When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".
Direction
Singer weaves restoration thriller around unbearable original footage.
Editing
McAllister's 1945 assembly finally completed per Hitchcock's instructions.
Production
70-year negative hunt across three nations. Obsessive archaeology.
Director
André Singer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The original 1945 negative was stored under various wrong titles; archivists found it mislabeled as 'Famine' in a London vault.
The shelving directly influenced Holocaust denial's later traction—evidence existed but was suppressed. Singer's restoration is thus an act of historical justice, not just preservation.
DK
GB
