Peter Weiss’ monumental 1965 stage play, among the greatest artworks on the Holocaust, condenses the testimonies of witnesses and the accused during the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 1963-1965. This ultra-faithful film adaptation builds, across four hours, in its intensity and graphically described detail.
Writing
Weiss's verbatim testimony, unsoftened and unsparing.
Acting
Bock's exhausted judge anchors four hours of horror.
Direction
Kahl refuses every temptation to sensationalize.
Director
Rolf Peter Kahl
Rainer Bock
Richter
Clemens Schick
Ankläger
Bernhard Schütz
Verteidiger
Christian Kaiser
Zeuge 1
Dirk Ossig
Zeuge 2
Arno Frisch
Zeuge 3
Elisabeth Duda
Zeugin 4
Nicolette Krebitz
Zeugin 5
Attila Borlan
Zeuge 6
Robert Mika
Zeuge 7
Marcel Hensema
Zeuge 8
Christiane Paul
Zeugin 9
Barbara Philipp
Zeugin 10
Klaudiusz Kaufmann
Zeuge 11
Marc Fischer
Zeuge 12
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Weiss's play premiered in 1965 while actual trials were ongoing; it forced West German audiences to confront what official narratives minimized.
The film's theatrical staging—witnesses never leaving the stand—deliberately mirrors how survivors were trapped in repetitive testimony, justice always deferred.
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