The Lesson

‘It is often said that those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.

At the age of 14 every school child in Germany is taught about the atrocities that occurred under Nazi rule. Filmmaker Elena Horn returns to her small hometown in rural Germany to follow four children as they first learn about the Holocaust. From their study of the topic in history class, to their school trip to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, each of the children grapple differently with the gravity of their findings. Filmed over five years, the film offers a window into deeply rooted social and political attitudes in Germany amid a resurgence of the far-right and violent xenophobia. The collective memory of a nation’s history highlights the essential role of education to avoid repeating historical wrongs.

“My entire adolescence I struggled with the question: what would I have done? When times get harder, it’s easy to tell ourselves that the bad things we do are a necessity of human nature. But if we have learned one lesson, it’s that we always have a choice.” Elena Horn, director, The Lesson’

Our panelists include: filmmaker Elena Horn, Human Rights Watch’s German Director Wenzel Michalski, and Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UN Human Rights Chief from 2014 to 2018. Attendees can watch the film at their own pace from Saturday, October 16 - Friday, October 22, 2021. Our discussion and Q&A will be on Thursday, October 21 at 12PM PT (add to calendar). This will be a live conversation, free with your RSVP to watch the film.

Update for October 21, 2021: Known problem playing from recently updated Safari browser on Apple devices. Apple released their latest update a few days ago – and wouldn’t you know it.. it had a bug that is preventing some video playback services from working. If your system is not allowing you to play the film using the Safari Browser, please use Chrome or Firefox instead, the film should play without issue. The issue is with the Safari browser. Apple plans to release an update to fix this issue before October 25, 2021. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you.