ABSTRACT
In addition to recording the reaction of the four Fisher siblings visiting Gussen II where their father was a 17-year-old slave laborer in WWII, the review also provides a historical and geographical context to the documentary Six Million and One. For David, the filmmaker in the family, the incentive for making the documentary was provided by their father’s diary, which he wrote two years before his death. The film records the changes in the siblings from reluctant participants to being deeply moved by what they saw and what they learned about their father’s experiences and the extent of his suffering. The inclusion of two WWII American war veterans adds poignancy and reminds the audience that the crimes committed in these places had affected not only the intended victims but also their liberators. The highlight of the documentary is pictures of the rarely seen tunnel system built deep into the Austrian Alps, primarily to assemble fighter planes. Hard labor combined with starvation diet and sub-zero temperatures claimed the lives of many thousands of Jewish men and political prisoners and made the Fisher siblings wonder: how did our father survive? A question that resonates with all survivors of this cruel and inhuman place.
