Shoah: Four Sisters - The Hippocratic Oath

Shoah: Four Sisters - The Hippocratic Oath is a compelling Holocaust documentary that stands as a testament to human resilience and evidence of one of the most horrific episodes in human history. It beautifully captures the intriguing conversation of four survivors who offer a profound engagement with life before, during, and after their harrowing encounters in the death camps of World War II.

The movie opens with a powerful black-and-white cinematography capturing the essence of each survivor, focusing on their experiences with captivating portraits, that resonates both deep pain and strength. As the movie progresses, it gradually unfolds the experiences and testimonials of lifetimes marked by these extraordinary women. Expertly captured are dramatic stories of incredible human endurance, courage, and the will to survive, that will grip audiences from start to finish.

In The Hippocratic Oath, director Claude Lanzmann continues his long-term project of cinematically working through the aftermath of the Holocaust. What makes this version unique is that it builds on an accumulating reservoir of personal testimonies, here specifically elicited from four women. Each unique in their narrative, they lend their voices, filling the screen with remarkable stories of fortitude and survival against the darkest of evils, crafting a poignant and touching narrative that will leave a lasting impact.

First off, the movie introduces the audience to Ruth Elias, a Czech-Jewish musician, who stunningly persevered despite her horrifying experiences in the extermination camps. Her gift for music played an essential role in her survival. Ada Lichtman, another survivor, recalls her experiences in Sobibor, where she was forced into a perverse trade of doll-making for the children of the SS officers from captured children's toys. Paula Biren, a Polish Jew, talks about her life in the Lodz ghetto and the morally complex "Baluter police". Lastly, there’s Hanna Marton, a Hungarian survivor who was a part of the "Kasztner train” which saved nearly 1700 Jews.

Each story is uniquely told, with no archive footage or additional voices. These dialogues are vital records of personal testimonies, adding more gravity and authenticity to the film. Lanzmann’s method of storytelling is utterly distinct, exploring each testimony in depth rather than providing a sweeping overview of the Holocaust. Each story unfolds dramatically, with the camera constantly fixed on the survivor, encouraging them to recall, retell, and confront the painful discoveries.

What sets Shoah: Four Sisters - The Hippocratic Oath apart from other documentaries is that Lanzmann does not pack this film with evidence, historical facts, or statistics. Instead, it is an overwhelmingly personal account, voiced by survivors, that is uniformly monumental and revealing. The film captures raw human emotions beautifully, making it more than just a historical document but a powerful piece of cinematic storytelling.

The Hippocratic Oath, like the others in the series, is ethically and aesthetically challenging and invites the viewers to contemplate the complexities of human survival, terror, resilience, and guilt. Lanzmann's masterful storytelling brings out the horror of the tragedy by focusing on the deeply personal experiences rather than the scale of the extermination- encapsulating brilliantly the essence that the Holocaust was a mass event of singular experiences.

The film's title, "The Hippocratic Oath," leaves viewers with a profound thought to ponder. In medicine, the oath represents the moral and ethical code of conduct; in the context of this film, it lends a reflection upon the paradoxical situation where the malicious acts in the Nazi death camps were committed by those wearing the mask of a supposedly ethical and scholarly profession.

In its poignant reflection of the crucial historical event through the lens of the survivors' narratives, 'Shoah: Four Sisters - The Hippocratic Oath' stands as a powerful tribute to the human spirit's resilience and endurance. For anyone interested in the Holocaust survivors' experiences and the exploration of human survival in its most challenging forms, this documentary is an essential watch.