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The Commandant's Shadow (2024)

The Commandant's Shadow (2024), directed by Daniela Völker, starring Hans-Jürgen Höss and Kai Höss.

05/29/2024 BR Documentary, History and War 1h 43m

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His father murdered more than a million Jews at Auschwitz. She survived the camp against all odds. 80 years later, they come face to face.

Synopsis

While Hans Jurgen Höss enjoyed a happy childhood in the family villa at Auschwitz, Jewish prisoner Anita Lasker-Wallfisch was trying to survive the notorious concentration camp. At the heart of this film is the historic and inspiring moment – eight decades later – when the two come face-to-face. This is the first time the descendant of a major war criminal meets a survivor in such a private and intimate setting, Anita’s London living room. Together with their children, Kai Höss and Maya Lasker-Wallfisch, the four protagonists explore their very different hereditary burdens.

  • Piotr TrelaCinematography
  • Rob GoldieCinematography
  • Daniela VölkerDirector, Producer, Writer
  • Claire GuillonEditing

About the film

The Commandant's Shadow is a 2024 documentary film directed and produced by Daniela Völker. The film focuses on the story of Jurgen Höss, the son of Auschwitz concentration camp director Rudolf Höss, and his boyhood home life in the villa adjacent to it. The film also stars Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, an Auschwitz survivor who meets face-to-face with Jurgen Höss decades later. The Commandant's Shadow drew media comparisons to the 2023 film The Zone of Interest, a dramatization similarly focusing on the Höss family's life adjacent to Auschwitz.

Snowstorm, Creators Inc., and New Mandate Films produced the movie. HBO Documentary Films and Warner Bros. Pictures acquired distribution rights in April 2024 with Fathom Events partnering to give the film a limited release in the United States on May 29 and 30, 2024.

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The Commandant's Shadow is a 2024 documentary film directed and produced by Daniela Völker. The film focuses on the story of Jurgen Höss, the son of Auschwitz concentration camp director Rudolf Höss, and his boyhood home life in the villa adjacent to it. The film also stars Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, an Auschwitz survivor who meets face-to-face with Jurgen Höss decades later. The Commandant's Shadow drew media comparisons to the 2023 film The Zone of Interest, a dramatization similarly focusing on the Höss family's life adjacent to Auschwitz.

Snowstorm, Creators Inc., and New Mandate Films produced the movie. HBO Documentary Films and Warner Bros. Pictures acquired distribution rights in April 2024 with Fathom Events partnering to give the film a limited release in the United States on May 29 and 30, 2024.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 24 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The film earned a score of 76 on critical aggregator website Metacritic based on five critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" response.

Nick Schager of The Daily Beast called the film "an overpowering work of excavation and confrontation—as well as a timely and urgent warning about the continuing threat of antisemitism." Leslie Combemale of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists wrote that "this documentary has such a powerful hold, it's hard to shake even days later."

See also

2 or 3 Things I Know About Him, 2005 German documentary by Malte Ludin about his family's view of his father, wartime German ambassador to Slovakia executed for war crimes there in 1947

Hitler's Children, 2011 Israeli documentary about second and third generations in the families of prominent Nazis, including Höss.

References

External links

The Commandant's Shadow at IMDb

The Commandant's Shadow at Rotten Tomatoes

Text from The Commandant's Shadow on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Commandant's_Shadow

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What is The Commandant's Shadow about?

The Commandant's Shadow: While Hans Jurgen Höss enjoyed a happy childhood in the family villa at Auschwitz, Jewish prisoner Anita Lasker-Wallfisch was trying to survive the notorious concentration camp. At the heart of this film is the historic and inspiring moment – eight decades later – when the two come face-to-face. This is the first time…

Who directed The Commandant's Shadow?

The Commandant's Shadow was directed by Daniela Völker in 2024.

Who stars in The Commandant's Shadow?

The cast of The Commandant's Shadow includes Hans-Jürgen Höss, Kai Höss, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, Maya Lasker-Wallfisch and Rudolf Höss.

How long is The Commandant's Shadow?

The Commandant's Shadow runs for 103 minutes, or 1h43.

Where can I watch The Commandant's Shadow?

The Commandant's Shadow is available on Netflix, HBO Max, Netflix Standard with Ads, HBO Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV Store and Amazon Video. Availability changes often: the list on this page is the most recent we received.

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Page updated on 09/16/2026.

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Scene from The Commandant's Shadow