Especially Not Noticeable (2008)

Directed by: Emiel Bakker | 54 minutes | documentary

Twenty-eight Dutch survivors of the Buchenwald concentration camp, where an estimated fifty thousand people died, tell in detail about their time there, about ‘daily life’ in the concentration camp. No hero stories, no ‘happy ending’, but one common conclusion: the greatest chance of survival was simply not standing out. If you only made sure that you moved through the camp like an invisible shadow, without crazy things, without being brash or reckless, you might have a chance.

The mixed stories of the men form a realistic and moving portrait of their history, both the atrocities and the banalities of everyday life are discussed: the endless boredom, the hard work, the excuses to get out of it and the friendships that Closed. But also the train that took them there, the obligatory shower and shaving sessions, during which it was checked en passant who might have been circumcised in order to get the Jews out, the fleas and lice and lack of sanitary facilities. The stories show how the life of the – then – young and unprepared men was reduced to an inhumane existence, in which disappearing into the background, not being noticed became the most important.

Sometimes it feels as if the director, who made the film for the NIOD (Netherlands Institute for War Documentation), has little connection with the subject. He himself admits this to a certain extent: he did not broach this subject of his own accord, nor does he have any personal connection with the theme. The interviews had already been conducted by the NIOD. Bakker efficiently reduced the hours of material to fifty minutes, interspersed with archive footage and photos. While this shouldn’t be a problem in itself, the film still feels quite distant. A subject like this requires a certain urgency on the part of the makers and if that is lacking, it leaves an unsatisfactory feeling. You would prefer to comfort the men who tell their story moved to tears, but the film does not allow that and that is a shame.