With Remembrance Day around the corner, I rounded up my favourite foreign WWII Film & Series picks to share with you.
Television is great, however I find a lot of the WWII documentaries and shows are extremely biased towards the United States, and produced by the American Media. Now, before the pitchforks and torches come out, let me explain… The Americans fought bravely and valiantly and are indeed heroes; however the media and film producers tend to ignore the fact that there were heroes long before the U.S. entered the war.
We must remember, The United States did not enter the war until after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941.
I’ve gathered my favourite foreign WWII series and films to give you another perspective, ones our own history books do not share or our North American media hasn’t acknowledged. A few of these films hit close to home – Especially this first one:
Katyń
- Country: Poland
Katyń is the true story of mass murder in 1940 carried out by the NKVD in the Katyń forest. Thousands of Polish Officers, Intelligentsia, landowners, lawyers, officials, and priests were shot and buried within the forest – with no trace of them for years to come. At the time, the Soviets blamed the Nazis for the disappearance of these Polish men, with the truth coming out years later.
Katyń holds deep significance to our family. My Dziadzio, Kapitan Franków, would have been executed at Katyń had he not been captured in Hungary as a Prisoner of War. Many of his Polish Comrades and Officers who were under Russian imprisonment were murdered in Smolensk.
They’ve brought us to a forest.
What’s going to happen to us?
Generation War (Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter)
- Country: Germany
Generation War is a brilliant series highlighting five young German Friends, all with high aspirations and dreams of contributing to the war effort; and returning to a bright future. They promise to meet back together at Christmas when the war has been won.
Little do they realize their ideals, religious beliefs and morals will continually be compromised throughout the next few years, with uncertainty lurking in the shadows of their friendship and patriotism.
X Company
- Country: Canada (Ok, not so foreign)
X Company is a Canadian Series based on the real secret facility, Camp X – located on the shores of Lake Ontario. The series brings together Canadian, American and British Agents trained to parachute behind enemy lines and perform espionage.
Inspired by true events, the series is focuses on the origin of spy-craft, warfare and the Canadian contribution in assisting Allied victories across Europe.
Pokłosie (Aftermath)
- Country: Poland
Set in modern times, Franciszek must return to his rural hometown in Poland after having lived in Chicago for twenty years. He discovers his brother Józef has become a community outcast for retrieving and displaying dozens of Jewish tombstones in his wheat field.
The headstones had been used prior by Nazi occupying forces during the second world war, as paving stones in a now abandoned road. Together, Franciszek and Józef uncover the true horror of their village, the sins of their parents, neighbours and friends; all of whom attempted to bury their past.
The Heavy Water War (Kampen om tungtvannet)
- Country: Norway/Denmark
This incredible mini series focuses on the true events of the German nuclear weapon project and the heavy water sabotage in Norway. In 1943, Norwegian and British intelligence executed a plan to blow up the heavy water factory in Norway, which was crucial to the Nazi’s atomic weapon development.
The series develops around Leif Tronstad, a Norwegian scientist, intelligence officer and military organizer. He and his team in England prepare for Operation Gunnerside, in which the German access to heavy water processing at Vemork was severely impeded.
Let me know what you think. Do you have any Best Film & Series Picks?
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