Plot Synopsis

Inspired in part by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's "Americans and the Holocaust" exhibition and supported by its historical resources, THE US AND THE HOLOCAUST is a three-night, six-hour documentary that examines the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany in the context of global antisemitism and racism, the eugenics movement in the United States and race laws in the American South. Directed and produced by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein, this three-parter combines first-person accounts of Holocaust witnesses and survivors with interviews with leading historians and writers to dispel competing myths that Americans either were ignorant of the unspeakable persecution that Jews and other targeted minorities faced in Europe or that they looked on with callous indifference. The film tackles a range of questions that remain essential to our society today, including how racism influences policies related to immigration and refugees as well as how governments and people respond to the rise of authoritarian states that manipulate history and facts to consolidate power. The film also looks at American policy on topics ranging from Calvin Coolidge's staunch anti-immigration ideology to FDR's Lend-Lease bill and how these fights took shape on the home front, including the emergence of Nazi sympathizers. Some of America's most well-known leaders, such as Lindbergh and Ford, were also among the most vocal antisemites. Similarly, new light is shed on many of the well-known controversies surrounding the American response to the Holocaust, including the dreadful story of the more than 900 Jewish refugees aboard the MS St. Louis, who were denied entry to Cuba and the U.S. in 1939 and forced to return to an uncertain fate in Europe, and the enduring debate over whether the Allies should have bombed Auschwitz. THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST features interviews with some of the country's leading scholars on the period, including Daniel Greene, Rebecca Erbelding, Peter Hayes, Deborah Lipstadt, Daniel Mendelsohn, Daniel Okrent, Nell Irvin Painter, Mae Ngai and Timothy Snyder. On-camera witnesses include Susan Hilsenrath Warsinger, Eva Geiringer [Schloss], Joseph Hilsenrath, Marlene Mendelsohn, Sol Messinger and Guy Stern, who recently turned 100 years old. Voice actors in the film are: Adam Arkin, Sarah Botstein, Paul Corning, Hope Davis, Leon Dische Becker, Paul Giamatti, Mariusz Glabinski, Elliott Gould, Marlena Grzaslewicz, Murphy Guyer, Werner Herzog, Josh Lucas, Joe Morton, Carolyn McCormick, Liam Neeson, Matthew Rhys, Meryl Streep, Agate Was, Bradley Whitford, Helena Zengel.

"History cannot be looked at in isolation," said Ken Burns. "While we rightly celebrate American ideals of democracy and our history as a nation of immigrants, we must also grapple with the fact that American institutions and policies, like segregation and the brutal treatment of indigenous populations, were influential in Hitler's Germany. And it cannot be denied that, although we accepted more refugees than any other sovereign nation, America could have done so much more to help the millions of desperate people fleeing Nazi persecution."

THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST premieres from 8-10pm (check local listings) on PBS over three nights: Sunday, September 18; Tuesday, September 20; and Wednesday, September 21. The program was originally scheduled to air on three consecutive nights (Sunday through Thursday), but PBS pre-empted Monday's program for coverage of Queen Elizabeth's funeral.

"The Golden Door (Beginnings -- 1938)" (Sunday, September 18, 2022 from 8-10:15pm): Reversing a history of open borders, a xenophobic backlash prompts Congress to restrict immigration. Hitler and the Nazis persecute German Jews, forcing many to seek refuge. FDR is concerned by the growing crisis but unable to coordinate a response.

"Yearning to Breathe Free (1938-1942)" (Tuesday, September 20, 2022 from 8-10:20pm): As World War II begins, Americans are divided over whether to intervene against Nazi Germany. Some individuals and organizations work tirelessly to help refugees escape. Germany invades the USSR and secretly begins the mass murder of European Jews.

"The Homeless, The Tempest-Tossed (1942 -- )" (Wednesday, September 21, 2022 from 8-10:15pm): A group of dedicated government officials fights red tape to support rescue operations. As the Allies liberate German camps, the public sees for the first time the sheer scale of the Holocaust and begins to reckon with its reverberations.