‘We Were The Lucky Ones’ Review: Not Just Another Holocaust Show

“We Were The Lucky Ones” is a TV mini series following a Jewish family throughout the Holocaust up until they attempt to reunite post-war in 1945. Based on a book by Georgia Hunter in 2017, the adapted show features an all Jewish cast comprised of Joey King, Logan Lerman, Sam Woolf, and more.

In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, King said: “There was a closeness because of, you know, this cast is Jewish and we all have our own story and connection with our family to this period of time in history.”

This personal connection with the story not only shines through in the actors’ performance, but in the emotional impact and education the TV series hopes to provide for viewers as well. “We Were The Lucky Ones” emphasizes that its subject matter is based on a real story that affected real people’s lives, not just a dramatized period piece.

The first episode, “Radom,” opens on a black screen with white writing and a statistic of the percentage — 90 percent — of Poland’s three million Jews that were “annihilated” by the end of the Holocaust. The camera then cuts to Halina (Joey King) in the Red Cross office in a post-war Lodz. Halina receives a letter that the audience does not get to view, but the message clearly strikes a chord as the screen shifts to flashbacks from the war — a montage device which is used many times throughout the show to express what characters are thinking or feeling. Viewers are then taken to seven years earlier, as the Kurc family assembles for Passover. Life is good and spirits are high, but the talks of a potential attack on Jewish businesses loom over their Passover seder. The story then jumps to Passover the following year in 1939, where the situation has grown progressively worse and the family discusses Germany’s inevitable invasion of Poland. Jumping once again to Sept. 1, 1939, viewers watch as Germany invades Poland and the Kurc family is thrown into preparation for a life of oppression under Hitler.

The show is able to accurately and powerfully compile the complex set of emotions felt by the characters, taking viewers through the experience of Jewish grief, guilt, anger, shame, sadness, fear, pride, love, and — at some moments — even joy. The plot jumps between each family member as they come to terms with the fact that they are being hunted because they are Jewish. The violence that is portrayed is raw and real: Some scenes may be painful and traumatizing to watch for viewers with their own personal connection to the Holocaust. The violent imagery ranges anywhere from a rabbi being beaten on the streets of Radom to Jews being taken to dig their own graves in an open field before they are shot dead into them.

The show depicts the absolute worst of humanity while simultaneously reminding Jewish viewers how vital support of one another is the key to survival. Most importantly, it emphasizes how the Holocaust did not begin or end with the Nazis, but was aided along by regular people who were either indifferent or brainwashed by propaganda. The show excels at contrasting these two elements, especially in the depiction of the Lvov pogrom of 1941 in episode four titled “Casablanca.” In this scene, a Ukrainian nationalist group called the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists marches down the streets, grabbing and beating Jews up as they go while the camera briefly pans to soldiers driving behind in a car and taking pictures of the ensuing chaos. No one bothers to intervene while Jews scream as they are beaten to death.

There are some scenes throughout the series where the romantic plot lines feel a bit forced. An example of this is in episode two, “Lvov,” where Bella (Eva Feiler) and Halina are making the dangerous journey from Radom to Lvov and have a drawn out conversation about their relationships with Jakob (Amit Rahav) and Adam (Sam Woolf). They had just survived crossing into Soviet territory and were discovered by soldiers who take them back to a base where they stay for the night. They escaped what they thought was their certain death, yet their first topic of conversation is about their boyfriends who are awaiting their arrival in Lvov. The conversation felt unnecessary compared to other scenes that portray how the war affected relationships for better or for worse.

However, the scenes are not completely obsolete, as they introduce the possibility of joy and happiness as a form of resistance in dark times. This is evident when the girls reach Lvov later in episode two and Bella and Jakob decide to get married in a secret ceremony. The series also shows the toll the war takes on some couples like Genek (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) and Herta (Moran Rosenblatt), who consistently disagree about how situations should be handled which ultimately makes their experience in a Soviet work camp in Siberia more difficult.

Other aspects of “We Were The Lucky Ones” that felt out of place were the generic Eastern European accent that the main actors donned. While each actor’s accent was consistent throughout the show, they differed somewhat between characters — a consequence of poor dialect coaching. Although most of the main characters in the show are Polish Jews, it was unclear where their accents originated from. The characters of other nationalities primarily spoke their native language or had more distinct accents in English, like in the case of the Soviet soldiers or Brazilian ambassador to France, Luis Martins de Souza Dantas.

There were also parts of the script that sounded too modern for the time period. In one example, Addy (Logan Lerman) is performing on the ship to Rio de Janeiro and he first meets his love interest, Eliska (Lihi Kornowski), and asks her if his performance “has lived up to the hype,” a phrase that did not gain popularity until the 1970s in the United States. Despite these small shortcomings, it is important to remember the point of this show is not for entertainment but rather education. When viewed as such, these minor details do not detract from the message the show hopes to drive across.

“We Were The Lucky Ones” adds to a plethora of Holocaust television and films in a different way than what audiences have seen before. It aims to show all sides, all emotions, and all situations through one family’s true story. Rich or poor, Orthodox or secular, escapee or detainee, the characters attempt to represent them all. Additionally, the show tries to humanize the characters as much as possible in such dehumanizing conditions. Finally, “We Were The Lucky Ones” conveys how even in the darkest of times the Jewish spirit prevails.