Filmmaker Daniela Völker’s documentary “The Commandant’s Shadow,” which received an impressive reception at its New York premiere and at special Fathom Events screenings in May, will return to select theaters for a one-week run on June 7.
Tickets are on sale for screens in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Miami.
“The Commandant’s Shadow” follows Hans Jürgen Höss, the 87-year-old son of Rudolf Höss, as he faces his father’s terrible legacy for the first time. His father was the camp commandant of Auschwitz and masterminded the murder of more than 1 million Jews; the life of Höss and his family was recently fictionalized in the Academy Award-winning “The Zone of Interest.”
“The Commandant’s Shadow” tells the story of the real people who lived on site at the death camp.
While Hans Jurgen Höss enjoyed a happy childhood in the family villa at Auschwitz, Jewish prisoner Anita Lasker-Wallfisch was trying to survive the notorious concentration camp. At the heart of this film is a moment, eight decades later, when the two come face to face. This is the first time that the descendant of a major war criminal meets a survivor in such a private and intimate setting: Anita’s living room in London. Together with their children, Kai Höss and Maya Lasker-Wallfisch, the four protagonists explore their very different hereditary burdens.
The film features original excerpts of Rudolf Höss’s autobiography—released as a memoir in English under the title Commandant of Auschwitz: The Autobiography of Rudolf Hoess—written shortly before his execution. His words are the ultimate proof of what really happened at Auschwitz, documented by the perpetrator himself, countering denial and ignorance of the Holocaust.
This feature-length documentary explores the relationships of a mother and her daughter; a father and his son; and the long shadows cast by the crimes that impact generations. It raises questions about love, guilt, and forgiveness, but is ultimately a much-needed story of hope, acceptance and compassion.
In the wake of the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas in southern Israel on Oct. 7, which, like the Shoah has been met with denial in many parts of the world—and at a time when antisemitism has reached a level not seen since World War II and the Holocaust—“The Commandant’s Shadow” is a stark reminder that there can be no reconciliation without a true and honest reckoning of the past.
