HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: The official website for BBC History Magazine
date: 2025-10-24T13:06:12.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: The Holocaust | HistoryExtra Academy video lecture
items: Why Schindler’s List remains relevant decades on
items: “We need to understand the Nazis as human beings”: Richard J Evans on the motivations of Hitler’s followers
items: Are we right to fictionalise the Holocaust? It’s a question The Tattooist of Auschwitz should make us ask ourselves
items: The real tattooists of Auschwitz: who were the men who turned people into numbers?
items: The man who ran Auschwitz: the real story of The Zone of Interest
items: Holocaust podcast episodes
items: The real history behind The Zone of Interest: Did Rudolf Höss really live next door to Auschwitz?
items: Nicholas Winton: the 'British Schindler'
items: How the holocaust began

The Holocaust | HistoryExtra Academy video lecture
type: item
date: 2025-02-04T17:14:43.000Z
creator: Laurence Rees
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Holocaust
description: In the fifth episode of our Academy series on Nazi Germany, Laurence Rees gives an expert overview of the Holocaust – from Nazi antisemitism to the horrors of the death camps
encoded: View Green Video on the source website

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Why Schindler’s List remains relevant decades on
type: item
date: 2025-01-15T11:11:03.000Z
creator: Roger Moorhouse
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Holocaust
description: Roger Moorhouse reflects on the lasting legacy of perhaps the most famous movie about the Holocaust ever filmed, Schindler’s List…
encoded: Schindler’s List chronicles the true story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman, who helped to save the lives of more than a thousand Jews during the Holocaust. Directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 1993, it addresses one of the darkest chapters of human history – the systematic extermination of Europe’s Jews by the Nazis – through the story of Schindler, a man who starts out as a profit-driven opportunist but evolves through the film into a selfless saviour. Shot in black and white, it presents a gripping picture of moral courage in the face of unspeakable horror, and stands as one of the most powerful historical films ever made. Is Schindler's List a true story? Schindler's List is based on a true story. Though, as with most historical movies, some creative liberties were taken for narrative clarity. The film is adapted from Thomas Keneally's 1982 historical novel Schindler's Ark, which tells the story of Oskar Schindler’s efforts to protect Jews during the Holocaust. Schindler, a member of the Nazi party, initially arrived in Kraków in 1939, driven by the prospect of financial gain in the ‘wild east’ of German-occupied Poland. However, as the horrors of the Holocaust unfolded around him, his perspective changed, and he began to use his enamel factory as a refuge for Jewish workers. He would ultimately save some 1,200 lives. How historically accurate is Schindler's List? While Schindler's List is widely regarded as a historically sound portrayal of the Holocaust – its events anchored in archival documentation and in the testimonies of those that Schindler saved – there are nuances to consider regarding its accuracy. For instance, that some minor characters and scenes were added or altered for dramatic purposes. A good example of this is the character of Itzhak Stern, played by Ben Kingsley, who is a composite of several people who helped Schindler to run his factory. The film also takes a few creative liberties to maximise its emotional impact, and the …

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“We need to understand the Nazis as human beings”: Richard J Evans on the motivations of Hitler’s followers
type: item
date: 2024-11-21T15:06:45.000Z
creator: Sir Richard J Evans
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Fascism
subject: Holocaust
description: Adolf Hitler and those at the top of the Nazi hierarchy are universally denounced as monstrous aberrations. But, as Sir Richard J Evans stresses, separating them from the lessons of human history is the last thing we should be doing at a moment when democracy is under attack
encoded: A little over two decades ago, the first volume of my history of the Third Reich was published. My aim was to produce a comprehensive study encompassing the origins and rise of the Nazi Party, the transformation of Germany under Adolf Hitler’s dictatorship, and the events and impacts of the Second World War. It was, of course, a major undertaking and, after the third and final volume was published in 2008, I moved on to other topics. But a commission to contribute to a nine-part television series, BBC Two’s Rise of the Nazis, shown from 2019 to 2022, prompted me to take a fresh look at the Third Reich and its crimes. What struck me forcibly, given the biographical orientation of the TV series, was that I knew relatively little about the individuals involved in Nazism and the Reich – and, specifically, very little about their personalities and motivations. For decades, German historians in particular had avoided biography, long tainted by its indirect association with the ‘great man’ approach to history – or, as they called it, personalisierende Geschichtsschreibung (‘personalising history-writing’). Read more | Fake news and Nazis: Richard J Evans on the spectre of conspiracies The rise of ‘perpetrator research’ Yet in recent years, a massive amount of new documentation and research has been published about the leading Nazis. What historians describe as ‘perpetrator research’ has been at the forefront of scholarship since the turn of the century, and has yielded innumerable fresh insights. A 12-volume edition of Hitler’s speeches before his seizure of power was completed in 2003. The final volume of the diaries of propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels appeared in 2008. The diaries of self-proclaimed Nazi philosopher Alfred Rosenberg were published in 2015. The second volume of SS chief Heinrich Himmler’s appointments diary, discovered in an obscure Russian archive, came out in 2020. And many other sources have come to light documenting the thoughts and actions of what…

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Are we right to fictionalise the Holocaust? It’s a question The Tattooist of Auschwitz should make us ask ourselves
type: item
date: 2024-05-10T10:13:08.000Z
creator: Rob Attar
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Holocaust
subject: Trends-Entertainment
description: In the pantheon of historical drama, the Holocaust is among the hardest topics to cover without making difficult – and some might say questionable – choices. Rob Attar spoke to historian Professor Richard J Evans about the perils of fictionalising an episode of such horror and sensitivity
encoded: Whether we like it or not, the fact remains that most people’s introduction to historical topics comes from fiction. And that’s as true for the Holocaust as it is for the Tudors, ancient Rome or medieval Europe. But should the sheer horror of the Nazi genocide impose additional constraints on authors and filmmakers? And should we even be fictionalising it at all? These are questions I was keen to put to Professor Richard J Evans, one of the world’s leading experts on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. We spoke just before the release of the TV adaptation of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which is one of 2024’s most hotly anticipated historical dramas. It’s based on a 2018 novel by Heather Morris, which is itself centred on the real story of Slovakian Jewish Holocaust survivor Lale Sokolov (a tattooist at Auschwitz), who met the author in later life. The trouble with The Tattooist of Auschwitz The Tattooist of Auschwitz has sold millions of copies around the world and won plaudits from many reviewers, but also come in for criticisms from some Holocaust scholars for a number of inaccuracies within the book. Evans read the novel in advance of our conversation and found himself sharing many of these concerns. “I'm afraid the historian in me is always on the lookout for little mistakes and little errors, which can be a bit irritating,” he said. “But the major one for me is that this book cannot cope with the extremes of inhumanity, brutality, and horror that you find in Auschwitz. “For 99 per cent of the inmates, the concentration camp is a degrading, humiliating, appalling and shocking experience from which there's no escape. And this novel is about escape: escape through love, escape through an affair, escape through the humanity and the help of other prisoners and of some of the camp auxiliaries and camp guards. That softens the contours of what was really a horribly appalling experience. So, to me, that doesn’t ring true.” In response to the critics of the book, both Heath…

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The real tattooists of Auschwitz: who were the men who turned people into numbers?
type: item
date: 2024-05-02T15:44:57.000Z
creator: Roger Moorhouse
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Holocaust
description: A love story between two prisoners at the worst of the Nazis’ concentration camps? The plot of the Tattooist of Auschwitz might be considered unduly light given its setting but, as Roger Moorhouse explores, the job of inking those dreaded identification numbers on prisoners’ arms was indeed a real one
encoded: Auschwitz: the largest of the concentration camps in the Second World War, where more than a million were put to death in the Holocaust. That is the setting for a six-part period drama streaming on Sky Atlantic in the UK from 2 May, based on the 2018 novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris. Lale Sokolov (played by Jonah Hauer-King), a Slovakian Jew sent to Auschwitz in 1942, is made to tattoo new arrivals to the camp with a registration number on their arms. When he meets a young prisoner named Gita (Anna Próchniak), he falls in love and so is offered a slither of hope in this otherwise hopeless place. Here, Roger Moorhouse, an expert in modern German and Central European history, explains that not only was tattooing exclusive to Auschwitz, but that the drama series’ protagonist – Lale Sokolov – was a real person. Was there really a tattooist at Auschwitz? There were a few, in fact. From the middle of the Second World War, it was standard procedure in Auschwitz to identify those arriving prisoners who had been selected for work by tattooing them with their camp registration number. The logic was that the corpses of dead prisoners, which were sometimes stripped of their clothing, had to be identifiable to ensure that camp records could be satisfactorily maintained. WW2 | The Big Questions Member exclusive | Historian and broadcaster Laurence Rees explains major moments of the global conflict in this five-part series. Listen to all episodes now Was everyone at Auschwitz tattooed? Initially, the SS had only tattooed Soviet prisoners of war, and those who were in the infirmary or scheduled to be executed. The expansion of Auschwitz in 1942, however, saw the practice extended to include all prisoners that were selected to work. Those that were exterminated upon arrival were not registered, so there was no need for them to be tattooed. In the early phase, prisoners were tattooed on the left side of the chest using a form of metal stamp that could be changed to…

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The man who ran Auschwitz: the real story of The Zone of Interest
type: item
date: 2024-03-04T07:21:58.000Z
creator: Rob Attar
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Holocaust
description: Professor Richard J Evans talks to Rob Attar about Rudolf Höss, the notorious commandant of Auschwitz, whose story is the focus of the acclaimed new film The Zone of Interest
encoded: The Oscar-nominated film The Zone of Interest is one of the most acclaimed and talked about films of 2024. Directed by Jonathan Glazer and loosely based on a novel of the same name by Martin Amis, The Zone of Interest focuses on the life of Rudolf Höss and his family during the Second World War, when he was commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp. In today’s episode, Professor Richard J Evans, one of the world’s leading experts on Nazi Germany, speaks to Rob Attar about the real story of Rudolf Höss. He also offers his thoughts on the film and recounts his experience of working with Martin Amis on the original book.

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Holocaust podcast episodes
type: item
subject: 20th Century
subject: Period
subject: Holocaust
description: Browse our archive of HistoryExtra podcasts on the Holocaust, from how forgers rescued victims to a 21st-century view...

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The real history behind The Zone of Interest: Did Rudolf Höss really live next door to Auschwitz?
type: item
date: 2024-02-02T09:55:49.000Z
creator: Nige Tassell
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Holocaust
subject: Trends-Entertainment
description: As Nazi-next-door thriller The Zone of Interest arrives in cinemas, we explore the life of Rudolf Höss – the Auschwitz commandant who set up a family home just beyond the walls of the infamous concentration camp
encoded: One of the chief perpetrators of the Holocaust, Rudolf Höss was the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, inside which around one million Jews were murdered during Second World War. Höss is the subject of a new film written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest, in which his peculiar home life is examined. The Höss family lived in a luxurious villa directly next door to the gas chambers and crematoria of the camp. There, Rudolf (Christian Friedel) and his wife, Hedwig (Sandra Hüller), constructed an apparent idyll for their children, despite the horrors taking place just beyond the garden wall. The film is derived from Martin Amis’s novel of the same name, though the plot is slightly different, telling the story of a Nazi officer who becomes infatuated with the wife of Auschwitz’s commandant; the commandant, Paul Doll – a fictionalised version of Rudolf Höss. View oEmbed on the source website Who was Rudolf Höss? Rudolf Höss was the commandant of Auschwitz between May 1940 and November 1943, and returned to the camp between May 1944 and January 1945 to supervise the extermination of Hungarian Jews. Read more | The liberation of Auschwitz, 75 years on: what happened and how do we remember the Holocaust? He was from a military family, and at the age 14 joined the German army to fight in the First World War. By the time he was 17, he was already a non-commissioned officer. He was awarded both the Iron Crescent and the Iron Cross. After evading capture at the end of the war, Höss joined a number of nationalist paramilitary groups. He became a member of the Nazi Party in 1922 and, two years later, was convicted of the murder of a local schoolteacher believed to be supplying intelligence to the French occupational authorities. Sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment, he served four. Within a year of his release, he married Hedwig Hensel, with whom he started a family. On the podcast | Nazi Germany: everything you wanted to know Rudolf Höss in WW2 In…

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Nicholas Winton: the 'British Schindler'
type: item
date: 2024-01-26T07:13:33.000Z
creator: Spencer Mizen
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Holocaust
description: Edward Abel Smith discusses the story of Nicholas Winton, who helped save hundreds of Jewish children from the Nazis by transporting them to safety in Britain
encoded: Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, a British stockbroker worked tirelessly to rescue hundreds of Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia by transporting them to new lives in Britain. Nicholas Winton's life and achievements are the subject of a new film One Life, and ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day, Edward Abel Smith joins Spencer Mizen to discuss his story. Edward Abel Smith is the author of The British Oskar Schindler: The Life and Work of Nicholas Winton (Pen & Sword, 2023) Buy now on Bookshop.org Buy now on Amazon Buy now on Waterstones

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How the holocaust began
type: item
date: 2024-01-21T17:58:59.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Holocaust
description: Today, the Nazi persecution of Jewish people is widely viewed through the prism of the death camps: places such as Treblinka, Sobibor and Auschwitz. Yet before Auschwitz was even conceived as a centre of mass murder, more than a million people had been killed across eastern Europe. This is the story of the early stages of the Holocaust, when a campaign of appalling abuse and brutality became an explicit policy of annihilation.
encoded: On 24 June 1941, SS officer Hans-Joachim Böhme stood in front of a group of 200 people from the Lithuanian border town of Gargždai. The majority were Jewish. Raising his ceremonial sword in the air he ordered their execution by gunshot for “crimes against the Wehrmacht on the order of the führer”. This incident took place some 48 hours after the start of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. It was the Nazis’ first massacre of Jewish people in Soviet territory. Böhme’s claim about “crimes” was of course nonsensical. It was however tightly bound to the Nazis’ obsessive belief that Jewishness and communist-Bolshevism were inextricably linked. Over the following 18 months, at least 1.5 million Jewish people would be murdered in similar ways and based on a similar rationale. All of this happened miles away, literally and figuratively, from the death camps that would come to define the Holocaust in the popular consciousness. And yet it is because of the mass shootings that happened in these places – many of them long forgotten – that the course of events that followed happened as it did. Hitler had always imagined a world without Jews, but he had no meaningful idea at the outset about how this would be achieved. Most of the Nazis’ anti-Semitic policies in the prewar period were designed to make existence for Jewish people untenable within Germany’s borders in order to force them to seek refuge in other countries. When the war broke out this remained the plan – although in a considerably more direct and violent way, in what they described as a “territorial solution”. It was not until Operation Barbarossa, almost two years later, that Nazi policy became explicitly murderous. By the time of the invasion of the Soviet Union, Germany already occupied much of Europe. Though Jews across this territory had been subject to appalling maltreatment and abuse – and within Poland been centralised into ghettos – there was no explicit policy for mass murder. It …

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