superstar's career, giving us a look at his 10 best roles.

A Baywatch Comedy?
A Baywatch Comedy? External Link

BuzzSugar reports on Paramount's plans to rebirth the iconic TV show as a comedy film.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.