Nazi's Daughter Struggles With Her 'Inheritance'
Monika Hertwig stands at the villa at the Plaszow Concentration Camp where her parents lived during WWII.
Monika Hertwig stands at the villa at the Plaszow Concentration Camp where her parents lived during WWII.
Holocaust survivor Helen Jonas lived under Amon Goeth's rule in his house at the Plaszow Concentration Camp.
Holocaust survivor Helen Jonas lived under Amon Goeth's rule in his house at the Plaszow Concentration Camp.
Monika Hertwig was just one year old in 1946 when her father — Nazi commander Amon Goeth — was convicted of murdering tens of thousands of people and hanged for his crimes. Though she spent much of her early years unaware of her father's crimes, Goeth's murderous legacy has haunted his daughter for much of her adult life.
In a new documentary called Inheritance, filmmaker James Moll tells the story of how, more than a half century after the Holocaust, Hertwig has reached out to Helen Jonas, who, as a teenager was forced to serve as Goeth's personal maid.
When Jonas was 15 years old, she was rounded up with her family and sent to the Plaszow concentration camp in Poland. After serving as Goeth's slave in his villa, she was one of an estimated 1,200 Jews saved by Oskar Schindler.
"It's a film that raises questions about what our parents did and how we each carry with us the consequences of our parents' actions," Moll says.
The film will be broadcast on PBS as part of the POV series.
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