What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe U.S. and the Holocaust
Ken Burns · Series · 2022
If you loved The U.S. and the Holocaust, start with Shoah (Claude Lanzmann, 1985) — a film on the same thread. Below: 2 books, 4 films and 2 podcasts, each matched to The U.S. and the Holocaust across media.
You appreciated how The U.S. and the Holocaust forces you to confront the uncomfortable intersection of national identity and historical moral failure.
Books on the same thread
The American Revolution
Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns · Book
Explores: nation building, revolutionary warfare, constitutional origins.
If The U.S. and the Holocaust deepened your interest in the foundations of American democracy, this book offers a similarly rigorous examination of the nation's complex, revolutionary political origins.
Bloodlands
Timothy Snyder · Book
Explores: mass atrocity, state-sponsored violence, historical trauma.
Just as The U.S. and the Holocaust explores the systemic rise of totalitarianism, this history provides a harrowing account of mass atrocities committed by the Nazi and Stalinist regimes.
Films on the same thread
Shoah
Claude Lanzmann · Film · 1985
Explores: Collective memory, Intergenerational trauma, The banality of evil.
Like The U.S. and the Holocaust, this film demands a deep reckoning with the past, utilizing raw witness testimony to preserve the collective memory of the horrific events described.
Night and Fog
Alain Resnais · Film · 1956
Explores: collective memory, the banality of evil, witness testimony.
This film shares the somber, reflective tone of The U.S. and the Holocaust, documenting the brutal reality of concentration camps to ensure that the memory of such atrocities endures.
Schindler's List
Steven Spielberg · Film · 1993
Explores: Survival, Moral Courage, Dehumanization.
While The U.S. and the Holocaust examines the era from a broad historical perspective, this drama narrows the lens to focus on individual moral courage amidst pervasive, state-sponsored dehumanization.
Oppenheimer
Film · 2023
Explores: Moral ambiguity, Scientific ethics, Cold War paranoia.
Much like the subjects analyzed in The U.S. and the Holocaust, this film explores the heavy burden of scientific and political decisions made during the pivotal years of World War II.
Podcasts on the same thread
1619
The New York Times · Podcast · 2019
Shares a thread with The U.S. and the Holocaust: historical revisionism.
If The U.S. and the Holocaust challenged your understanding of American history, this series offers a necessary reexamination of how systemic racism shaped the very foundation of the nation.
Slow Burn
Slate Podcasts · Podcast · 2026
Shares a thread with The U.S. and the Holocaust: Historical Documentary.
Similar to the investigative approach taken in The U.S. and the Holocaust, this podcast uses archival research to uncover the hidden political stories that define our current national consciousness.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The U.S. and the Holocaust based on a museum exhibition?
Yes, The U.S. and the Holocaust was inspired in part by the Americans and the Holocaust exhibition hosted by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The documentary series also utilized the historical resources provided by the museum to examine the rise of Nazism and its global context.
Does The U.S. and the Holocaust cover the American eugenics movement?
Yes, The U.S. and the Holocaust examines the rise of Hitler and Nazism alongside the eugenics movement in the United States. The series explores how these ideologies and the race laws in the American south fit into the broader context of global antisemitism and racism during that era.
Who directed The U.S. and the Holocaust?
The U.S. and the Holocaust is a documentary series directed by Ken Burns. Released in 2022, the series investigates the historical factors surrounding the rise of Hitler and Nazism, specifically focusing on the American response to these events in the context of domestic racism and eugenics.
What historical themes are explored in The U.S. and the Holocaust?
The U.S. and the Holocaust explores the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany. The series places these events within the context of global antisemitism, the American eugenics movement, and the race laws that existed in the American south during that period of history.