Educational Media Reviews Online

This video tracks the efforts to bring an alleged WW II Lithuanian war criminal, Anatanas Gudelis, to justice. Now living in Australia, (which according to the video has never extradited a war criminal) Gudelis is accused of the mass murder of Jews and other ‘undesirables.’ The video cuts back and forth between survivors of that very difficult time, those involved in the effort to bring Gudelis to trial, and a narration by the video’s director (the reviewer makes this as an assumption as there are no credits).

There are multiple elements to the video, and the memories of the survivors are extraordinarily vivid and compelling, even after a half-century. Especially valuable is the focus on a lesser-known episode of genocide. While almost everyone is at least somewhat familiar with the general outline of war crimes in WW II, most people are not as aware of the mass killings that took place in countries outside of Germany and perhaps Poland. This video steps back from the ‘grand sweep’ of the war to look at events in a small area. It could be used as a discussion point in almost any class that is studying the WW II period; the video personalizes the painful memories of the survivors and some of war's terrible consequences in a way that might not otherwise be possible.

At times, the multi track approach of the video is distracting. Even after viewing the video several times this reviewer was not able to determine if the video’s central core was about the survivors, the current situation in Lithuania in relation to WW II war crimes, the general difficulty of bringing WW II war criminals-most of whom are quite elderly at this point-to trial, or the legal practices of Australia in relation to war criminals. The constant cutting back and forth between elements can be confusing. Although the video’s box indicates it is suitable for jr. high to adult this reviewer would suggest that any audience should be mature enough to handle the subject matter and should also have some context for viewing the video; for many young people WW II is almost ancient history.

Despite these reservations, this is an important video taking a small and less well-known part of WW II and vividly making it come alive with all of the ramifications of the events down to the present day. While it might be best in an instructional situation to use selected portions of the video, the program sends a powerful message about the long lasting effects of war that echo across almost half a century, long after the battles have stopped. Any collection that deals with WW II materials and history should consider acquiring this video. It would also be valuable for collections of ethics, international relations, international law, and sociology in relation to war crimes.

Technical quality of the video is very good; both color and sound are well done.