DG - Inheritance - PBS

Discussion Guide | InheritanceIntroductionSeason21Inheritance is a feature-length (75-minute) film about theextraordinary, gut-wrenching and enduring effects of Nazihorrors on human souls. The Schindler’s List portrayal of thePlaszow Concentration Camp and its brutal commander, AmonGoeth, set in motion the events recounted by this newdocumentary. Inheritance tells the stories of two women withvery different scars from the World War II genocide of Europe’sJews — whose sorrows and angers intersect in the hauntingmemory of one man.Now in her 60s, Monika Hertwig has struggled a lifetime withwhat she learned at age 11 — that her father, Amon Goeth, hadnot been killed in World War II like other soldiers, but washanged as a war criminal when she was a baby.In her struggle to learn more about the crimes her fathercommitted during World War II, Hertwig seeks out Helen Jonas,who was selected by Goeth to serve in his household. She is oneof the few living eyewitnesses to his unspeakable brutality. TheMonika Hertwig, daughter of Nazi commander Amon Goeth,places a candle at the Jewish monument at thePlaszow Concentration Camp.Photo courtesy of Don Holtzwomen’s emotional meeting unearths terrible truths andlingering questions about how the actions of parents cancontinue to ripple through generations. It challenges viewers toconfront the ways in which atrocities reach deep into humansouls to define people for a lifetime.As an outreach tool, Inheritance’s account will push viewers toacknowledge the links between prejudice and violence while itsfocus on the personal will leave them with a sense of hope,arising from the human capacity to live with even the ugliest ofemotional and physical scars. Through its connection of pastand present, this documentary can serve as a powerfulspringboard for discussions about the ways in which historylives on in every human psyche.© American Documentary, Inc.5