'Inheritance' and the Holocaust

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December 10, 2008

Monika Hertwig, daughter of Amon Goeth, whose story is featured in the "Inheritance" documentary — Monika Hertwig in front of the house where her father, Nazi commandant Amon Goeth, forced Helen Jonas to serve as a housemaid.

And then she saw it. Nazi SS officer Amon Goeth, death camp commandant (played by Ralph Fiennes), killing and ordering killed thousands of Jews.

Helen Jonas was a slave in that camp — the camp where her mother died — a teenage housemaid to the commandant.

A new PBS documentary, "Inheritance," captures the wrenching meeting of these two women.

This hour, On Point: The story of the Holocaust survivor and the daughter of the Nazi commandant who enslaved her.

You can join the conversation. How do we face the darkest burdens of history? Of inheritance?Guests:

Joining us from Los Angeles is James Moll. In 1994, along with Steven Spielberg, he founded the Shoah Foundation, which records video testimony from survivors of the Holocaust. In 1999, he won an Academy Award for his documentary “The Last Days,” about the lives of five Hungarian Holocaust survivors. His new film, “Inheritance,” will have its national broadcast premiere on the PBS series P.O.V. tonight, and will be available on DVD in January.
From Weissenberg, Germany, we're joined by Monika Hertwig. Born in 1946, she is the daughter of the notorious Nazi commandant Amon Goeth.

More links:

The P.O.V. website for "Inheritance" includes a great deal of background information on the film and the Plaszow camp, as well as an update on Helen Jonas and Monika Hertwig since their meeting in Plaszow, Poland.

You can watch a trailer for the film here:

This program aired on December 10, 2008.