“God on Trial”

Unless you are one of those rare breeds of idiot who believes The Holocaust is little more than a myth, then you must agree that the persecution of the Jews at the hands of Nazi Germany ranks among the most tragic moments in our world’s history.

Imagine you are a Jew in Auschwitz, hours before another group is to be exterminated. The next to die might be someone you know. It might be you. In that moment of helplessness, terror, and mental torture, you seek unknowable answers to complex questions. You try to make some sense of the insanity. There is only one who could possibly know. There is only one who could possibly prevent the horror. But the killing continues. And you can do nothing but argue the point. So, that is what you do.

As the name of this installment of the PBS Masterpiece series implies, this is a tale of a group of men who put “God on Trial.” Unable to punish the mortals responsible for their pain and misery, a group of men in an overcrowded Auschwitz bunkhouse seek to convict the one they know is responsible for their current state. The charge? Breach of contract. God, they maintained at the outset, broke His covenant with the Jewish people. And before one more group is led to the gas chamber, they hold a hearing to determine the extent of God’s culpability.

Philosophers, theologians, atheists, scientists, and lawyers are just a few of the people who should rush to see this film. The debate ranges from free will to predetermination, from the belief in God to the belief in reason, from the concept of justice to the notion of vengeance. Each character in the film represents a specific philosophy, or maybe a specific pathology. Some speak out against God, while others rise to his defense.

This is a powerful story, and though I won’t reveal the “verdict,” I will state that the “trial” mattered more than its outcome. It was the free exchange of ideas, the last freedom the men shared — a freedom many did not want to share, that counted for something. In an era when so many are so certain of so much, this film serves as a reminder that none of us really know anything.

Watch “God on Trial,” and judge for yourself (so to speak).