Band of Brothers: how its best episode was also its most devastating On 27 April 1945, three days before Adolf Hitler killed himself, US soldiers discovered the Kaufering Lager IV concentration camp […]

On 27 April 1945, three days before Adolf Hitler killed himself, US soldiers discovered the Kaufering Lager IV concentration camp in the South of Germany.

As the camp’s liberators approached, barracks were torched by Nazi officers, killing countless prisoners who were too malnourished to flee the flames.

The survivors, dying on their feet, circulated the camp grounds, which were littered with skeletons.

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Sixteen years ago, acclaimed World War Two mini-series Band of Brothers brought the horrors of Kaufering Lager IV to the small screen, in a heart-rending and unforgettable piece of television.

“Band of Brothers stays very close to the documents and is successful in depicting a historical simulation for audiences.” Prof Marcus Stiglegger

An alien and hellish scene

“Sir, we found something, when we were out on the patrol and we came across this…”

At this point, US soldier Frank Perconte is literally lost for words.

Commanding officer Dick Winters, played by Damian Lewis, pushes him for answers. But Perconte is clearly unable to comprehend what he has seen, never mind explain it.

“I don’t know sir.”

Winters soon comes to witness for himself what had stunned Perconte.

Beethoven’s String Quartet Number 14 swells on the score as Winters and his men are confronted by frail and miserable prisoners.

One holds the flopping body of a relative who is all but dead. Another kisses the cheeks of his liberators before being reduced to tears.

The scene culminates in a conversation between translator Joseph Liebgott and a prisoner. Pressed on why they had been imprisoned, the prisoner replies “Juden, Juden, Juden.”

The horror of Liebgott, Winters and his fellow officers as they survey the scene in front of them is palpable.

The ensemble cast, who had already delivered strong performances in previous episodes, are remarkably believable as dumbstruck soldiers confronted with such startling human suffering.

As Marcus Stiglegger, professor of film at DEKRA hochschule Berlin, notes: “As the audience we experience this through their eyes.

“The scene provides an imaginable presentation of something hard to depict on the screen.”

Staying true to the documented images

The setting of the scene is unsurprisingly moody.

The sky is overcast and the camp grounds are a combination of mud, ash and human remains. It’s hard to believe this was actually filmed in Hatfield, Hertfordshire.

Stiglegger explains that the scene is accurate in its depiction of camps, resembling the view-point of film teams who documented the aftermath of their liberation.

“The whole mise-en-scene tries to tie in with the documented images: the muddy squares, the skinny bodies, the empty gazes, the corpses.

“This is combined with recent modes of camera handling like the shaky handheld style, and the colour grading, which is based on earth tones.

“Band of Brothers stays very close to the documents and to these filming methods and is successful in depicting a historical simulation for audiences.”

According to Stiglegger the use of shaky camera (also known as queasy cam), along with a murky colour grading, is inspired by 1982 film Sophie’s Choice.

Why we fight

The title of the episode itself is ‘Why We Fight’, drawn from a series of US propaganda films released between 1942 and 1945.

In the eight episodes leading up to this point in Band of Brothers, the men of Easy Company have been through hell. They have braved the D-Day landings, the Siege of Bastogne and freezing conditions in the Ardennes forest.

The question on the lips of many of the war-weary soldiers is ‘why are we fighting?’

The episode focuses mainly on Officer Lewis Nixon, played by actor Ron Livingston, who has become disillusioned by the war which has ruined his marriage, seen the death of his comrades and pushed him into alcoholism.

In the scenes leading up to the camp’s liberation, Nixon is at his most disillusioned.

He sings: “gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!” as he reflects on the recent death of fellow paratroopers.

However, at the end of the liberation scene he faces a man who is wearing a concentration camp uniform and cradling a body.

“The US soldiers were not prepared for what was waiting for them,” Stiglegger says.

“There were rumours spread in the army about such camps. But being confronted with the real inferno… is another dimension.”

In this one shot both Nixon – and the audience – are provided their answer.

This is why they fight.