Product Details

• Actors: Denzel Washington, Louis Gossett Jr., Leon Bass, Benjamin Bender, Lena Horne
• Directors: Nina Rosenblum, William Miles
• Writers: John Crowley
• Producers: Nina Rosenblum, William Miles
• Format: Black & White, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Direct Cinema Limited
• VHS Release Date: March 23, 1999
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B00000IBXT
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #130,064 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

NARRATED BY DENZEL WASHINGTON. Shunted in and out of the military. Restricted to menial "service" positions. Called to duty only in times of dire crisis. The experiences of African-American soldiers during World War II reflected the racial climate of 1940s America, a society marked by strict segregation and frequent acts of violence. Though several elite black combat battalions were created in response to pressure from the black press, they were strictly for show and had no active role in the war effort. But toward the end of the war, when manpower grew short in Europe, the 761st Tank Battalion was mobilized and sent abroad to help combat the Nazis. LIBERATORS tells the unknown story of these African-American battalions, focusing on the heroic actions of the 761st, which spearheaded General Patton's Third Army and helped liberate the concentration camps at Buchenwald, Dachau and Lambach. This powerful film vividly records the experiences of the soldiers, who were utterly unprepared for the atrocities they witnessed, as well as the astonishment of the inmates – some of whom had never seen a black person before. Most importantly, LIBERATORS bears witness to the courage of the Holocaust survivors and the heroism of men who were forced to fight on two fronts – battling discrimination at home as they fought for their country overseas. It presents a true story of one persecuted people helping another and offers an inspiring example of the kind of bravery and sense of higher purpose that transcends race and nationality.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Know the Truth, January 2, 2005

By 

Suppresst "suppresst" (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Liberators [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This production has been at the center of controversy that has been raging since before it even first aired on PBS, over twelve years ago.

Key survivors of the 761st (subject of this book), including it's commanding officer were never interviewed for the documentary, and have stated publically that the unit did NOT liberate Buchenwald (or Dauchau for that matter). WNET, the channel that film producers Miles & Rosenburg were associated with in producing this documentary (WNET was given film credit), sponsored an investigation into claims about the 761st made in this film. The investigators concluded that it could "not substantiate the presence of the 761st Tank Battalion at Buchenwald on its day of liberation". WNET subsequently asked Miles and Rosenblum to remove the channel's name from the credits.

The best evidence seems to indicate that it was the 9th Armored Infantry Battalion of the 6th Armored Division of Patton's 3rd Army that first reached Buchenwald. Those actual liberators have been very vocal in demanding corrections to the production be made, to no avail. Their concern is justified since over 1500 men in their unit lost their lives fighting the Germans.

Miles and Rosenblum have been unable to provide any concrete evidence to support their claims about the 761st at Buchenwald or Dachau, except for recollections of a few unit survivors. One of those same surviving soldiers, featured in LIBERATORS (by E.G. McConnell), told Jeff Goldberg of the NEW REPUBLIC, in an interviewed published in February 8, 1993, "It's a lie. We were nowhere near these camps when they were liberated."

Undoubtably somebody does need to tell the story of black units that fought on the side of freedom and justice in WWII. It seems that Miles and Rosenblum may have got carried away but to the detriment of a white unit that paid a heavy price for it's accomplishment in liberating those camps. That's taking affirmative action too far, so I recommend you steer clear of this video.