S2.E5 ∙ Episode #2.5

The story of the formation of the First Motion Picture Unit during World War II, which created an alliance between Washington and Hollywood for the purpose of making military training films.

A film of Monique Verhoeckx which deals with the troubled war experiences of her father and grandfather. Both are struggling with a post-traumatic stress syndrome. The film is an attempt of the maker to establish contact with the impenetrable worlds of her granddad and her father. The viewer gains access to main character Senior his inner world: a world that is under pressure when he is confronted with images of his captivity at the Thailand-Burma Railway. By expressing his thoughts to his son, he tries to master his anger and his impotence, and to make peace with his son and himself.

Roman Cudakowski, for his friends Cudak, plays in a band at weddings and city parties. During the occupation, the musician did not do well. Entrances to the premises for Germans are an opportunity to earn money. However, they cannot imagine themselves orchestras without a violinist. Then Cudak takes the gifted Szymon Akerman out of the ghetto to concerts, with whom he did not agree before the war. In the new reality, they both need each other: Cudak can earn money by playing with Akerman, while the latter gains a chance to survive. One day, Roman decides to permanently take the violinist and his family from the ghetto in order to hide them, risking his life in his home.

In 1930s Germany, Friedrich Karl Nischwitz was a student at a military school for the Hitler Youth. After 4 years of beatings and humiliation by his classmates and elders, Fred finally escaped to the USA. Friedrich Karl Nischwitz became Fred Curtis, a US citizen, who fought against the Germans during World War II. After the war, Fred embarked on his greatest achievement, to become one of the founding fathers of the modern day computer hard drive. This is Fred's story.

Concentration camp survivor Mike Vogel tells the story of his family's confinement at Auschwitz Birkenau.

A romanticized tale of the end of French rule in Mexico as Emperors Maximilian and Carlota struggle against followers of Benito Juarez independence movement.