Why 'We Were the Lucky Ones' is the perfect show to watch this Holocaust Remembrance Day

It's excellent and authentic Jewish representation.

Every year, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which falls on January 27 (i.e. today), takes me by surprise. I grew up in Israel, where Yom Hashoah was the day we remembered the Holocaust, in Jewish-led ceremonies that often included the grandchildren and children of survivors. That “Jewish-led” part was always a given, but one, I realize now, I was taking for granted.

These past few years, we’ve gotten a lot of movies and TV series about the Holocaust and survivors that weren’t necessarily made by Jewish creators — from “The Brutalist” (which stars Adrien Brody but is directed by Brady Corbet) to “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” (which was directed by the Israeli Tali Ezer-Shalom but is based on the controversial book of the same name by non-Jewish author Heather Morris). These weren’t necessarily all bad. I loved “A Small Light,” the retelling of the story of Miep Gies, Otto Frank’s secretary, starring the hypnotic (and Jewish!) Bel Powley as Gies. I thought “White Bird,” based on the book by R. J. Palacio, which had a non-Jewish team behind it and in which Helen Mirren once again plays a big Jewish role, was one of the best family movies about the Holocaust I’ve ever seen.

Yet among all these, “We Were the Lucky Ones,” the fictional story of survival of one Polish family based on the real story of author Georgia Hunter’s family, stands out above the rest as the best, authentically Jewish TV show about the Holocaust I’ve ever seen. And that’s maybe because it’s possibly the only show that had a fully Jewish team both behind and in front of the camera. Hunter, the author of the gorgeous book it is based on, discovered she was Jewish in her teens, and showrunner Erica Lipez and director Thomas Kail brought a depth of Jewish knowledge and experience to this show, as did the Jewish actors in it. Yes, there are the Jewish big names, Joey King and Logan Lerman, but the rest of the Kurc family is played by incredible Israeli, American and British actors who all brought their Jewish stories to their roles, making this show feel so authentic and deeply felt.

There’s Lior Ashkenazi, who plays Kurc patriarch Sol— he is not Ashkenazi but Sephardi, and learned Yiddish for the role, but brought a breadth of Jewish lived experience to it. There’s Robin Weigert who plays his wife, Nechuma, who has the most titillating story about how her Jewish family left Germany. There’s Hadas Yaron, currently starring in the “Shtisel” prequel “Kugel,” who spoke of seeing the ghosts of her grandparents while shooting one scene. There’s “Unorthodox” star Amit Rahav, who felt the pull of Jewish family in his scenes. And “Shtisel” dreamboat Michael Aloni, who even brought his mother’s Polish lullaby to the screen.

Lipez shows these characters as fully human — flawed and tortured, but deeply loving and family-centered. They’re not in need of a savior. They’re not pure victims or pure heroes. They fall in love, they have their hearts broken, they have passions and dreams. They’re a beautiful, rich tapestry of a Jewish family that celebrates holidays with ancient prayers and words and also knows when you need to create new traditions and new ways to keep the Jewish story alive. The show has a Jewish wedding, a Jewish New Year meal, and starts and ends with two different Passover seders, the last of which feels just as poignant as any of the best Holocaust remembrance ceremonies I’ve ever been to.

So, if you’re looking for a way to feel and remember the Holocaust this Holocaust Remembrance Day, I highly recommend “We Were the Lucky Ones,” streaming now on Hulu.

Did you love the show, too? Or do you prefer one of the other Holocaust-set works I mentioned? Let me know in the comments.