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Berga: Soldiers of Another War
The last documentary by late filmmaker Charles Guggenheim, "Berga: Soldiers of Another War" sheds light on a little-known fact of World War II: imprisoned American GIs were forced to work alongside slave laborers from Nazi concentration camps. This 90-minute film reveals Nazi Holocaust atrocities inflicted on 350 American POWs, some of which came from Guggenheim's 106th Infantry Division, "classified" as Jewish. The film, shot entirely in black and white, tells the story through on-camera testimony by survivors and eyewitnesses, archival photographs and film, and re-enactment footage. Guggenheim, a four-time Academy Award-winner, wrote and directed the film, and because of his personal connection to the story, also narrated in the first person for the only time in his career.
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This was Guggenheim's last documentary. Why do you think he waited so long to tell the story?
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Why do you think Guggenheim filmed in black and white? What effect does it have?
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Do you think it's fair to the people who underwent an ordeal to make them remember and relive the experience for history's sake? Do all the "millions of stories that have never been told" deserve to be told? Why or why not?
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One interviewee says that 18- and 19-year-old prisoners perished quickly. Why do you think they succumbed before the older POWs?
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Do you believe that people in dire circumstances are justified in doing whatever it takes to survive? Explain.
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How do you answer Guggenheim's (and others') question, "Why not me?"
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One former POW says, "We weren't heroes." Do you think they were? Explain.
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During WWII, German POWs in the U.S. were treated relatively well. What do you think about this?
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Why do you think the Germans' treatment of Hans Kasten (a non-Jew) was so ferocious?
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