'Hunters': Holocaust memorial group slams show for historical inaccuracies and controversial chessboard scene
Amazon Prime dropped its latest original drama thriller, featuring Al Pacino, Logan Lerman and an ensemble cast. The show had gained immense popularity even before it released, owing to its plot and of course, the cast.
And as soon as it went live, its fanfare spread like wildfire — for both good and bad reasons. The plot of 'Hunters' is one of the reasons why the show is going viral right now.
It follows the journey of a bunch of Holocaust survivors, justice seekers and a young boy on his personal vendetta, on a mission to hunt down Nazis in 1977 in New York City. Their belief is that the surviving Nazis might have escaped to different parts of the world after the war ended and are set to begin a Fourth Reich soon.
While the plot is intriguing and the performances of the team outstanding, the show has drawn flak from some authorities and associations for a few controversial scenes and potentially offensive representation of historical events.
Among such critics is the Auschwitz Memorial, which pointed out a particular scene in the series and called out the show's creators.
According to a report, in the first episode, there is a sequence where Meyer Offerman (Al Pacino) tells Jonah Heidelbaum (Logan Lerman) about the brutal circumstances the Jews (including Meyer and Jonah’s grandmother) had to face at the concentration camp.
The scene goes to a flashback where Nazi soldiers create a “human chessboard” using Jewish prisoners, stripped naked, like chess pieces. As each prisoner completes his turn and goes off the board, he is instantly killed.
Responding to this scene, Auschwitz Memorial tweeted and called the scene "dangerous foolishness and caricature" of a historical tragedy that traumatized millions of people.
"Auschwitz was full of horrible pain and suffering documented in the accounts of survivors. Inventing a fake game of human chess for @huntersonprime is not only dangerous, foolishness and caricature, it also welcomes future deniers. We honor the victims by preserving factual accuracy."
To this, some fans of the show, who have watched it and liked it, commented, saying "True #HuntersTV has dramatized some of #Auschwitz history, but the Nazi-America continuum is real. @AuschwitzMuseum photo of Hungarian families about to be gas-murdered."
Another fan commented that viewers might want to prepare themselves for some creative liberty of the writers/creators of the show. She says, "If you go in knowing it's fictional and a dramatization, I think the show walks the line. I know the creators said they didn't want to include any of the real torture."
Later, the memorial association also tweeted that they are ready to even consult filmmakers if they seek "historical accuracy of information".
The first season of 'Hunters' starring Al Pacino and Logan Lerman, along with Josh Radnor, Jerrika Hinton, Lena Olin, Carol Kane, Saul Rubinek, Greg Austin, Tiffany Boone, Louis Ozawa and Kate Mulvany among others, is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.