The BBC is showing three new documentaries this month to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January.

In How the Holocaust Began on BBC Two and iPlayer, historian James Bulgin uncovers the lost origins of the Holocaust following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, exploring the mass shootings, collaboration and experimentation that led to the Final Solution.

The three part series for BBC Four and iPlayer, The US and the Holocaust, directed by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein, examines how the American people and their leaders responded to one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of the twentieth century.

With narration from Helena Bonham Carter, the Storyville film, Three Minutes: A Lengthening on BBC Four and iPlayer unravels the stories hidden in three minutes of footage, all that remains of the Jewish community of Nasielsk, Poland, filmed in 1938 by photographer David Kurtz.

Kate Phillips, Director of Unscripted, says: “Holocaust Memorial Day is an important moment to stop and reflect on a period in our history which showed both the worst, and the best, of the human spirit. By showing these documentaries, we hope to shine a light on history’s darkest days and ensure that the stories of those whose lives were lost in the Holocaust are never forgotten.”