[Entrevista] ‘Young people need to understand that the Holocaust happened to people like us and not so long ago’: ‘Devil’s Confession’ documentary premieres this Monday the 10th

He Yom Hashoah or Holocaust Remembrance Day is commemorated this year between Monday, April 17 and Tuesday, April 18.. considered one solemn day in memory of the victims and the strength of their survivorsduring that day, the flags in Israel fly at half-mast, it is quiet and public transport comes to a standstill.

On DirecTV contributes to this respectful tribute with the premiere of the three-episode documentary series The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes, directed by Israeli filmmaker Yariv Mozer, which brings to light never-before-heard audio recordings of Adolf Eichmann, a former officer of the Nazi regime who fled to Argentina and hid in that land for more than ten years, and in which he describes his role as one of the main architects behind the so-called Final Solution of the Holocaust.

For example indoors the first episode to premiere on Monday, April 10 at 9 p.m., Eichmann can be heard lamenting that he failed to kill 10 million Jews (a figure that would have been considered a success in their mission).

In a conversation with this newspaper, the director emphasized his desire to bring these facts closer to the new generations and so he took the decision to colorize all images and videos and added a dramatized that accompanies the confessions in the ex-Nazi’s voice.

“Young people in all countries need to understand that the holocaust did not happen in black and white, not on another planet or in the ‘old days’ (…). They need to know what happened not so long ago in Eastern Europe and that it happened to people with blonde hair, dressed in different shades, with blue eyes.” Yariv stressed regarding the urgency to see such images in color, using available technology currently.

“The people who went to the gas chamber were people like us.“, he continued. “The colors help us understand that this really happened and it is my responsibility to show it that way”.

The 28-hour interview Eichmann gave to Nazi journalist Willem Sassen was recorded in 1957. while still a fugitive in Argentina, and recently he hasThe original tapes were rediscovered in the German National Archives (although the owner is unknown) and access was granted to make this documentary. who has the executive produced by Emilio SchenkerArgentine-Venezuelan now living in Israel.

“It was impressive for me to hear about the existence of these bands. I didn’t think the Nazis would ever allow themselves to admit the crimes they committed during the Holocaust and afterwards, to boast about what they did and not even feel sorry for it.Yariv recalled. “So I started my efforts to get hold of that material and being able to use all the original tapes in a television series for the first time with the aim of showing the true face of Adolf Eichmann, who sometimes even tried to do more than he was told”.

It was just as terrifying for the director listen to the background noises of the tapes which, in addition to confirming its authenticity, revealed that the conversations took place as informal chats, part of the daily routine of the Nazis in Argentina, where they commented on routine events –as if there were no cigarettes in the store–while describing the murder of the Jews. The interviewer’s daughter can also be heard singing in the background. “That was scarier than the contents of the tapes, which are horrific in their own right.”

The premiere of the series already winner of three Ophir Awards (considered Israel’s Oscar) arrives three years after production started in 2020.

“Something we reveal in this documentary is that the Nazis weren’t really hiding in Argentina”says the executive producer. “I was shocked when I found out They weren’t afraid that anyone would find them because they didn’t think anyone was looking for them at first. and if they found them, they didn’t care either because we can even see how Eichmann’s wife and children bore his surname, nor did they bother to change their names (…). they felt so good”.

The documentary also includes interviews with Holocaust survivors, key witnesses in the Eichmann trial, historians and experts in the subject.

“Stop the music we went with a talented Israeli composer and tried to create something that would give a different dramatic impact to the story. For a certain part of the music, he took the original recordings and used Eichmann’s voice as part of the musical composition. Then there is a disturbing noise that is part of the whole to score from the series and it is something that I really liked and that we later recorded with the orchestra”.

The episodes, one per week, will also be available in the application DGO.