Amazon Prime’s new series “Hunters” has come under fire from the Auschwitz Memorial for being historically inaccurate, particularly by creating macabre games that take place in concentration camps.
The show’s creator David Weil responded to the criticism Sunday in a statement, explaining that “symbolic representations provide individuals access to an emotional and symbolic reality that allows us to better understand the experiences of the Shoah.” Weil pushes back against the idea that stories about the Holocaust should never be fictionalized, saying “It is not documentary. And it was never purported to be.”
The memorial’s Twitter account called a violent scene featuring a human chess game “dangerous foolishness” and a “caricature.” In the scene, which is depicted in the opening credits of all 10 episodes and plays out in the first episode, a Jewish chess master is held captive and forced to play a game of chess where the pieces are represented by fellow prisoners. A person is killed whenever the chess player loses a piece.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety