User Reviews

I like these kinds of documentaries that feel personal and important. In this movie, you get a look into the history of people's lives through the generations. Well done.

This poignant documentary chronicles the contemporary 3000-mile motorcycle journey of eleven Israelis from Tel Aviv to Berlin. It mirrors the original 1930 motorcycle adventure of Jews navigating through a Europe that is being taken over by rising anti-Semitism and Nazi expansion. With each stop along the route, stories are told from different survivors or family members of survivors. Connections are made from the present to the past with sadness and history and hope. The parallel nature of the original historic journey intercut with the contemporary one is a chilling reminder of what many Jews endured yet the film seems to make a hopeful case for a more tolerant world moving forward.

Back to Berlin is about group bikers that venture off on a road trip in 1936 to deliver the Olympic torch to Hitler. You will learn a lot about History and about yourself.

Highly contemplative and well-executed doc revolving around the 2015 Maccabiah Games, apparently referred to in more common vernacular as the "Jewish Olympics," and held where we commonly see footage of Jesse Owens' dominating in Berlin as Hitler sulked in hate-driven disgust.

This film is not relegated to mere celebration, however, as the Maccabiah Games, we learn, have arisen from a continued modern-day emergence of the same hate that gave us Hitler.

Extremely well-conceived - it's sombering and triumphant - this is a modern historical doc that can't be missed, as it spotlights the dark forces at work within the human condition, and provides a persevering means by which to defeat them.

This is such a wonderful documentary!! I was sucked in from the very first minute! What a powerful story!! I'm not a big documentary guy so going into this I was a bit doubtful. But boy I'm glad I checked this out! This little gem gets a big thumb's up from me!!

Such a great reminder of an important part of history. I was incredibly moved. It's not just the story of these people who embark on a biking trip to remember their grandfathers or relatives, but it also reminds us of the danger of intolerance. Highly recommended.

This documentary is a legacy of human discovery. I hope it will be around for years to come, both as a warning to future generations and an empowerment to those who dare to speak out in defense of the vulnerable. Congrats to the filmmaker and her team. Awards and nominations wholly deserved.

I happened across this documentary. So glad I decided to take a look at it! What an affecting journey. The bikers and their family stories of the Holocaust are personal and deeply involving. I was really moved by their shares and their journey. This is just an excellent doc. in every way!

I'm really into history so this was a fascinating watch. I thought I was fairly knowledgeable on this period of European history and the events leading up to WW2 but I was learning for the first time about the maccabiah games during the rise of fascism and it really helped you get a feel for the period and bring it to life. It was very interesting to hear all the accounts from survivors and their families and the comparison of 1930's Europe to rising anti semitism/peoples attitudes today was very profound. It's a lot of information to take in but clearly a huge amount of research has gone into producing this powerful and thought provoking doc - well worth a watch

Strong film, very touching. With everything that's been written about this subject, this film manages to find a new angle and to surprise you.

This is a moving film that comes full circle giving some sort of closure to the past by retracing the steps of those Jewish Athletes in 1938. This is an important film retracing the steps to make sure history does not repeat itself. Beautiful made with the doorway into empathy and healing.

An incredible lesson in human courage and resilience. Back to Berlin sheds light on an historic episode unknow of many. A must see for all generations.

Back to Berlin is a powerful emotional doc about Eleven Jewish motor bikers who retrace the journey of their family's who travelled via motorbike to the site of the infamous 1936 Berlin Olympics from Israel, for the first Jewish Olympic Games on German soil. We get to know each rider and their family histories through historical footage and footage from their current trip as they visit some of the places where many of the German atrocities were committed during WWII.

We are given context of how these families survived the Holocaust and the overwhelming loss of life that was suffered in this time and the heroic spirit of those who survived. It's a fascinating and sobering tale about how the past links to the present and how through this journey we can seek to better understand the tragedies of the past.

I was incredibly moved by Catherine Lurie's "Back to Berlin". It offers a fascinating view of history, through the lens of personal accounts of the Holocaust, passed down from generation to generation; carrying on a sacred tradition through motorcycle riding. Unspeakable acts of evil perpetrated by not just the Nazis but also the fascists allied with them, that plays out during scenes along their travels, such as Bucharest, Romania. There's a conversation where Marco, one of the riders, says he's not sure if he wants to feel what they (his family) felt because the sadness is too powerful.

On their way through Hungary and Serbia, we see modern-day strife play out between refugees and police along the border, as the team passes by breathtaking scenic views. The 1935 bikers rode the same year as the Nuremberg Laws were put into effect, displaying a stunning amount of courage and bravery in a threat-filled landscape. Today's riders want to continue that legacy and they do so triumphantly. The first hand accounts from survivors were especially powerful.

One line in particular that really stuck with me was "When you hear one person tell their story, they tell it for all the other people who can't tell their story".

The end of the film, when the team finally reaches Berlin, the site of the 1936 Olympics, to light a torch in honor of their ancestors was deeply cathartic.

Stirring music and the velvety narration of Jason Issacs also helps carry this deeply powerful film. Essential viewing for all us to remember.

Admittedly, I knew nothing about this piece of history. Told with passion, this is documentary that will enlighten as much as it entertains. Well worth your time if you get the chance to watch it!

Watched this with my Dad as he is a huge history buff and it was great to watch something with him that he knew so little about. You can tell this is a documentary made with love and passion for the subject. The production quality was far higher than I expected. Great pacing and balanced the footage and stories from multiple eras organically.

Hearing these truly honesty and personal experiences of what these incredible people went through really made me think about how lucky you are. I strongly recommend it.

They said it in the film and I think it fits it really well. "Its not a biking trip. It's a journey." Back to Berlin is an amazing, beautifully told story of bikers journey through the past. For some of them they lived it and for others they are dependance of those.

There was also another line that stood out to me. "It's all smaller stories but they are all the same story." It seemed like they were talking about both the survivors and their story from then and for the whole story of the Holocaust.

At the beginning we are not given everyone who is on the trip, but as we go along this journey, we learn form them, we learn from their descendants and how their stories fit in now and then.

Incredibly moving documentary.

This moving documentary not just tells the story, but makes the viewer deeply connect with the historical past. Very original! Great work!

What a wonderful and powerful story. It is well told doc covering a timely historical subject. It steps us back to Europe in the 1930's through the modern day Maccabiah Games. Well worth a watch to remember what man is capable of in darker moments. Recommend

Everyone should see this film. Educational and Powerful! Be sure to grab a box of tissue. At least for me, I needed them for the tears. This is a must watch heart wrenching view into what happened to so many innocent people. A reminder of why we cannot allow hate to prevail in any society ever. The film documents it from the long trip of a Bike Tour, A very creative way to bring the story of so many Beautiful people out. With Each stop made there was a story to tell from different survivors or family member of survivors and each story is Impactful.

Immediately hooked. Wonderfully told. I love the paralleled timelines -- in one we learn the routes and ways in which the Nazis brought the Jews to slaughter, and in another we learn of the Maccabiah Riders, as the group of bikers mimic the roads traveled, experiencing and seeing with their own eyes the evil destruction of the past. The archival footage is interwoven seamlessly as the survival stories of these bikers and their families are slowly peeled and revealed. What a triumphant comeback to be able to light that Maccabiah torch in Berlin! An important film. Would recommend to all.

For such heavy subject matter, this movie made me want to explore the world! Very well made and super intriguing as well as informative. Would highly recommend.

This documentary is powerful, heartbreaking and inspirational. It follows eleven bikers, who have personal ties to the Holocaust, on a journey retracing the path blazed by the Maccabiah riders during the early 1930's. Along the way, they visit heartrending mile markers throughout Europe. In Greece they sit in an actual Holocaust-era railway car during a hot day and later, in Poland, they tour the Auschwitz extermination camp. The personal recollections of the Holocaust told by some of the participants in the film are very painful, but necessary, to watch. The bikers themselves take the place of us documentary viewers at home by exploring, learning and asking questions of the survivors. I wholeheartedly recommend Back to Berlin; it is a fascinating, educational and emotional experience.

What an amazing well told story. It felt intimate and educational. I really suggest to watch this Documentary. It made me want to go explore the world with a motorbike and discover history.

This documentary was equally interesting and informative. The production quality and narration really kept it moving along as you followed the journey.