Real History and the BBCtv documentary on Auschwitz

The
International Campaign for Real
History

BBC to broadcast
‘definitive’ history of Auschwitz

by Owen Gibson in Cannes

THE BBC is making what it describes as “the definitive television history of
Auschwitz and the Nazi state”, overseen by the man behind its acclaimed wartime documentaries War of the
Century and Nazis – A Warning from
History.

In a co-production with KCET Hollywood, the corporation is planning to use dramatic techniques and computer simulations such as those employed in recent documentary hits such as Pyramid and
Colosseum to bring the full horror of the
Nazi concentration camps to the screens.

A BBC spokeswoman said:

“We will be using computer graphics to
give a feel for the structure and geography of
the camp. The dramatisation will deal with the
decision making processes and how Auschwitz
operated. We are not going to be dramatising the
suffering of the Holocaust victims in any way —
that would inappropriate.”

Unveiling the project at the MipTV festival in
Cannes, the corporation’s commercial arm, BBC
Worldwide, said the story would be retold using dramatic reconstructions of the “key moments of decision” and computer graphics based on original plans of the camp discovered by historians in the
1990s.

Like other recent BBC reconstructions the documentaries will also draw heavily on eyewitness testimonies, using the accounts of Auschwitz survivors to tell the tale.

The series of six 50-minute programmes, which will be aired on BBC2 next year, is being written and produced by Laurence Rees, who also made
War of the Century and Nazis – A Warning from History.

Last year War of the Century put the battle between Nazism and Stalinism under the microscope in a four-part series, following on from his Bafta award-winning 1997 series The Nazis –
A Warning from History.

The BBC Worldwide chief executive, Rupert
Gavin, last night told MediaGuardian.co.uk that following the success of the Walking With
Dinosaurs and Colosseum, documentary and factual formats were becoming increasingly popular exports.

Other new documentaries from BBC Worldwide include The Shadow of Ghengis Khan, a co-production with the Discovery Channel and RTL, and a new series from historian Michael Wood
with the working title Great Mysteries.

In the former one-off documentary, digital effects will be combined with live action footage shot on location in the Asian Steppes to document the notorious rise to power of Ghenhis
Khan.

Great Mysteries, a four-part series, will search for the truth behind some of the world’s most famous myths including Shangri-la, the Golden
Fleece, the Queen of Shreba and the Holy
Grail.

• To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email
  [email protected]
  or phone 020 7239 9857
• If you are writing a comment for
  publication, please mark clearly “for
  publication”.
• The address of Laurence Rees is BBCtv,
  Kensington House, Richmond Way, London W14
  0AX

Our
website dossier on the Auschwitz
controversy

July 1998:

Auschwitz
authorities refused BBC Television permission to
film with David Irving within their
site.

David
Irving writes to Producer Laurence Rees about
this project, Apr 2, 2004

The
Krakau Trial of the Auschwitz Criminals: summary
(German) with photos | video
[avi]
[exe]

Left: newsreel footage of the Krakau

trial
of the Auschwitz officers.

The
above item is reproduced without editing other than
typographical©
Focal Point
2004

write to David
Irving