The Relief of Belsen (2007 TV Movie) User Reviews

We can save people's lives, by remembering them that they are human

[OJT · 8/10 · 17 December 2008]

The true filmed history of the liberation of the German concentration camp Bergen-Belsen in 1945, dramatized with good acting. We follow the last 23 days of the World War II, and the struggle to keep people alive from the horrid of the German empire.

Even after the liberation of the camp containing tens of thousands of prisoners in the two twin camps, the people are dying from famine and typhus, and shrunken inner organs after years in starvation.

Gripping and compelling, but it takes time before the story really takes a hold on you. It might be the lack of budget, making this some kind of a part time documentary.

The use of hand held cameras adds to the reality, though it's obvious that the film crew has tried to make the best out of their budget, they rather try to show the reaction and the faces of the nurses and soldiers, than the misery.

The scenes of misery is real footage and filming made in 1945, quite good blended in with a history telling voice. This form demands us to get into this way of storytelling, and succeeds after a while. Then you start feeling the despair and disbelief of efforts not working, until it suddenly does, while looking worse than ever.

Well done on an obviously too small budget. A compelling storytelling of some of the worst episodes in human history.

Life and reality seems on a different planet, and is told so when a military chief gives the message while looking in at the sick-beds. "By the way. Apparently, they say the war is over!"

Good Docudrama With A Few Flaws

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 30 January 2010]

One thing Nazi Germany achieved was to turn the rest of humanity in to Basil Fawlty . Even today it's impossible to even think of the word " German " without thinking of at least one vision of the second world war . One of the many unfortunate things about this is how much it confuses historical perspective . Before the war the Germans were perceived as being cultured and morally upstanding people not the goose stepping mass murderers they were thought of after the death camps were discovered . There is a common myth that the war started as a crusade against Nazism by the democracies of the world . This is erroneous since the only reason Britain and France declared war on Germany was that it had invaded Poland . There is effectively no difference between fighting Germany in 1914 than in fighting Germany in 1939

It's important to remember this when watching THE RELIEF OF BELSEN . British forces found the camp in the Spring of 1945 . There had be some vague reports of Soviet soldiers finding a terrible camp of some kind in the Polish town of Auschwitz but this wasn't widely reported and should it be since the USSR had millions upon millions of its citizens killed in bloody battles such Stalingrad and Kursk or had entire towns wiped off the face of the Earth and its inhabitants murdered . The Soviets themselves weren't above cynicism themselves as their role - or rather lack of it - in the Warsaw uprising showed . They might have been allies during the war but the end of the war was in sight and the Soviets obviously weren't going to remain allies for much longer

The story is told through a bunch of medics led by Lt Col James Johnston who have stumbled upon a prison camp at Belsen . It's like no other prison camp ever seen by British forces since it contains civilians , thousands of them , all of them on the brink of death . Their ignorance and shock as to why and how the Nazis are doing this soon gives way to the frustration of how can they save the wretched survivors ? Hundreds upon hundreds still die every day . What can save these people from the worst atrocity inflicted upon humans by other humans

It's well told mixing footage such as Richard Dimbleday's famous commentary along with the drama and the drama does throw a few things that shouldn't be forgotten such as instead of the SS guards being put in a POW camp they were repatriated to the Eatern front and just out a last bit of spite the Nazis sabotaged the camp generator as they left . There are a few flaws to it . One is that it isn't really emphasised enough the effects of feeding a human being starved for years . It was common during this period for liberators to feed the inmates of these camps on their field rations only to watch them die in agony . There's also a blatant lack of budget which means everything is shown in medium shot thereby saving on sets and extras . There's also the irritating director's trick of using the camera lens zoom in and out which might work in a Robert Altman Hollywood satire but not here

A Story About Heroes That Should Be Told!

[chrissso · 8/10 · 11 November 2015]

At first I hated this film! Immediately you know it is very low budget. But more so the horrible camera work (hand held medium shots ala Blair Witch Project) … and the chaos of noise and lights (such annoying use of spot lights) … it made it all hard to watch! Yup just another underfunded, overly dramatic, poorly directed MFTV movie!

But hold on … the setting of the film is totally unique … a setting that begs the question what would it be like to take responsibility for 60,000 starved, typhus infected, highly contagious prisoners … in a camp where there were over 13,000 additional corpses lying around rotting. Pretty disgusting and most challenging!

This film is about the individuals who faced that in the liberation of Bergen Belsen. It is a true story with little fabrication. It is based on the memoirs of those who lived it. Mostly it is about the shock of the West's first encounter with the horror of the Nazis death camps … and its initial response to it.

This is a film about heroes and their dedication to saving lives. It presents a story about a situation that few are familiar with. It is informative and it has great historical context. We need to remember these individuals and what they did!

This is not a fancy film … it is a low budget docudrama … that successfully uses a fine set of unknown actors … stock film … and narration to tell a remarkable story. Well done!

My father was part of the ambulance unit at the relief of Belsen

[John-stephenson1034 · 19 April 2014]

I recall my father telling me a long time ago about his experiences at Belsen. It had such a profound effect on him that he only ever spoke once about it and not even once to my two sisters. From his descriptions, the movie is an accurate representation of the events. The army team involved were true hero's who saved hundreds. This should be compulsory viewing for the schools curriculum as it demonstrates both the depravity of human beings to others and conversely, their humanity. Having visited the site in the 80's I recall the oppressive atmosphere felt in the region, and this was before I was aware of the dreadful events that had taken place there.

A must see in any serious list of movies or series about WW2

[Erik_Surewaard · 6/10 · 23 June 2023]

Based on true facts around the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, this movie portrays events about the attempts to save the remaining inmate population of a hunger death.

A combination of scripted movie and archival material, this movie will give you an idea of the human suffering and even chaos surrounding the organization of a relief plan. I personally was shocked to see that it took 2 weeks - and over 11,000 deaths after liberation of the camp - to even come with a diet plan for the camp inmates. A diet plan that takes into account that people suffering from starvation are not able to cope with a normal diet. One would have expected that the allied troops would have been better prepared for the situation where they liberated such camps. Fact is that army command was aware of the existence on these camps prior to the invasion.

Most important is that this movie shows what the german leadership, the SS and many other people were able to do to let other people suffer a painful death. It is in that respect a showcase for how evil humanity can be.

One other facts is that this movie also shows that the russians - whom liberated Auschwitz six weeks before the british liberated Bergen Belsen - were not sharing information. It shows very clearly that already then, the "allied troops" were not allied at all! The eastern and western fronts were operating each on their own, as if the "cold war" was already started.

It is very difficult - if not impossible - to rate a movie like this. I personally think that any person should be made aware of the atrocities and suffering that occured in concentration camps during WW2. I think this movie can play a role in creating awareness. Therefore this movie deserves a place in any serious list about WW2 movies. Overall, I give this movie a rating of 6.4/10.

I still hope that a director like Steven Spielberg - whom has a personal interest in depicting the events surrounding WW2 - will in the future make a movie or show which includes the events surrounding the WW2 concentration camps... His work on WW2 has always been excellent and in that respect also reach a wider audience. Because in all honestly, I must admit that "The Relief of Belsen" has not the rights ingredients to be able to catch a worldwide audience.

excellent film worth watching, and the actors were cast appropriately.:

[susanlincoln766 · 10/10 · 27 February 2015]

My father was one of those British men that first entered belsen and never after the war could he find the courage to talk about it. I am so very proud of him. Along with the other soldiers who where with him. He served at the front line then was commissioned to undertake the release and care of the captives in the camp.I believe the smells of rotting corpses and the degrading conditions that the prisoners had to endure lived with my father for the rest of his life. He kept this to himself because he did not want to relive the horrors. I would like very much to thank the people involved in the making of this film, and on behalf of my father thank you.

A film everyone should see

[peterrichboy · 9/10 · 21 July 2021]

I remember when I was in hospital there was A 94-year-old gentleman who had served in the Second World War. I was very interested to know what He did during the conflict. He had served In North Africa, the Italian campaign including Many of the of the horrific battles of that campaign. He was also amongst the first troops to enter Belson concentration camp. As with most soldiers that fought in both world Wars, They are very reluctant to talk about what they went through. One thing I do remember was during the night he would wake up screaming. I said are you okay "He said sorry son I still have nightmares about Belsen". This more then anything I knew about concentration camps bought home the horrors of these camps. 70 years on he was still having nightmares about what he witnessed.

The relief of Belsen tells the story of the desperate attempts by the British medics to save as many lives as they could, at times it was a losing battle, such was the malnutrition and typhus that had spread through the camp.

The Doctors and medics who managed to save hundreds of lives with limited supplies are the unsung heroes of WW2 and this film is a fitting tribute to them, rather than the unbelievable cruelty of the Nazis.

Faithful recreation of the greatest single thing Britain ever did

[jrarichards · 9/10 · 19 November 2015]

Brits finding their patriotism wavering might do well to watch this film. If winning the Second World War was our country's greatest achievement, then surely an event that best epitomised what that vast 6-year effort was all about was the stepwise British restoration of civilisation, humanity, kindness, decency and dignity (and of course - but last of all - health) in the wake of the pitiless eradication of all of those fine things by Nazi Germany in the context of the affront to humanity that was the Bergen-Belsen Camp. The moving beauty of what was achieved overall is made all the more poignant by the fact that much of the film (based very clearly on the rather numerous surviving diary accounts, papers and other forms of documentation) is devoted to people arguing, failing, feeling overwhelmed, not knowing what to do for the best, drinking a fair amount to drown their sorrows (this is certainly documented fact), wishing to be elsewhere and genuinely "muddling through" in the time-honoured British fashion that sadly coincided with ongoing deaths from malnutrition, disease and apathy of thousands of inmates even after the Germans had been sent packing. As often with close-to-the-truth recreations of historical events, some of the work looks better and more authentic than others. The near-surreal scenes of arrival at the start of the film are particularly well-done, and it is from that early point that we meet Captain Sington of the Intelligence Corps (whose portrayal by Tobias Menzies continues through to the end of the film as a kind of solid backbone seeming particularly true-to-life). Given his real-life politics, Corin Redgrave does particularly well in offering us a very plausible (and rather cuddly) Brigadier Glyn Hughes - a man in real life loved and appreciated hugely by military personnel and ex-inmates at Belsen alike. A far more complex, but very sympathetic character is Rabbi Captain Leslie Hardman, as played by Paul Hilton. Oliver Ford Davies is also a natural as Col. Lipscomb. There are slightly more doubts about starring-role Iain Glen as Col. James Johnston, but many of these arise because we are a little too much under the impression of "Ser Jorah". Those seeing the "Relief of Belsen" on its release in 2007 would have been blissfully unaware of Glen's post-2011 career! Many other performances that look on paper as if they might be less significant make a major impression in the context of the film itself (especially Frog Stone as Hadassah Bimko and Henry Pettigrew as one of the 90+ students of the London medical schools who were indeed sent out to do this kind of impossibly challenging work, and did indeed have to grow up and wise up very quickly indeed). The biggest problem for me is Lt. Col. Mervyn Gonin, as played in rather sarcastic and bolshie fashion by Nigel Lindsay. Even given the inevitable disputes arising from the overwhelming magnitude of the task and the frustration felt at lack of progress with it, it seems hard to credit that Gonin could have been so sourly critical and insubordinate. Having said that, a talk given by Gonin readily consultable online had more to say about the men under his command (rightly so) and about Hughes than about Johnston, so perhaps there really was something there. The performance jars nonetheless. Overall, though, this is an immensely moving and authentic-looking film (interspersed with real-life footage and quotes) that is all the more patriotic for its juxtaposition of human frailties and an achievement that was nevertheless one of the most truly selfless and noble of any history has to offer. A further element of that eclectic mix comes at the very end of the film when we learn of the humdrum, everyday places that the key heroes of the film eventually returned to, having done their best at a place that was the most extreme antithesis possible of anything humdrum and everyday. Cometh the hour, cometh the man, as it were...

Good film, but nonsense is as nonsense does

[Namron7 · 30 September 2011]

I get it....ish Not really enough research, though. For instance.........

I can remember hearing a programme on Radio 4 where various medics from the time discussed the restorative effects of different types of medicines. In particular they waxed lyrical about IV glucose/saline as having a 'Lazarus' effect. Why is this important factor missed? Secondly, that scene about the prisoner lady being scared of the injection because 'they injected us with benzene to make us burn better' is pure shiz. For sure, they - the Nazis - injected benzene at times (along with a million other substances). But even I know they didn't do it to enhance any 'burning effect'. LOL! It seems crazy to me that the producers actually thought that a 10-25ml (or even 500ml) injection of flammable fluid into a body would enhance the burning of a corpse. Sadly, it's typical of the fact that very few people have science qualifications these days. But let's not blame a lack of science. Let's even try common sense. i.e. Did the producers ever try to light even a barbecue with 25ml of lighter fluid? LOL.

Like I said, 'OK' only.