ITVs documentary on the Ovitz family, a family of 7 dwarf entertainers who ended up in Auschwitz during the second world war.
This documentary did not only interest me because of its WWII connection but because of the subject, of what happened to people who Nazi's thought were different.
The first part of the documentary was interesting because it was about dwarf actors in general from back before the war to Warwick Davies in modern days and how he has tackled his career.
Now just before I carry on I just have to say I love Warwick Davies. Growing up my mum loved Willow and we'd watch it all the time. He's always been an actor I've loved a lot, when I was a kid I'd only notice him now and again and it would be "look its Willow" now I look back and I realize how much I've seen with him in and just how important a film like Willow was.
When we finally got to the story of the war you could see how it touched him. Finding out about them in the ghetto, wondering if the kids playing in the area were these people were kept and ridiculed. When he saw just how high the trains would be and how impossible it would have been for the family to get onto the train, wondering what they would have talked about on their way to Auschwitz.
Added to this is a interview with one of the Ovitz and haunting photos of the Auschwitz camp.
Hearing from one of the family about what they were put through in the camp, pouring cold water in their ears and then boiling water into their ears really brought home just how bad these people were treated and how we could never imagine the things done to them in the name of "science" and so forth.
In fact Warwick touched on the subject himself about how we've all heard of what happened but you have to actually go there before you really get that feeling that it ACTUALLY happened.
The thing I like about these documentaries is that it really brings home the feeling, it isn't some boring historian telling you what happened it is a normal down to earth guy reacting to what happened. Warwick Davies is just like us and he found out about these things and reacted.
The story of the family was so sad, hearing about how they survived by letting the Nazi's do what they wanted to do and by being different showed the strength of character they had to survive. It is one of the first documentaries I have seen that really pulls you into the suffering that must have gone on for these people.
You also feel like you've gone through a journey with Warwick as he tries to figure the story of not only these seven amazing people but also of all dwarfs that were sent to places like Auschwitz and indeed ANYONE sent there. He really brings the story to life instead of stating facts and asks questions like whether the kids knew that the ground they were playing on was home to horrific deeds in the second world war.
It is a wonderful documentary and you should really go find it if you haven't watched it on broadcast. Nothing I write could do it justice!
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