Holocaust poster

TV series

Holocaust

19781 season7.3 / 10

A story of hope in a time of despair

Berlin, Germany, 1935. The day Karl Weiss, a Jewish painter, and Inga Helms, a Christian woman, marry, is the one in which both of them and the entire Weiss family are caught up in the maelstrom of the Nazi regime, the storms of World War II and the horrors of the criminal Final Solution, the Holocaust, the Shoah; while Erik Dorf, an ambitious lawyer, undertakes his fall into hell at the hands of the sinister Reinhard Heydrich.

Availability

Not streaming in United States

Checked Sep 3, 2026

Holocaust premiered April 16, 1978. We don't have a confirmed streaming, rental or purchase option yet.

Synopsis

Berlin, Germany, 1935. The day Karl Weiss, a Jewish painter, and Inga Helms, a Christian woman, marry, is the one in which both of them and the entire Weiss family are caught up in the maelstrom of the Nazi regime, the storms of World War II and the horrors of the criminal Final Solution, the Holocaust, the Shoah; while Erik Dorf, an ambitious lawyer, undertakes his fall into hell at the hands of the sinister Reinhard Heydrich.

Season 1 episodes

Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.

Episode 1

The Gathering Darkness

1h 26m7.0 / 10

Berlin, Germany, 1935. The Weisses, a Jewish family, celebrate son Karl's marriage to Inga Helms, a Christian girl. When Erik Dorf is unable to find work as a lawyer, wife Marta urges him to apply for a Nazi regime job. Erik Dorf warns Dr. Weiss he should leave Germany. Karl is arrested and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp, and Dr. Weiss is deported to Poland. Erik Dorf continues to advance in the Nazi hierarchy.

Episode credits

Directed by Marvin J. ChomskyWritten by Gerald GreenGuest stars Blanche Baker, Martin Brandt, Werner Kreindl, Götz von Langheim, Nina Sandt, Michael Beck, Käte Jaenicke, Marius Goring

Where to watch Holocaust

Episode 2

The Road To Babi Yar

1h 31m4.4 / 10

Inga is desperate to reunite with Karl, but her parents do not want to risk hiding her Jewish in-laws. Rudi runs away from their hiding place. Erik Dorf helps Heydrich plan and execute his Final Solution. Moses and Dr. Weiss are caught when the Nazis overrun Poland. Helena rescues Rudi from a patrol. Berta joins her husband in the Warsaw ghetto. Rudi and Helena escape to Russia.

Episode credits

Directed by Marvin J. ChomskyWritten by Gerald GreenGuest stars Blanche Baker, Martin Brandt, Werner Kreindl, Götz von Langheim, Nina Sandt, Michael Beck, Käte Jaenicke, Marius Goring

Where to watch Holocaust

Episode 3

The Final Solution

1h 30m4.4 / 10

Rudi and Helena escape from a long procession of Jews being marched into Babi Yar. They are eventually rescued from a hayloft by a group of Jewish partisans. Erik Dorf attends a top-level Nazi conference in which Heydrich gives orders of the final solution for all the Jews in Europe. Karl Weiss has been transferred to Theresienstadt concentration camp that the Germans use to display to the Red Cross officials and representatives of neutral countries that Jews are being treated kindly. Karl learns that his fellow artists in the camp are creating propaganda paintings by day while secretly drawing images of the brutal conditions of the camp by night.

Episode credits

Directed by Marvin J. ChomskyWritten by Gerald GreenGuest stars Michael Beck, Ian Holm, Lee Montague, Isolde Barth, Käte Jaenicke, Peter Garell, Vernon Dobtcheff, Jeremy Levy

Where to watch Holocaust

Episode 4

The Saving Remnant

1h 29m7.3 / 10finale

Erik Dorf complains to the other SS leaders that the executions of the Jews are not being efficiently done. An order is placed by Erik for Zyklon B (a lethal gas) for use at Auschwitz and other camps. Inga asks Müller to denounce her and have her sent to Karl at Theresienstadt. Felscher sells four of the secret drawings done by him, Frey and Karl, which depict the brutal conditions at Theresienstadt, to a Czech gendarme, which the SS get a hold of. Felscher, Frey and Karl are called in for questioning and then tortured. Karl survives and is sent to Auschwitz.

Episode credits

Directed by Marvin J. ChomskyWritten by Gerald GreenGuest stars Ian Holm, Lee Montague, Isolde Barth, Käte Jaenicke, Peter Garell, Vernon Dobtcheff, Jeremy Levy, Cyril Shaps

Where to watch Holocaust

Episode information updated Sep 17, 2026

More about Holocaust

Cast

Tom BellAdolf Eichmann
Joseph BottomsRudi Weiss
Tovah FeldshuhHelena Slomová
Rosemary HarrisBerta Palitz Weiss
Tony HaygarthHeinz Müller
Michael MoriartyErik Dorf
Deborah NortonMarta Dorf
George RoseLowy

Credits

Created by
Gerald Green
Written by
Gerald Green, Gerald Green, Gerald Green

Production details

Status
Ended
Series type
Miniseries
Episodes
4
Original language
English

Networks & production

  • NBCUnited States
  • Titus ProductionsUnited States

Themes

1930s1940sauschwitz-birkenau concentration campbased on novel or bookberlin, germanyhistorical dramaholocaust (shoah)husband wife relationship