Prisoners of Paradise

This documentary highlighted the sad but capturing subject of the Holocaust victims who lived in Theresienstadt during WWII. Specifically, the film focused in on Kurt Gerron, who was solicited to produce a  propaganda film in which the people of Theresienstadt would be shown to the outside world as an example of the great conditions being represented throughout these camps. We know that this both did not work and would not have been an accurate representation of even that camp, which struggled just as much as the other. The content of the Holocaust yes is powerful, but this particular film gave a different feel to the common subject of study and respect.
The way the film addressed Gerron's background seemed a bit drawn out and almost unnecessary at times, but did prove helpful at the end of the film when his own talents were then forced to be used for dishonest means. I think with the limited sources for visuals ie. film, art and pictures, this film kept the audience interested. It is also an interesting take at the subject that we think we know a lot about but find that there is always something new to find.
-Caitlin Holton

Prisoners of Paradise

This documentary was another example of the propaganda used by the Nazis to convince the world that what they were doing during Hitler's reign was nothing more than happy, fun camps for those who were forced to go to. Instead what this documentary focused on was the real and terrifying concentration camps where millions of Jews went to die. While the last documentary we watched showed us an actual propaganda video used by the Nazis, which depicted none of the horrible events that were happening behind the scenes, this one was quite the opposite. Prisoners in Paradise took us to the very place where so many people went to starve to death, get tortured and worse. We even saw gruesome images of bodies stacked 10 feet high that photographers back in that day admit they couldn't even look at. The real story of this documentary was about a man who had a choice to either die like so many of his friends and family or to make a propaganda movie showing the world that there is nothing to worry about and the Nazis are right in what they were doing. It is an almost impossible choice to make, and in that sort of life or death situation your true moral character comes out. I don't think anyone can truly answer the question of what they would do in that situation because most of us will never be in any kind of predicament like that. The fear that the Nazi's used made the choice very clear for the filmmaker however.

Prisoners of Paradise

"Prisoners of Paradise" was a wonderful film.  I didn't know anything about the Theresienstadt concentration camp or the famous German-Jewish actor and director Kurt Geron.  Although I have learned about the Holocaust and WW II multiple times all throughout my life, this was one of those instances where I had very little knowledge about the story.  To learn more about the propaganda that the Nazis were involved in, as well as the life of Kurt Geron, was very interesting and tied together very well.
The documentary itself did a wonderful job in tieing together Kurt Geron's life and his story with his time at Theresienstadt, showing how the two were interchangable.  Geron was one of the many prominent people who was forced to live at Theresienstadt  for many years before he too was killed like so many others.  Because he was a talented individual who was involved heavily in the film industry of the time, the Nazis forced Geron to make a propaganda film for them with the promise that he would survive.  This story is compelling because the subject matter is very different than any other Holocaust horror story that I have seen or heard from in a very long time, and really draws you into the history of Geron and the others who struggled to survive in Theresienstadt.  Overall I really enjoyed the documentary and would recommend it to others.