I had to do it for a Holocaust documentary once. It was the most surreal, uncomfortable thing I've ever had to do. For the sake of filming time, I had to sit in the back of the cattle car and I joked around with them because I felt so bad, they understood it was "fake" but dang it hurt the soul. /
I was a correspondent in Poland when they filmed scenes for the miniseries “War and Remembrance” starring Jane Seymour and John Gielgud on site at Auschwitz-Birkenau. It was surreal to see flames coming out of the fake crematoria and an actual train coming through the gates.
And it was even more bizarre to see a barracks used for a catered meal for the foreign crew members. And children brought in as extras playing with the German Shepherd guard dogs off set in another building. Just seeing the death camp come to life again for the filming was chilling.
The filming took place when martial law was still in effect in Poland. At one point some of the Polish extras went on strike, and they were taken to the local police station wearing their striped prison uniforms.
Just reading this made me disturbed; I can’t imagine how terrible that must have been in person.
The crew wanted me front and center because I looked mean and fresh out of the Army, I had the voice and body language. Like my entire job was to be scary. I was raised Catholic, but my wife and kids are Jewish. The child actors did awesome, too awesome, which again, yikes.
Wow. The feelings it must have brought up for you thinking about your wife and kids must have been incredibly intense.
Standing in front of one of those cars at the Holocaust museum was heart breaking. I can't imagine being in one
Like I cannot stress enough, even doing it for pretend for a movie specifically to raise awareness was terrifying. The fact people today in 2025 are okay with it "for real" is disturbing. Hopefully they all get identified so they are never invited into polite company again.