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What impressed you as the most chilling scene? SPOILERS

posted 18 years ago by taylorje
26 replies | jump to latest

For me, it was the scene where Anna, having gone into a mental decline after she was raped, is sent to the so-called sanitarium. Her sister-in-law Inga(Meryl Streep in a very early role) takes her to a doctor said to be sympathetic to Jews, and who was a one-time friend of Dr. Weiss, who has been deported to Poland by this time. The doctor seems so kind and compassionate and says he knows just the place for Anna and will make the arrangements, even persuading Inga to leave the girl in his office. The next scene shows Anna on a bus with other "patients" being driven to a large building in the country. They are herded inside, the nurse taking their id cards as each one files inside, then the doors are locked and they are killed by exhaust fumes. It was so ordinary, somehow, and then the horror broke through.

[–] alice_doesntlivehere 17 years ago

That was exactly the one I was thinking of. Either that or when she was being followed down the alley by the men and tried to knock on a door for help, then turned and saw them standing there and knew she was helpless.

[–] alomba1328 17 years ago

Although it is more ironic than chilling, one scene from the novel (which was shorter in the film) involves the Dorf family celebrating Christmas. Dorf's son, Peter, gets a pair of mice for a present so that he can breed them and learn the basics of reproduction. He tells his parents his plan to "drown the sick ones" (in the movie, he stated that he would give the sick ones to his sister.) His mother is horrified and scolds him. Then, his dad, the Nazi officer, and his mother, the woman who pushed her husband to become a Nazi officer, launch into a lengthy lecture on the importance of respecting all life, no matter how small. WHAT THE *beep* Shortly after, they go back to singing Christmas carols while playing the piano that was stolen from a family that was murdered by the Nazis.

[–] FredAndGingerMad 16 years ago

the piano that came into the Dorf family's possession was the one belonging to the Weiss family as is revealed when they open the top of the piano to find out whats wrong with it (i havent however read the book didnt know there was one)

[–] zeta1983-1 16 years ago

All good examples I had been thinking of as well but a few that haven't been mentioned yet.
1. In Therendeinstadt where they beat a guy to death and their hands are broken for making art of what really went on to show the world and were talking about touring Italy.
2. Where Dorf witnesses the naked men machine gunned into the pit and then the other Nazi there complains how he never does any of the dirty work etc. he goes down and finishes off those who were still alive with his pistol.
3. The end where Dorf tries to rationalize what he did then when realizing he's screwed takes cyanide and his family's reactions afterward.

[–] bittermilk2 15 years ago

the scene that opened every episode in the greek tv, people forsed into a hause of wood, locked in and burned alive. I was never able to forget that one, even though I was 8 ...

[–] ngaio62 15 years ago

That Christmas scene is chilling not only what Peter say but the pretence of civilized social norms. Reminds my of Bush's America.

Kiwiboy62

[–] aircrftmec 14 years ago

No Kiwiboy62, you're thinking of OBAMA.

[–] jmbwithcats 16 years ago

There were many scenes that were truly chilling, when Sasha is killed one must wonder if anyone in the movie will survive.

When Dorf speaks of their moral necessity to kill all the Jews, one cannot help but wonder how such smart people can convince them that the murder of millions of people is ever justified in the eyes of Christianity.

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[–] blnj25 16 years ago

It's been years since I saw this. However, I remember when this initially aired this was one (of many scenes) that was "chilling." (This is probably because I was close in age of the character of Anna.)

[–] Milkdoesabodygood 16 years ago

When the jews in the ghetto decided to fight back and the germans were so lackluster in arresting them, usually the nazis WERE always on their guard when going to arrest people. The fact that the jews WERE able to have a sabbath (Sabbot) meal WHILE holding the germans at bay, too bad those scumbag russians didn't help them. U can die begging on your knees or stand up and fight.

[–] bizzy23 14 years ago

first of all, there were 2 uprising in Warsaw. one was the Jewish uprising in 43 which is depicted in the series and only occured in the Warsaw Jewish ghetto, and the larger general uprising by the Polish resistance that happened about a year later in 44. your reference to the Russians not helping Warsaw has to do with the Polish uprising in 1944 and not the Jewish uprising in 1943. since the Russians were farther east and no where near Warsaw at the time of the Jewish Uprising. at that time, the Russians and Germans were preparing for Kursk.

[–] ngaio62 16 years ago

This wa was part of what was known as the T4 programme. The removal of those who were deemed mentally or physically impaired and unable to fit into the greater society that Hitler and his fans wanted.

It was also the only thing the Catholic Church officially stood up against. In this they were sucessful and it is a shame they stopped there.

Kiwiboy62

[–] JoJo31 15 years ago

Michael Moriarty as Erik Dorf - his face and especially his eyes were chilling. An awesome performance.

[–] dawnm5 15 years ago

I have to agree here. Michael Moriarty's transformation was so scary. From a nice man taking his wife to the family doctor (who just happens to be Jewish) to a killing machine (in part to his over achieving wife...she was REALLY scary) than he kills himself, like Hitler.

[–] timeslord 15 years ago

This was the most disturbing scene for me too, mainly because although not being the first death in the film, it is the first of a character you are made to care about.

When Streep asked the doctor if she was doing the right thing, I started to guess something would be wrong, however when they reached the sanatorium by bus I thought it was going to be OK... then they put her and all the other mentally challenged people in that barn to die, mercilessly. It was terrible.

[–] santol321 15 years ago

For me it was not one individual scene, but watching the transformation of Dorf from being the mild mannered lawyer merely looking for a job to becoming a fanatical proponent of mass murder, goaded on by Frau Dorf, who becomes his Lady Macbeth.

[–] ruttiger 15 years ago

I saw Holocaust on TV when it came out; I guess I was about 9. That scene (of Anna being gassed) was so incredibly chilling to me. I think part of it is that there is a long introduction where you get sort of bored -- she's packed on the bus, the bus drives along, they are unloaded, walk along a path, and there is no break, no intense music or dramatic emotion, even as they enter the room and engine is started up, and you realize what is actually going on. The horror is not conjured by the movie-maker or great acting or special effects but simply by the nature of what is happening.

[–] jemimakahn 14 years ago

Oh believe me, it was entirely designed to lull us into a sense of false security. The horror is meticulously conjured up by the writer and the director.

What impressed you as the most chilling scene? *SPOILERS*

What impressed you as the most chilling scene? SPOILERS