The Untold Holocaust: A Documentary Series by Boris Maftsir

It is said that a person dies three times:
First, when they pass away.
Second, when they are laid to rest.
Third, when their name is spoken no more.

Soviet Jews accounted for nearly half of the six million lives lost in the Holocaust.

For ideological and political reasons, the Soviet Union refused to recognize the distinct nature of the Holocaust, virtually prohibiting any documentation, research, or commemoration. The Holocaust of Soviet Jewry was treated as though it had never occurred.

Only after the collapse of the Soviet Union did the process of restoring the memory of approximately 2.7 million Jews killed between 1941 and 1945 begin. The documentary films of Boris Maftsir are dedicated to their memory, offering a long-overdue tribute to victims whose stories had remained unrecorded.

“The Road to Babi Yar”

“The Road to Babi Yar” traces the first one hundred days of the Holocaust in Ukraine, documenting the development of the system of mass extermination.

“Beyond the Nistru”

The film “Beyond the Nistru” focuses on events of the Holocaust that transpired during the first year of the Great Patriotic War in the Romanian-occupied territories of the USSR.

“We Allow You to Die”

An additional film exploring the Holocaust in Transnistria. The narrative presents two accounts: the fall of Odessa and the story of the Pechora starvation camp, titled “We Allow You to Die.”

“Drawers of Memory”

The sixth installment of Boris Maftsir’s documentary project examines the Holocaust in Latvia.

“To the Last Step”

An account of the Jewish uprisings in the small ghettos of Belarus.

“The Eastern Front”

This film presents five stories from different regions in Russia, shedding light on the events of the “Unknown Holocaust.”

“Gotenland”

The seventh film in Boris Maftsir’s documentary series addresses the specific tragedy of the annihilation of Crimean Jews and Jewish collective farms, alongside other Jewish communities in Crimea.

“Guardians of Memory”

A film featuring Jewish and non-Jewish witnesses. Recorded at the actual execution sites, it precisely conveys the sense of time and place of these tragic events.