Enough With the Holocaust Already!

Forced out of their homes, they don't look too lucky to me.

Growing up in a Jewish family not long after WW2 ended, I heard more than my fair share of stories about the Holocaust. All too often it was the topic of conversation around the dinner table. I learned that Germans were bad and thus anything German was also bad. My best friend's German Shepherd dog was not allowed in our house. And when my father's rage eventually softened and he bought a VW bug 20 years after the war had ended, my mother threatened divorce and flatly refused to ride in it.

In school we read "The Diary of Anne Frank." Then the movies started showing up: Sophie's Choice. Shoah. The Pianist. Life is Beautiful. Schindler's List. Inglorious Basterds. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Woman In Gold. The Zookeeper's Wife. 1945. The Zone of Interest. To name but a fraction.

Okay, we get it -- six million Jews (and others) were killed by the cold-blooded, murderous, heartless, repugnant, evil, sociopathic Nazis. It's 2024, can we move on yet? Apparently not, since a brand new darling of episodic television has appeared, causing a stir. "We Were the Lucky Ones" is now streaming on Hulu. Naturally my husband and I wanted to check it out, especially with the recent rise in antisemitism sweeping the globe since the start of Israel's war with Hamas.

Season 1 starts out sweetly, a year before the war broke out. An affluent Jewish family living in Poland celebrates Passover. There are photogenic young stars who make it all palatable. The photography is dark,  moody and compelling. The costumes and sets are spot-on, evoking the past with razor-sharp precision. But hey, haven't I heard this story before? In fact, who hasn't? 

Last night's episode featured a group of hapless Jews thinking they were on their way to freedom until their truck convoy went off the road and suddenly they were in the middle of nowhere and forced to dig their own graves in front of a firing squad of sadistic Nazis. Of course all they were told was to "start digging," but anyone who knows anything about history knew what they were doing, so no surprise there.

In fact, no surprises anywhere. Jews being shot for no reason in the streets. Nazis ransacking people's homes. Ordinary German citizens spitting at Jews and beating them with clubs and bricks. Jews forced to live in ghettoes. The gold armbands. Work camps. Pogroms. Call me psychic, but I am willing to bet my entire life savings and my house and car that soon enough all the Jews will be carted off to concentration camps on trains and then gassed in group showers.

I say enough already with the Holocaust! After sniffling my way through Episode 4 of "We Were the Lucky Ones," I think I'm done with this series and may have to watch all of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" from the beginning to recover.