There was no shortage of TV series focusing on the horrors of the Holocaust. Last year alone, Netflix’s “Transatlantic” portrayed a group of resisters living in Marseille, and National Geographic’s “A Small Gentle” offered a reimagining of Anne Frank’s experience through the eyes of Miep Gies, the woman who helped the Franks during his years in hiding. . While all of these shows and people like them are important, Hulu’s “We Had Been the Fortunate Ones,” an adaptation of Georgia Hunter’s bestselling novel based on a true story, shows something different. The present narrates a family torn apart by struggle and hatred. Devastating and deeply moving, “We Were the Lucky” illustrates the scope of World War II, the inhumanity of others, and the anguish of disconnection and loss.
The series premiere, titled “Random,” opens in a crowded Crimson Cross office in Poland in 1945. Halina Kurc (a surprising Joey King), pale and exhausted, receives news that leaves her breathless. Going back in time to 1938, we see the Kurc brothers gathering at the house of their parents, Sol (Lior Ashkenazi) and Nechuma (Robin Weigert), for Easter. Halina, the youngest, with a bold purple lip and an irritating naivety, picks up her older brother, Addy (Logan Lerman), at the train station. Although the two are several years apart, their shared birthday and desire to travel make them soulmates. All the siblings gather around mom and dad’s table. The eldest daughter, Mila (Hadas Yaron) is pregnant with her first child. Jakob (Amit Rahav), a photographer, is falling in love for the first time, and Genek (Henry Lloyd-Hughes), the stoic eldest, refuses to be frightened by news from Germany. Finally, this vacation marks the beginning of a period for the Kurcs.
Any student of the historical past knows the essential definition of World War II. However, author Erica Lipez follows the Kurcs over the course of nearly a decade to show the constant turmoil and barbarity that the Jewish people encountered during this period. The series’ enormous reach also shows how far Hitler’s ideology spread and how others adapted it. Told over eight episodes, each named after a place where members of the Kurc family landed after being expelled from their home in Poland, “We Were the Lucky” chronicles the brothers and their spouses struggling to survive during an impossible time. , remaining firm in the hope that they can reunite.
Using dates and settings as markers of the Kurcs’ struggle and experiences, the viewer becomes fully immersed in the pain and uncertainty of this world. Lipez demonstrates how quickly lives are snuffed out when others are unwilling to stand up to fascism. From depictions of the freezing cold of Siberia to horrific acts of brutal violence inflicted on the Kurcs and other Jews, “We Were the Lucky” is unrelenting in its accurate portrayal of the anguish and terror imposed in everyday life. However, the most moving aspect of the series is that it details circumstances not typically seen in films and TV shows about the Holocaust.
For Addy, who lives in Paris during the onslaught of war, the lack of closure and silence from his family has tormented him for years. Likewise, for Genek, despite finding solace in the arms of his wife, Herta (Moran Rosenblatt), anger causes him to struggle with his Jewish religion and his perception of God. Sol and Nechuma, owners of the main fabric store in Random, Poland, are forced to depend on their children to survive, inflicting on them a guilt that eats away at them as the fight continues. Jakob must stay alive even when his wife, Bella (Eva Feiler), cannot conceive of a future. Mila, burdened with the responsibilities of motherhood, risks everything so that her daughter can live. Lastly, Halina is determined to be part of the resistance despite being constantly underestimated. Spending a lot of time with each member of the Kurcs allows the viewer to get into their psyche while absorbing different points of view and opinions rather than a monolithic view of Holocaust survivors.
Intense and at times deeply disturbing, “We Were the Lucky Ones” is no simple watch. By the end of the Holocaust, 90% of Poland’s Jews had been massacred. The series reveals the near impossibility of finding pleasure in maddening circumstances, especially when others are content to ignore the atrocities unfolding before them. The show’s narrative has some lighter moments, of course, but weddings, births, and a scene involving egg whites used as fake foreskin don’t exactly work as moments of levity. Instead, they offer small nuggets of hope, allowing the audience to be able to continue following the show. “We Were the Fortunate” is about what it means to resist, live and sacrifice. After all, stories of survival can be just as important as remembering those who are endlessly lost.
The first three episodes of “We Had been the Fortunate Ones” premiere March 28 on Hulu, with new episodes releasing weekly on Thursdays.
