The Holocaust CD ROM

Software Review

The Holocaust CD ROM

By Lambert and Bow

The Holocaust CD is an interactive, multimedia database presenting an intimate look at one of mankind's most darkest moments in history. It contains very graphical images of the horror, letters of the doomed, and unforgettable haunting original music. It depends highly on the files and videos of the American Armed Forces, and as such, it is not produced particularly by Jews. In fact, at times, in the tradition of the US government, the Jewish Nature of the Holocaust is pain stakingly omitted from this primary source materials. But the photographs, stories, and videos paint a stirring testimony of the Holocaust.

Installation

This CD is a little awkward in it's installation. Most CD's you can just pluck them into the CD Drive and then open up the program manager file choice, browse for install.exe or setup.exe, and let the installation run itself. This is true for this program as well, except for one thing. This program has a subdirectory with a video engine attached to it. If you need the drive, you have to be smart enough to look on your CD drive and install it. For me, this was a bit of a blessing, I already have the Video drive on my machine.

When ever I open this program, I get a strange error message. [Filename extension of the specified Multimedia file is not associated with any installed MCI device D:/Hol.MVB!Guitar.wav]. I called the company about this problem and they sent me a second CD Disk. I reinstalled the CD, and it still came up. This is very annoying, in my opinion. I'm not sure what that files is for, but as far as I can tell, it doesn't effect any of the CD's functioning. But it is a nuisance, and it probably means I'm not experiencing something when the CD opens up, a song or sound.

What you Get

What you get with this CD is an eye opening review of the Holocaust with complete historical and pictorial, and video sources. Many of the photos are explicit. This is not a program for the week of heart. There are many pictures of Jewish Bodies piled up, of the crematory ovens with half burnt bodies in them, unedited letters from the inmates, music for prisoners, and a camp by camp documentation of the Holocaust. The climax of the program is probably Jacob's Song, written by an inmate, and performed to a slide show of starving bodies, piles of death, and vivid reminders of the horror of the death camps. This clip is worth the whole program. It will upset your sleep for weeks.

The Main Menu

This is a menu driving CD. The main menu is as Follows: 
Buchenwald                                   Nordhauser
Czechoslavakia                               Onrdrof
Dachau                                       Poland
Dortmund                                     Struthof
Ebensee                                      Wobbenlin
Flossenburg                                  Other Camps 1
Gestapo HQ                                   Other Camps 2
Giusen                                       News Reels
Hanover                                      Jacobs Song
Lambach                                      References
Lublin                                       Credits
Lvov                                         Title
                                              Exit

Each entry gives a history of that particular camp, drawing from government files, personal journals, news footage, and in person interviews. If there is any problem here, it is that the horrors are so repetitive from camp to camp that it is numbing to hear the same stories over and over again, camp to camp, place to place. I find, I can only take 20 minutes at a time of this, because it is so horrorifying.

Some interesting places to visit on this CD

The New reel section is very interesting, not only because of the video, but because, historically, these reels show the extent of the denial in america and the world about the very nature of the Holocaust. These files are of Immense historical value. In the English Forward, the question of FDR's legacy. These video's are the primary sources for the basis of much of this discussion. Many of these government and Hollywood video clips, have been wiped clean of the Jewish Nature of the Holocaust. The Hollywood New Reels, obviously are not nearly as gore as the real events. After all, put into their social context, these News Reels where seen when you went out to have a good time at the movies. They are not intended to shock the audience, but to make them feel good about the war and it's aftermath. In a word, they are propaganda.

There are also some clips from Germany, and you get to see first hand the German take on Aushwitz and the events after and during the war. This is also important historical data, that everyone should see.

Technical Comments

I've had some problems with this CD. The Jacobs Song stops and goes sometimes. their is the mystery file at the beginning. Overall, I've seen better CD's technically. But I've rarely seen one better in content.

Overall

This program is packed with information, and documentation. It is perfect for the classroom environment. It should be mandatory at every High School across the country. We have reached a point where education is being brought into your living room via computers in a new way. This program is on the top of the list in terms of this. I rate it a four star program