Review – Secret Lives

This documentary is made all the more fascinating by its own lackluster production values. It looks and feels like nothing more than a bunch of old folks yakking on at length about childhood memories. However, these people’s childhoods were a bit different than most: during the Holocaust their Jewish parents left them with sympathetic families in order to save them from the Nazis. Through their recollections and old snapshots they tell heartbreaking stories of separation, the constant paranoia of hiding, good and bad times with their new families, and then the permanent sense of loss (and even an occasional reunion) after the war. Interviewees also include former foster parents and foster brothers and sisters. Worth seeing