^RIUMP

ROPAGAND.
Film and National Socialisi
1933-1945

ILMAR HOFFMANN
 THE TRIUMPH OF
PROPAGANDA
Film and National Socialism, 1933-1945

/
Hilmar Hoffmann
Translated by

John A. Broadwin
and
V. R . B e r g h a h n

1
Berghahn Books
Providence • Oxford
 Published in 1996 by CONTENTS
Berghahn Books

© 1996,1997 of the English-language edition, Berghahn Books, Inc.

© 1988 of the German-language edition, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag PREFACE

GmbH, Frankfurt am Main

Originally published as "Und die Fahne führt ims in die Ewigkeit" 1. T H E S Y M B O L I C V A L U E O F F L A G S A N D BANNERS 1

All rights reserved. 2. T H E F L A G I N F E A T U R E F I L M S 43

No part of this publication may be reproduced
in any form or by any means without the written permission 3. R E A S O N S F O R T H E R I S E O F H I T L E R 61
of Berghahn Books.
4. F I L M P R O P A G A N D A I N T H E T H I R D R E I C H 74
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hoffmann, Hilmar. 5. T H E N O N F I C T I O N A L G E N R E S O F N A Z I 115
FILM PROPAGANDA
[Fahne führt uns in die Ewigkeit. English]
The triumph of propaganda : film and national socialism, The Cultural and Educational Film 115
1933-1945 / by Hilmar Hoffmann, The Documentary 135
p. cm.
The Compilation Film 161
Includes bibliographical references and index,
TheNewsreel 192
(v. 1 : alk. paper)
1. National socialism and motion pictures. 2. Motion pictures in
propaganda-Germany—History. 3. Propaganda, German-History— SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 248
20th century. 4. Motion pictures—Germany—History. I. Title.
PN1995.9.N36H6413 1995 95-36005 INDEX OF N A M E S 250
791.43'658~dc20 CIP
ISBN 1-57181-066-8 hardback INDEX OF FILM TITLES 255
ISBN 1-57181-122-2 paperback

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

[ A catalogue record for this book is available from
•<{ the British Library.

Printed in the United States on acid-free paper.


PREFACE
In comparison with the other arts, film has a particularly forceful and
lasting psychological and propagandistic impact because of its effect
not on the intellect, but principally on the emotions and the visual
sense. [Film] does not aim to influence the views of an elite coterie of
art experts. Rather, it seeks to seize the attention of the broad masses.
As a result, film can exercise an influence on society that is more
enduring than that achieved by church or school or, for that matter,
literature, the press or radio. Hence, for reasons that lie outside the
realm of art, it would be negligent and reckless (and not in the inter­
est of the arts themselves) for a responsible government to relinquish
its leadership role in this important area.
Fritz Hippler^
Film w a s doubtless the m o s t influential a m o n g the m a s s m e d i a in
the Third Reich. It w a s also the m e a n s of artistic c o m m u n i c a t i o n
that Hitler used to greatest effect in bringing his political ideas to
a m a s s audience. C o m p a r e d to the emotional persuasiveness of
m o v i n g pictures, radio and the press w e r e less successful in con­
v e y i n g a n d spreading the message of the n e w ideology. Within
the c o n t e x t of Goebbels's p r o p a g a n d a strategy, however, they
w e r e indispensable factors in a n y c o n c e r t e d a n d universal c a m ­
p a i g n of indoctrination, particularly in light of the fact that film
lacked the up-to-dateness of radio a n d the daily newspaper.
Before Hitler c a m e to power, during the so-called time of strug­
gle {Kampfzeit), a n d before the N a z i s h a d subordinated the
m e d i u m of film to their o w n purposes, they m a d e clever use of
radio to deliver the m e s s a g e s of Dr. Goebbels, the ranting
reporter, a n d Hitler, the neurotic rhetorician. W h a t distinguished
their delivery from the generally tedious speeches of d e m o c r a t i c
politicians w a s their forcefulness, vision, a n d m e s m e r i z i n g
emotionalism. The responsiveness to their d e m a g o g i c l a n g u a g e
a m o n g b r o a d segments of the population w a s an indication of the
d e g r e e of social alienation prevailing at the time. Against the
b a c k d r o p of the growing social problems a n d identity crises
plaguing the W e i m a r republic, the aggressiveness of the Nazis
w a s a totally n e w phenomenon. It w a s a sign of a strong h a n d at
the helm, of an alternative to the uncontrolled proliferation of
political parties, a n d of a r e n e w e d awareness of G e r m a n power.
Preface
The optimistic l a n g u a g e of the n e w redeemers promised to inau­
gurate a n e w age, to establish a millennial Reich, to lead the w a y
to an exciting a n d meaningful future. The National Socialists w e r e
skillful in coopting concepts to describe this improved future.
It w a s n o m e r e coincidence that there w e r e six million u n e m ­
ployed in G e r m a n y as the W e i m a r republic w a s collapsing in
1932. Inevitably, the Depression a n d the radicalization of d o m e s ­
tic politics resulted in n e w elections that s a m e y e a r (31 July 1932),
elections in w h i c h the N a z i s received 13.5 million votes a n d
e m e r g e d the clear winners, their votes having c o m e not only from
the a r m y of the socially d i s a d v a n t a g e d but mostly from the con­
servatively m i n d e d middle class. Using social d e m a g o g u e r y to
t r u m p e t his idea of a future "national c o m m u n i t y " {Volksgemein­
schaft) as a c u r e for G e r m a n y ' s ills, v o w i n g to a v e n g e the s h a m e
of Versailles, a n d offering a formula for the restoration of order.
Hitler a n d his tightly organized p a r t y p r o c e e d e d to build a m a s s
m o v e m e n t . The artful dialectics of Dr. Goebbels h a d entered the
h o m e s of the electorate in 1932 t h r o u g h the loudspeakers of 4 . 2 5
million radios. Skilled in the uses of psychology, his voice crack­
ing, Goebbels instilled in the hearts a n d m i n d s of the b r o a d
m a s s e s the idea of the Führer as the n e w messiah. The spoken
w o r d a n d s o n g s substituted for a political p r o g r a m . A s Wilhelm
Frick p u t it on 19 F e b r u a r y 1 9 3 3 in Dresden: "They say w e don't
h a v e a p r o g r a m ; b u t the n a m e Hitler is p r o g r a m enough."^ Pro­
p a g a n d a w a s the p r o g r a m of the NSDAP, a n d that is w h e r e it
focused its energies.
It w a s this " p r o g r a m " that dictated the ceaseless staging of
m a s s rallies a n d p a r a d e s , the intoxication with flags, the pylons of
smoking torches, a n d the e c h o of martial music, with all its atten­
d a n t v u l g a r "ballyhoo." "The art of p r o p a g a n d a , " Hitler sensed in
1924, "lies in u n d e r s t a n d i n g the emotional ideas of the great
masses a n d finding, t h r o u g h a psychologically correct form, the
w a y to the attention a n d thence to the heart of the b r o a d masses."^
I m m e d i a t e l y after the N a z i s c a m e to p o w e r on 3 0 J a n u a r y
1933, the n e w l y established Ministry for P o p u l a r Enlightenment
a n d P r o p a g a n d a p r o c e e d e d to take over the film industry. With
the creation of the Reich Film C h a m b e r on 2 2 September 1 9 3 3 , the
N S D A P a s s u m e d c o m p l e t e control of the motion-picture indus­
try. The first year of production u n d e r the N a z i s resulted in a kind
of film trilogy on the t h e m e of m a r t y r d o m : SA-Mann Brand (Storm
Trooper Brand, 1933), Hitlerjunge Quex (Hitier Youth Quex, 1933),
a n d Hans Westmar (1933). The purpose of these films w a s to raise
viii Preface
the u n k n o w n S t o r m Trooper a n d the m u r d e r e d N a z i heroes H e r ­
bert N o r k u s a n d H o r s t Wessel to the status of role models.
But that s a m e year Goebbels realized h o w counterproductive it
w o u l d be in the long run to h a v e B r o w n Shirts constantly m a r c h ­
ing not only in the streets but across the silver screen as well.
" W h a t w e are seeking is m o r e than a dramatization of the P a r t y
p r o g r a m . The ideal that w e h a v e in m i n d is a profound union of
the spirit of the heroic life a n d the eternal laws of art," said Goeb­
bels in 1933.^ Consequently, Nazis in uniform, swastika flags, a n d
the obligatory fascist salute w e r e largely banished from the
screen, in a n y event until the beginning of the war. After the w a r
broke out, the g o v e r n m e n t , as Goebbels said in a speech delivered
on 12 October 1 9 4 1 , w o u l d once again "decide on the educational
a n d ideological [willensmäßigen] message" of feature films.
T h e N a z i s n e v e r ceased using film for the p u r p o s e of m a s s per­
suasion. Instead, they shifted direct indoctrination from feature
films to d o c u m e n t a r i e s a n d newsreels. A c c o r d i n g to the subse­
quent implementation statutes of the Reich C i n e m a L a w of 1 6
F e b r u a r y 1934, e v e r y feature film w a s to be p r e c e d e d b y the
s h o w i n g of a "supporting p r o g r a m " consisting of newsreels a n d
d o c u m e n t a r i e s . The clear differentiation of propagandistic func­
tion b y film genre s h o w e d the Nazis' surprising sensitivity to the
v a r i o u s m e a n s for effectively influencing the masses. E v e n fea­
ture films that w e r e primarily sources of popular entertainment
w e r e n e v e r entirely nonpolitical. Like m a n y of Ufa's {Universum-
Film-Aktiengesellschaft) productions, feature films transformed
entertainment into an artistic event, with an eye to creating the
illusion of n o r m a l c y d u r i n g the darkest of hours. To quote Goeb­
bels before the Reich Film C h a m b e r on 15 F e b r u a r y 1941: "Even
entertainment sometimes has the task of a r m i n g the nation to
fight for its existence, of providing it with the requisite spiritual
uplift, entertainment, a n d relaxation as the d r a m a t i c events of the
d a y unfold." Besides their important function as a diversion,
entertainment films w e r e a particularly effective m e a n s for dis­
seminating certain topics a m o n g the population in a seemingly
neutral fashion a n d without being too h e a v y - h a n d e d or using
treasonous terms. The Tobis film Ich klage an (I A c c u s e , 1941),
directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner, is a classic example. Popular
actors of the d a y w h o s e a p p e a r a n c e inspired confidence, such as
H e i d e m a r i e Hatheyer, Paul H a r t m a n n , Mathias W i e m a h n , a n d
H a r a l d Paulsen, w e r e enlisted to popularize the euthanasia p r o ­
g r a m that w a s already under way.
Preface IX
However, Goebbels also regarded historical films about a figure
such as Frederick the Great, with an established identity, as a proven
w a y to appropriate some of the Prussian monarch's genius as a
leader of the nation and victorious military commander, thereby
providing a backdrop for the Hitler cult and making the Führer
appear as the legitimate heir to Prussia's virtues and traditions.
Films about Frederick the Great, such as Der alte und der junge
König (The Old King a n d the Y o u n g King, 1930), directed b y H a n s
Steinhoff, a n d Der große König (The Great King, 1942), directed by
Veit H a r l a n , h a d less to d o with Prussia's rebirth under Frederick
than with its revival under National Socialism. The actor Otto
Gebühr declaimed the ringing phrases of the Prussian king to an
a u d i e n c e of nearly 18.6 million moviegoers as though he w e r e
reciting passages from the F ü h r e r ' s harangues. Reenactments of
Frederick's defeats, such as the battle of Kunersdorf, w e r e m e a n t
to s h o w h o w in the face of a defeat like Stalingrad metaphysical
h o p e could generate expectations of victory a n d an iron will lead
to final victory—if only e v e r y o n e fervently believed in the Führer!
T h e d o c u m e n t a r y film in the Third Reich lived u p to the e x p e c ­
tations N a z i propagandists harbored for their message of hate. To
c o n v e y it effectively, the n e w regime w a s obliged to seek replace­
m e n t s for former Ufa writers w h o w a n t e d to indulge their taste
for pedestrian Kulturfilme filled with spectacular imagery.
Leni Riefenstahl's hour-long film of the 1 9 3 3 Nazi P a r t y c o n ­
gress, Sieg des Glaubens (Victory of Faith), m a r k e d the beginning
of a n e w b r a n c h of aesthetics that w o u l d persist into the future—
the aesthetic of the fascist film. In time, all art w o u l d be m e a s u r e d
against the standards she h a d set. H e r standards of aesthetic c o m ­
position w o u l d g o v e r n the presentation in documentaries of the
P a r t y ' s authoritarian principle of order (Ordnungsprinzip) a n d the
rigid c a n o n of N a z i beliefs. D o c u m e n t a r y filmmaking w a s guided
b y the m a n d a t e that "the cinema will deal only with subjects of
benefit to the Party." Leni Riefenstahl's Party congress films p r o ­
v i d e d filmmakers with an aesthetic m o d e l to guide t h e m in
observing the Party's principle of order with m a x i m u m vigor.
H e r creative achievement lay in the general stylistic changes she
introduced into the N a z i documentary. She d e m o n s t r a t e d in
e x e m p l a r y fashion h o w individual "physiological identity disap­
p e a r s behind the allure of a technical valorization,"^ a n d h o w the
individual as an element of the m a s s is reified and absorbed as an
a n o n y m o u s p a r t of the greater whole. "The individual is freed
a n d absorbed into the c o m m u n i t y of the faithful,"^ w h i c h is kept
 Preface
in perpetual motion in Riefenstahl's films. The w o r s h i p of m o v e ­
m e n t per se transformed Nazi ideas into [symmetrical] forms, a n d
these forms w e r e in turn e n d o w e d with d y n a m i c m o v e m e n t . A t
the s a m e time, Riefenstahl's t h e o r y of aesthetics explicitly
n e g a t e d the existence of the social nexus.
T h o u g h only a tiny minority of directors achieved the high
d e g r e e of aesthetic quality a n d controlled scene composition
attained b y Riefenstahl, they generally m a n a g e d , using a kitsch
aesthetic {trivialisierte Inhaltsästhetik), to generate a cinematic
apotheosis of N a z i ideas, e v e n if it w a s just b y trotting out the
swastika flag as a symbol.
Like the Nazis in general, Leni Riefenstahl m a d e the swastika
flag her leitmotif. It appears e v e r y w h e r e in her films; she c o n ­
stantly confronts us with swastika flags w a v i n g in the w i n d as
o m n i p r e s e n t reminders of the Führer. The flag symbolizes the
P a r t y p r o g r a m ; it is the visual epitome of N a z i ideology. The flag
"is the n e w age," the t h o u s a n d - y e a r Reich. The m y t h of the flag is
a substitute for Utopia. The flag is the symbol for which there is n o
substitute. "Yes, the flag m e a n s m o r e than death" is a prophetic
v e r s e in the Hitler Youth's m a r c h i n g song.
But it is not only Leni Riefenstahl w h o b o m b a r d s us with flags.
In o v e r 9 0 percent of N a z i d o c u m e n t a r y films, the flag figures
p r o m i n e n t l y as an icon-like symbol c h a r g e d with lofty m o r a l val­
ues. It is presented either at the beginning of a film to p u t the
v i e w e r into the right frame of m i n d or s h o w n t o w a r d the end, bil­
l o w i n g in the w i n d as an a n o d y n e for the final apotheosis. Lest
a n y o n e forget w h e n a d o c u m e n t a r y stakes out n e w territory, the
flag also functions as a "fluttering" control point (the point u s e d
b y s u r v e y o r s for fixing a b o u n d a r y ) .
The first p a r t of this book will investigate the ideological, e m o ­
tional, a n d m o r a l significance of the flag in the Third Reich. W a s it
a brightly colored fetish for the masses that w a s m e a n t to a n c h o r
the N a z i ideology firmly in the deepest recesses of the subcon­
scious? W a s it a "psychic infection," to b o r r o w Freud's t e r m in his
Massenpsychologie und Ich-Analyse (Group P s y c h o l o g y a n d the
Analysis of the E g o ) . Or an obligatory cliched image, v i e w e d as
the price ambitious directors h a d to p a y in order to b e able to bid
on the next film contract? Visual incense, a kind of elixir of life, a
m a g i c potion to turn one into a hero, to s u m m o n u p one's
c o u r a g e , to gain confidence? The flag w a s all that a n d more: it
w a s a m y t h for w h i c h to die.
Preface
"The flag will lead us to eternity"—Fred Zinnemann's film
From Here to Eternity (1953) demythologizes the ideal of "eternity"
with brutal realism, exposing it as militarist cynicism, hell on
earth, the kind of hell that m a n y in the Third Reich suffered in
m u c h m o r e grisly w a y s .
In presenting a m y t h to which y o u h a v e s o m e attachment, y o u
share in that m y t h , w r o t e Elias Canetti. In Hitler's case, this
p r o v e d t r u e to the bitter end. Mythic consciousness, using p r o p a ­
g a n d a vehicles such as the flag, early seized the attention of the
"masses" a n d pointed the w a y to the disaster that ultimately
befell the G e r m a n s a n d m a n y other nations.
This book is linüted to the study of the d o c u m e n t a r y film in the
so-called Third Reich. A number of w o r k s dealing with the Nazi
feature film h a v e already been published. They include such
important contributions as Coutarde and Cadars's Histoire du
cinema nazi {1972)/ Gerd Albrecht's Nationalsozialistische Filmpolitik
(1969),* E r w i n Leiser's Deutschland, erwache! (1968),^ a n d Boguslaw
Drewniak's Der deutsche Film 1938-1945: ein Gesamtüberblick (1987).
Until now, however, there has been no monographic study of the
d o c u m e n t a r y film as it relates to that other d o c u m e n t a r y m e d i u m ,
the newsreel. This w o r k seeks to fill the g a p a n d at the s a m e time
m a k e a contribution to the history of the genre's popularity.
This v o l u m e , a survey of the subject matter, aesthetics, a n d
d e v e l o p m e n t of the d o c u m e n t a r y film a n d the newsreel u n d e r the
N a z i regime, will be supplemented by t w o additional parts, cur­
rently in preparation, analyzing individual d o c u m e n t a r i e s p r o ­
d u c e d during the period 1 9 3 9 - 1 9 4 5 . The three v o l u m e s are
a r r a n g e d in such a w a y that the history of the Third Reich a n d the
a n a t o m y a n d face of the N a z i spirit c a n be reconstructed from the
d o c u m e n t a r i e s a n d newsreels of the period. For this reason, s o m e
films w e r e included to which little importance w a s attached at the
time they w e r e m a d e but which contain i m p o r t a n t details for a
s t u d y of the Third Reich. P r o d u c e d under a dictatorship that h a d
redefined reality a n d w a s pledged to uphold the one and only
truth p r o p a g a t e d b y the Führer, they a r e a n integral part of the
d o c u m e n t a r y film landscape. W h e n artists forfeit their m o s t
i m p o r t a n t criterion—truth—out of opportunism, fear, or fanati­
cism, they give u p their independence. This aspect of cinematic
art will be discussed as well.
I h a v e w a t c h e d over three h u n d r e d documentaries a n d n e w s -
reels for this b o o k a n d the t w o v o l u m e s to follow, a n d I h a v e a n a ­
lyzed m o r e than half of t h e m in greater depth in v o l u m e s t w o
xii Preface Preface xm

( 1 9 2 8 - 1 9 3 9 ) a n d three ( 1 9 3 9 - 1 9 4 5 ) . I a m deeply grateful to the Notes

B u n d e s - A r c h i v in Koblenz, in particular to Peter B u c h e r a n d
Anneliese Hoffmann-Thielen of the distribution d e p a r t m e n t , for 1. Fritz Hippler, Film-Kurier (Berlin), 5 April 1944.
p r o v i d i n g m e w i t h copies. I w o u l d also like to e x p r e s s m y thanks 2. Quoted in Frankfurter Zeitung (Frankfurt am Main), 21 February 1933.
to E n n o P a t a l a s of the F i l m m u s e u m in M u n i c h a n d D o r o t h e a 3. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, 2 vols. (Munich, 1925-1927).
G e b a u e r of the Deutsches Institut für F i l m k u n d e for loaning m e 4. Joseph Goebbels's speech at the opening of the Reichskulturkammer at Phil­
copies. Further, I w o u l d like to thank Wolfgang Klaue of the Staat­ harmonic Hall (Berlin), 15 November 1933, quoted in Gerd Albrecht, ed.. Film
liches Filmarchiv of the GDR, Jiri P u r s of Ceskoslovensky F i l m in im Dritten Reich (Karlsruhe, 1979), p. 267.
P r a g u e , T o m Johnson of A m e r i c a H o u s e in Frankfurt a m M a i n , 5. Paul Virilio, Die Ästhetik des Verschwindens (Berlin, 1986), p. 98, English trans­
the L i b r a r y of C o n g r e s s in Washington, D.C., a n d the F i l m lation The Aesthetics of Disappearance (New York, 1991).
L i b r a r y of the M u s e u m of M o d e r n A r t in N e w York for obtaining 6. Leif Furhammar and Folke Isaksson, Politik und Film (Ravensburg, 1974), p.
copies in m y behalf. I o w e a special debt of gratitude to the direc­ 190, English translation Politics and Film (New York, 1971).
tor of the Deutsches F i l m m u s e u m , Walter Schobert, a n d to Rainer 7. Francis Courtade and Pierre Cadars, Histoire du cinema nazi (Paris, 1972).
S c h a n g of the duplication d e p a r t m e n t for their readiness to help 8. Gerd Albrecht, Nationalsozialistische Filmpolitik (Stuttgart, 1969).
d u r i n g m y frequent visits to the cutting r o o m , including w e e k ­
9. Erwin Leiser, Deutschland, erwache! (Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1968), English
ends. I a m grateful to m y colleagues Gerd Albrecht a n d E b e r h a r d translatignNMi Qinema (New York, 1974).
Spieß of the Deutsches Institut für F i l m k u n d e in Frankfurt a m
M a i n for their a d v i c e a n d cormnents a n d especially for their
readiness to help at a n y time in the p r o c u r e m e n t of d o c u m e n t a r y
materials. M y thanks also g o to Alain L a n c e for his c o m m e n t s .
The efforts of Monika Zehe a n d A n d r e a Wölbing in the c o m p i l a ­
tion of the bibliography also d e s e r v e mention. I w o u l d like to
t h a n k m y friends J o a c h i m Gaertner, Willi Köhler, a n d Dieter
K r a m e r for critically reviewing m y manuscript, a n d G u d r u n H a s ­
selbacher, Anita Jantzer, E d e l t r a u d K u n z e , a n d Elke Ringel for
c o n v e r t i n g m y m a n u s c r i p t into a well-ordered final copy.
The text is b a s e d in p a r t on lectures a n d seminars I delivered
in 1 9 8 5 , 1 9 8 6 , a n d 1 9 8 7 at the Kunstwissenschaftliches Institut of
Philipps-Universität in M a r b u r g a n d the F a c u l t y of Fine A r t s of
the Uiuversity of Tel-Aviv.
 -{-1 +

THE SYMBOLIC VALUE OF FLAGS

AND STANDARDS

Flags as Symbols

There are many people today who must realize that with the fall of the
flag, the flag bearer falls as well.—Those who failed to recognize the
[changed] times have no political or cultural or moral right to hoist
another flag. The film industry is marked by a general lack of courage,
a fear to stand up for one's beließ, and a lack of enthusiasm to make
commitments. The movie producers say "you can clean my plumage,
but don't ruffle my feathers," mollifying themselves by hoisting a new
flag. Most probably some pennant from a bygone era. Intellectual liber­
alism—which in reality means intellectual chaos—is dead and buried.
To argue that art has no bias (Tendenz) is foolish, naive, and absurd.
Joseph Goebbels, 2 8 M a r c h 1933i

"Flags a r e w i n d m a d e visible," w r o t e Elias Canetti in Masse und

Machti'- s u m m i n g u p the nature of flags in terms of t w o basic char­
acteristics: their e x p o s e d position, visible from great distances, as
they w a v e in the breeze above people's heads; and the relationship
b e t w e e n the material from which they are m a d e — c l o t h or, in the
case of w e a t h e r vanes, m e t a l — a n d their immateriality, i.e., their
suitability for expressing abstract ideas, their symbolic function.
Originally, though, flags (a cultural history of flags, standards,
a n d b a n n e r s has yet to be written) likely h a d a utilitarian function.
A n encyclopedia of the Middle A g e s states that flags w e r e the per­
fect m e a n s for distinguishing "one's o w n troops from those of the
enemy"^ a n d w e n t on to say that for the medieval soldier (and
p r e s u m a b l y for those of antiquity a n d the early m o d e r n period as
well), flags w e r e not merely symbols of sovereignty and loyalty.
 The Triumph of Propaganda
R a t h e r — a s in the case of armies w h e r e the w e a r i n g of uniforms
w a s not p r a c t i c e d — t h e y w e r e used for the p u r p o s e s of identifica­
tion a n d signaling. Serving for the identification of friend or foe
a n d as a rallying point during e n g a g e m e n t s b e t w e e n units or indi­
vidual soldiers, flags afforded protection to those within a unit,
ultimately ensuring their survival. The fall of the flag of one's o w n
a r m y m e a n t that chaos w o u l d ensue, soldiers running heiter skel­
ter across the battlefield or directly into the enemy's arms. Albrecht
Altdorfer's m o n u m e n t a l painting "Battle of A l e x a n d e r at Issus"
(1529) gives a sense of the vital i m p o r t a n c e of flags in the c o n d u c t
of war. The v a r i o u s forces p o r t r a y e d in this vast p a n o r a m a of sol­
diers e m b r o i l e d in the t u m u l t u o u s s t r u g g l e b e t w e e n a n c i e n t
Greeks a n d Persians are so intertwined that the different flags are
virtually the only w a y for viewers to orient themselves.
It is probably impossible to determine in w h i c h spheres of life
flags first c a m e into use. W h a t has c o m e d o w n to us is a report of
the magnificent c e r e m o n y in which the first flag w a s formally con­
secrated w h e n C h a r l e m a g n e w a s c r o w n e d H o l y R o m a n E m p e r o r
in the city of R o m e . Ironically, the flag that P o p e L e o III g r a n t e d
the secular h e a d of R o m a n Catholic C h r i s t e n d o m in the year 8 0 0
A.D. as a sign of his n e w p o w e r w a s red in color. During war, in
seafaring, a n d in the case of religion, flags w e r e u s e d chiefly as
identification signs a n d as a m e a n s to highlight differences. Dur­
ing the c r u s a d e s , w h i c h lasted t w o h u n d r e d y e a r s , the n u m b e r of
flags w a s m y r i a d . T h e y g a v e c o u r a g e to the knights of one's o w n
c o u n t r y w h o w e r e obliged to fight on foreign soil, a n d they intim­
idated the natives.
Flags a p p e a r e d as identification signs on the w o r l d ' s o c e a n s
long before Christians took to the sea. The Vikings u s e d t h e m
d u r i n g their sea v o y a g e s . W i t h a r a v e n (the symbol of Odin, their
g o d of w a r a n d d e a t h ) painted on their s t a n d a r d s , the Vikings
b r o u g h t a reign of terror to the seas. A n d with martial insignia o n
the flags flying f r o m their t o p m a s t s , W i l l i a m the C o n q u e r o r ' s
ships set sail from N o r m a n d y in 1 0 6 6 to i n v a d e E n g l a n d at Sussex
a n d defeat the forces of the successor to the throne, H a r o l d II, at
Hastings. The B a y e u x Tapestry, an e m b r o i d e r e d frieze 2 3 0 feet in
length a n d a p r i m a r y cultural a n d historical d o c u m e n t , depicts
the lovely cross-emblazoned flags that the C h u r c h h a d g r a n t e d
William in R o m e .
E v e n R i c h a r d W a g n e r w a s c o n v e r s a n t with the role of flags as
signals. In his 1 8 6 5 o p e r a Tristan and Isolde, set in the M i d d l e
A g e s , h e m a k e s reference to t h e m t h r o u g h the r e s o n a n t baritone
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards
of Tristan's faithful retainer K u r w e n a l , w h e n K u r w e n a l ( A c t I,
Scene 4 ) informs Isolde, as they sail the Irish Sea, of the u p c o m i n g
landing o n "Cornwall's v e r d a n t strand":
On the mast a flag is flying.
And gaily waves toward the land
And in King Mark's castle
They know the bride is at hand.''
F o r ships the flag is a pronüse of rescue from peril in the strug­
gle with the forces of nature, just as it is [a promise of salvation]
for soldiers embroiled in hand-to-hand c o m b a t . Nevertheless the
p r i m a r y function of the flag is not to act as a pledge of g o o d for-
time b u t as a symbol of one's o w n troops that, w h e n c a p t u r e d , lost
sight of, o r g o n e unnoticed, inevitably signals a battle's end, or
death. Unity u n d e r the flag exists only so long as deserting the flag
poses a threat. This negative function of the flag m a k e s it an instru­
m e n t of repression within the ranks, not the sign of h o p e that
state-controlled p r o p a g a n d a w o u l d suggest.
A flag fluttering in the breeze is a symbol of life in the midst of
the general threat of death. In other w o r d s , it is an ideal instru­
m e n t for controlling the m a s s e s . T h e dialectic b e t w e e n the
p r o m i s e of g o o d fortune a n d the risk of death m o v e s the flag into
the r e a l m of religion, w h i c h helps to explain the use of flags in reli­
g i o u s w o r s h i p . T h e y m a y a p p e a r in the f o r m of the three-tail
Easter flag representing the resurrection of Christ o r the multi-col­
o r e d p r a y e r flags f o u n d in Tibetan m o n a s t e r i e s o r the m a g i c
streamers carried b y A m e r i c a n Indians, but they are a l w a y s inti­
m a t e l y associated with the supernatural a n d with the notion of
eternal d a m n a t i o n for those w h o "fear not God."
T h e symbol outlined at the beginning of this section in cormec-
tion with Elias Canetti's definition of the flag is not to be confused
w i t h the m a g i c a l p o w e r s of the flag in religious w o r s h i p . A s a n
object of religious veneration, the faithful considered the flag to be
divinely inspired, i.e., sacred. The flag only a s s u m e d its symbolic
function in the w a k e of the secularization that a c c o m p a n i e d the
Enlightenment. Abstract internalized values n o w gave meaning to
life, p r o v i d i n g a substitute for religious transcendence. E u g e n e
D e l a c r o i x ' s f a m o u s painting "Liberty L e a d i n g the People," in
w h i c h t h e allegory of R e v o l u t i o n — a w o m a n with b a r e d breast
holding a tricolor a n d a muzzle-loader—leads a b a n d of fighting
m e n o n t o the s t a g e of history, gives artistic e x p r e s s i o n to this
c h a n g e . The flag is n o longer borne by a soldier but by a n abstract
 The Triumph of Propaganda
allegorical figure, thereby elevating the significance of the scene
b e y o n d the actual battle depicted to a higher plane of values.
The flag's transformation from rallying point to revolutionary
symbol w a s rooted in technological change. Since the technologi­
cal revolution of the nineteeth century, w a r w a s n o longer a duel
b e t w e e n individual soldiers. It w a s n o w c o n d u c t e d b y mechanical
w e a p o n s that delivered d e a t h a n d destruction over i m m e n s e dis­
tances. W h e n a soldier w a s dying or being killed, he n o longer
looked into the whites of his enemy's eyes; all h e s a w w a s the
m u z z l e flash of a gun. The only contact b e t w e e n c o m b a t a n t s w a s
that b e t w e e n the telescopic sights of their artillery pieces. This
kind of w a r f a r e invalidated the flag's role as a true identification
sign. P a u l Virilio has called m o d e r n w a r f a r e the "war of light," a
m e c h a n i z e d scenario in w h i c h target acquisition, "observation," is
m o r e i m p o r t a n t than firepower. In other w o r d s , it is primarily p e r ­
c e p t i o n a n d o b s e r v a t i o n t h a t d e c i d e the o u t c o m e of a w a r ;
w e a p o n s are of s e c o n d a r y i m p o r t a n c e . In this kind of w a r sce­
nario it is n o longer a question of eliminating the object of p e r c e p ­
tion, the raised flag of medieval warfare. Rather, it is a question of
perception itself. The apotheosis of this w a r is the nuclear flash,
w h e r e the w e a p o n a n d the flash of light c o m b i n e to blind a n d
annihilate t h e e n e m y — t h e c o n s u m m a t i o n a n d logical c o n s e ­
quence of the idea of "blitzkrieg" [lightning or lighting war, to use
Virilio's play on words—Transl.], a twilight of the g o d s that gives
birth to a r a c e of m u t a n t s a n d zombies. In this twentieth c e n t u r y
scenario the flag has n o practical use in affording protection. O n
the contrary, the nerve center of an a r m y — i t s "flagship"—is the
m o s t likely target for destruction. In m o d e r n warfare, deserting
the flag seems to offer the only true c h a n c e of survival. "There is
n o victory. There are only flags a n d m e n w h o fall," according to
J e a n - L u c G o d a r d ' s Les Carabiniers (1963).
Nevertheless, the m y t h of victory a n d the flag as the symbol of
victory persist to this day. A s a symbol of the nation, the flag is still
considered inviolable. Insulting it is subject to severe p u n i s h m e n t
u n d e r the law. O n d a y s of national m o u r n i n g it stands at half-
staff. A t state funerals it is d r a p e d over the coffin to s h o w that the
d e c e a s e d has been accepted into the i m m o r t a l c o m m u n i t y of the
nation. It is a symbol that is u n d e r s t o o d t h r o u g h o u t the w o r l d like
n o other. In P a o l o a n d Vittorio Taviani's film Padre Padrone
( 1 9 7 6 / 1 9 7 7 ) the h e r o Gavino L e d d a is forced to learn: "You m u s t
k n o w the n a m e of y o u r flag better than y o u k n o w y o u r m o t h e r ' s
n a m e . " E v e n the novel Die Katakomben von Odessa^ by the Russian
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards
w r i t e r Valentin Kataev, in w h i c h he describes partisan w a r f a r e
against the G e r m a n a r m y of o c c u p a t i o n in Ukraine, contains a
m a j o r s c e n e c e n t e r e d on the s y m b o l i s m of the flag. A s h e lies
dying, a y o u n g sapper places a flag u n d e r his b o d y so that the lib­
erated citizens of O d e s s a will later find it, d r e n c h e d in his blood,
a n d w a v e it as a sign of victory. This is a desperate a t t e m p t to give
m e a n i n g to "death in battle" in a w o r l d devoid of religious tran­
s c e n d e n c e w h e r e the " g r e a t e r g o o d " — t h e n a t i o n — c a l l s for
unquestioning obedience u n d e r the sign of the flag.
In this sense, the w o r d s of Elias Canetti cited at the beginning of
this section h a v e a n u m i n o u s a n d magical aspect that I will relate
below to the imperialist a n d militarist function of the flag. Flags
"are like bits c u t from clouds, nearer a n d m o r e varied in color,
tethered a n d given p e r m a n e n t shape. In their m o v e m e n t they are
truly striking. Nations use t h e m to m a r k the air above t h e m as
their o w n , as t h o u g h the w i n d could be partitioned."
Colors a n d Their Political Significance
I promise that we will hold our flag and our ideas high and carry them
with us to our grave. Countless blood witnesses are with us in spirit.
Adolf Hitler^
Flags c a n stand for revolution as well as tyranny a n d totalitarian­
ism. They m a y be associated with festivities, prayers, and fimerals.
F l a g s — a s simple as they a r e effective—have h a d a n i m p o r t a n c e in
history that has been w o r t h fighting for a n d w a g i n g w a r over.
Flags by themselves are impartial (though even a plain white
flag has a special m e a n i n g ) ; a n d the symbols used in flags are
often nothing m o r e than utilitarian. There are w h o l e books written
for future sea captains a n d pilots that are devoted to explaining
the shape, color, a n d positioning of the various naval flags.
S e a m e n introduced the concept of "flagging" at the beginning
of the m o d e r n era as a w a y of differentiating the display of naval
flags from that of other types. The English h a v e e m p l o y e d naval
flags since 1 6 4 0 . In the G e r m a n - s p e a k i n g states their use dates
back to 1 7 3 2 w h e n pilots in the Baltic a d o p t e d the t e r m "flagging"
to describe the m e s s a g e s c o n v e y e d b y m e a n s of flags.
T h e c o m p l e x process of ship-to-ship a n d ship-to-shore c o m m u ­
nication g r a d u a l l y g a v e rise to the d e v e l o p m e n t of a sophisticated
 The Triumph of Propaganda
a n d s t a n d a r d i z e d flag " l a n g u a g e " for the p u r p o s e of keeping
ships a t sea out of h a r m ' s way.
A discussion of the m a k e u p of flags b e c o m e s a volatile topic
w h e n e v e r w e talk about symbols that represent a political ideol­
o g y or regime. The first d o c u m e n t e d reference to G e r m a n flag cus­
t o m s a n d etiquette d a t e s b a c k to the e i g h t e e n t h century. T h e
d o z e n s u p o n dozens of small G e r m a n states dressed their ships
with m a s t h e a d flags in the livery colors of their respective rulers.
After 1 8 4 8 the black-red-gold flag w a v e d from the m a s t s of Ger­
m a n ships. H o w e v e r , it w a s not r e c o g n i z e d universally on the
seven seas as a symbol of sovereignty. The British g o v e r n m e n t , in
fact, delivered a formal note to the G e r m a n Confederation stating
that Britain w o u l d v i e w the Confederation's ships as pirates if
they sailed into British w a t e r s without flying the sovereign flag of
the respective federation member.
In "Dreaming of a Fleet" Ferdinand Freiligrath, Germany's poet
of freedom, symbolized the unification of these n u m e r o u s small
states into a single nation-state as black-red-gold s t o r m c l o u d s
g a r l a n d e d across the world's oceans:
Wave now free Black Red and Gold from every mast
And flag pole ringing the land!
The ocean has festooned itself
In thousands of pennants, oh flag once reviled.^
A single flag embracing all m e m b e r s of the N o r t h G e r m a n C o n ­
federation existed only after 1866. Bismarck decreed it w a s to be
the Black-White-Red, because this combination of colors "repre­
sented not only the black a n d white of Prussia but the red a n d
white of the H a n s a cities a n d Holstein, i.e., the largest n u m b e r of
non-Prussian ships:"^
The Black-White-Red flies proudly
from our ship's mast.
The flag flies in the face of the enemies who threaten it.
Who hate its colors.
It waves back and forth in the wind
along the side of the ship,
and far from the beloved Fatherland
upon storm-tossed seas.
We pledge our loyalty to it.
faithful unto death.
We dedicate our life to the flag,
to the Black and White and Red.
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards
Beginning in 1828 the landlocked Austrian m o n a r c h y dressed
its ships w i t h r e d - w h i t e - r e d m a s t h e a d flags b e a r i n g a n o p e n
c r o w n as the e m b l e m of regal power.
T h e e n o r m o u s i m p a c t of the black-white-red flag even on Ger­
m a n s living o u t s i d e of G e r m a n y is reflected in this r a p t u r o u s
description written by G u s t a v Freytag a n d published in the jour­
n a l Die Grenzboten in 1 8 4 0 : " T h r o u g h o u t the entire inhabited
w o r l d m e n of G e r m a n origin—hard-boiled, unemotional G e r m a n
b u s i n e s s m e n — w a v e d their hats a n d shouted for joy, embracing
one another with tears in their eyes, because these colors h a d been
raised o v e r their heads in order to release t h e m from their ancient
b o n d a g e , isolation, a n d defenselessness a n d to offer them a shared
h o m e a w a y from h o m e a n d the greatest, m o s t precious masculine
pride in their distant G e r m a n fatherland."'
In contrast, Heinrich Heine, writing on the occasion of the 1817
W a r t b u r g festival, u s e d his m o r d a n t w i t to h e a p s c o r n o n the
shrill declarations issued by m e m b e r s of the Ultranationaliststu­
dent associations a n d their d r e a m of a unified G e r m a n y u n d e r
the b l a c k - w h i t e - r e d flag: "While the p a s t c r o a k e d out its d a r k
r a v e n s o n g a t the W a r t b u r g festival, a sunrise s o n g a b o u t the
m o d e m a g e w a s s u n g a t H a m b a c h Castle a n d toasts w e r e d r u n k
to all m a n k i n d . "10
T w o w e e k s after the F r e n c h established a republic a n d deposed
their king, on 9 M a r c h 1 8 4 8 , the National Parliament in Frankfurt
a m M a i n a d o p t e d "the colors of the former G e r m a n imperial ban­
n e r — B l a c k - R e d - G o l d — a s the tricolor of the G e r m a n i c Confeder­
a t i o n . " I n t o x i c a t e d b y the r e v o l u t i o n , the c o m p o s e r R o b e r t
S c h u m a n n gushed: "Black stands for [gun] powder, red for blood,
a n d gold for the lambent flame." A n d in his L o n d o n exile Ferdi­
n a n d Freiligrath w r o t e the following bellicose verses on "The Rev­
olutionary Colors":
Aha, fluttering, billowing, a flash of color!
Hurrah, you Black and Red and Gold!
It's the former imperial standard.
Those are the ancient colors!
This is the banner under which we'll fight and
Obtain fresh scars.
You see, we've just begun
The final battle is yet to come!"
T h e N a t i o n a l A s s e m b l y t h a t w a s c o n v e n e d in St. P a u l ' s
C h u r c h — t h e m o s t highly e d u c a t e d parliament that ever existed
8 The Triumph of Propaganda
(in the w o r d s of Golo Marm)—published the following announce­
m e n t in the Reich L a w Gazette of 12 N o v e m b e r 1848: "The G e r m a n
w a r ensign shall consist of three horizontal stripes of equal width,
black at the top, red in the rrüddle, and yellow on the bottom. In the
u p p e r left-hand c o m e r the canton shall bear the imperial coat-of-
a r m s on a rectangular field.... The imperial coat-of-arms consists of
a double-headed eagle displayed sable on a gold field, langued
gules, gold-beaked, and taloned."'^
The a u r a of the Black-Red-Gold faded along with the "unfin­
ished G e r m a n revolution" symbolized b y St. Paul's C h u r c h . The
y o u n g Otto v o n Bismarck, a delegate to the Diet of the reconsti­
tuted G e r m a n Confederation, quickly dissociated himself from
the colors a n d their symbolic m e a n i n g at the parliament of the
Erfurt U n i o n in 1850. Black-Red-Gold, he said, had n e v e r been the
imperial colors; they w e r e symbols of rebellion and the barricade.
Referring to himself in his m e m o i r s Gedanken und Erinnerungen,^^
Bismarck cited an assonant p o e m written in M a r c h 1 8 4 8 as P r u s s ­
ian troops w e r e w i t h d r a w i n g from Berlin:
Those were the Prussians, their colors black and white.
Their flag streaming before them once again.
As the king's loyal men lay down their lives for him.
For their king, each one cheering.
As we watched them carry their dead away
Without so much as a whimper,
A shout pierced their loyal hearts.
You are Prussians no longer—you are Germans now.
Black-Red-Gold is ablaze in the sunlight.
The desecrated imperial eagle falls;
This is the end of your glorious history, HohenzoUems,
This is where a king fell, though not in battle.
We take no pleasure
In watching a falling star
You'll regret what you did. Prince [Bismarck],
None there are who are more loyal than Prussians.'^
O n 9 D e c e m b e r 1 8 6 6 Otto v o n Bismarck issued the following
decree: "The m e r c h a n t ships of all Confederation m e m b e r s shall
fly the s a m e black-red-white flag." N o t until the following y e a r
did he offer an explanation for the choice of colors—a choice that
he h a d m a d e entirely on his own: "When w e b e c a m e Prussians, w e
a d o p t e d the Black and White; the present Black-White-Red w a s
the result of combining the colors of Prussia w i t h the White-Red of
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards
the H a n s a . It w a s only after I h a d explained this to old Kaiser
Wilhelm that he a c c e p t e d the adoption of the n e w colors."^^ The
n e w black-white-red w a r ensign of the N o r t h G e r m a n Confeder­
ation c o m b i n e d the Iron C r o s s of the w a r s of liberation, d e s i g n e d
b y Friedrich Schinkel, w i t h the martial traditions of Prussia. It
w a s L ü t z o w ' s l e g e n d a r y free corps, organized within the Pruss­
ian army, that g a v e birth to the idea of "unifying G e r m a n y by
force of a r m s . "
The squabbling over these tradition-laden symbols of state not
only g e n e r a t e d all sorts of farcical intrigue; it also g a v e rise to
other bizarre behavior, ranging from debates o v e r w h a t w a s truly
G e r m a n t h r o u g h p e t t y political infighting a m o n g the s t u d e n t
associations all the w a y to a r g u m e n t s over the rights of sovereign
states—none of w h i c h p r o d u c e d anything positive in the end. In
his well-researched study titled Die deutschen Farben (1955), Paul
Wentzcke d e v o t e d m o r e than sixty pages to the debates that r a g e d
o v e r the question of the n e w flag from the end of the nineteenth to
the begirming of the twentieth century. His discussion illuminates
the age-old d i c h o t o m y between symbol and reality and indicates
the depth of ill-feeling that forms p a r t of the genealogy of the Ger­
m a n flag. Hitler w a n t e d his n e w swastika flag to lead the nation
a w a y from the discord of p a r t y politics and regional interests as
they related to the question of the flag and to stand as an affirma­
tion of the unity of the G e r m a n fatherland.
In 1 8 7 0 C h a n c e l l o r B i s m a r c k p u t a n e n d to the farce w i t h a
touch of sarcasm: "At a n y other time color combinations wouldn't
m a k e a n y difference to m e . I wouldn't c a r e if it w a s green, yellow
a n d purple, or the flag of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. But the Prussian
soldier s i m p l y w a n t s n o part of the Black, Red, and Gold."
After accepting the B a v a r i a n king L u d w i g II's letter offering
h i m the i m p e r i a l c r o w n , the P r u s s i a n king W i l h e l m I w a s
a c k n o w l e d g e d as G e r m a n E m p e r o r in a c e r e m o n y that took place
in the Hall of Mirrors in the palace of Versailles on 18 J a n u a r y
1 8 7 1 . Henceforth, the Black-White-Red of the N o r t h G e r m a n C o n ­
federation w o u l d be the national flag. A reenactment of the cere­
m o n y formed the d r a m a t i c high point of the second part of Ernst
Wendt's silent m o v i e Bismarck (1926)—the quintessential G e r m a n
film. T h e c o n s t i t u t i o n t h a t w a s ratified that s a m e y e a r m a d e
Black-White-Red the official colors of the w a r ensign a n d the m e r ­
chant flag, so that "the black-white-red tricolor n o w flew over the
fortresses of Paris a n d the p a l a c e of Versailles."''' This w a s the
a t m o s p h e r e in w h i c h the flag w a s c r e a t e d . G i v e n the p o p u l a r

10 The Triumph of Propaganda
m o o d at the time, the flag, b e c a u s e of its ideological claims, h a d
"become the symbol of political unity and strength for thirty mil­
lion G e r m a n s : the b l a c k - w h i t e - r e d flag is a p e r m a n e n t fixture
a m o n g the nations of the w o r l d , and it w o u l d be pointless, h a r m ­
ful, a n d criminal to squander the reserves of respect a n d patrio­
tism that it has built up," w r o t e Gustav Freytag in a letter from the
front. The flag w a s not only a s u p p o r t for soldiers in uncertain
times; it w a s also ideally suited for subjugating the individual to
its symbolic power. This alliance of emotions w o u l d unite a c a d e ­
mics and w o r k e r s , soldiers and housewives.
After millions of soldiers h a d died fighting under the Black-
W h i t e - R e d in the First World W a r and after the unification of Ger­
m a n y u n d e r the s a m e flag—"which is still r e g a r d e d as a g r e a t
national treasure" ( M P Dr. K a h l ) — t h e constitutional c o m m i t t e e ,
following m o n t h s of tedious deliberation, d e c i d e d in a roll call
v o t e on 4 June 1 9 1 9 to a d o p t the Black, Red, and Gold. The deci­
sion w a s taken in part to w a r d off the "threat" p o s e d b y the Inde­
p e n d e n t Socialists' a t t e m p t to force the a d o p t i o n of "their r e d
Soviet flag." T h e a v e r s i o n to the color red w a s n o t m o t i v a t e d
solely b y ideology; it h a d an irrational c o m p o n e n t as well. A t a n y
rate, the colors Black, Red, a n d Gold g a v e rise to a symbiotic love-
h a t e relationship that created the conditions in w h i c h the defeated
parties could cultivate the idea of taking revenge.
The Social D e m o c r a t i c Interior Minister E d u a r d David called
the "tricolor" the "symbol of a sense of national c o m m u n i t y " and
r e c o m m e n d e d "maintaining Greater G e r m a n unity as a lofty ideal
a n d future goal." Indignation at the fact "that our Austrian broth­
ers h a v e been blocked from achieving self-determination a n d p r o ­
hibited from b e c o m i n g p a r t of the M o t h e r l a n d has b u r n e d this
ideal into the soul of e v e r y m a n w h o considers himself a Ger­
m a n . " D a v i d expressed the h o p e that "the anguish will give birth
to the s t r e n g t h n e e d e d to a c h i e v e this new, r e v i v e d ideal of
Greater Germany." "May the black-red-gold banner fly in front of
us in all these endeavors."'^ In a little less than t w e n t y y e a r s Hitler
w o u l d realize the d r e a m of a Greater Germany, but in a form v e r y
different from that envisioned by David.
U n d e r the W e i m a r republic the old n e w colors m e t w i t h dis­
a p p r o v a l , especially from right-wing g r o u p s such as the veterans'
organization called the Stahlhelm. They felt that the colors w e r e
a c o n c e s s i o n to the Social D e m o c r a t s from w h o s e ranks Reich
President Ebert h a d come. In the eyes of the right, the Black, Red,
a n d Gold stood for a defenseless democracy. They w e r e the colors
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards 11
of t h e u n r e s t r a i n e d v i o l e n c e of the R e v o l u t i o n of 1 8 4 8 ; a n d —
w h i c h w a s of central i m p o r t a n c e in the rise of fascism—Black-
Red-Gold b e c a m e the symbol of the "humiliation of Versailles."
Because the flag that replaced the Black-White-Red of Greater Ger­
m a n y w a s v i e w e d as a symbol of 1848-style democracy, it c a m e to
represent a "betrayal of the G e r m a n people," in the s a m e sense as
G e r m a n nationalists v i e w e d the Treaty of Versailles. F o r them, the
flag of the W e i m a r republic b e c a m e an onmipresent a g g r a v a t i o n
a n d a constant g o a d to erase G e r m a n y ' s "shame." They invested
all their e n t h u s i a s m a n d affinity for the irrational in o n e symbol
alone. "And from time i m m e m o r i a l m e n h a v e fought with greater
ferocity o v e r symbols than over genuine interests. The decision of
the National Assembly g a v e the opposition on the right a symbol
that in future w o u l d arouse all its demonic instincts."^*
T h e debate o v e r the flag in the W e i m a r republic h a d symbolic
significance. It reflected the strife that existed within the fledgling
d e m o c r a c y . A s h i s t o r y h a s t a u g h t us, the disputes o v e r the
national colors and their symbolic m e a n i n g w a s an i n t e r m e z z o
that e n d e d tragically. Hitler used the debate between the p r o p o ­
nents of the Black-White-Red and the supporters of the black-red-
g o l d flag to incite the m a s s e s that w o u l d s o o n rally a r o u n d him.
The Flag Pledge
We young people will carry the flag to the front as the young
prepare to attack.
May it arise and ascend and shoot like a flame into the sky I
YJe've sworn an oath to the flag for ever and for all time to cornel
Damned he he who desecrates the flag!
The flag is our faith in God and people and country!
Rob us of life and limb, if rob us you must, but don't take our flag.
We cherish the flag as dearly as we do our mothers.
For the flag is our tomorrow, our honor, and our courage.
Eberhard Wolfgang Möller, 1935
W h e n soldiers s w o r e the oath of allegiance to the flag, the flag
attained the status of a sacred shrine. The flag pledge a s s u m e d the
function of a religious rite sanctioned b y a priest. Enticed b y the
"magic implicit in the pledge" (Peter D a d e ) , untold millions of
soldiers h a v e m a r c h e d to their death throughout history. In m e r ­
c e n a r y armies the flag pledge w a s rendered to the c o m m a n d e r in
12 The Triumph of Propaganda
chief as a symbolic seal on a hireling's contract. The c u s t o m of
touching the flag while rendering a pledge did not c o m e into p r a c ­
tice until the seventeenth century.
The question of rendering an o a t h of allegiance to the state and
the military has been an issue of controversy in G e r m a n y for cen­
turies. In 1 8 3 4 the m e m b e r s of the G e r m a n Confederation agreed
that the military should not be forced also to swear an oath to the
constitution. The Reich Constitution of 1848, however, did require
that an o a t h to the constitution b e c o m e part of the flag pledge.
T h e n after the F r a n c o - P r u s s i a n W a r ( 1 8 7 0 - 7 1 ) the flag p l e d g e
b e c a m e strictly an oath of loyalty t o the Emperor as S u p r e m e W a r
Lord. Following World War II the political component w a s watered
d o w n a n d the flag pledge divided into a military loyalty oath a n d
a specially devised pledge of allegiance to the constitution.
After the d e a t h of Reich President Paul v o n Hindenburg, the
N a z i s e n a c t e d a l a w o n 2 0 A u g u s t 1934 t r a n s f o r m i n g the flag
p l e d g e into a n o a t h of personal loyalty to the Führer: "I s w e a r
before G o d this sacred oath, that I will yield unconditional obedi­
ence to the F ü h r e r of the G e r m a n Reich and people, Adolf Hitler,
the S u p r e m e C o m m a n d e r of the A r m e d Forces, a n d , as a b r a v e
soldier, will b e r e a d y at a n y time to lay d o w n m y life for this
oath."^' In contrast to the military, t h e SS swore an oath of fealty to
the "Führer a n d Chancellor of the Reich," not to the "Führer of the
G e r m a n Reich a n d people."
T h e w e a r i n g of the n a t i o n a l e m b l e m (the E a g l e a n d t h e
Swastika) on their W e h r m a c h t tunics obliged ordinary soldiers to
p l e d g e life a n d limb to the F ü h r e r . The SS—the m e n w i t h the
D e a t h ' s H e a d insignia on their c a p s — w e r e a v o l u n t e e r force
(before the w a r ) that pledged, if need be, to die for Hitler "with
faith in their h e a r t s . " "We m a r c h for Hitler t h r o u g h night a n d
t h r o u g h need ... Yes, the flag m e a n s more than death" w a s the
m a r c h i n g song of the Hitler Youth.
F r o m at least 2 0 July 1944—^when military officers o p t e d for
m o r a l responsibility in the conflict between their conscience a n d
their oath to Hitler—to the present, the flag pledge has been a sub­
ject of debate in the G e r m a n military.
In the P r u s s o - G e r m a n armies a n d most especially in Hitler's
army, defending the flag, even to the point of sacrificing one's life,
w a s considered the ultimate d u t y imposed on a soldier b y his o a t h
of loyalty. Surrendering the flag w a s tantamount to losing one's
h o n o r a n d b r o u g h t s h a m e u p o n the entire regiment. W h e n a unit
lost its s t a n d a r d , it lost its soul. O n the other h a n d , a soldier w h o .
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards 13
c a p t u r e d a n e n e m y s t a n d a r d h a d pernussion to use his heroic
d e e d as p r o o f of his martial prowess. It w a s d r u m m e d into the
h e a d of e v e r y m e m b e r of the Hitler Youth during e n c a m p m e n t s
a n d field exercises that the loss of even a pennant p r o d u c e d the
w o r s t possible stain on one's character. The only song included in
the official publication Pimpf im Dienst—required reading for the
G e r m a n Jungvolk [the g r o u p between the ages of ten and fourteen
in the Hitler Y o u t h — T r a n s L ] — w a s dedicated to the flag:
Let the flags wave far and wide, ^
we're going over to the attack,
true to the mercenary way.
Let those desperadoes
lead the charge,
we'll follow in close order formation.^"
T h e flag as the imperative! Songs sung together under the flag
heightened the sense of fellowship. Psychologists teach us h o w
e a s y it is to fill an emotional v a c u u m b y forming a powerful affec­
tive b o n d with a leadership figure or a fetish (flag). Refusing to
identify with the W e i m a r republic as their country, m a n y people
felt a similar void within themselves—until Hitler offered t h e m a
n e w w a y of bonding—his way. After relinquishing his individu­
ality, the N a z i P a r t y m e m b e r w a s vulnerable to e v e r y suggestion
put f o r w a r d b y the person "who robbed h i m of his conscious per­
sonality" (Sigmund Freud).
T h e p r o c e s s of integrating a n individual s u c h as the y o u n g
Q u e x into the Hitler m o v e m e n t (which shared e v e r y attribute of
L e Bon's "psychological c r o w d " ) w o u l d eventually shape the feel­
ings, outlook, a n d actions of all m e m b e r s of the Hitler Youth, the
B D M (Bund Deutscher Mädel or L e a g u e of G e r m a n Girls), the SA,
a n d the SS.
Professional soldiers a n d conscripts in the B u n d e s w e h r t o d a y
n o longer swear an oath to an individual or an office. Rather, they
render a p l e d g e to the state a n d the people: "I swear to serve the
Federal Republic of G e r m a n y loyally a n d to bravely defend the
rights a n d freedoms of the G e r m a n People, so help m e God." Arti­
cle 12 of the G e r m a n C o n s t i t u t i o n (Grundgesetz) specifically
includes protection of the flag as a fundamental obligation.
The oath sworn by soldiers of the former G e r m a n Democratic
Republic's Nationale Volksarmee w a s similar to that of the Bundeswehr:
"1 s w e a r to serve the G e r m a n Democratic Republic, m y Father­
land, loyally at all times a n d at the c o n u n a n d of the Workers' a n d
 14 The Triumph of Propaganda
Peasants' G o v e r n m e n t to defend it against all enemies. Should I
ever violate this m y solemn pledge to the flag, m a y I suffer the
h a r s h p u n i s h m e n t p r o v i d e d b y the laws of o u r Republic a n d be
s p u m e d by the w o r k i n g class."^^
The Swastika Flag
The entry of the flags and standards. Down below, starting at the far
end of the Sportpalast, the standards representing Berlin, followed by
hundreds of Party flags from Berlin, are moving forward. Little by lit­
tle the flags are coming up out of the basement vault of the Sport­
palast. To the sound of "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" the
flags are borne through the immense hall. The flags are coming closer
and closer, the lead flag has just reached the gallery. At the back of the
gigantic hall a section has been left unoccupied for the march-past of
the flags. The four standards are just beginning to move up to the
podium. The flags are moving to the rear, the end section of the hall.
Flag after flag keeps coming up out of the basement vault. Every side
corridor is packed with bright red swastika flags. The audience
throughout the entire Sportpalast has stood up and, with arm raised
in the Hitler salute, has joined in the singing of the national anthem.
Joseph Goebbels^^
T h e s w a s t i k a that a d o r n e d the flags of the " m a s t e r r a c e " a n d
w o u l d ultimately terrorize the w o r l d is a symbol enveloped in
mystery. Its earliest r e c o r d e d use dates back to the Indus civiliza­
tion a r o u n d 2 5 0 0 B.C. A p p a r e n t l y p e r s u a d e d b y w h a t he consid­
ered to b e the symbolic p o w e r of the swastika, the H i n d u m o n k
A g e h a n a n d a Bharatis openly expressed his adnuration for Hitler
in a "forum" held at the 1 9 8 6 Frankfurt Book Fair, w h i c h h a d c h o ­
sen India as its t h e m e that year. N o t thinking of the inhumanity
that the c o n c e p t of the master race symbolized to nations forced to
live u n d e r colonial rule, he claimed that the m a s s of India's people
held v i e w s that w e r e v e r y different from those shared by the west­
ernized Indian elite. Hitler, h e said, w a s an "avatar," a deity that
h a d d e s c e n d e d to the earth in incarnate form. The swastika, the
Indian symbol of salvation, steeped in tradition, h a d sanctified his
m y t h i c mission.^^
T h e w o r d swastika is derived from the Sanskrit svastika, m e a n ­
ing " s a l u t a r y sign." Wan, the C h i n e s e c h a r a c t e r for s w a s t i k a .
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards 15
m e a n s "great g o o d luck"; in Greece it w a s called hemera a n d w a s
the symbol of the sun.
The swastika has taken on a n u m b e r of meanings over time:
T h o r ' s h a m m e r , a sun wheel, a wolf trap, a mill wheel. It has been
depicted as crossed lightning bolts, the four " F s " of Turnvater
[father of gymnastics] J a h n (frisch = lively, f r o m m = d e v o u t , fröh­
lich = cheerful, frei = free), a n d as a fertility sign. In the twentieth
c e n t u r y Kerensky's provisional g o v e r n m e n t in Russia u s e d the
swastika on its bank notes as a symbol of independence.
Wilhelm Reich in his Die Massenpsychologie des Faschismus (Mass
P s y c h o l o g y of Fascism, 1971) a d d e d yet another facet to the sym­
bolism of the swastika: the swastika as a copulating couple. In his
interpretation of the swastika as a sexual symbol, Reich relied on
the representation of a swastika discovered b y Bilman and Pegerot
dating back to Indo-Germanic times and containing the following
inscription: "Hail earth, mother of m a n . Grow great in the e m b r a c e
of G o d , fruitful to nourish mankind." Fertility w a s represented as
the sexual act of Mother-Earth and God-Father. Interviews with
people of various backgrounds a n d of either sex showed "that v e r y
few people fail to recognize the meaning of the swastika." Wilhelm
Reich c o n c l u d e d that "this symbol depicting t w o interlocked per­
sons acts as a powerful stimulus on deep layers of the organism, a
stimulus that proves to be that m u c h m o r e powerful, the m o r e dis­
satisfied, the m o r e burning with sexual desire, a person is."^^
In t h e c o n t e x t of p r o p a g a n d a , in w h i c h t h e N a z i P a r t y
informed the swastika with the symbolism of h o n o r a n d loyalty,
the symbol w a s also used to m a k e allowances for "the defensive
strivings of the moralistic ego," making it correspondingly easier
for people to accept. Reich did not, however, feel that this aspect
of the swastika's effect o n unconscious emotionality a c c o u n t e d
for the success of Hitler's m a s s p r o p a g a n d a ; it w a s "merely" a
"powerful aid."
The völkisch chauvinist Guido v o n List in his book Die Bilder­
schrift der Ario-Germanen (The Characters of the A r y o - G e r m a n s ,
1910)^^ w a s one of the first to e n d o w the swastika with an ideology
a n d p r e p a r e the w a y for its eventual appropriation by racist ideo­
logues. Various anti-Semitic organizations a n d Free C o r p s units
s o o n u s e d the swastika on their battle standards. The swastika
b e c a m e a symbol of reactionary opinion a n d a sign of race identity
directed against Jews a n d Gypsies, Marxists a n d intellectuals, the
mentally ill a n d pacifists—against all the outsiders w h o m Marcel
P r o u s t h a d labeled "la race maudite."
16 The Triumph of Propaganda
In the cinematic portrait of a city titled Eger—eine alte deutsche
Stadt ( E g e r — a n Ancient G e r m a n City, 1938), directed b y Rudolf
Gutscher, the c a m e r a focuses in on swastika motifs in a c h u r c h
dating back to the year 1310 as proof of the claim that Eger [the
p r e s e n t - d a y city of C h e b in the C z e c h Republic—Transl.] h a d
a l w a y s been a G e r m a n city a n d that the time w a s long overdue for
its return to the Reich.
In his t h o u g h t s on "our flag—our p r o g r a m " in his b o o k Mein
KampfHitler w r o t e in 1 9 2 5 that h e s a w in r e d the social idea of
the m o v e m e n t a n d in the w h i t e disk the national c o m p o n e n t . In
the b l a c k swastika h e s a w "the mission of the s t r u g g l e for the
v i c t o r y of the A r y a n m a n , a n d , by the s a m e token, the v i c t o r y of
the idea of c r e a t i v e w o r k , w h i c h as s u c h a l w a y s has b e e n a n d
a l w a y s will b e anti-Semitic." Hitler himself designed the future
n a t i o n a l flag a s far b a c k a s 1 9 1 9 . T w o y e a r s l a t e r h e a l s o
d e s i g n e d the P a r t y s t a n d a r d . A s a "special symbol of v i c t o r y " h e
i n c l u d e d it " a m o n g the s y m b o l s a n d battle signs of the N a t i o n a l
Socialist struggle."
T h e N a z i s a p p r o p r i a t e d the black, white, a n d red colors from
the f o r m e r Imperial flag in o r d e r to establish a link w i t h G e r ­
m a n y ' s great past and, especially in the early years of the N a z i
m o v e m e n t , to w i n over nationalist g r o u p s w h o considered the
Black-Red-Gold nothing but a thorn in their side. Manfred v o n
Killinger stressed this idea of continuity in Männer und Mächte:
Die SA in Wort und Bild (Men a n d Powers: the S A in W o r d a n d Pic­
ture, 1933): "The swastika flag a n d the w a r flag w e r e created as a
result of [the decision] to continue the use of black a n d red, w h i c h
is doubtless the m o s t beautiful color combination ever created."^''
Hitler's n e w symbol of the N a z i m o v e m e n t w a s not to e s c a p e
the s h a d o w s of the past. A l t h o u g h the black, white, a n d red flag
u n d e r w h i c h h e h a d fought in the w a r — " t h e s e uniquely beautiful
colors, in their fresh, youthful c o m b i n a t i o n " — w a s "sacred a n d
beloved" to him, he w a s nevertheless a d a m a n t l y o p p o s e d to let­
ting it stand "as a symbol for the struggle for the future." But so
long as the venerable old Reich President Paul v o n H i n d e n b u r g
continued as the living legend personifying the Battle of Tannen­
berg, the n e w regime delayed adoption of the swastika banner as
the country's national flag. Thus, on 10 M a r c h 1 9 3 3 , the D a y of
National M o u r n i n g , g o v e r n m e n t offices flew only flags with the
black, white, a n d red colors of Prussia.
Just t w o d a y s later, however, Hindenburg relented a n d issued
a d e c r e e o n the flag o r d e r i n g that "until a final s e t t l e m e n t is
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards 17
r e a c h e d r e g a r d i n g the national colors" the black-white-red flag
a n d the swastika flag w e r e to be flown side b y side. The decree
stated that the traditional symbol represented "the glorious past of
the G e r m a n Reich," w h i l e the n e w flag s t o o d for "the m i g h t y
rebirth of the G e r m a n nation": "Together they e m b o d y the power
of the state a n d the inner b o n d s [linking] all the national forces of
the German people."^^
O n c e before, after having succeeded Friedrich Ebert to the pres­
idency, H i n d e n b u r g h a d taken a similar decision in similar sib­
ylline fashion: at the height of the debate over Black-Red-Gold
v e r s u s Black-White-Red, he enacted a law ordering that the black,
w h i t e , a n d r e d m e r c h a n t flag be flown n e x t to the "still valid
national colors."
The haste with which the Reichstag passed a n e w flag l a w on 16
September 1 9 3 5 , just one y e a r after Hindenburg's death, suggests
the i m p o r t a n c e the N a z i r e g i m e a t t a c h e d to mobilizing public
opinion u n d e r the symbol of the n e w m o v e m e n t . Reichstag presi­
dent H e r m a n n Goring desired "a true symbol of the race." In his
a d d r e s s to the Reichstag he s u p p o r t e d the law in the following
g r a n d i o s e terms:
Like a magnet. National Socialism attracted to itself whatever
resources of iron and steel the German people had within them­
selves. Similarly, it was our battle standard under which these fight­
ers were assembled, under which they struggled, fought, and, in
many cases, died. We must not forget that at decisive moments it
was this battle standard that time and again made the weak strong.
We must not forget that so long as our Führer held our battle stan­
dard—the swastika [flag] with its glorious ancient colors—in his
grip, he also held the destiny of the German people in his hands.
The swastika has become a sacred symbol for us—the symbol
around which all our hopes and dreams revolve, under which we
have endured suffermg, under which we have fought, sacrificed,
and ultimately, for the benefit of the German people, triumphed.
T h e d a y before, on 15 September 1 9 3 5 , Hitler issued an o r d e r
m a k i n g the swastika flag G e r m a n y ' s official national flag. W h e n
h e presented the a r m e d forces with their new battle standard, the
w a r ensign, he did not neglect to use the Iron Cross insignia on the
swastika flag as an occasion to hark back to the traditions of the
W o r l d W a r I Imperial A r m y :
May the Swastika be a symbol for you of the unity and purity of the .
nation, a symbol of the National Socialist world-view (Weltanschau- -jN
ung), a token of the freedom and strength of the Reich. ,1 want the t-A
 18 The Triumph of Propaganda
Iron Cross to stand as a renunder to you of the matchless tradition
of the former Imperial Army, of the virtues it embodied, of the
example it set for you. You are under an obligation to the black-
white-red colors of the Reich to perform your duty loyally while
you live and while you die.
Until the beginning of the v^ar in 1 9 3 9 , the old w a r ensign of the
Bismarck era w a s officially perrrütted to b e flown once a y e a r o n
the a n n i v e r s a r y of the 1 9 1 6 Battle of Jutland, since it h a d report­
edly s t o o d u p so magnificently in this n a v a l battle against the
British. T h o u g h there w a s n o victor in this senseless a n d destruc­
tive e n c o u n t e r b e t w e e n the British a n d G e r m a n fleets, m a n y
sailors w e r e killed in action. A painting of a sinking cruiser, tifled
"Skagerrak," w a s the focal point o f the 1 9 3 7 Berlin A r t Exhibition.
It s h o w e d a sailor p r o u d l y holding u p the flag: "The flag m e a n s
m o r e than death"—the Nazis w a n t e d all G e r m a n s to inscribe this
slogan o n their hearts.
T h e swastika that Hitler called "a token of freedom" w o u l d
s o o n b e c o m e a s y m b o l of s l a v e r y for all E u r o p e . T h e flag w a s
o m n i p r e s e n t in the T h i r d R e i c h — o n the streets, flying f r o m
houses, in d o c u m e n t a r i e s a n d newsreels. T h e flag h a d , as it w e r e ,
gotten into the blood of the G e r m a n s .
T h e swastika flag w a s m e a n t to c o m m u n i c a t e all the virtues
a n d sjmibolic values o f the N a z i m o v e m e n t . T h e blood-red flag
w i t h the mystical swastika e m b l a z o n e d on a p u r e w h i t e circle w a s
like n o other with r e g a r d to its manifold symbolic meanings. It
represented all the a m o r p h o u s ideas a n d second-rate virtues in
the N a z i catechism: the Führer, the national c o m m u n i t y (Volksge-
meinschafl), the fatherland, the nation; fealty, obedience, a readi­
ness to m a k e sacrifices; race, faith, hope, victory.
T h e flag w a s also a sign of the N a z i ideology's irreconcilable
h a t r e d s : anti-Semitism, a n t i - c o m m u n i s m , anti-clericalism, a n d
later, a s t h e r e g i m e p r e p a r e d for war, its anti-plutocratic c a m ­
paign. T h e swastika flag reflected m a n y of the irrational beliefs
that w e r e foisted o n millions of G e r m a n s t h r o u g h the multipher-
effect of the w e e k l y newsreels a n d P a r t y congress films.
' Leni Riefenstahl u s e d the flag as an emotional a n d sentimental
p r o p w i t h w h i c h to o r c h e s t r a t e a d i z z y i n g s y m p h o n y o f flags
w h i c h d i s s e m i n a t e d the N a z i w o r l d - v i e w in s t a g e d a e s t h e t i c
e v e n t s that indicated the "correct" w a y to r e g a r d art. In films s u c h
as Sieg des Glaubens (Victory of Faith, 1933) and Triumph des Willens
(Triumph of the Will, 1934), she transformed the flag into a fetish.
Riefenstahl liked to s h o w the flag blowing in the wind, as a sign of
Symbohc Value of Flags and Standards 19
m o v e m e n t : the optical o p i u m of the people, forests of flags as a
psychological field of force.
The fluttering flag h a d , of course, already been e m p l o y e d ear­
lier as a symbol of c h a n g e a n d freedom, of the resolve to achieve
victory. T h e N a z i s exploited it for their o w n purposes:
We are the army of the Swastika,
Raise the red banners high.
For the German worker
The way to freedom we shall pave.
The Nazis m a d e skillful use of the emotional content of left-wing
revolutionary songs to create their o w n melodies for the m a r c h
"into eternity"—with different lyrics, of course.
Roland Barthes in his book Mythologies presented the following
graphic e x a m p l e of the symbolic significance of the national flag
as an illustration of his theory of semiology: "I a m at the barber's,
a n d a c o p y o f Paris-Match is h a n d e d to m e . O n the cover, a y o u n g
Black in a F r e n c h uniform is saluting, with his eyes uplifted, p r o b ­
ably fixed on a fold of the tricolor. All of this is the m e a n i n g of the
picture. But w h e t h e r naively or not, I see v e r y well w h a t it signi­
fies to me: that F r a n c e is a great E m p i r e , that all her sons, without
regard to color, faithfully serve under her flag, a n d that there is no
better a n s w e r to the opponents of an alleged coloniahsm than the
zeal s h o w n b y this Black in serving his so-called oppressors."^'
The Black African's identification with the tricolor in this visual
portrayal w a s m e a n t to suggest an identification, obvious even to
the simplest mind, with the ideology it symbolized. N a z i m y t h -
m a k i n g w o r k e d in a similar fashion—albeit with one fundamental
difference. W h e r e a s the tricolor is apparently an u n k n o w n nation­
alist quantity to the African, a sacred m y t h lacking "flesh a n d
blood," to the a v e r a g e N a z i P a r t y m e m b e r the swastika flag w a s
e q u a t e d directly with the Führer w h o w a s , as it were, present in
e v e r y fold. The m y t h of the nation w a s not an abstraction; it w a s
palpably present in w o r d s a n d in pictures. It w a s not b e y o n d the
m a s s e s ' comprehension. The flag w a s Hitler's ubiquitous deputy.
Identifying with the flag w a s s y n o n y m o u s to identifying with the
Führer. N a z i p r o p a g a n d a w a s largely effective b e c a u s e it suc­
c e e d e d in identifying the masses with the Hitler myth. A n d it w a s
to Leni Riefenstahl that Nazi p r o p a g a n d a o w e d a debt of gratitude
for developing a workable aesthetic formula to elevate the m u n ­
d a n e into an apotheosis of the nation.
20 The Triumph of Propaganda
D u r i n g the m a r c h - p a s t of the flags, a n y o n e attending a rally
h a d to rise from his seat a n d salute, since flags w e r e v i e w e d as
proxies for the Führer. E v e n w h e n a squad of troopers m a r c h e d
d o w n the street c a r r y i n g a single flag, passers-by w e r e obliged to
h o n o r it b y giving the N a z i salute. "The flag arrives: take off y o u r
hat! W e will be true till death to that!" w a s a verse in a ballad sung
long before b y Detlev v o n Liliencron. A t the beginning a n d end of
school holidays, students a n d teachers h a d to stand in line for
inspection in the schoolyard as the flag w a s being raised a n d the
H o r s t Wessel song sung. Starting at an early age, y o u n g people
w e r e forced to internalize the values represented b y the flag:
At the beginning of school following the end of vacation and at the
end of the term before the begiiming of the school holiday, the flag
must be honored in front of the entire student body, by in the first
case raising and in the second lowering the Reich flags while one
one verse from "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" and one
from the Horst Wessel song are sung.*'
The ritual presentation of the ideas associated with the swastika
flag w a s designed to p r o m o t e "the training of y o u t h for service to
the nation a n d state in the spirit of National Socialism." The flag
d e p r i v e d people of their individuality a n d m a d e t h e m into the
object of another's will. Before the introduction of the Youth Ser­
vice Ordinance, schools with a 9 0 percent m e m b e r s h i p rate in the
Jungvolk, the Hitler Youth or the corresponding girls' o r g a n i z a ­
tions, received a Hitler Youth flag.^^
^ The Blood Flag
When it comes to marching many do not know
That their enemy is marching at the head.
The voice that gives them their orders
Is their enemy's voice and
The man who speaks of the enemy
Is the enemy himself
Bertolt Brecht ( G e r m a n W a r P r i m e r 1 9 3 6 - 1 9 3 8 ) 3 2
The association of the flag with blood can create a powerful s y m ­
bol. E r n e s t , Duke of B a v a r i a in F r i e d r i c h Hebbel's p l a y Agnes
Bernauer creates just such a symbol when, in a thundering m o n o ­
logue, he invokes not the flag of peace, but the banner of war:
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards 21
"Look at this barmer ... It is w o v e n from the s a m e thread as m a d e
the doublet of the last rider w h o follows it; a n d one d a y it will fall
apart a n d turn to dust before the w i n d in the same fashion! But the
G e r m a n folk has t r i u m p h e d under it in a thousand baffles, and
therefore only a c u r can pluck it to pieces, only a fool try to p a t c h
it, instead of shedding his blood for it a n d keeping every shred of
it'holy!"^'
The N a z i s b o r r o w e d the idea of the blood flag from the histor­
ical past. The concept dated back to the days of the Hohenstaufen
dynasty. A c c o r d i n g to the a c c o u n t in the Song of the Nibelungs,
the B u r g u n d i a n s set out from the Rhine along ancient military
roads a n d m a r c h e d south by w a y of the Danube u n d e r a "blood
banner."''* A s the flag of the "holy empire," they b o r e it in the v a n
of the pennants carried by individual knights. The "fiery banner"
m a d e of red silk w a s a shared symbol valid for all.^^
W h a t w a s generally referred to as a blood b a n n e r w a s the (usu­
ally) unembellished red flag that until 1806 symbolized the seal on
an enfeoffment of imperial land that w a s tied to a g r a n t of the
right to exercise "high justice" [called Blutbann or "blood justice"
in G e r m a n , i.e., criminal justice involving capital punishment or
mutilation—Transl.]. The blood flag w a s thus an i m p o r t a n t sym­
bol in public law. H a v i n g been granted the right to exercise high
justice, the recipient of a fief w a s pledged u n d e r ancient G e r m a n i c
l a w to r e n d e r u n s w e r v i n g fealty to the lord from w h o m "justice"
w a s held a n d to perform unlimited military service on his behalf.
Originally, kings alone h a d the privilege of granting justice. It w a s
not until the expansion of the territorial s u p r e m a c y of the state in
the thirteenth c e n t u r y that this right w a s also granted to princes
a n d dukes directly subject to the e m p e r o r {reichsunmittelbar) in
their c a p a c i t y as lords holding lordship over the land, w h o passed
sentence of d e a t h in the n a m e of the king.^*
The right to exercise high justice w a s later granted as a benefice
to the large, free imperial cities as well, at the s a m e time as it w a s
an expression of the juridical authority reserved exclusively for
feudal lords. Since the H i g h Middle Ages, the secular "advocates"
{Vögte), or protectors of churches a n d monasteries, also functioned
as feudal lords, since ecclesiastics with fiefs w e r e precluded from
p e r f o r m i n g s e c u l a r judicial duties that i n v o l v e d killing o r the
d e a t h sentence {"ecclesia non sitit sanguinem").
The N a z i s i n v e s t e d the c o n c e p t of the "blood flag" w i t h a
decidedly emotional coloration. "Blood flag" w a s their n a m e for
the swastika flag that h a d allegedly been drenched with the blood

22 The Triumph of Propaganda
of A n d r e a s Bauriedl w h o h a d carried it on 9 N o v e m b e r 1 9 2 3 d u r ­
ing the l e g e n d a r y m a r c h to the Feldherrnhalle, at the time of the
Hitler Putsch. A t the second Nazi P a r t y congress in W e i m a r on 4
July 1 9 2 6 , Hitler "bestowed" the flag of this "blood witness" on
the then Reichsführer of the SS, Berchtold.
Henceforth, the n e w standards a n d flags of the N S D A P a n d its
associated organizations w o u l d be consecrated b y being c e r e m o ­
niously t o u c h e d with the blood flag—always in the presence of a
s w o r n witness to the Hitler Putsch. The Feldherrnhalle w a s turned
into a n altar to the fallen of the m o v e m e n t , w h e r e their n a m e s
w e r e in\mortalized:
We are building the eternal Feldhermhallen of the Reich,
The steps leading into eternity.
Until the hammers drop from our hands.
Then wall us into the breast of these altars.^^
The Führer's Personal Standard
The art of propaganda lies in understanding the emotional ideas of the
great masses and finding, through a psychologically correct form, the
way to the attention and thence to the heart of the broad masses.
A d o l f Hitler^«
T h e "Führer's personal s t a n d a r d " derived from the national ser­
vice flag a n d w a s used for g o v e r n m e n t offices. It w a s a square
c o n t a i n i n g a l a r g e swastika of the cotised a n d u p r i g h t v a r i e t y
within a golden Wr'eafli a n d displaying golden eagles in the c a n ­
tons: t w o P a r t y badges,,a s p r e a d eagle in the A r t Deco style with
h e a d s pointing to the sinister a n d grasping a w r e a t h containing a
swastika a n d t w o A r m y badges, m o r e R o m a n - s t y l e eagles with
h e a d s pointing to the dexter a n d n o wreaths. It did not w a v e or
flutter, since it w a s m a d e of stiffened linen a n d w a s similar to a
panel painting or, m o r e properly, an icon. T h e s t a n d a r d w a s an
a d a p t a t i o n of the R o m a n vexilla. "Vexilla regis prodeunt" m e a n s lit­
erally, "The king's banners g o in front," i.e., s h o w the way. Since
the s e c o n d half of the first millennium, this p h r a s e has been the
title of a h y m n to the H o l y Cross written b y the m o s t famous Latin
p o e t in M e r o v i n g i a n Gaul, Venantius F o r t u n a t u s . Until 1 9 5 5 , it
w a s regularly sung in G o o d F r i d a y processions; it lives on uni­
versally in the recitation of the Divine Office.
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards 23
T h e personal s t a n d a r d w a s a sign of the F ü h r e r ' s physical pres­
e n c e . O r d i n a r y flags sufficed to d e m o n s t r a t e his m e r e l y
metaphorical omnipresence; they carried the semantic i m a g e of the
F ü h r e r — t o the point of fiction. "This fiction exists in actuality
only b e c a u s e it has been invested with a symbolic presence in the
form of the Swastika a n d b e c a u s e the symbol is revered as the
sign of a higher p u r p o s e . In this w a y the actual p o w e r of g o v e r n ­
m e n t h a s been duplicated—in the p e r s o n of the ' F ü h r e r ' standing
at its h e a d a n d in a notional leader w h o fits in neatly with Hitier's
political decisions a n d the coercive m e a s u r e s a t his disposal to
enforce them."^'
J u s t in time for the c a m p a i g n in R u s s i a , the M u n i c h - b a s e d
F r a n z E h e r Verlag published a book titled Die Fahne ist mehr als der
Tod (The Flag M e a n s M o r e Than Death, 1940), a n d subtitied Das
deutsche Fahnenbuch ( T h e G e r m a n F l a g B o o k ) . T h e first of the
eleven vignettes dealing with the flag w a s d e v o t e d to Frederick
the Great — " A King Bears the Flag":
[Against all odds] a man stays [at his post] on the front line. He's a
member of the Prince Henry Regiment and is clutching the regi­
mental colors. His eyes seek out the king and speak without talk­
ing: I've held on to the flag you entrusted me with, but I'm at the
end of my tether. Frederick bends low over him. Gently but firmly
he wrests the barmer from the man's grip. The standard bearer
looks into the face of the kiag, then collapses without making a
sound. The king sits up straight in his saddle, swings the flag up
over his head, and calls out amidst the tiimult of battle and the
shouts of pain: "To the flag and for the flag! Those of you who are
brave soldiers, follow me!" The soldiers' eyes are riveted on the
king, the regal standard bearer
A n d as the baffle is in the process of being lost—despite the presence
of the regal standard bearer—the king, high atop Mühl Mountain
casts one more long glance across the vast field already wrapped in
the veil of dusk. He moimts his horse. Beaten but tinbowed, he
turns to his hussars and speaks: "Messieurs, we've held on to the
flag. Brave is he who stands the test, and victory goes only to the
brave. There it is: With the flag and for the flag."'"'
Predictably, the last contribution is titled: "A Nation Bears the
Flag." H e r e the a n a l o g y to Hitler a n d the reversals of fortune in
w a r is forced u p o n the reader while at the s a m e time c o m m u n i ­
c a t i n g the o n e c e r t a i n t y t h a t h a d been d r u m m e d into e v e r y
schoolboy's head: from every defeat Frederick ultimately e m e r g e d
24 The Triumph of Propaganda
the victor. The flag w a s u s e d as a metaphorical instrument to gen­
erate confidence of victory.
"The Flag Means More than Death"
Death is always bitter and one only accepts it courageously and with­
out protest when one goes to die for a purpose that is worth giving
one's life for.
Joseph Goebbels
Q u e x the Hitler Youth, H a n s Westmar, a n d Erich Lohner the Hitler
Youth in SA-Mann Brand a r e the first deaths p o r t r a y e d in N a z i
films after Hitler a s s u m e d p o w e r (in the films they w e r e killed
before 1 9 3 3 ) that w e r e used to justify the m y t h of dying for F ü h r e r
a n d flag. "It is the first death," w r o t e Elias Canetti, "which infects
e v e r y o n e with the feeling of being threatened. It is impossible to
o v e r r a t e the p a r t played b y the first d e a d m a n in the kindling of
w a r s . Rulers w h o w a n t to unleash w a r k n o w v e r y well that they
m u s t p r o c u r e or invent a first victim.... Nothing matters except his
death; a n d it m u s t be believed that the e n e m y is responsible for
this. E v e r y possible cause of his death is suppressed except one:
his m e m b e r s h i p of the g r o u p to w h i c h one belongs oneself ...
e v e r y o n e else w h o feels the s a m e threat attaches himself to the
g r o u p . Its spirit changes into that of a w a r pack."^^
T h e ritual that the Nazis practiced with the m o v e m e n t ' s d e a d
w a s closely tied to the ritual of the flag. Hitler's annual consecra­
tion of the flag w a s the high point of every Party Day. The cere­
mony, which Leni Riefenstahl extolled in her films Sieg des Glaubens
a n d Triumph des Willens, w a s always accompanied by the singing of
the H o r s t Wessel song:
Hold high the banner! Close the ranks hard serried!
The Storm Troops march with cabn and steady pace.
Comrades killed by Red Front and Reaction are buried.
But in spirit keep their place.
In his b i o g r a p h y of Hitler, J o a c h i m C. Fest e m p h a s i z e s Hitler's
"talents as s t a g e m a n a g e r , " w h i c h r e a c h e d their c l i m a x w h e n the
m o v e m e n t ' s celebrations of d e a t h c r e a t e d a m o o d of h y p n o t i c
fascination a m o n g the m a s s e s : "His pessimistic t e m p e r a m e n t
tirelessly [ d e r i v e d ] n e w lighting effects f r o m the c e r e m o n y of
death, a n d the real high points of the artistic d e m a g o g u e r y that he
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards 25
w a s the first to develop in a systematic fashion c a m e as he strode
d o w n a b r o a d a v e n u e between h u n d r e d s of thousands to honor
the d e a d o n the K ö n i g s p l a t z in M u n i c h o r the g r o u n d s of the
N u r e m b e r g P a r t y congress. In scenes such as these out of a G o o d
F r i d a y c e l e b r a t i o n — s c e n e s , as w a s said of R i c h a r d W a g n e r ' s
m u s i c , in w h i c h magnificence w a s used to sell d e a t h — H i t l e r ' s
idea of aesthetic politics m a t c h e s the concept."*^
B e y o n d the g r a v e , the fallen continued to live in the c o m m u ­
nity, w h i c h availed itself of a n y opportunity solemnly to invoke
their m a r t y r d o m . The three m a r t y r s w h o comprised the 1933 Nazi
triumvirate o f d e a t h w e r e all y o u n g heroes, the m y t h s s u r r o u n d ­
ing t h e m well suited to the production of uniquely captivating
p r o p a g a n d a . U n v a n q u i s h e d until death, they w e r e transfigured
into s u p e r n a t u r a l beings a n d lived on in the m e d i u m of film:
"Only those p u r e souls enter Hitler's h e a v e n that are, so to speak,
too p u r e to r e m a i n o n this e a r t h for long,"^^ w r o t e Saul F r i e d ­
länder. Thus, he said, the y o u n g d o o m e d hero w a s s u r r o u n d e d by
a nimbus of c o m p l e x emotions: "He is the bearer of either one of
t w o b a n n e r s , one proclaiming an implicit religious tradition, the
other that of a cult of primitive a n d archaic values," a n d he fights
for all the values that his flag symbolizes.
In Hitler's w a r films the flag served as a symbolic relief from
the landscape of w a r and, m o r e rarely, as a shroud. C o n t e m p o ­
raries folded this p a r a d o x into the seemingly cynical observation
that "after a few m a r v e l o u s w o r d s by Baldur v o n Schirach [head
of the N a z i y o u t h movement—Transl.], nothing seems m o r e alive
in G e r m a n y than death."** The heroic G e r m a n soul w o u l d cele­
brate its apocalyptic t r i u m p h in Stalingrad.
... One for all and all for one:
Bondage has an end!
Let wave, let wave, whatever can.
Standard and banner wave!
Here will we purpose, man for man.
To grace a hero's grave.
Advance, ye brave ranks, hardily—
Your banners wave on high;
We'll gain freedom's victory.
Or freedom's death we'll die!
Ernst Moritz Amdt, 1813
The pre-Nazi U-boat film Morgenrot (Dawn, 1 9 3 2 / 3 3 ) , w h i c h
w a s directed b y G u s t a v Ucicky a n d premiered just after the Nazis
26 The Triumph of Propaganda
c a m e to p o w e r , w a s d e d i c a t e d to the six t h o u s a n d sailors w h o
w e n t d o w n to the b o t t o m in their 1 9 9 steel coffins: "We G e r m a n s
don't k n o w m u c h about living, but in death, yes in death, we're
fantastic," the U-boat c o m m a n d e r said in glowing heroic terms.
Illustrierter Film-Kurier e n d e d its review of Morgenrot in the fol­
lowing inflated terms: "Liers, the major's elderly wife, e m b r a c e s
her last son k n o w i n g he will g o to sea again a n d knowing too that
he c a n n o t help being the person h e is. Losses h a v e to be b o r n e
a n d — e v e n fifty years of night can't blind a G e r m a n ! — a g a i n they
are off to fight England, the naval ensign fluttering p r o u d l y in the
sea breeze, for G e r m a n y m u s t live. E v e n if w e m u s t die!"*^
A n d on 19 M a y 1933, Goebbels h a d this to say: "In those d a y s I
also tried to clarify the c o n c e p t of the general line (Tendenz), rais­
ing objections to the idea that right thinking alone rather than abil­
ity should be the decisive factor. W e all u n d e r s t o o d that the w o r d
'art' (Kunst) c o m e s from the w o r d 'can' (können), that not e v e r y ­
o n e c a n d o w h a t he w a n t s to do. The general line m u s t b e v i e w e d
in this c o n t e x t insofar as it is not directly related to presenting the
events of the day, that is, as I h a v e said elsewhere, w e don't w a n t
to see o u r S t o r m Troopers m a r c h i n g across the screen or the stage.
Their job is to m a r c h in the streets. This is but one m e a n s of giving
e x p r e s s i o n to political life, a n d this f o r m of expression will be
u s e d w h e n it is artistically imperative to d o so or, alternatively,
w h e n one c a n n o t think of anything better. F o r as e v e r y o n e knows,
this is the e a s y w a y out. Lacking greater skill, people feel obliged
to use National Socialist symbols to d e m o n s t r a t e the strength of
their convictions."
T h e R e d Flag and the Labor M o v e m e n t —
Excursus on the Indispensability of Symbols
Lift our flags into the wind;
Bright as the blazing sun
They bear witness to our faith in
THE GOODNESS OF hAANKIND!
Song of the Y o u n g Socialist W o r k e r s in the early 1 9 2 0 s
"We filmed a demonstration. The color red c a m e out black in the
film. It w o u l d have been better to use green flags to get the right
shade for red. O u r demonstrators—real proletarians from Wedding
[a w o r k i n g class district in Berlin—Transl.]—refused to m a r c h
imder green flags. So w e had to c o m e u p with a different solution."^
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards 27
This story, related b y c a m e r a m a n t u r n e d director Piel Jutzi,
took place d u r i n g the filming of one of the m o s t important motion
pictures to b e set in a w o r k i n g class milieu. Mutter Krausens Fahrt
ins Glück (Mother Krause's J o u r n e y to Happiness, 1929) in w h i c h
Jutzi used extracts from his d o c u m e n t a r y 100,000 unter roten Fah­
nen ( 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 u n d e r R e d F l a g s , 1 9 2 9 ) . T h e d e m o n s t r a t i o n h e
referred to is one of the m o s t impressive scenes in the film. It is not
difficult to find additional e x a m p l e s of the (red) flag in leftist films.
In Brüder (Brothers), a Social D e m o c r a t i c film that deals with a
strike b y H a m b u r g d o c k w o r k e r s , the flag forms part of the final
apotheosis, appearing to the incarcerated w o r k e r s through prison
walls. A r t a n d kitsch, s i m p l e s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d s y m b o l i s m a n d
p h o n y emotionalism, w e r e not far r e m o v e d from each other in
scenes such as these.
To be s u r e , it is as w r o n g here as it is in other instances to
speak in pejorative t e r m s a b o u t the superficial parallels b e t w e e n
N a z i s y m b o l s a n d t h o s e u s e d b y the l a b o r m o v e m e n t . E v e n
w h e n w e quantify the use of identical symbols o r c o m p a r e the
results w i t h parallels in other areas, w e still find that the m o s t
i m p o r t a n t s o u r c e s of the symbols u s e d b y the N a z i s w e r e mili­
t a r y a n d nationalist c o n s e r v a t i v e g r o u p s . Of c o u r s e , the N a z i s
also intentionally b o r r o w e d symbolic a n d i c o n o g r a p h i c objects
used b y the labor m o v e m e n t — w h i c h a r t historians h a v e s h o w n
u s e v e n i n c l u d e d t h o s e r e p r e s e n t i n g l a b o r itself a n d " L a b o r
Day"—^just as they did in their n u m e r o u s contrafacta, in w h i c h
they retained the m e l o d y of labor s o n g s b u t r e p l a c e d the text
with c o m p l e t e l y n e w w o r d s . The r e a s o n for this w a s not simply
that these things w e r e relatively public, susceptible to c o r r u p ­
tion or reinterpretation ( w h i c h p r o m p t e d H a n n s Eisler's fruitful
b u t b y n o m e a n s convincing a t t e m p t s to invent an incorruptible
m u s i c a l l a n g u a g e ) . There w a s a n o t h e r equally i m p o r t a n t reason.
In o r d e r to be politically successful a n d m a i n t a i n the goodwill of
their financial b a c k e r s in big business, the N a z i s h a d to neutral­
ize the political p o w e r of i m p o r t a n t s e g m e n t s of the w o r k i n g
class or w i n t h e m o v e r to their side. It w a s not e n o u g h to terror­
ize the labor m o v e m e n t or, after 1 9 3 3 , to c r u s h it. Rather, they
m o b i l i z e d their entire ideological a p p a r a t u s — f r o m the d e m a ­
gogic linkage of crucial c o n c e p t s , as, for e x a m p l e , in "National
Socialist G e r m a n Workers' Party," to the exploitation of signs a n d
s y m b o l s , including the flag.
Flags clearly played a significant role in the history of the labor
m o v e m e n t . But h o w did a piece of c o l o r e d cloth acquire s u c h
28 The Triumph of Propaganda
i m p o r t a n c e ? Scholarly r e s e a r c h e v a d e d this question for quite
s o m e time after 1 9 4 5 . The G e r m a n public also dissociated itself
from the issue by choosing, as it w e r e , to repress it. The result, as
so often in the past, w a s that they d r e w u p o n conservative m y t h s
or mystical a n d irrational explanations. Today, however, there are
signs of a n a t t e m p t to arrive at an understanding of the issue that
goes b e y o n d m e r e ideological criticism.
H i s t o r i c a l s y m b o l r e s e a r c h a n d social historical a n a l y s e s of
symbols c a n bring us closer to an understanding of that need for
sjnnbols w h i c h Robert Michels long a g o perceived in the labor
movement.*'' Because of their "sensory expressivity a n d e m o t i v e
quality," h a r d l y a n y o n e c a n d e n y the "significance a n d influence
of s y m b o l i c forms of c o m m u n i c a t i o n " or the c o n s t a n t r e e m e r -
g e n c e of the archetypal symbolic i m a g e r y to w h i c h Ernst Bloch
d r e w our attention w h e n he used the e x a m p l e of the d a n c e a r o u n d
the liberty tree on the ruins of the Bastille.
T o d a y it is chiefly a d v e r t i s i n g a n d the o m n i p r e s e n c e of its
essentially frivolous but highly developed i m a g e r y that are c o n ­
tinual r e m i n d e r s of the effect of i c o n o g r a p h i c s y m b o l i s m .
Strangely, p o s t m o d e r n trendsetters incorporate these e m p t y m a n ­
nerist symbols into their Rococo-like culture.
There is in all h u m a n beings a considerable "number of affec­
tive factors that g o to m a k e u p experience." In the history of the
labor m o v e m e n t , as in e v e r y other area of political life, "signs,
symbols, a n d rituals play an important p a r t in structuring politi­
cal experience, especially in establishing collective identities."
W e m u s t , of course, deal with these things, but w e need h a v e
n o fear of a b a n d o n i n g r e a s o n in the p r o c e s s . In fact, t h e r e is
greater peril if w e close our eyes to these p h e n o m e n a . "To refer to
the c o m m u n i c a t i v e c o m p e t e n c e of symbolic i m a g e r y in the labor
m o v e m e n t is not to a r g u e for a ' p a r a d i g m shift.'" It is simply an
indication of a w a y to broaden our perspective. In the past, greater
i m p o r t a n c e w a s a t t a c h e d to the subtle m e a n i n g s in the written
a n d spoken l a n g u a g e u s e d in the labor m o v e m e n t . N o w it w o u l d
s e e m a p p r o p r i a t e to give increased attention to sensory a n d s y m ­
bolic forms of orientation.
One of the m o s t important symbols in the labor m o v e m e n t is the
red flag w h i c h a p p e a r e d on everything from the logo of the K F D
(Corrununist P a r t y of G e r m a n y ) n e w s p a p e r during the W e i m a r
republic to the barmers carried in the strikes of the 1970s. The his­
tory of the red flag is closely tied to the social history of the past
t w o h u n d r e d years, a n d it is also important as an e x a m p l e of the
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards 29
s u p r e m e confidence w i t h w h i c h w o r k e r s h a v e dealt w i t h the
legacy of the national culture a n d the culture of the ruling class.
Viewed from the perspective of political revolution, the early
history of the red flag provides sporadic e x a m p l e s of its a p p e a r ­
ance d u r i n g p e a s a n t uprisings. The red flag led the w a y to vic­
tory for the bourgeoisie d u r i n g the F r e n c h Revolution of 1 7 8 9 .
A n d the Social D e m o c r a t Friedrich Wendel*^ a t t e m p t e d to trace
the red flag directly back to G e r m a n i c a n d early medieval s y m ­
bols of c o m m u n a l ownership. A t the c o u r t of C h a r l e m a g n e the
flag w a s c o n s i d e r e d "the s a c r e d s y m b o l of s u z e r a i n t y " a n d
henceforth b e c a m e a symbol w h i c h the e m p e r o r used w h e n h e
g r a n t e d the right to exercise "high justice" a n d p r o n o u n c e sen­
tence of d e a t h (Blutbann). A c c o r d i n g to Wendel's interpretation
( m o r e p r o g r a m m a t i c than analytical), it represented the "affir­
m a t i o n of a social o r d e r that w a s founded on a free people free to
w o r k in its o w n behalf."
So far as w e a r e c o n c e r n e d , all this c a n r e m a i n in the m u r k y
past. In 1 8 4 8 the red flag b e c a m e an identification sign a n d a
s y m b o l t h a t p r o v o k e d protest in both F r a n c e a n d G e r m a n y at the
s a m e time. Henceforth, it b e c a m e the symbol of the "Red R e p u b ­
lic," of the socialist a n d c o m m u n i s t m o v e m e n t . Prior to that time,
a r o u n d 1 8 3 0 , it h a d a p p e a r e d only s p o r a d i c a l l y — p e r h a p s m o r e
by c h a n c e — d u r i n g a riot of textile w o r k e r s in A a c h e n a n d the
revolt of the Silesian w e a v e r s in 1 8 4 4 . In the s u m m e r of 1 8 4 8
w o r k e r s b r o u g h t out the red flag during d e m o n s t r a t i o n s , on bar­
r i c a d e s , a t political p a r a d e s , etc., to set it a p a r t f r o m a n d c o m p e t e
with the Black-Red-Gold of the bourgeois revolutionaries: "Red
is n o w the color of the revolutionary w o r k e r s ' groups." C o n d i ­
tions in F r a n c e followed a similar pattern after the June R e v o l u ­
tion of 1 8 4 8 .
Often—for e x a m p l e , in M a y 1849 in W u p p e r t a l — t h e red flag
a p p e a r e d beside the black-red-gold tricolor as a sign of the contin­
uing rivalry b e t w e e n w o r k e r s a n d the bourgeoisie. A c c o r d i n g to
an anecdote, Friedrich Engels w a s supposed to have been respon­
sible for making sure at night that there w e r e e n o u g h red flags in
W u p p e r t a l for m a x i m u m visual effect the next day. Consequently,
the red flag b e c a m e a symbol in the chaotic year 1 8 4 8 that both
a c c o m p a n i e d protesters a n d set t h e m a p a r t — o v e r a n d above a n y
possible inherent properties of the color:
T h u s r e d acquires historical significance o n l y as a result of political
conflict, of its establishment a s the symbolic color of the socialist
30 The Triumph of Propaganda
and communist workers' political movement. Its symbolic meaning
does not derive from an emotional association with aggression that,
like a genetic trait, is inherent in the color itself, as suggested by the
symbol theory of Otto Koenig. Rather, the "aggressive element" in
the color red (as in the expressive properties of any color) is the
result of its historical and cultural development.*'
Confidence in dealing with the o u t w a r d forms of culture gives
rise over time to n e w symbols that suit the needs of the m o v e ­
m e n t s that use them:
The formulation of a proletarian response to prevailing public opin­
ion called for different forms of sensory orientation and commimi-
cation from those used at political gatherings or discussions in
workers' clubs. The red flag was of great importance in the process
of developing a public identity. It gave coherence to political
demonstrations and laid out limits with regard to other goals and
strategies. To quote Georg Simmel, it acted as both a "cause and
effect of cohesion."™
The flag continued to b e a vehicle for nonverbal c o m m u n i c a ­
tion d u r i n g periods w h e n the labor m o v e m e n t w a s b a n n e d , a t
funerals, a n d on other occasions. After 1878 the practice of plant­
ing flags in the highest possible a n d m o s t inaccessible locations
w a s one of the m o s t popular rituals in the proscribed labor m o v e ­
ment. D u r i n g the N a z i e r a s u c h exercises w e r e also a frequent
occurrence. They w e r e a l w a y s a c c o m p a n i e d by a feeling of pride
that only w o r k e r s w e r e capable of mustering the strength, d e x t e r ­
ity, a n d imagination to p e r f o r m such feats. The s a m e w a s true of
the "tableaux vivants" w h o s e techniques w e r e especially in keeping
w i t h the "condition ouvriere."
The kind of symbolic c o m m u n i c a t i o n that is a sine qua non for
all social processes a n d m o v e m e n t s involving large n u m b e r s of
people developed in a three-step process—"accept, select, m o d ­
ify." E v e n the Lasalle cult fulfilled an "integrative political func­
tion" in holding the socialist m o v e m e n t t o g e t h e r — a n d , of c o u r s e ,
in serving as a "transitional ideology" that led to m o r e m a t u r e
political institutions.
Initially, symbols are neutral—it is only the part they p l a y in
history a n d ideology that c h a n g e s t h e m into signs of liberation o r
of t o t a l i t a r i a n i s m . D e m o c r a t i c states also h a v e their s y m b o l s .
W h a t w a s significant a n d historically c a t a s t r o p h i c a b o u t t h e
N a z i s ' d e b a s e m e n t of flag s y m b o l i s m w a s that it r e s p o n d e d to
latent r e v a n c h i s t a n d t o t a l i t a r i a n fantasies a n d n e e d s . In this
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards 31
r e g a r d , flag symbolism c a n n o t b e v i e w e d in isolation; it m u s t b e
u n d e r s t o o d within the context of fascist p r o p a g a n d a .
T h e a e s t h e t i c of the N a z i m o v e m e n t that e n c o m p a s s e d all
spheres of public c o m m u n i c a t i o n a n d culminated in the films of
Leni Riefenstahl h a d a single objective a n d a single method: the
integration a n d total absorption of the individual into a m i g h t y
collective. This aesthetic depicted the collective, the c r o w d , in ever
n e w a n d rigorous forms of art, shifting a n d channeling it into a
m o v e m e n t that w a s to lead the w a y out of the n a r r o w confines of
b o u r g e o i s life t o w a r d noble a n d all-embracing goals a i m e d at
achieving a glorious future. It thus channeled the d r e a m s of p o w e r
a n d r e v e n g e h a r b o r e d b y the humiliated G e r m a n soldiers w h o
returned from the First World War, realizing that they h a d been
c h e a t e d o u t of their y o u t h , their health, a n d their lives. T h e y
acquired a sense of security in a m o v e m e n t in w h i c h they felt
themselves to b e part of a rising tide that g a v e n e w meaning, n e w
direction, n e w incentives to m e n w h o w e r e living in the past, fix­
a t e d on their w a r t i m e experiences. The aesthetic of fascism—with
its c h a n n e l i n g of the m a s s e s , its a p o t h e o s e s of m e n a n d flags
m a r c h i n g u p w a r d t o w a r d the light—^was not merely a m e d i u m , a
"package" for fascist ideas a n d the fascist m e s s a g e . Rather, the
m e d i u m w a s the message. It completely subordinated the indi­
vidual to the collective and g a v e the moviegoer, the radio listener,
the reader, a n d the p a r t i c i p a n t in N a z i m a s s rallies a sense of
power, of being one with the collective. In this state of intoxica­
tion, the m e a n i n g or content of ideas w a s n o longer important.
Meaning w a s s u b m e r g e d in a state of total self-abnegation. Bio­
graphical descriptions of the N a z i leadership s h o w that the strate­
gists behind the s t a g e - m a n a g i n g of the masses w e r e themselves
unable to remain emotionally detached from the aesthetic. They
w e r e part of it, addicted to the masses, just as they w o u l d later be
increasingly addicted to other drugs.
It is precisely the surrender of one's individuality that distin­
guishes the fascist aesthetic f r o m the c o n t e m p o r a n e o u s socialist
aesthetic. F o r e x a m p l e , if w e c o m p a r e c r o w d scenes in Bertolt
Brecht's a n d Slatan D u d o w ' s Kuhle Wampe (1933) with N a z i p r o ­
p a g a n d a films, w e are struck b y the contrast between the s t r e a m ­
lined c h o r e o g r a p h y of Leni Riefenstahl's P a r t y congress films a n d
the m o v e m e n t s of w o r k e r s in Kuhle Wampe. In the B r e c h t / D u d o w
film, the w o r k e r s almost never m o v e in unison. Instead, they p r o ­
c e e d in a disorderly a n d confused m a n n e r with s o m e individuals
staying behind, s o m e standing still, a n d others m o v i n g against
32 The Triumph of Propaganda
the c r o w d . The m o s t famous a n d impressive e x a m p l e of the c o n ­
trast b e t w e e n the totalitarian a n d the subversive proletarian aes­
thetic is t h e O d e s s a Steps s e q u e n c e in Sergei M . Eisenstein's
Battleship Potemkin (1925) with its r h y t h m i c m o n t a g e a n d richly
d e v e l o p e d c h o r e o g r a p h i c details, w h e r e the Tsar's soldiers w a l k
d o w n the staircase in lockstep a n d begin firing a t the c r o w d of
d e m o n s t r a t o r s . A n y b o d y s t a n d i n g in the w a y of their m a s s e d
m o m e n t u m , even a m o t h e r holding a child in her a r m s , is shot
d o w n mercilessly.
The influence of symbolic a n d emotive i m a g e r y (which is pre­
s u m a b l y a l w a y s available for the taking) during a particular his­
torical period is variable. Because of the G e r m a n s ' experience with
fascism, it is not surprising that they h a v e tended to belittle or dis­
miss this kind of i m a g e r y t h r o u g h o u t the entire p o s t w a r period
d o w n to the present day. However, w h e n w e realize that the N a z i s
did not reinvent these symbols but simply exploited t h e m for their
o w n purposes, albeit with the u t m o s t cunning a n d ruthlessness,
w e m a y p e r h a p s arrive at a m o r e impartial a p p r o a c h to flag s y m ­
bolism a n d b e c o m e sensitive to the rapid c h a n g e in flags. In Sep­
tember 1 8 5 0 authorities prohibited the flying of the G e r m a n colors
from the t o w e r of St. Paul's C h u r c h in Frankfurt a m Main. The
p o e t F r a n z Hoffmann considered this action such a n affront that
h e w a s m o v e d to write the following p o e m (later set to m u s i c b y
the Dessau choirmaster a n d organist Seelmarm) with its surprise
twist at the end:
Tattered and torn
By storm and snow and rain.
Thus the German flag
Flutters sadly in front of us;
Even the staff is split.
So that the pieces of cloth
Are barely held together.
Tattered and torn—
And the staff is still there
To put a piece of iron on.
The flag—so pathetically
Blown to shreds.
Yet—^how quickly
will another flag be woven!
Today w e know: this too w a s but an episode.
SymboUc Value of Flags and Standards 33
A s Hitler's flags inundated G e r m a n y on 3 0 J a n u a r y 1 9 3 3 in a
torrent of red, the Nazi bard Leopold v o n Schenckendorf w r o t e
the following piece of doggerel:
Germany must truly understand;
We intend to raise our banner
Over German sea and German land.
Flag Miscellany
A march struck up, columns stretching to infinity,
A nation is marching toward its destiny.
Oh how the brilliant rays of suns never before seen
Beat down upon our flag! The mysterious force
Of a single will welding aspiration, suffering and action
Together to create a state.
Gerhard S c h u m a n n , 1955^^
E v e n t o d a y flags are linked to the act of taking possession. W e c a n
find e x a m p l e s of this from a r o u n d the world. I a m thinking of the
prize-winning World W a r II p h o t o g r a p h of U.S. Marines taken
against the light at the precise m o m e n t they planted the Stars a n d
Stripes on I w o Jima after their c o n q u e s t of that Pacific island.
E v e n a p h o t o g r a p h showing a r e e n a c t m e n t of the event that w a s
taken several d a y s later a n d is clearly a simulation is symboli­
cally powerful.
I a m also thinking of the space race between the two superpow­
ers: the Apollo 11 crew planting the Stars and Stripes on the m o o n ,
a n d in December 1971 a Soviet space probe sending pictures from
M a r s to earth of red flags with the h a m m e r a n d sickle—flags that
carry the promise of the galactic expeditions' glorious achievements.
To m y k n o w l e d g e , the first film in w h i c h the motif of the flag w a s
used dramaturgically as a political m e t a p h o r w a s Sergei M. Eisen­
stein's Battleship Potemkin. After their successful m u t i n y in the
Black Sea, the sailors hoisted the banner of the n e w a g e — t h e red
flag of the Soviets. Since color film did not exist at the time, Eisen­
stein used red paint to hand-color the celluloid frames in w h i c h
the flag a p p e a r e d . The revolution w a s given sensory and emblem­
atic e x p r e s s i v i t y that w e n t b e y o n d the technical limitations of
 34 The Triumph of Propaganda
b l a c k a n d w h i t e film a n d w a s i m a g e d o n t o the v i e w e r ' s retina
w i t h i n c o m p a r a b l y greater effectiveness b e c a u s e Rote Fahnen sieht
man besser (Red Flags A r e Easier To See)—the title of a 1 9 7 0 d o c u ­
m e n t a r y directed b y Rolf Schübel a n d Theo Gallehr.
» And when they've had their fill of strutting, lying,
F l a g s also fulfilled a v e r y i m p o r t a n t d r a m a t u r g i c a l function in
Wolfgang Liebeneiner's film Bismarck (1940) w h e r e the transition
f r o m one e m p e r o r to another w a s symbolized b y the dipping a n d
raising of the flag.
O n 2 4 J a n u a r y 1 9 3 4 , the a n n i v e r s a r y of the b i r t h d a y of Freder­
ick the Great a n d the death of the N a z i m a r t y r H e r b e r t N o r k u s , a
m a s s rally took p l a c e in front of the Invalidendom in P o t s d a m .
T h r e e - h u n d r e d forty-two Hitler Youth colors w e r e h a n d e d over to
Hitler Y o u t h units.^^
• the desert sands a n d simulate a real war, is appropriately n a m e d
A t the s a m e time e v e r y y e a r N a z i P a r t y offices w o u l d be deluged
w i t h s u g g e s t i o n s for o r g a n i z i n g the festivities c o n n e c t e d w i t h
Hitler's birthday. The r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s regarding Hitler's fiftieth
b i r t h d a y are typical. Given the a t m o s p h e r e surrounding these cel­
ebrations, it is impossible to i m a g i n e t h e m taking p l a c e in the
absence of the flag (following is a n excerpt):
Speaker: "Above us the flag and in front of us the Führer!"
Refrain: "Line up your flags on the pole ..."
Speaker: "There are thousands of you behind me,
and you are me, and I am you,
and we all believe in you, Germany.
I have never in my life had a thought
that has not resonated in your hearts ... "'^ i, , ...
A 1 9 3 6 anti-fascist sticker: "The times are g r e a t / b u t the portions
are s m a l l / w h a t does it avail us that Hitier's banners flutter! / i f
here a n d n o w millions u n d e r these b a n n e r s / h a v e n o freedom a n d
e v e n less b r e a d a n d butter."^
Flyer
Take down the flag, the S.A.'s beer halls are no more,
the Storm Troops no longer march in lock-step pace;
comrades killed by Heini Himmler's black-clad corps
in spirit keep their place.
Symbohc Value of Flags and Standards 35
The trumpet blows its shrill and final blast,
prepared for war and battle they no longer stand;
soon other banners will wave unchecked at last.
Too long has slavery lasted in our land.
and when their sacks are full of loot,
they'll do what other desperadoes did before them,
and head for the border, fleet of foot.
Yes, then you'll stand there, betrayed and sighing,
just trying to keep yourselves alive.^^
In the N e v a d a desert GIs trained for the greatest threat imaginable
to A m e r i c a n freedom: the p o w e r of the Soviet Union. The gigantic
"practice range," specially built to support ongoing m a n e u v e r s in
"Red Flag." F o r the Marines w h o train here the n a m e is similar to
a w a r n i n g signal, triggering Pavlovian responses a n d creating a
c o m b a t - r e a d y attitude in every soldier. The e n e m y defense area is
equipped w i t h surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft defenses, radar,
a n d electronic c o m m u n i c a t i o n s y s t e m s — w h e t h e r Israeli w a r
b o o t y o r old supplies to E g y p t . The r a n g e creates "a perfectly real­
istic electronic environment which the A m e r i c a n crews are trained
to recognize and neutralize. The aerial force participating in such
e x e r c i s e s i n c l u d e s an A W A C S flying c o m m a n d p o s t a n d a n
A g g r e s s o r Squadron m a d e u p of aircraft w h o s e features are simi­
lar to those of the Mig-21 a n d Mig-23."^*
T h e U.S. A r m y will place a soldier u n d e r arrest if he allows the
sacred Stars a n d Stripes to touch the g r o u n d while it is being low­
e r e d a n d r e m o v e d from the flag pole.
"Hito Hata—Raise the Banner" (1980) is Robert A. N a k a m u r a ' s bio­
graphical s e m i - d o c u m e n t a r y a b o u t O d a Sok w h o e m i g r a t e d to
A m e r i c a w h e n he w a s a child a n d n o w lives in the "Little Tokyo"
section of L o s Angeles. The climax of this touching film is Oda's
d e s p e r a t e s t r u g g l e to s u r v i v e after h e learns that his h o u s e is
going to be torn d o w n . The film's title refers to an old J a p a n e s e
parable w h o s e m o r a l is: if y o u raise a banner, y o u will prevail.
O d a raises the banner.
36 The Triumph of Propaganda
In A k i r a K u r o s a w a ' s m o v i e Ran ( 1 9 8 2 - 8 5 ) , the G r a n d L o r d
H i d e t o r a has just abdicated w h e n L a d y K a e d e , the ambitious wife
of his first son Taro, reminds her spouse of the king's s t a n d a r d —
within the v e r y first minute of his newly acquired power. Until
that m o m e n t , the s t a n d a r d h a d been displayed on a wall in the
royal castle, a decorative symbol of power. " W h e r e is the stan­
d a r d ? I d o not care about the armor, but the standard!" C o n s e ­
quently, Taro a n d his retainers rush to reclaim the symbol from the
old m a n . "The standard! ... Give it to us!" However, since the stan­
d a r d represents the last vestige of his faded glory, the G r a n d L o r d
refuses to surrender it a n d , standing at the top of the castle's stair­
c a s e , h e shoots an a r r o w into the chest of Taro's m o s t z e a l o u s
retainer, killing him.
The s t a n d a r d , the fetish of sovereignty a n d unconditional loy­
alty, w o u l d cost the lives of m a n y thousands of J a p a n e s e in the
w i l d melee that follows. The v e r y spot w h e r e L a d y K a e d e noticed
the absence of the standard w o u l d later be a d o r n e d with her noble
b l o o d , a c r i m s o n embellishment b e a r i n g w i t n e s s to the s w o r d
stroke that kills her.
In this K u r o s a w a ' s last colossal epic, the w i d e screen is filled
w i t h m y r i a d s t a n d a r d s , b a n n e r s , a n d p e n n a n t s . F r o m the first
sequence to the last, they d o m i n a t e the film. Soldiers (and extras)
n u m b e r i n g in the t h o u s a n d s u s e red o r y e l l o w b a n n e r s ( a n d
t o w a r d the e n d of the film black standards as well), depending on
w h o s e side they are on, to identify themselves in the total confu­
sion of battle. The banners also serve as visual m a r k e r s for the
alternating sympathies of the moviegoers. In addition, the ban­
ners h a v e symbolic significance. W h e n they a r e in a vertical posi­
tion they stand for confidence of victory, a n d w h e n they are in a
horizontal position they symbolize retreat. Red banners that h a v e
been d r o p p e d are the signs of the vanquished.
The m a i n function of these fluttering pennants a t t a c h e d to long
b a m b o o poles is d r a m a t u r g i c a n d aesthetic. In c o n t r a s t to the
c o l u m n s a n d forests of flags in Leni Riefenstahl's P a r t y congress
films a n d her film of the O l y m p i c g a m e s , K u r o s a w a ' s flags rush
past the c a m e r a , carried b y soldiers on horseback as they gallop
furiously across seemingly endless fields to attack or to flee for
their lives. K u r o s a w a pushes to the limit the d y n a m i c motif of
s t a n d a r d - b e a r i n g f o r m a t i o n s , u s i n g o v e r h e a d shots of r i d e r s
a r r a n g e d in parallel lines but m o v i n g at v a r y i n g rates of speed to
create an impression of m o v e m e n t within the flow of m o v e m e n t .
T h e effect is heightened since m o s t of these sequences are filmed
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards 37
against fixed vertical b a c k g r o u n d s such as forests, buildings, etc.
Carefully calibrated c o u n t e r m o v e m e n t s a n d regular closeups of
horses, flags, falling riders a n d the b a n n e r s they c a r r y with t h e m
to their d e a t h a r e edited into the flow of m o v e m e n t to increase the
m o m e n t u m . The naturalistic m i x of colors p r o d u c e d b y the rivers
of blood a n d the host of brightly colored flags is attenuated by the
r a p i d p a c e of the visuals, blurring w h a t w o u l d otherwise b e grisly
scenes a n d transforming t h e m into expressive effects—"It w a s a
slaughter, n o t a battle." T h e aesthetic c o m p o n e n t s of the film
d e r i v e principally from the m y r i a d colorful b a n n e r s that h a v e
b e e n w o v e n into a kind of gigantic fluttering r a g rug, a m o n u ­
mental p e r i o d piece m a d e accessible to the senses b y the brilliant
use of the c a m e r a .
Earlier in Kagemusha: the Shadow Warrior (1979) K u r o s a w a used
flags as aesthetic p r o p s w h i c h s e e m e d to s p r e a d like wildfire
t h r o u g h the entire film. H e also used the colors red a n d green in
battle scenes to distinguish friend from foe. E v e r y rider a n d e v e r y
foot soldier carries a flag. In the J a p a n of the sixteenth c e n t u r y
d e p i c t e d h e r e , soldiers e m p l o y e d t h e m as lances. T h e m o d e r n
filmmaker u s e d t h e m like a brush to a d d delicate strokes to his
historical painting. Filmed in slow motion, the onrushing flags
h a v e an emotional i m p a c t as they are carried into battle or disap­
p e a r in clouds of g u n powder.
Flags are "in" again. E v e r since the first closeup of the G e r m a n
presidential s t a n d a r d on the Z D F television channel on 2 3 M a y
1977, the national flag has been w a v i n g on G e r m a n y ' s TV screens
at the e n d of e a c h b r o a d c a s t day, to the symphonic strains of the
national a n t h e m , as a g o o d night wish from the broadcasters to us.
Culture for the soul, or for something else?
In the m e a n t i m e , flags h a v e once again b e c o m e the favored p r o p
for o u r clubs a n d organizations. W h y does the flag h a v e to be
there at all?
" N o w w e h a v e a calling c a r d — n o w w e d o n ' t h a v e to r u n
a r o u n d a n y m o r e like a b u n c h of nobodies ..." Or: "A flag a l w a y s
s h o w s y o u w h e r e to go, a n d that's particularly i m p o r t a n t for us
w h o live in the country." Or "When you're talking about flags.
 Symbohc Value of Flags and Standards 39
38 The Triumph of Propaganda

their m i n d ' s e y e , s u p e r i m p o s e d the w h i t e stripes of their r e d -

y o u ' r e talking about honor." These are just a few of the opinions
white-red flag on the N a z i banner, envisioning an untainted flag.
v o i c e d b y people interviewed for the 1 9 7 7 Z D F p r o g r a m titled
T h e y then a d d e d the white circle with the black swastika. This
"With U n s w e r v i n g L o y a l t y — C l u b s a n d Their Flags." In Warten­
w a s their private w a y of affirming the h o p e that the N a z i dicta­
fels n e a r K u l m b a c h , the m a y o r a n d the parish council, the b o a r d
torship w o u l d b e just a brief interlude.^^
of the local athletic club, m a i d s a n d maidens of h o n o r all gathered
in c h u r c h for the consecration of the club's flag. A s it h a d d o n e in
Wartenfels, the c h u r c h bestowed its blessings on flags in the towns
of P o t t e n s t e i n , E s c h e n b a c h , L i n d e n h a r d t , Ottenhof, a n d Nitzl- The Fighting Song of the Sappers
buch, a m o n g others. The objectives symbolized in a club's flag are Men under black standards
m y r i a d , b u t loyalty is a l w a y s p a r t of the symbolic w e a v e . T h e That wave after every victory.
characteristic title of a 1 9 3 5 Nazi film w a s Unsere Fahne ist die Treue Fighters who clear a path.
( O u r Flag is O u r Pledge of Loyalty). When the front no longer moves;
We must blow up the enemy's bridges.
Block the area with bunkers—,
A t the c o n v e n t of Michelfeld near A u e r b a c h in the U p p e r Palati­ When we arrive, everything'U be fine:
nate, H e a d N u r s e Peregrina, a m e m b e r of the F r a n c i s c a n order, You must break through, sapper!
runs a w o r k s h o p for making flags. She has m o r e o r d e r s than she Men under black standards.
c a n handle. T h e m a n y b u s y h a n d s doing the embroidering belong Nothing's too tough or too much for us.
to deaf-mute w o m e n a n d girls for w h o m flag making is a form of Before the enemy has an inkling.
occupational therapy. Flags thus h a d a social function before they We'll have reached our objective;
w e r e assigned a political role. "Many people a r e upset w h e n they Flamethrowers, hand grenades,
see all these old a n d n e w flags. They r e m i n d t h e m of the time Get a move on, men! We're coming—,
w h e n flags w e r e u s e d for unscrupulous p u r p o s e s in the past." The Wherever daring counts:
n a r r a t o r of the television d o c u m e n t a r y asks, "Are societies that You must break through, sapper!
rally a r o u n d the flag m o r e p r o n e to being misled?" The question is Men under black standards
left unanswered.^'' "Always practice loyalty a n d honesty—until That wave after every victory.
y o u c o m e to the cold grave!" is a m o t t o stitched in golden letters Our comrades—seeds sown by Death—
on one of the flags. Remind us:
In struggle alone lies God's bounty
The sad history of flags teaches us that those w h o c a r r y national And life's greatest virtue—,
a n d p a r t y s t a n d a r d s see t h e m only as symbols of their ideas a n d Even if the whole world is against us:
ideals; w h e r e a s their opponents view t h e m in exactly the opposite You must break through, sapper!
w a y , n a m e l y as s y m b o l s of the enemy, w h i c h in H i t l e r ' s c a s e
m e a n t hatred of a n d death for Jews, Poles, Russians, a n d others.
T h e title of a collection of w a r p o e m s tried to c o u n t e r the negative
i m a g e associated with the flag b y suggesting, in the w o r d s of the
original (Sans haine et sans drapeau—no hatred a n d n o flag), that
s o n g s a n d p o e m s w h i c h dispensed with the usual repertoire of
flag s y m b o l i s m w o u l d not erupt into outpourings of hate.^^

Hitler's G e r m a n y annexed Austria in 1938, replacing the Austrian

national colors with the swastika flag. However, m a n y Austrians, in
 The Triumph of Propaganda
40
Notes1
1. Joseph Goebbels on 28 March 1933, quoted in Helmut Heiber, ed., Goebbels
Reden, 2 vols. (Düsseldorf, 1971).
2. Elias Canetti, Masse und Macht (Frankfurt am Main, 1960), p. 95, English trans­
lation Crowds and Power (New York, 1963).
3. J. S. Ersch and J. G. Grube, eds.. Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und
Künste in alphabetischer Reihenfolge von bekannten Schriftstellern (Leipzig, 1845),
p. 119.
4. Richard Wagner, Tristan und Isolde: vollständiges Buch (Leipzig, 1941), act 1,
scene 4, p. 30.
5. Hoffmann is referring to Valentin Kataev's novel Za vlast' sovetov (For the
Power of the Soviets) (Moscow, 1950). In 1961 a revised version appeared
under the title Katakomby (The Catacombs). In 1945 Kataev published a non-
fictional account of the underground resistance in Odessa titled The Cata­
combs.—Transl.
6. Adolf Hitler, quoted in Horst Kerutt and Wolfgang M. Wegener, Die Fahne ist
mehr als der Tod: ein deutsches Fahnenbuch (Munich, 1940; 2d. ed., 1943), p. 143.
7. Ferdinand Feiligrath, Sämtliche Werke, ed. by L. Schröder, 10 vols., (Leipzig, 1907).
8. Paul Wentzcke, Die deutschen Farben (Heidelberg, 1955), p. 126.
9. Gustav Freytag, Politische Außätze (Leipzig, 1888), p. 437.
10. Heinrich Heine, Sämtliche Schriften, ed. by K. Brigleb (Munich, 1971), vol. 4, p.
88 [Ludwig Börne, eine DerJcschrift].
11. Freiligrath, Sämtliche Werke, ibid.
12. Reichsgesetzblatt (Berlin), 12 November 1848.
13. Otto von Bismarck, Gedanken und Erinnerungen (Stuttgart, 1898), vol. 1, pp.
38f., English translation The Memoirs, Being the Reflections and Reminiscences of
Otto, Prince von Bismarck, 2 vols. (New York, 1966).
14. Paul Wentzcke, Die deutschen Farben, pp. 113f.
15. Ibid, pp. 125f.
16. Ibid., pp. 132f.
17. Eduard David, quoted in Die Geschichte von Schwarz-Rot-Gold: Beiträge zur
deutschen Flaggenfrage (Berlin, 1922).
18. Friedrich C. Seil, Die Tragödie des deutschen Liberalismus (Stuttgart, 1953), p. 393.
19. Reichsgesetzblatt (Berlin), pt. 1 (Berlin, 1934), p. 785.
20. Pimpf im Dienst (Potsdam, 1934), p. 8.
21. Das neue Fischer-Uxikon in Farbe (Frankfurt am Main, 1981), vol. 3, p. 1712.
22. Radio report by Joseph Goebbels on a government-sponsored rally in the
Berlin Sportpalast on 10 February 1933, quoted in H. Heiber, ed., Goebbels
Reden, vol. 1, pp. 68f.
Symbolic Value of Flags and Standards 41
23. Hermann Kurzke, "Mafia-Kultur und Yogi Hitler" in Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung, 18 October 1986.
24. Wilhelm Reich, Die Massenpsychologie des Faschismus (Köln, 1971), p. 106, Eng­
lish translation Mass Psychology of Fascism (New York, 1970).
25. Guido von List, Die Bilderschrift der Ario-Germanen (Leipzig, 1910).
26. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf pp. 551 ff.
27. Manfred von Killinger, Die SA in Wort und Bild (Leipzig, 1934).
28. Paul Wentzcke, Die deutschen Farben, p. 158.
29. Roland Barthes, Mythen des Alltags, 4th ed. (Frankhjrt am Main, 1976), p. 95,
English translation Mythologies (New York, 1972).
30. Decree of the Reich Interior Minister (1934) in Wolfgang Niess, Machtergreifung
'33 (Stuttgart, 1982), p. 127.
31. Hannsjoachim Wolfgang Koch, Geschichte der Hitlerjugend (Percha, 1975), p. 81,
English translation The Hitler Youth: Origins and Development, 1922-1945 (Lon­
don, 1975).
32. Bertolt Brecht, Kriegsfibel, ed. by Ruth Berlau (Berlin, 1955).
33. Friedrich Hebbel, Agnes Bernauer, act V, scene 10; cf. Peter Schneider, ... ein
einzig Volk von Brüdern: Recht und Staat in der deutschen Literatur (Frankfurt am
Main, 1987), p. 144.
34. Paul Wentzcke, Die deutschen Farben, p. 27.
35. Ibid., p. 36.
36. Johann Fr. Böhmer, "Die Rothe Thüre zu Frankfurt am Main" in Archiv für
Frankfurter Geschichte und Kunst (Frankfurt am Main), no. 3,1844, pp. 114f.
37. Klaus Vondung, Magie und Manipulation: ideologischer Kult und politische Reli­
gion des Nationalsozialismus (Göttingen, 1971), p. 160.
38. Adolf Hitler, Man Kampf, p. 198.
39. Martin Loiperdinger, "Nationalsozialistische Gelöbnisrituale im Parteitags­
film" in Dirk Berg-Schlosser and Jakob Schissler, eds.. Politische Kultur in
Deutschland (Opladen, 1987), p. 142.
40. Horst Kerutt and Wolfram M. Wegener, Die Fahne ist mehr als der Tod, pp. 9-11.
41. Elias Canetti, Masse und Macht, p. 156.
42. Joachim C. Fest, Hitler, eine Biographie (Frankfurt am Main, 1973), pp. 699f.,
English translation Hitler (New York, 1974).
43. Saul Friedländer, Kitsch und Tod (Munich, 1984), p. 28, English translation
Reflections on Nazism: an Essay on Kitsch and Death (New York, 1984).
44. Günther Kaufmann, Das kommende Deutschland (Berlin, 1940), quoted in Hans
Christian Brandenburg, Die Geschichte der HJ (Köln, 1968), p. 227.
45. Illustrierter Film-Kurier (Berlin), no. 1920,1933.
46. Film und revolutionäre Arbeiterbewegung in Deutschland 1918-1932,2 vols. (Berlin
[GDR], 1975), vol. 2, p. 107.
42 The Triumph of Propaganda

47. Gottfried Korff, "Rote Fahnen und Tableaux Vivants: zum Symbolverständnis
der deutschen Arbeiterbewegung im 19. Jahrhundert" in Albrecht Lehmann,
ed., Studien zur Arbeiterbewegung (Münster, 1984), (Beiträge zur Volkskultur in
Nordwestdeutschland, 44), pp. 103-40; quoted text is on p. 104.
48. Friedrich Wendel, Die rote Fahne: ein Entwurf ihrer Geschichte als Beitrag zur
deutschen Flaggenfrage (Berlin, 1925?), p. 7.
49. Gottfried Korff, "Rote Fahnen und Tableaux Vivants," p. 114.
2-i-
50. Ibid., p. 117.
51. Gerhard Schumann in Die Lieder vom Reich (Munich, 1935), p. 34. THE FLAG IN FEATURE FILMS
52. Hannsjoachim Wolfgang Koch, Geschichte der Hitlerjugend, p. 80.
53. Baidur von Schirach in Völkische Musikerziehung (Berlin, 1938), pp. 146-8.
54. Renzo Vespignani über den Faschismus, ed. by Arbeitsgruppe Ausstellungsüber­
nahme der Neuen Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst and the Kunstamt The Flag in Historical Feature Films
Kreuzberg (Berlin, 1976), p. 131.
55. Peter Dohms, Flugschriften in Gestapo-Akten: Nachweis und Analyse der Flug­ Man in the abstract has a need for larger-than-life monuments, in pro­
schriften in den Gestapo-Akten des Hauptstaatsarchivs Düsseldorf (Siegburg, 1977), portion to his feelings and actions, even when he is made to look very
(Veröffentlichungen der Staatlichen Archive des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen. small and very pitiful by comparison. As in centuries past, he needs a
Reihe: Quellen und Forschungen, 3), pp. 552f.
pedestal on which to fashion himself. Monuments are not built on flat
56. Paul Virilio, Krieg und Kino: Logistik der Wahrnehmung (Munich, 1986), p. 186, surfaces. To make them look more imposing, they are elevated over the
English translation War and Cinema: the Logistics of Perception (New York, 1989). heads of those who pass by them.
57. "In Treue fest—der Verein und seine Fahne," film report by Ursula Scheider. Fritz Lang^
Ed.: Karl J. Joeressen. Broadcast by the ZDF, 23 July 1982.
58. Ernesto Grassi, ed.. Ohne Haß und ohne Fahne: Kriegsgedichte des 20. Jahrhundert
A s we will see b e l o w f r o m the m a n y e x a m p l e s of N a z i d o c u ­
(Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1959).
m e n t a r i e s , Kulturfilme, a n d n e w s r e e l s , t h e s w a s t i k a flag w a s n o t
59. "Diagonal," a program broadcast on Austrian Radio's channel 1,5 March 1988.
a n e m p t y s y m b o l . Rather, it b r e a t h e d life into e v e n t s a n d c r e ­
a t e d m e m o r a b l e i m a g e s . It i n d i c a t e d the d e g r e e of e m o t i o n a l
f e r v o r t h a t w a s i n t e n d e d . It w a s like w a l l p a p e r t h a t is u s e d t o
set a m o o d .
Flags h a d aesthetic appeal, but only to the extent they did not
b e c o m e m e r e w o r k s of art, a n d only w h e n , b e y o n d any d r a m a t u r ­
gical effects, they w e r e the focus of attention. F l a g s , of c o u r s e ,
w e r e also u s e d time a n d again as symbols in feature films. In those
instances, they fulfilled a d r a m a t i c rather than a d e c o r a t i v e func­
tion. T h e y h e l p e d t o t r a n s f o r m d r a m a t i c s c e n e s into n a t i o n a l
m y t h s a n d m a k e historical figures into a l m o s t s u p e r h u m a n
s h a p e r s of destiny. The historical subject m a t t e r of films directed
after the beginning of the w a r by Veit H a r l a n , Karl Ritter, Wolf­
g a n g Liebeneiner, a n d A r t h u r M a r i a Rabenalt s e e m e d to dictate
this a p p r o a c h , b e c a u s e war, "being the most profound challenge
to the e m o t i o n s " ( A l e x a n d e r Kluge), called for the use of clever
techniques to c o m p e n s a t e for shattered hopes, especially as the
military situation m o v e d ever closer to catastrophe.
44 The Triumph of Propaganda
Credible p o r t r a y a l s of historical analogies to Hitler b e c a m e
increasingly necessary as the military situation deteriorated. Aside
from Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor, the historical figure m o s t often
used w a s Frederick the Great. In films he w a s "made up," to the
v e r y depths of his soul, to c o n f o r m to the i m a g e of Hitler. C h e e r e d
by millions, the leader w a s never allowed to b e c o m e a mere m o r ­
tal. N o r w a s the victor ever permitted to b e c o m e a loser. "[Film­
makers] w o u l d first d r a w an analogy to the present on the basis of
a distorted depiction of Frederick's Prussia, projecting the features
that typified Hitler a n d the Nazi state back to the past. In d r a w i n g
v a r i o u s individual parallels, they sought to p e r s u a d e viewers to
e x t e n d the analogy to everything else. They forced audiences to
a c c e p t the perfect congruity between Frederick's Prussia a n d the
N a z i state, between the Prussian leader a n d the "Führer." Film­
m a k e r s felt that audiences w o u l d automatically ascribe to the n e w
state all the achievements, successes, a n d values connected with
Frederick's Prussia. They credited the values of a state that h a d
m e t the test of history to a state that h a d yet to p r o v e itself. The
a n a l o g y w e n t as follows: a m a n w h o acts like Frederick the Great
will rise to the s a m e heights as Prussia did in the past."^ In other
w o r d s , e v e r y time a n e w film about Frederick a p p e a r e d . Hitler
a p p r o p r i a t e d a little m o r e of the Prussian king's legacy.
Das Flötenkonzert von Sanssouci
(The Flute Concert of Sanssouci, 1930)
My aim was to achieve feats of eternal glory. I never gave a damn
about those idiots in the field.
Frederick II on 2 2 October 1 7 7 6
In this film, the s a m e "menuet galant" that lends a certain musical
spice to the m a s k e d ball that is being held in the splendid palace
of C o u n t Heinrich v o n Brühl, ruling minister of Electoral Saxony,
is also the c o d e w o r d to gain entry to a meeting at w h i c h a plot is
being h a t c h e d against Frederick in one of the back r o o m s of w o r l d
history, in the v e r y s a m e palace. The conspirators h a v e not, h o w ­
ever, c o u n t e d on the cunning of the wily Prussian king. F o r his
p a r t , F r e d e r i c k is secretly mobilizing for a p r e v e n t i v e strike
a g a i n s t the S a x o n s , A u s t r i a n s , Russians, a n d F r e n c h w h i c h h e
hopes will totally surprise his enemies. While calmly playing his
transverse flute for an audience of illustrious guests at Sanssouci,
The Flag in Feature Films j 45
his b a r o q u e s u m m e r palace, he nonchalantly reads a note on his
m u s i c s t a n d that contains the following b a d news: "The Allied
p o w e r s will be fully a r m e d within four weeks. They will attack
s i m u l t a n e o u s l y f r o m F r a n c e , A u s t r i a , Russia, a n d Saxony."
B e t w e e n t w o m o v e m e n t s of the sonata, the king issues a terse
order to General Seydlitz, p r o m p t i n g one of the guests to r e m a r k
euphorically: "History will take note of this concert."
Military action follows directly on the heels of the musical per­
formance. After walking d o w n the 315-foot-long hall of a w i n g in
the palace a n d meditating deeply, the king informs his adjutant of
his decision: "Send d e c l a r a t i o n s of w a r i m m e d i a t e l y to the
embassies of Austria a n d France." Then turning to his generals, h e
outdoes even himself: "Contrary to e v e r y rule of w a r I will attack
an e n e m y five times stronger than myself. I m u s t d o this or all will
b e lost. T h e glory of m y c o u n t r y a n d the welfare of m y people bid
m e to act or they will follow m e to m y grave." Viewed in hind­
sight, these cinematic phrases will b e c o m e m a x i m s of N a z i per­
versity. K n o w l e d g e t h a t is o f i m m e d i a t e r e l e v a n c e will b e
c o m m u n i c a t e d b y m e a n s of contrived historical causality.
"Old Fritz" (as the Prussians called Frederick the Great) strides
solemnly d o w n the c o l o n n a d e d terrace of Sanssouci to review his
fusiliers. ( E v e n before the N a z i r e g i m e c a m e to p o w e r . O t t o
G e b ü h r ' s p o r t r a y a l of Frederick h a d b e c o m e an unintentional car­
icature.) F o l l o w i n g the review, F r e d e r i c k ' s "Longfellows," his
P o t s d a m Grenadier G u a r d s w h o w e r e m a d e over into a b o d y of
giants, none under six feet tall a n d not a few approaching seven
feet, file past the m o n a r c h , their Prussian standards blowing stiffly
in the breeze as they p a r a d e to the strains of the Hohenfriedberg
M a r c h , a not-so-subtle reminder of the victory that is yet to be
w o n over the Austrians a n d Saxons on 4 June 1 7 4 5 in L o w e r Sile­
sia d u r i n g the Second Silesian War. The march-past of the g l e a m ­
ing white Prussian standards a p p e a r s all the m o r e beautiful as
they are illuminated b y the light of a haunting g r a y d a w n a n d
b l o w n b y a w i n d m a c h i n e to form a n emotion-charged b a c k d r o p ,
with heroic overtones that caused spectators' hearts to race.
By 1 9 4 2 Goebbels realized that it w a s becoming increasingly
n e c e s s a r y "to possess w h a t the great Prussian m o n a r c h Frederick
a l w a y s considered the decisive factor in w a g i n g a victorious war:
a heart of steel to w e a t h e r the storms of time." These w e r e the
final d r a m a t i c w o r d s of Joseph Goebbels's speech on the fourth
anniversary of Austria's Anschluss with Germany, delivered on 15
M a r c h . 1 9 4 2 in the m a i n hall of the South Station in Linz.^ H e
46 The Triumph of Propaganda
d e c i d e d to u s e the figure of Old F r i t z , the king w h o h a d tri­
u m p h e d o v e r fate, as a call to a r m s and a source of inspiration
d u r i n g the h a r s h w i n t e r of the 1 9 4 2 c a m p a i g n in R u s s i a . Das
Flötenkonzert p r o d u c e d in 1 9 3 0 , a n d o t h e r successful films
about Frederick w e r e re-released to c o m b a t defeatism, for "... w e
live in a time w h e n w e need the spirit of Frederick the Great. W e
will only master the problems facing us w h e n w e exert ourselves
to the utmost. If w e d o o v e r c o m e them, they will only bolster our
e n d u r a n c e . H e r e as elsewhere Nietzsche's a p h o r i s m p r o v e s true
that w h a t does not kill us m a k e s us stronger."*
G u s t a v Ucicky, the director of such chauvinistic films as Das
Flötenkonzert von Sanssouci ( 1 9 3 0 ) , York ( 1 9 3 1 ) , a n d Morgenrot
( D a w n , 1 9 3 2 - 3 3 ) , h e l p e d p a v e the w a y for N a z i ideology. The
e x t r e m e nationalist films he subsequently c h u r n e d out, for e x a m ­
ple, Flüchtlinge (Refugees, 1 9 3 3 ) , Das Mädchen Johanna ( T h e
M a i d e n Joan, 1935), and Heimkehr ( H o m e c o m i n g , 1941), predes­
tined the former ad m a n to b e c o m e one of the m o s t aggressive
p r o p a g a n d i s t s in the Third Reich.
The first filmmaker to be inspired by the t h e m e of "Old Fritz
the musician" w a s Oskar Messter, w h o p r o d u c e d a 98-foot film in
1 8 9 8 titled Fridericus Rex beim Flötenspiel (Fridericus R e x Playing
the Flute). M a n y variations on this t h e m e followed in later years.
Messter's effort represents the successful launching of Frederick
t h e G r e a t ' s p o s t h u m o u s c a r e e r as a m o v i e star. T h e m i s t a k e n
notion that "the stability of the throne rests on poetry" c o m e s from
Napoleon's o p p o n e n t Gneisenau.
Der große König (The Great King, 1942)
In the past few weeks a film titled Der große König has been playing
in the movie theaters of the Reich. Basically, the film deals with the dif­
ficult trials and historic tribulations that Frederick II experienced dur­
ing a critical phase of the Seven Years' YJar, before leading his forces
to final victory over his enemies.
Goebbels, 19 April 1942^
The flag occasionally epitonüzed Destiny in period films dealing
with Prussia's various w a r s , one e x a m p l e being Veit Harlan's Der
große König. H a r l a n used the historical element in the film to create
a s o u r c e of k n o w l e d g e for Hitler's generals. Set in the period of
the S e v e n Y e a r s ' War, the film b r o u g h t Old Fritz, the military
genius, out of the cellar of Sanssouci to serve as Hitler's precursor.
The Flag in Feature Films \ 47
the a i m being to link the idea of the Führer a n d the figure of the
great king. Goebbels subsequently found astounding "parallels
w i t h the present in the w o r d s uttered b y the great king, in the psy­
chological crises he w e n t through together with his people as they
fought a n d suffered."*
The p r o l o g u e to Der große König states that the film adheres
"strictly to the facts of history" and then goes on to say that the
bulk of the film depicts the agonies of the Seven Years' War, dur­
ing w h i c h Frederick's great character w a s put to the test. "The
m o s t i m p o r t a n t statements of the king h a v e been taken from his
o w n writings." In other w o r d s , Ufa films don't lie! "All that mat­
ters in historical films is whether the 'big picture' has been cor­
r e c t l y p r e s e n t e d . To b e successful, historical films m u s t deal
exclusively w i t h events and personalities that are fanüliar to peo­
ple t o d a y a n d with which they can empathize or that interest them
a n d that they consider important."^
During the fade-in, the Prussian king's standard seems to fill
the screen. The n a m e "Kunersdorf," the traumatic reminder of a
lost battle, is projected onto the standard. Stooped, his back to the
c a m e r a , the old king delivers a m o n o l o g u e to his c o m m a n d e r s
b e f o r e t h e b e g i n n i n g of the battle, a m o n o l o g u e t h a t also
a d d r e s s e s the conditions obtaining in the third year of Hitler's
w a r : "We live in an a g e t h a t will d e c i d e e v e r y t h i n g a n d will
c h a n g e the face of E u r o p e . Before decisions are taken, w e will be
obliged to withstand frightful encounters with fortime [sic]. But
afterwards the sky will turn bright and cheery. Regardless of h o w
m a n y enemies I have, I trust in the justice of m y cause and the
laudable c o u r a g e of m y t r o o p s — f r o m m y field marshals to the
r a w e s t recruit. The a r m y will attack!" Standard-bearers rush for­
w a r d t o w a r d K u n e r s d o r f in a d v a n c e of Prussian A r m y troops
m a r c h i n g three to four abreast. The e n e m y enters the field without
a n y standards.
After the battle against the Austrians and Russians w a s lost at
K u n e r s d o r f [on 12 A u g u s t 1759], the B e m b u r g regiment attempts
to escape to Brandenburg. "At least w e still have our standard,"
s a y s s t a n d a r d - b e a r e r Niehoff, seeking to console himself as he
retires from the field with the soiled colors tucked beneath his belt.
The collective symbol of the regiment h a d not fallen into e n e m y
h a n d s . W h e n the standard-bearer pauses to take a breather, he
pulls the colors out from under his great coat and holds it up to the
c a m e r a for the fade-over. The actress Kristina S ö d e r b a u m is then
s h o w n holding the standard in her hands, using the cloth to m a k e
48 The Triumph of Propaganda
bandages: "Yes, the standard almost cost y o u y o u r life . . . " And:
"So long as w e h a v e our standard, all is not lost."
C a m e r a m a n Bruno Mondi used standard-bearer Niehoff's limp
piece of cloth for another dissolve: "They can't start without us."
T h e sacred standard, still pressed u n d e r Niehoff's a r m as he rides
in a one-horse cart, suddenly begins to flutter in all its glory. A n d
then w e hear, "Take the colors down!" as Frederick castigates the
Bernburgers a n d orders them to r e m o v e their stripes a n d rosettes
and, m o s t serious of all, never again to bear the standard. "The
d r u m m e r will never again be allowed to lead the regiment a n d
direct its m o v e m e n t s on the m a r c h . Henceforth, a crosscut piece of
w o o d suspended over a d r u m will set the p a c e a n d a n n o u n c e to
the w h o l e w o r l d 'Here c o m e m e n w h o prefer life to victory.'" A t
that m o m e n t . C o u n t B e m b u r g , sitting on horseback, puts a bullet
t h r o u g h his noble t e m p l e in full v i e w of his troops. T h e d e a d
c o u n t a n d , b y implication, the s h a m e a n d humiliation are c o v e r e d
o v e r b y a dissolve of the Prussian flag. "He a b a n d o n e d life, just as
h e a b a n d o n e d the battlefield" is the king's laconic c o m m e n t .
U n d e r the c o m m a n d of Colonel R o c h o w (Otto Wernicke) the
Bernburgers finally attack a n d defeat the enemy. O n c e again the
white s t a n d a r d with the black eagle of Prussia flutters a t the h e a d
of the r e g i m e n t . E v e n after the s t a n d a r d - b e a r e r ' s b e s t friend.
S e r g e a n t P a u l Treskow ( G u s t a v F r ö h l i c h ) dies a t his side a n d
Niehoff experiences a brief feeling of e x a s p e r a t i o n , h e c h a r g e s
a h e a d with the standard blowing in the wind. "Stick y o u r bayonet
between the enemy's ribs. In three d a y s we'll m a r c h into K o r b a c h
as v i c t o r s — o r die in the attempt," Old Fritz exhorts his men. After
all, "a g o o d c r y is half the battle," w r o t e Shaw.** W h e n the regiment
reassembles after their victory at Torgau, Colonel R o c h o w reports
with evident emotion: "The victorious standards. Your Majesty.
The ancient standards of Prussia." The final apotheosis s h o w s the
Prussian flag w a v i n g proudly in the wind, filling the screen like a
full sail—the symbol of Prussia's glory. The filmmaker projected
this symbol, with its promise of victory, onto Hitler's flag in o r d e r
to generate a feeling of hope a m o n g the audience.
This combination of flags is a reminder of similar configura­
tions that a p p e a r e d during the film industry's 1 9 4 2 p r o d u c t i o n
y e a r a n d that w e r e designed to radiate confidence in the regime's
ability to resolve victoriously the crisis on the eastern front. In the
end, the small g r o u p of individuals w h o m a d e u p the elite of N a z i
film directors found themselves a n d their heroic historical epics
stranded in an artistic no-man's land.
The Flag in Feature Films ' 49
Goebbels used the techniques of p r o p a g a n d a to force Old Fritz
a n d H i t l e r — t w o totally antithetical figures—into a symbiosis that
w o u l d be accepted by the politically naive. On the one hand, there
w a s the prince destined b y an accident of birth to o c c u p y the high­
est position in the land, a n d on the other, the painter m a n q u e a n d
c o r p o r a l A d o l f Hitler w h o w a s c a t a p u l t e d to p o w e r t h r o u g h a
c a m p a i g n of p r o p a g a n d a . W h e r e a s Frederick w a s an exponent of
the F r e n c h Enlightenment and French philosophy, a free thinker, a
F r e e m a s o n , sensitive to the arts a n d highly e d u c a t e d , w h a t char­
acterized the autodidact Hitler w a s his opposition to the ideas that
inspired the Enlightenment a n d F r e e m a s o n r y a n d his c o n t e m p t
for humanistic ideals. A n d , in contrast to Frederick, Hitler w a s w
d e v o i d of a n y aesthetic sensibilities. In the c o u r s e of the war, h o w - |
ever, it w a s possible to discern certain similarities in their m o n o - I
m a n i a c a l personalities: their harshness a n d brutality to their o w n
troops a n d the enemy, their reversals of fortune in war, their mis­
calculations regarding the enemy's strategy, and, above all, their
C2ntempt for death.
H i t l e r a l w a y s h a d A n t o n Graff's oil p a i n t i n g o f F r e d e r i c k the
G r e a t h a n g i n g a b o v e the desk in his bunker. H e i n z G u d e r i a n ,
Chief of the General Staff, quoted h i m as saying that he. Hitler,
a l w a y s derived n e w strength from the portrait "when b a d n e w s
threatens to crush m y spirit."^ W h e n it c a m e to his military idol's
defeats. Hitler consoled himself b y noting that Frederick II h a d
g o n e d o w n in the annals of Prussian history as Prussia's greatest
king in spite of K u n e r s d o r f a n d Leuthen.
•y{\t-t
A p o t h e o s e s of the Flag in Feature Films
Our flag is fluttering before us. ^
Our flag is the new age,
And the flag leads us into eternity!
Yes, the flag means more than death!
Baldur v o n Schirach
T h e refrain of the Hitler Y o u t h ' s baffle song r e s o u n d e d like a
revivalist h y m n : "Forward! The y o u n g are oblivious to danger!"
Rising to n u m b e r one on the Hitler Youth's "hit p a r a d e , " the song
b e c a m e the leitmotif of the first original N a z i p r o p a g a n d a film
 50 The Triumph of Propaganda
m a d e after Hitler c a m e to power. Ufa h a d dedicated Hitlerjunge
Quex to the F ü h r e r ' s d e v o t e d y o u n g followers. P r o d u c e d in 1 9 3 3
b y H a n s Steinhoff, the film w a s set in Berlin. The subtitle of Hitler­
junge Quex w a s "a film about y o u n g people's spirit of sacrifice."
Transforming the so-called "time of struggle" (Kampfzeit) a n d the
y o i m g m a r t y r Q u e x (Herbert N o r k u s in real life) into legends, the
film s o u g h t to m a k e y o u n g m o v i e g o e r s m o r e susceptible to the
lure of N a z i s m . Matinee idols w h o h a d been b o x office hits before
1 9 3 3 (e.g., Berta D r e w s , Heinrich George, a n d H e r m a n n Speel-
m a n s ) w e r e enlisted to give respectability to the N a z i ideology
depicted in this film based on real-life events.
The m a i n p u r p o s e of Hitler junge Quex w a s to fill the m i n d s of
the y o u n g with N a z i ideas, especially y o u n g people g r o w i n g u p
in households in w h i c h attitudes h a d not c h a n g e d quickly e n o u g h
in favor of the Nazis. D e p e n d e n t on the loyalty of the masses, the
r e g i m e h o p e d to w i n o v e r p a r e n t s b y e x p l o i t i n g their m o r e
impressionable sons a n d daughters. The regime p r e s u p p o s e d that
y o u n g people w o u l d be susceptible to values such as conu-ade-
ship, c o u r a g e , a n d idealism.
The d r a m a t i c turning point in this the first film m a d e u n d e r
official N a z i P a r t y sponsorship is introduced in an a t m o s p h e r e
c h a r g e d with emotion. Heini Völker is an apprentice in a small
printer's shop in Berlin. Later in the film he earns the honorable
n i c k n a m e "Quex"^° from his Hitler Youth friends. H e is fourteen
y e a r s old a n d the son of a n u n e m p l o y e d p r o l e t a r i a n w h o h a s
b e c o m e a C o m m u n i s t because of his bitterness t o w a r d society. The
film's director h a s Heini g o on a hike in the w o o d s with C o m m u ­
nists. D i s g u s t e d b y the p r o m i s c u i t y a n d d i s s o l u t e n e s s of the
y o u n g C o m m u n i s t s , w h o are p o r t r a y e d in the film as noisy a n d
unkempt, Heini m a n a g e s to slip a w a y in the d a r k a n d c o m e s u p o n
a c o m p a n y of Hitler Y o u t h . H e a r i n g t h e m sing their battle song,
" F o r w a r d ! F o r w a r d ! " , h e is m e s m e r i z e d a n d starts tapping his
foot to the r h y t h m of the song.
In the novel b y Karl Aloys Schenzinger on w h i c h the film is
based, the author describes Heini w a t c h i n g the sacred fellowship
of the Hitler Y o u t h as they celebrate the s u m m e r solstice: "He
w a n t e d to join in the singing, but his voice failed him. This w a s
G e r m a n soil, a G e r m a n forest, these w e r e G e r m a n boys, a n d he
realized that he w a s an outsider, alone, helpless, that he did not
k n o w w h e r e to direct his o v e r p o w e r i n g emotions."^^
Standing on an embankment, Heini Völker gazes at the disci­
plined brown-shirted youths. A long shot shows t h e m lined u p rank
The Flag in Feature Films I 51
a n d file, solemnly hoisting their flag. The film uses picture a n d
soimd to link Heini's longing for security, a surrogate father, and
comradeship to the attitude toward life exemplified by this ideal­
ized c o m m u n i t y of y o u n g people. The blazing campfire and flut­
tering flags at the center of the group give the cinematic scene an
emotional appeal. H e w o u l d like to be part of the group and is pre­
pared, in the spirit of the battle song, to "march for Hitler, freedom,
a n d bread through night a n d through need with the flag of youth."
N e x t morning, with the m e l o d y still echoing in his h e a d a n d
h a v i n g c o m n u t t e d the lyrics to memory, he quietly h u m s the song
while standing in the bleak family kitchen: "Our flag is fluttering
before us." In an adjacent r o o m , Heini's father hears h i m singing,
explodes, a n d starts to sing the Internationale, forcing little Heini to
repeat e a c h line after him: "Arise, y o u w r e t c h e d of the earth ..."
After Heiru's m o t h e r c o m m i t s suicide, the Hitler Youth becomes
his surrogate m o t h e r But Heini, w h o in the m e a n t i m e has b e c o m e
the d e v o t e d Hitler Youth Q u e x , is soon to m e e t his fate. Alone a n d
unprotected, he distributes Nazi flyers in the "Red" Beussel-Kiez
section of Berlin w h e n C o m m u n i s t "cutthroats," sheltered b y the
darkness, s u r r o u n d h i m on the grounds of an a m u s e m e n t park
a n d stab h i m repeatedly. W h e n his Hitler Youth friends arrive the
n e x t m o r n i n g a n d find h i m dying, the bright eyes of the m a r t y r
are transfigured as they look past earthly friends a n d u p w a r d to
heaven. T h e n as his c o m r a d e s hold h i m in their a r m s a n d with a
h a p p y smile o n his face, Heini w h i s p e r s haltingly: "Unsere ...
Fahne ...flattert... uns ... voran."
The following p a s s a g e from a speech by the N a z i poet E . W.
M ö l l e r o n the m u r d e r e d Hitler Y o u t h H e r b e r t N o r k u s (Hitler
Youth Q u e x in the film) illustrates the powerful symbolism of uni­
forms, colors, a n d flags: "Herbert N o r k u s w a s m u r d e r e d while
w e a r i n g a white shirt. W h e n the shirt w a s exarrüned later, h o w ­
ever, the b l o o d h a d t u r n e d b r o w n . So the b o y w a s w e a r i n g a
b r o w n shirt after all w h e n h e died. H o w unbelievably m a r v e l o u s
for such a thing to happen! "^^
A s if this w e r e not enough, the director H a n s Steinhoff takes the
film to a final ecstatic apotheosis. A s Heini lies dying, a vision
g r o w s within h i m of an a r m y of brown-shirted Hitler Youth a n d
behind t h e m the swastika w h i c h gradually changes into a m o n u ­
mental e m b l e m of salvation engulfing the entire screen. In a series
of dissolves, the m a r c h i n g c o l u m n s , flags, a n d the d e a d Q u e x ,
with the s o u n d track taking u p the Hitler Youth's marching song,
m e r g e into a single heroic image. The masterly use of fade-overs
52 The Triumph of Propaganda
a n d editing heighten the mythical effect of this vision of a collec­
tive identity, w h i c h w a s s u p p o s e d to leap from the screen to the
audience below a n d c a p t u r e the p s y c h e of the spectators. The d o c ­
trine of salvation through the sacrifice of one's life w a s linked to
the flag in a n effort to p r o v i d e the N a z i m o v e m e n t w i t h the requi­
site energy to achieve its goals.
The brave young soldier died a hero's death. He died for a cause he
believed in, for his conu-ades, the flag he so dearly loved, and above
all for his Führer. Now other young Germans are once again hoisting
the flag consecrated by the blood of one of their finest.'*
T h e j o u r n a l Kinematograph p u b l i s h e d the following article
u n d e r the title "The Flag Is the N e w Age":'^ "The m o v e m e n t is off
to a running start. The spirit that lives in the y o u n g is manifest in
the ranks of y o u t h on the m a r c h . The flags rustle in the wind. The
s o n g 'Unsere F a h n e ist die neue Zeit' r e s o u n d s . . . " A n d : "Hitler­
junge Quex is a G e r m a n film that w a s not p r o d u c e d with the idea
of m a k i n g money, b u t rather with genuine feeling a n d profound
sensitivity. It is a t r u m p e t call to G e r m a n y ' s y o u n g people a n d
thus to the future of Germany."
H a v i n g lulled the audience into a sense of security, Schirach's
flag-song is juxtaposed in Hitlerjunge Quex to the less beguiling
melodies of the Internationale a n d the Marseillaise. The film creates
the impression that after being p l a y e d time a n d again, the battle
s o n g a b o u t the flag " g a v e d i r e c t i o n to y o u n g p e o p l e b o u n d
together b y a c o m m o n destiny," a n d that as early as 1 9 3 1 , the y e a r
depicted in the film, it w a s m a k i n g y o u n g people happy. In fact,
the N a z i b a r d Baldur v o n Schirach h a d written the song especially
for the film. Hitlerjunge Quex w a s a personal, poetic, a n d political
e x p r e s s i o n o f d e v o t i o n to the F ü h r e r w h o , in the w o r d s of
Schirach, "aimed for the stars but w a s still a down-to-earth p e r s o n
like y o u a n d me."
The flag followed in the w a k e of the m a r c h i n g song a n d w a s
s u p p o s e d to lead the w a y to a glorious future. A t the s a m e time, it
w a s a symbol of faith a n d h o p e that y o u n g people c o u l d easily
u n d e r s t a n d . Riding a w a v e of p o p u l a r enthusiasm, the flag w a s
s u p p o s e d to lead to the goals embodied in the alliterative slogan
"For Führer, Folk, a n d F a t h e r l a n d . " Ironically, t h o u g h , the first
p r o p a g a n d a film p r o d u c e d in the Third Reich already anticipated
its demise. "The m o v i e starts off in the style of the Soviet m o n t a g e
films, only to end in an apotheosis of m a r t y r d o m engulfed in a
flood of m u s i c a n d flags." Karsten Witte c o m e s to the conclusion
The Flag in Feature Films | 53
that Hitlerjunge Quex anticipates w h a t w a s implied in the m u c h -
publicized longing to die a heroic death: "Every enterprise carries
the seeds of its o w n destruction."
This w a s Baldur v o n Schirach's vision: "Where once the little
Hitler Y o u t h fell, t h e r e n o w s t a n d s a y o u t h m o v e m e n t t h a t
i n c l u d e s o n e a n d a half million fighters, e a c h o n e of w h o m
believes in the spirit of sacrifice a n d c o m r a d e s h i p . . . . W e will fight
on in his u n w a v e r i n g spirit."'^
The Quex film h a d set the standard for w h a t Nietzsche in a dif­
ferent (bourgeois) c o n t e x t called a "dual perspective" {doppelte
Optik), w h i c h in this i n s t a n c e referred to a d u a l artistic a n d
National Socialist perspective that enabled filnunakers to c a p t u r e
a n d hold an audience's attention. Reflecting on the psychological
effect of the techniques u s e d in Hitlerjunge Quex, Dr. Goebbels
w r o t e that "when art a n d character are combined a n d a lofty ide­
alism avails itself of the m o s t vital a n d m o d e m cinematic m e a n s of
expression, G e r m a n film art h a s a nearly unbeatable a d v a n t a g e
o v e r the rest of the world."'''
The t w o other Party-sponsored feature films produced that same
year—SA-Mann Brand (1933), directed by Franz Seitz, and Hans
Westmar (1933), directed b y Franz Wenzler—likewise depicted self-
sacrifice in images that w e r e both horrifying and beautiful at the
s a m e time. "I g o n o w to the Führer," the dying Hitier Youth Erich
Lohner whispers to his friend Fritz Brand in SA-Mann Brand.
B r a n d pledges "at the poor lad's deathbed that his y o u n g blood,
h a v i n g b e e n spilled for the g r e a t c a u s e o f G e r m a n y , will b e
avenged." E v e n the C o m m u n i s t s listen to Hitler's "passionately
patriotic" speeches "with fists clenched a n d a sense of the enor­
m o u s s a c r e d w a v e " p o u r i n g o u t of the loudspeaker, for he is
speaking direcfly to the "hearts of the G e r m a n people." Finally,
"National Socialist G e r m a n y has triumphed. The S t o r m Troops
m a r c h , a n d S t o r m Trooper Brand stands tall a n d p r o u d in their
ranks. A thousand voices resound with a thunderous 'Hold high
the banner, the S t o r m Troops m a r c h with c a l m a n d steady p a c e . . . '
T h e r e is g r e a t rejoicing e v e r y w h e r e in G e r m a n y . A n e w e r a is
d a w n i n g ... G e r m a n y has awakened."'*
F r a n z Wenzler's feature-length film Hans Westmar (1933), sub­
titled One of Many—the Fate of a German in 1929, tells the story of
H o r s t Wessel, the "most glorious blood-witness to G e r m a n y ' s lib­
eration m o v e m e n t . " T h e film w a s "so true to history" that e v e n
the c a p t u r e d " C o m m u n i s t posters, flags, banners, etc., w e r e the
'real McCoy.'"'' Faithful to the book on which it w a s based. H a r m s
54 The Triumph of Propaganda
E w e r s ' s Horst Wessel, the film c o n v e y e d the last thoughts of the
m u r d e r e d H a n s W e s t m a r alias H o r s t Wessel in the one w o r d that
stood for the w h o l e i d e o l o g y — " G e r m a n y ..." A s the y o u n g w a r ­
rior's soul leaves his body, it m a r c h e s with the Flag into Eternity.
T h e w o r k e r s ' clenched fists o p e n symbolically in the Hitler salute.
T h e n there a r e the echoes c o m i n g from the funeral oration for
H a n s Westmar: "Die F a h n e hoch! That is, the flag will rise from
the d e a d to n e w a n d g l o w i n g life a n d together with his [Hans
W e s t m a r ' s ] ghost, risen from the g r a v e , enter into us a n d m a r c h in
spirit in o u r ranks, w h e n w e one d a y seize p o w e r [to fashion] the
g l o r i o u s a n d magnificent n e w Reich." T h e funeral p r o c e s s i o n
includes actual footage of the historic torchlight p a r a d e of the S A
t h r o u g h the B r a n d e n b u r g Gate on 3 0 J a n u a r y 1 9 3 3 .
Taking place on a cold a n d w i n d y d a y in M a r c h , the c e m e t e r y
scene in H a n n s Heinz E w e r s ' s book also ends on a religious note:
" A n d h e a r t s w e r e filled w i t h a feeling that it—the b o d y lying
there—^was not d e a d at all; that like us he w a s alive, living in our
m i d s t " — Y e s : " C o m r a d e s killed b y R e d F r o n t a n d R e a c t i o n in
spirit keep their place."^° T h e literary form shared b y the three
films w a s the allegory, a n d it w a s used to e m b o d y the N a z i ideol­
o g y in m y t h i c structures. The final apotheoses in all three w e r e
e x a m p l e s of the semiotics of film as reflected in N a z i hagiography.
T h e y contained not only modifications of the allegorical m o d e ;
they also represented practical attempts to transform the tenets of
the ideology into goals and to m a k e people a w a r e of them t h r o u g h
the use of graphic imagery.
In the figure of the prototypical y o u n g Nazi, audiences w o u l d
derive a feeling for the kind of m o r a l strength that w o u l d soon
d w i n d l e in i m p o r t a n c e u n d e r Hitler's regime. Q u e x , for e x a m p l e ,
s e r v e d as the d r a m a t u r g i c a l motif in a d o c u m e n t a r y style of r e p ­
resentation that w a s designed to a d d a touch of realism to fiction­
alized events.
B a c k g r o u n d material on the "martyr" that h a d initially been
d r a w n from the so-called "time of struggle" w a s not considered of
sufficiently high caliber to reflect the true stature of the hero. C o n ­
sequently, Goebbels ordered the i m m e d i a t e p o s t p o n e m e n t of the
picture's premiere, scheduled for 9 October 1 9 3 3 , so that it could
be revised accordingly. The reason given w a s "that the film does
justice neither to the figure of H o r s t Wessel, because the inade­
q u a c y o f the p o r t r a y a l d e t r a c t s from his heroic life, nor to the
National Socialist m o v e m e n t w h i c h is today the pillar of the state.
The Flag in Feature Films | 55
In that sense [the film] threatens the vital interests of the state a n d
the G e r m a n people."^^
Der Rebell (The Rebel, 1 9 3 2 ) anticipated the Nazis' ritualized
cult of death. This is clearly reflected in Joseph Goebbels's r e m a r k
that the film w o u l d l e a v e a lasting i m p r e s s i o n on "even n o n -
National Socialists." A c c o r d i n g to Luis Trenker, Hitler s a w Der
Rebell four times a n d each time with n e w enthusiasm. "Besides,"
m e n t i o n e d the Führer, "the film is n o w playing at the Luitpold
C i n e m a s in M u n i c h . " Trenker w a s g r e a t l y s u r p r i s e d t h a t the
F ü h r e r w a s so well informed. H e himself did not k n o w it."^^ The
m a n n e r in w h i c h the three t r i u m p h a n t final scenes w e r e p r e p a r e d
for the N a z i p s y c h e in early political films such as Hitlerjunge
Quex, Hans Westmar, a n d SA-Mann Brand follows the pattern of
film symbolism laid d o w n in Luis Trenker a n d Kurt Bernhardt's
Der Rebell. Sepp Allgeier, w h o w a s later to b e c o m e Leni Riefen­
stahl's chief c a m e r a m a n , u s e d this "mountain film a b o u t [the
struggle for] freedom" to perfect the skills he h a d acquired in his
so-called pre-fascist works. In this lavish national epic about the
Tyrol's revolt against the Napoleonic occupation army, French sol­
diers e x e c u t e the revolutionary student Severin A n d e r l a n (Luis
Trenker) a n d t w o of his c o m r a d e s in the c o u r t y a r d of the fortress
at Kufstein "for rebelling a n d organizing gangs." A s m a r t y r s , they
die standing up, with the pathos a n d personae of heroes but with­
out a n y expressions of suffering that might be v i e w e d as icono-
graphic allusions to the crucifixion.
"But they can't m u r d e r the will of these dying men! A n d all those
w h o sacrificed themselves for freedom will appear, their shades
marching in an endless colunm. With flags waving, they will m a r c h
t o w a r d a n e w day, toward the future. "^^ Indeed, this w a s n o natural
death, for after the initial shock the student-hero rises from the dead
a n d with undiminished patriotic a r d o r picks u p the w h i t e flag
emblazoned with the Red Eagle (which w a s not there before the
execution). A s if by magic, the t w o Tyrolean peasants w h o h a d been
shot along with "the rebel" also rise up. A veritable a r m y of Sev-
erin's peasant freedom fighters ascend above the billowing flags
that proliferate miraculously a m o n g the menacing clouds above.
The living a n d the dead are shown floating a w a y on clouds into the
ether, guided b y a m y r i a d of flags to the eternal light.
T h e d e v o u t l y religious Trenker p r o b a b l y b o r r o w e d this
m e t a p h o r from the field of art. A flag emblazoned with the sign of
the cross to enhance the pathos of the Resurrection w a s often used
in Christian i c o n o g r a p h y as a symbol of victory over death.
56 The Triumph of Propaganda
The Proletarian Feature Film
There must no longer be any classes. We work too, with our heads,
and our place is next to our brother, who works with his hands.
H a n s Westmar, in Hans Westmar, 1 9 3 3
T h e N a z i s k n e w w e l l h o w to exploit the t r a d i t i o n a l v a l u e s
reflected in the genealogy of the flag a n d h o w to reinterpret t h e m
for their o w n purposes. In judging the aesthetics of Hitlerjunge
Quex, e v e n n o n - G e r m a n w r i t e r s a g r e e that it is a w e l l - m a d e
m o t i o n picture in the finest tradition of G e r m a n proletarian films,
including those of the silent film era, such as Piel Jutzi's Mutter
Krausens Fahrt ins Glück (1929), G. W. Pabst's Die Dreigroschenoper
(The T h r e e p e n n y O p e r a , 1931), a n d Slatan D u d o w ' s Kuhle Wampe
(1932). In his essay "The Banner of the Proletarian Cult,"^* V. Poli-
anskij postulates that proletarian art, in c o n t r a s t to that of the
m o r i b u n d bourgeoisie, stressed content o v e r form. In addition to
the three films mentioned above, his thesis applies to m o s t other
proletarian pictures as well.
G. W. P a b s t ' s pessimistic a n t i - w a r film Westfront 1918 (The
Western Front 1 9 1 8 , 1 9 3 0 ) a n d Kameradschaft ( C o m r a d e s h i p , 1931),
his p a e a n to international w o r k e r s ' solidarity, a r g u e in favor of
this thesis. C o m m i t t e d to opposing reactionary a n d chauvinistic
trends in the cinema a n d to p r o m o t i n g the progressive left, Pabst,
together with E r w i n Piscator a n d Heinrich M a n n , founded the
Volksverbund ßr Filmkunst (National Association for Film A r t ) in
1930, with a n eye to representing society realistically, as it really
w a s . E x c e p t for three actors, the entire cast of Kameradschaft w a s
m a d e u p of nonprofessional performers recruited directly from
the mines. The film w a s based on an actual F r e n c h mining disas­
ter that took place in 1 9 0 6 in Courrieres, near the G e r m a n border.
G e r m a n miners h a d c o m e to the aid of their F r e n c h c o m r a d e s . In
the m o v i e , Pabst heightened the significance of the story by m a k ­
ing it take place shortiy "after Versailles." The film begins with a
newsreel-like report on the brutal w o r k i n g conditions in the m i n ­
ing district a n d an actual introduction to the c r a m p e d living quar­
ters of the p r o l e t a r i a t . T h e film's m e s s a g e , reinforced b y its
realism, is that if w o r k i n g class solidarity c a n o v e r c o m e b o r d e r s ,
there is also h o p e for eliminating borders between nations.
F o l l o w i n g this " m i r a c u l o u s event," s p o k e s m e n for the t w o
miners' g r o u p s m e e t in the open air on the border separating the
The Flag in Feature Films ] 57
t w o countries a n d extol the fraternity between the t w o peoples. In
the concluding scene, Pabst inserted a biting epilogue. A G e r m a n
a n d a F r e n c h official, separated b y a n e w iron fence in the shafts,
e x c h a n g e protocols ratifying the re-establishment of the frontier:
"The strictiy s y m m e t r i c a l gestures of both officials satirize the vic­
tory of bureaucratic w i s d o m . "^^
T h e subject of these films w a s the 6.5 million u n e m p l o y e d
w o r k e r s of the W e i m a r period w h o w e r e living in conditions of
p o v e r t y a n d social deprivation. Like Piel Jutzi in Mutter Krausens
Fahrt ins Glück (1929), leftist m o v i e p r o d u c e r s did not c o n d e m n
individual proletarians w h o c o m m i t t e d criminal acts as a result of
their e c o n o m i c situation. Rather, they blamed the "environment"
in w h i c h proletarians w e r e forced to live—run-down housing a n d
the p o v e r t y of the slums. Heinrich Zille, w h o helped inspire Jutzi
to p r o d u c e the film, hit the nail on the h e a d w h e n he w r o t e that
"you c a n kill s o m e o n e as easily b y w h e r e y o u house t h e m as y o u
c a n with an ax." The state w a s identified as the murderer. Director
Jutzi shot a closeup of an ominous official s u m m o n s with the great
seal o f Prussia o n it. H e then faded over to the frightening outline
of the G e r m a n eagle on M o t h e r JCrause's wall clock.
In the W e i m a r republic these films w e r e considered politically
a n d artistically p r o g r e s s i v e . T h e p o w e r of their visuals c o r r e ­
s p o n d e d to the v i g o r of their a t t e m p t to a r o u s e public feeling.
C l e a r l y siding w i t h t h e p r o l e t a r i a n s , t h e s e films i n t e n d e d to
a w a k e n their class consciousness by portraying their hardships in
the starkest possible terms. Their c o m m o n denominator w a s the
t m c o n c e a l e d s y m p a t h y they h a d for the proletarian milieu a n d its
h u m a n inhabitants.
E r w i n Piscator's m o t i o n picture Der Aufstand der Fischer von St.
Barbara (Revolt of the Fishermen of St. Barbara, 1934), filmed in
Soviet Russia, w a s a latecomer, but, given its style a n d its message,
it c a n b e considered p a r t of the proletarian film genre. The picture
w a s based on the novel of the s a m e n a m e b y A n n a Seghers.
B y studying the aesthetics of film, w e c a n s h o w h o w the Nazis
tried to w e a k e n the left b y appropriating s o m e of its ideas a n d
stylistic techniques. The Nazis w o u l d change plots, but maintain
a similar structure. F o r instance, the Nazis replaced the red flag
with the swastika flag as the "colorful sign visible over long dis­
tances" (Tucholsky) that signaled the d a w n of a n e w era. T h e y
m a d e a p r o m i s e — w h i c h they superficially k e p t — t h a t w o r k e r s
w o u l d be allowed under the n e w banner of solidarity to continue
identifying w i t h o n e a n o t h e r a n d their class as they h a d d o n e
58 The Triumph of Propaganda
before. "So w h e r e d o I belong? I belong with m y friends, from m y
o w n class," says Heini Völker's father, the u n e m p l o y e d C o m m u ­
nist p l a y e d not unsympathetically b y the w e l l - k n o w n actor Hein­
rich George. U s i n g films s u c h as Quex, N a z i p r o p a g a n d i s t s h o p e d
to facilitate the integration of the senior H e r r Völker's i m p o v e r ­
ished c o m r a d e s into the N a t i o n a l Socialist m o v e m e n t . A n d b y
p r o m i s i n g that "everyone h a s to h a v e a job a n d b r e a d , " S t o r m
T r o o p e r B r a n d m a d e h i m s e l f a c h a m p i o n of the u n e m p l o y e d
w o r k e r s of the left. H o w e v e r , this classless n e w class of National
Socialists did not e n d the class s y s t e m as such; it simply p u t a n
e n d to proletarian class consciousness as symbolized by the red
flag. T h e color red of the socialist m o v e m e n t w o u l d eventually be
t r a n s m u t e d into the red of National Socialism, m a d e brighter still
b y the w h i t e solar disk with the swastika in the m i d d l e symboliz­
ing strength a n d the future. A t the s a m e time, the swastika repre­
sented the d e m i s e of the r e d star of the Soviets w h i c h the N a z i s
r e g a r d e d as a proletarian fetish.
After 1 9 3 3 overtly ideological N a z i feature films w i t h c o l u m n s
of m a r c h i n g Hitler Youth or S t o r m Troopers w e r e n o longer p r o ­
d u c e d . T h e P r o p a g a n d a Ministry w a s afraid that s h o w i n g a lot of
b r o w n u n i f o r m s o n the s c r e e n m i g h t b e c o u n t e r p r o d u c t i v e .
Goebbels u s e d SA-Mann Brand (1933) to illustrate his criticism of
m o t i o n pictures that a d h e r e d too rigidly to N a z i ideology: "We
don't w a n t to see o u r S t o r m Troopers m a r c h i n g across the screen
or the stage. They're s u p p o s e d to m a r c h in the streets."^* After all,
h e w r o t e , the National Socialist regime "never o r d e r e d a n y b o d y to
m a k e films about the SA. O n the c o n t r a r y . . . it considers too m a n y
s u c h films a threat."^'' Of the a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1,150 feature films
p r o d u c e d in N a z i Germany, five percent at m o s t w e r e explicitly
p r o p a g a n d a films, a n d of these the majority w e r e either historical
films o r w a r movies. This does n o t m e a n , h o w e v e r , that other fea­
ture-length films did not serve the needs of p r o p a g a n d a . The p r o ­
p a g a n d a w a s simply m o r e subtle. Stylistically instructive in this
r e g a r d is the m o s t successful of all N a z i films B o r s o d y ' s Wunsch­
konzert (Request Concert, 1940), as well as Liebeneiner's Ich klage
an (I A c c u s e , 1 9 4 1 ) a n d , in the latter stages of the w a r , i m p o r t a n t
films by H a r l a n s u c h as Opfergang (Sacrifice, 1 9 4 4 ) a n d Kolberg
(1945). In e a c h film love stories w e r e u s e d to c a p t u r e the a u d i ­
ence's attention. The b a c k g r o u n d against w h i c h these a p p a r e n t l y
i n n o c u o u s stories unfolded w a s a w a r of conquest (Wunschkonz­
ert), euthanasia {Ich klage an), a n d a "seemingly" pointless e x a m p l e
of last-ditch resistance to invasion, i.e., the idea of "holding o u t to
The Flag in Feature Films j 59
the last" {Kolberg). H a r l a n tried t o p e r s u a d e his v i e w e r s t h a t the
decision to g o to w a r or "to eliminate life that is n o longer w o r t h
living," i.e., to interfere w i t h people's p e r s o n a l happiness, w a s
actually m a d e by those m o s t directly affected by those decisions,
that is, by the particular figure in the film with w h o m the audience
w a s s u p p o s e d to identify.
P e r h a p s the best indicator of the subtle effectiveness of N a z i
p r o p a g a n d a films is the fact that for the p a s t several y e a r s , d o w n
to the present, a M u n i c h c i n e m a has s h o w n t h e m e v e r y Sunday,
h y p i n g t h e m as s m a s h hits a n d effectively marketing t h e m u n d e r
the series title "Stars That N e v e r Die." Opfergang is p r o m o t e d as
"one of Veit H a r l a n ' s best a n d m o s t beautiful color films." J o h a n ­
n e s M e y e r ' s Männerwirtschaft (The O d d C o u p l e , 1 9 4 1 ) is "a hilari­
o u s film a b o u t l o v e t h a t will m a k e y o u forget all y o u r c a r e s "
—^which, of c o u r s e , w a s precisely the point d u r i n g the war. A p p a r ­
ently, the ideology that w a s insinuated into the film is n o m o r e dis­
tracting t o d a y than it w a s then.
Notes
1. Fritz Lang, quoted in E. Beyfuss and A. Kosowsky, eds.. Das Kulturfilmbuch
(Berlin, 1924), p. 31.
2. Helmut Regel, "Historische Stoffe als Propagandaträger" in Der Spielfilm in
Dritten Reich: Dokumentation des 1. Arbeitsseminars der Westdeutschen Kurzfilm­
tage Oberhausen. Leitung: Hilmar Hoffmann, Manfred Dammeyer, Will
Wehling (Oberhausen, 1966).
3. Helmut Heiber, ed., Goebbels Reden, vol. 2, p. III.
4. Louis Lochner, ed., Goebbels Tagebücher aus den Jahren 1942-43, mit anderen
Dokumenten (Zürich, 1948), English translation The Goebbels Diaries, 1942-1943
(New York, 1948).
5. Joseph Goebbels on 19 April 1942 at a ceremony on the eve of Hitler's fifty-
third birthday, quoted in Helmut Heiber, ed., Goebbels Reden, vol. 2, p. 112.
6. Ibid., p. 114.
7. Fritz Hippler, Betrachtungen zum Filmschaffen (Berlin, 1942), p. 79.
8. George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (Cambridge, Mass., 1903), act III
(Don Juan in Hell).
9. Heinz Guderian, Erinnerungen eines Soldaten (Neckargemünd, 1960), English
translation Panzer Leader (London, 1955).
60 The Triumph of Propaganda

10. The name is short for Quecksilber or quicksilver, i.e., mercury, and alludes to
Heini's quick wit and sprightliness.
11. The August 1937 issue, no. 1070, of the Party's secret "Report on Germany"
was obliged to note that "promiscuity ... being a fact" in the Hitler Youth,
resulted in sexual permissiveness. A man by the name of Griinberger reported
that during the 8th Party congress in Nuremberg about 900 BDM girls had + 3 +
become pregnant.
12. Gerd Albrecht, comp., Arbeitsmaterialien zum nationalsozialistischen Propa­
gandafilm Hitler junge Quex (Frankfurt am Main, 1983), p. 20.
REASONS FOR THE RISE
13. E. W. Möller quoted in Joseph Wulf, Literatur und Dichtung im Dritten Reich.
(Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1966), p. 243. OF HITLER
14. Illustrierter Vilm-Kurier (Berlin), vol. 15,1933.
15. "Die Fahne ist die neue Zeit," in Kinematograph (Berlin), 12 September 1933.
16. Oskar Kaibus, Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst, pt 2: Der Tonfilm (Altona-
Excursus on the Origins of National Socialism
Bahrenfeld, 1935), pp. 121f.
17. Joseph Goebbels in a letter to Ufa Director E. H. Corell (25 September 1933) in
Thus, as Nietzsche said, the gentlest part of our nature must become
Joseph Goebbels, Der Angriff: Aufsätze aus der Kampfzeit (Munich, 1935).
the toughest. We must rise above ourselves, onward and upward,
18. Illustrierter Film-Kurier (Berlin), vol. 15, no. 1975,1933.
until our stars are below us.
19. llustrierter Film-Kurier (Berlin), vol. 15, no. 2034,1933.
Joseph Goebbels^
20. Hanns Heinz Ewers, Horst Wessel: ein deutsches Schicksal (Stuttgart, 1933).
21. Curt Belling, Der Film in Staat und Partei (Berlin, 1936), p. 70. S o m e fifty y e a r s after the collapse of the N a z i reign of terror, w e
22. Joseph Wulf, Theater und Film im Dritten Reich (Gütersloh, 1964), p. 335. are still grappling with the question of h o w a Stalingrad, a C o v e n ­
23. llustrierter Film-Kurier (Berlin), vol. 14, no. 1890,1932. try, or a n A u s c h w i t z could happen. The so-called Historikerstreit or
"historians' debate" r a g e d in G e r m a n y in the 1980s. T h e debate
24. Valerian Polianskij, "Das Banner des Proletkult," Ästhetik und Kommunikation
(Hamburg), vol. 2, no. 5 / 6 , February 1972, pp. 85f. w a s triggered b y the M a y 1 9 8 6 R ö m e r b e r g Colloquium in F r a n k ­
furt a m Main^ a n d J ü r g e n H a b e r m a s ' s rejoinder to the theories
25. Siegfried Kracauer, From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German
Film (London, 1947), p. 240. a d v a n c e d b y E r n s t N o l t e , Michael S t ü r m e r , a n d A n d r e a s Hill-
gruber, w h i c h he titled Eine Art Schadensabwicklung (A Kind of Set­
26. Joseph Goebbels in a speech delivered on 19 May 1933, quoted in Gerd
Albrecht, comp., Arbeitsmaterialien zum nationalsozialistischen Propagandafilm tling of D a m a g e s ) . ^ T h e w a y in w h i c h c o n s e r v a t i v e historians
Hitlerjunge Quex, p. 442. h a v e tried to d e n y the uniqueness of these calamides highlights
27. Kinematograph (Berlin), 11 October 1933. G e r m a n y ' s continuing search for a bearable past." *'
The direction in w h i c h this kind of "high-wire balancing act
b e t w e e n creating m e a n i n g from the past and de-mythologizing"
(Michael S t ü r m e r ) is h e a d e d is obvious—namely, to step out of
Hitler's s h a d o w and disencumber today's G e r m a n y of the "bur­
den" of the crimes c o m m i t t e d b y the Nazis, including the system­
atic m u r d e r of six million E u r o p e a n Jews under National Socialism.
In his 1 9 6 3 book Faschismus in seiner Epoche* Ernst Nolte a r g u e d
that the rise of fascist m o v e m e n t s , including National Socialism,
should b e u n d e r s t o o d as a counterrevolution by bourgeois liber­
alism against the "threat of Bolshevism." His theory of fascism as
62 The Triumph of Propaganda
the "reaction to a threat" misled h i m ultimately to b e c o m e an
apologist for the Holocaust. In a 1986 essay titled Zwischen Mythos
und Revisionismus (Between Myth and Revisionism), Nolle
e s p o u s e d the incredible theory that the September 1 9 3 9 d e c l a r a ­
tion b y C h a i m W e i z m a n n (President of the Jewish W o r l d C o n ­
g r e s s ) t h a t the J e w s w e r e in a state of w a r w i t h G e r m a n y
a m o u n t e d to a "declaration of w a r " against the Nazis a n d there­
fore "entitled" Hitler to segregate J e w s as prisoners of w a r a n d to
d e p o r t t h e m . In fact, the d a t e September 1 9 3 9 itself is an utter
c a n a r d , for it obscures the fact that the declaration w a s m a d e four
y e a r s after the promulgation of the N u r e m b e r g racial laws, nearly
one y e a r after the p o g r o m of N o v e m b e r 1938, and immediately
after the introduction of the Yellow Star of David as a b a d g e to
m a r k J e w s as "subhumans."
F r o m this point it w a s but a short step to the following conclu­
sion: "The so-called [emphasis a d d e d b y the author] annihilation of
the J e w s during the Third Reich w a s a reaction to or a distorted
imitation of [other acts of state terrorism], but it w a s not a unique
e v e n t nor the first act of its kind." W h a t strikes us here is the w a y
in w h i c h Nolte h a s subliminally a c c e p t e d the s a m e r e a s o n s
advanced by the Nazis themselves and then refurbished and reused
them, e.g., the "justification" for taking action against the Jews, the
Holocaust as a "reaction" to a "threat," to an "Asiatic deed."^ A r g u ­
m e n t s o n c e r e p r e s s e d h a v e r e s u r f a c e d in c o v e r t f o r m , b u t a r e
nonetheless effective.
A s H o r s t - E b e r h a r d Richter has written, "The m o s t i m p o r t a n t
omission on the part of both victors a n d vanquished w a s (and is)
not to h a v e u n d e r s t o o d the p h e n o m e n o n of N a z i s m as merely the
radical consequence of a universal temptation to w h i c h w e are all
p r o n e . Hitler w a s unique. A u s c h w i t z w a s unique. But the Ger­
m a n s u n d e r Hitler w h o submitted to his i n h u m a n e regime w e r e
n o different from their offspring today, a n d they, in their turn,
share these predispositions with m a n y other nationalities."*
It is not easy or pleasant, of course, for G e r m a n s to live with
their past. H o w e v e r , the intent of this kind of historical interpre­
tation is to d e n y responsibility (but not guilt) for w h a t h a p p e n e d in
G e r m a n history and—this is the i m p o r t a n t p o i n t — t o refuse to
learn a n y lessons from it. In a c t u a l fact, t h o u g h , it is virtually
impossible to b e c o m e a disinterested p a r t y to this history—least of
all b y engaging in the kind of interpretive gymnastics illustrated
above. F o r history continues to affect us through our contact with
the people w h o participated in it. They inevitably p a s s on their
Reasons for the Rise of Hitler 63
e x p e r i e n c e s a n d m o d e s of thinking to succeeding generations.
Consequently, the starting point for c o m i n g to grips with a n d
learning from the recent past {Vergangenheitsbewältigung) has to be
a n c h o r e d in the p r e s e n t , n o t in a r e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the past.
Horst-Eberhard Richter has described the p s y c h o d y n a m i c m e c h a ­
nisms involved in this process.
This in n o sense diminishes the uniqueness of the Nazis' crimes.
T h e y live on as g r a v e warnings a n d reminders of events unique in
history, w h i c h is w h y Richter is correct in saying that these singu­
larly horrible m e m o r i e s offer G e r m a n s a special opportunity. It is
i m p o r t a n t for the y o u n g e r generation "to use the e x a m p l e of their
parents a n d grandparents to recognize their o w n potential for set­
ting off in d a n g e r o u s directions."'' Thus, National Socialism will
not b e c o m e s o m e "exotic exception." Instead, it will be a "didactic
d r a m a " about w h a t h u m a n beings are capable of.
This a p p r o a c h does m o r e justice to history than the formulaic
cliche "empathetic understanding" (Verstehen) that lies behind the
a t t e m p t s at explanation undertaken by Nolte e t al N o t long ago,
Dolf Sternberger v e h e m e n t l y rejected Nolte's attempt "to m a k e
A u s c h w i t z comprehensible." "In fact, the sadistic atrocities sub­
s u m e d u n d e r the n a m e 'Auschwitz' are totally incomprehensible;
all one c a n d o is report them. E v e n if it could be s h o w n that the
p l a n for the 'Final Solution of the J e w i s h Q u e s t i o n ' h a d b e e n
hatched in Hitler's brain as some kind of response to earlier ('more
original') atrocities c o m m i t t e d by the Bolsheviks, this still w o u l d
not m a k e the execution of the plan, namely the actuality of indus­
trialized m a s s murder, one whit m o r e comprehensible. A t most,
n e w light w o u l d be shed on the twisted minds of those w h o car­
ried out the c r i m e s . . . . If it is true that the p u r p o s e of scholarship is
understanding, then one w o u l d h a v e to conclude that scholarship
is unfit to contribute to our knowledge of the 'Auschwitz' phe­
n o m e n o n " (Dolf Sternberger, "Unverstehbar" ["Incomprehensi­
ble"], Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 6 April 1988).
There is, of course, another problem in conducting research on
the history of fascism over a n d above the dilemma posed by psy­
chological a n d m o r a l determinism, i.e., the c o m p l e x nature of the
fascist p h e n o m e n o n which, in its o u t w a r d manifestations a n d at
the time of its birth, sought to e m b r a c e every safere of life. The
result is that the various theories on the origins and role of fascism
differ not only because of their different ideological premises a n d
methodologies, but also with regard to the aspects of the subject
they emphasize, that is, with regard to the characteristics that a
64 The Triumph of Propaganda
particular school of thought considers the decisive factors in the
d e v e l o p m e n t of fascist ideologies a n d regimes.
T h e o r i e s a b o u t fascism existed well before fascism c a m e to
p o w e r in Germany, for e x a m p l e , the M a r x i s t analysis of Italian
fascism b y A u g u s t Thalheimer (1930),* a n d the studies b y H e r ­
m a n n Heller a n d T h e o d o r Geiger. The a t t e m p t s at explanation
reflect the v a r i o u s forms a s s u m e d b y the subject u n d e r study.
Georgi Dimitroff (1935) described the "class character of fascism,"'
Reinhard Optiz s a w fascism as the "dictatorship of m o n o p o l y c a p ­
ital,"'" w h i c h sought to standardize society while prosecuting or
p r o s c r i b i n g a n y efforts to o p p o s e its m o n o p o l y . Besides these
M a r x i s t theories there are a n u m b e r of writers w h o h a v e focused
their studies of National Socialism o n the p e r s o n of Adolf Hitler,
primarily J o a c h i m C. Fest," John Toland,'^ a n d Friedrich Heer.'^
Several s o c i o p s y c h o l o g i c a l theories c o n c e n t r a t e o n the m e c h a ­
nisms a n d p h e n o m e n a that o c c u r below the surface of political
a n d e c o n o m i c e v e n t s . W i l h e l m Reich'* a n d K l a u s Theweleit'^
i n v e s t i g a t e d the w r i t i n g s a n d p r o n o u n c e m e n t s of the fascists
themselves, studying t h e m to discover the underlying psycholog­
ical m e c h a n i s m s that w o u l d explain the effect of historical, social,
a n d political d e v e l o p m e n t s on the individual a n d the reasons for
the m a s s appeal of Hitler a n d his m o v e m e n t . Finally, in a b r o a d e r
context, the history of enlightened industrial society w a s seen to
be m o v i n g in the direction of standardization [or "mass culture"],
self-alienation, a n d the w o r s h i p of m o d e r n technology ( A d o r n o /
Horkheimer, '^ Ralf Dahrendorf).'^
E a c h of the a b o v e - m e n t i o n e d theories illuminates specific
aspects of the c o m p l e x issue of National Socialism, a n d in princi­
ple they are not rriutuatf/exclusive, t h o u g h their m e t h o d s p r o b a ­
bly a r e to s o m e degree. So for those w h o h a v e to live with the past
a n d w h o seek an explanation of (not absolution from) p r e - 1 9 4 5
history, s o m e of the ideas a n d explanations a d v a n c e d b y these
divergent theories c a n be extremely useful in helping to under­
stand conditions before a n d during the N a z i dictatorship. A s Saul
Friedländer writes. National Socialism is "in its singularity, as in
its general aspects, the result of a large n u m b e r of social, e c o ­
n o m i c , a n d political factors, of the c o m i n g to a h e a d of frequently
a n a l y z e d ideological c u r r e n t s , a n d of the m e e t i n g of the m o s t
archaic m y t h s a n d the m o s t m o d e r n m e a n s of terror."'*
Within the context of this study of the National Socialist v i e w
a n d depiction of reality as reflected in the d o c u m e n t a r i e s a n d
n e w s r e e l s p r o d u c e d b y the N a z i p r o p a g a n d a m a c h i n e , w e a r e
Reasons for the Rise of Hitler 65
interested primarily in the history of the psychological a n d social
conditions that m a d e fascism possible. Therefore, w e m u s t deal
with questions such as the following: W h y did so m a n y people
find fascism attractiye? W h a t kind of people willingly allowed
themselves to be rnesnferlzed a n d carried a w a y b y the behavior
a n d self-portrayal of Nazis in these documentaries a n d newsreels?
W h a t did N a z i s m appeal to xvithin these individuals? Fascism's
allure w a s not based primarily on rational grounds. Rather, it w a s
triggered b y external p h e n o m e n a that struck a chord within e a c h
individual—songs, forests of flags, p a r a d e s , the cult of the b o d y
beautiful, symbols of fire, etc., w h i c h is w h y w e are chiefly con­
c e r n e d with the aesthetics of fascism. Ultimately, its appeal h a d
religious implications that a r e revealed in the Nazis' o w n strategic
plans. To quote directly from Hitler:
The broad masses of a people consist neither of professors nor of
diplomats. The scantiness of the abstract knowledge they possess
directs their sentiments more to the world of feeling.... Their emo­
tional attitude at the same time conditions their extraordinary sta­
bility. Faith is harder to shake than knowledge, love succumbs less
to change than respect, hate is more enduring than aversion, and
the impetus to the mightiest upheavals on this earth consisted less
in a scientific knowledge dominating the masses than in a fanati­
cism which inspired them and sometimes in a hysteria wfiich drove
them forward."
Hitler decided in favor of a secularized, surrogate nationalist-reli­
gious self-image that culminated in his pronouncement: "I a w a k ­
e n e d the masses."
It is n o w easier to determine which segments of the population
r e g a r d e d Hitler as their r e d e e m e r a n d believed fanatically in a
national Götterdämmerung. F o r a long time National Socialism w a s
considered an "ideology of the middle class,"^° though even then
the t e r m "middle class" (Mittelstand) r a i s e d m a n y p r o b l e m s .
Today it is m o r e generally accepted that the NSDAP, b y the early
1930s, h a d b e c o m e a Volkspartei, i.e., it attracted voters from all
sections of the population—middle class, u p p e r class, a n d even
w o r k i n g class, t h o u g h the last remained underrepresented.^'
After the onset of the Depression, white-collar w o r k e r s w e r e
h a r d hit by the Weimar republic's lack of social security since they
h a d virtually n o unions to represent their interests, making their
slide d o w n the social ladder that m u c h bumpier if they lost their
jobs. In an essay titled "The White-CoUar Worker" (Die Angestellten)
 The Triumph of Propaganda
66
Siegfried K r a c a u e r e x p l a i n e d their susceptibility to fascism by
s h o w i n g h o w this g r o u p o f s a l a r i e d w o r k e r s , w h i c h b e g a n to
e m e r g e in G e r m a n y in the early twentieth century a n d continued
to evolve through the 1920s a n d 1930s, w a s unable to develop a
sense of class consciousness a n d create organizations to represent
its interests.^^ H o w e v e r , those w h o ascribe the effectiveness of the
N a z i p r o p a g a n d a machine during the 1920s a n d early 1930s solely
t o its p r o m i s e to eliminate u n e m p l o y m e n t a n d social grievances
clearly miss the point. A N a z i election a n n o u n c e m e n t dating from
1932 d e s c r i b e d H i Ü e r not only as "^he last hope" .Q£.those "who
h a v e lost e v e r y t h i n g — h o u s e a n d h o m e , savings, livelihood, the
strength to work," but also, with nationalist a n d religious over-
tones, as the "shining b e a c o n of all those w h o d r e a m of a future
for Germaiv);" "who believe in G e r m a n y ' s resurrection."^^
Ralf D a h r e n d o r f a n d others h a v e u n d e r s c o r e d the m y t h of the
leader, i.e., the idea of a F ü h r e r w h o w o u l d lead the G e r m a n s
t h r o u g h a "storm of steel" to a twilight of the gods. This w a s the
aspect of Utopian nationalism he v i e w e d as a "brutal break with
t r a d i t i o n a n d a s t r o n g p u s h t o w a r d m o d e r n i t y . "^^ Hitler h a d
p r o m i s e d to achieve secular, nationalist t r a n s c e n d e n c e b y m e a n s
of an exhilarating revolution that w o u l d institutionalize the i(Jea
that only "might m a k e s right." W h a t w e n o w call a'seizure "(if
p o w e r o r a takeover of p o w e r w a s a l w a y s referred to b y the N a z i s
as a "revolution," a revolution that w a s to e n c o m p a s s every aspect
of life. To lay the g r o u n d w o r k for this revolution, the Nazis p o r -
trayed social conditions in the W e i m a r republic as miserable a n d
the republic's political standing in the w o r l d as hopeless. The fact
that the N a z i s recruited so m a n y of their voters from the b o u r -
geois c o n s e r v a t i v e a n d reactionary parties (mainly the D N V P ) ,
while the Catholic parties ( Z e n t r u m a n d B V P ) and the parties of
the left w e r e less affected until 1932,^^ s h o w e d just h o w quickly
the N a t i o n a l Socialists s u c c e e d e d in mobilizing the h o p e s a n d
fears of the lower middle class—hopes a n d fears that w e r e trig-
gered in equal m e a s u r e b y the W e i m a r republic's failed social poli-
cies, the defeat of G e r m a n y in W o r l d W a r I, a n d the "diktat of
Versailles." Last but not least. Hitler used the m e d i a to turn a cli-
m a t e of instability into something a p p r o a c h i n g an a t m o s p h e r e of
revolutionary c h a n g e in the n a m e of a d y n a m i c , racially "pure"
G e r m a n y p u r g e d of the p o w e r of "Jewish" high finance a n d
cleansed of M a r x i s m .
E x c e p t for the Nazis, the left—at the other end of the political
s p e c t r u m — r e p r e s e n t e d the o n l y Utopian m o v e m e n t t h a t w a s
Reasons for the Rise of Hitler 67
b o t h f u t u r e - o r i e n t e d a n d able to c o m m u n i c a t e its h o p e s a n d
desires to the m a s s e s in a n increasingly radicalized society. It is
one of history's tragedies that the forces of the left w e r e too half-
hearted a n d too late in establishing a united front.
In his t w o - v o l u m e psychoanalysis of fascist male fantasies tided
Männerphantasien,Klaus Theweleit describes the reasons for the
deep-seated desire of m e n to exhibit their power, to lose themselves
in combat, to get off "the liberating shot," a desire that blocked out
their conscious minds if not everything that m a d e t h e m individual
h u m a n beings. In examining men's fantasies Theweleit used auto-
biographies and diaries of World War I veterans w h o later b e c a m e
m e m b e r s of the Freikorps. The w a y in which these m e n — a n d it
w a s , of course, almost exclusively m e n w h o determined Nazi ide-
ology a n d strategy—depicted their w a r t i m e experiences in retro-
spect is, in m y opinion, inadequately described by the t e r m "sexual
repression," used b y Wilhelm Reich in his Massenpsychologie des
Faschismus to pinpoint the source of fascist p o w e r fantasies. Indeed,
the N a z i s considered these Freikorpsmen the epitome of the indi-
vidual c o m b a t a n t w h o c a m e to s3nnbolize the role played by the
heroic individual in the struggle of the fascist community. Films
such as Hitlerjunge Quex, SA-Mann Brand, a n d Hans Westmar c o m -
municated this heroic ideal to millions of moviegoers.
Theweleit shows that these fighters w e r e not examples of the
neurotic repression of sexual desires lived out in fantasies glorify-
ing war. Rather, he writes, they exhibited signs of the so-called
"basic fault"^'Svhich prevented t h e m from ever developing a viable
ego capable of coping with life, i.e., an individual personality.
Theweleit cites the repressive education of children in the Wil-
helnune e r a as the c a u s e of this "basic fault." F o r the total destruc-
tion of these men's individuality he blames the w a r that robbed
_them a n d the rest of their generation of their youth. These m e n
h a d b e c o m e fixated on the w a r to the exclusion of everything else,
a n d w h e n it c a m e to a less than glorious end, they lost the only
thing that h a d given m e a n i n g to their lives. In their m e m o i r s they
fantasized a b o u t h a v i n g been a b u l w a r k against "red floods,"
"rifle-women" {Flintenweiher), "oceans of slime, dirt, a n d pulp."
F o r t h e m , battle w a s an "inner experience" (Ernst Jünger). They
internalized it. In this sense, they b e c a m e the a v a n t - g a r d e of the
N a z i attitude t o w a r d life a n d models for all those w h o w i s h e d to
lead G e r m a n y to p o w e r a n d glory, all those w h o w e r e incapable of
doing anything else—assunüng w e c a n give c r e d e n c e to this psy-
chological explanation.
 68 The Triumph of Propaganda
It w o u l d be unfair to extrapolate to the other m e m b e r s of the
generation of World W a r I in G e r m a n y the psychological m e c h a ­
nisms that w e r e supposedly operating in the psyche of the Frei-
k o r p s m e n . O n the o t h e r h a n d , the F r e i k o r p s m e n c e r t a i n l y
r e p r e s e n t e d one of the idealistic i m a g e s of N a z i i d e o l o g y a n d
w o u l d soon b e c o m e role models for the millions of G e r m a n m e n
a n d boys w h o related to the experience of w a r t h r o u g h books,
p a m p h l e t s , a n d films glorifying these protofascist w a r r i o r s .
Depersonalization left its m a r k on e v e r y aspect of the subse­
quent N a z i aesthetic: combat, power, the exaltation of death, the
g r e a t phallic h e r o standing alone a m i d the tumult of battle. In ide­
alizing the a r c h e t y p a l soldier, it m a d e the idea of fulfillment
t h r o u g h battle a n d absorption into the m a s s part of these men's
deepest desires—men w h o w e r e e m p t y shells w i t h o u t the m a s s e s
they h a d led as conquering heroes but that h a d shamelessly a b a n ­
d o n e d t h e m in c o u r s e of the First World War.
"Finally, there is e c s t a s y — a state of m i n d g r a n t e d not only to
the holy m a n , to great writers a n d great lovers, but also to the
great in spirit. E c s t a s y is an intoxication b e y o n d all intoxications,
a release that bursts all b o n d s ... M a n in ecstasy b e c o m e s a violent
storm, a raging sea, roaring thunder. H e m e r g e s with the c o s m o s ,
racing t o w a r d death's dark gates like a bullet t o w a r d its target.
A n d should the w a v e s c r a s h purple above him, h e will be long
p a s t all consciousness of m o v e m e n t or transition; he will be a
w a v e gliding back into the flowing sea."^^ Jünger celebrates w a r as
a sexual experience. In another part of the book he writes: "Blood
whirled t h r o u g h our brains a n d pulsated t h r o u g h o u r veins, as if
anticipating a long-awaited night of love—^but this night w o u l d be
m o r e passionate a n d m o r e furious."^' H o w e v e r , w a r is also a cul­
tural experience. H e r e Ernst J ü n g e r is describing the old social
Darwinist assumptions: the cultural superiority of the victor, the
oneness of victory, power, a n d culture. J ü n g e r ' s entire book Der
Kampf als inneres Erlebnis (Battle as Inner Experience) is a n i m a t e d
b y the glorification of battle a n d uses the s a m e style throughout.
O n c e again Ernst Jünger a n d once again Der Kampf als inneres
Erlebnis: "Regardless of h o w great a culture is, if men's nerves fail,
it is nothing m o r e than a giant with feet of clay. A n d the m o r e m a s ­
sive its structures, the m o r e horrible the collapse ... therefore it is
the sacred duty of the highest culture to h a v e the m o s t powerful
battalions."^ In other w o r d s , culture in all its aspects is synony­
m o u s with having the best military forces. H e r e at last it is per­
fectly clear that fascism h a d another dimension, one that affected
I
H
H
Reasons for the Rise of Hitler
the individual m u c h m o r e directly a n d profoundly than the m e r e
promise to eliminate
individual into m a s s uonregma p
n li o
z ay tmi oennst, and rectifya nother
military,
69
a m i l i t ills.
d p a rsocial ary
^1 The
g r o uaestheticization
p s — h a d taken of politics—that
possession of allis,spheres
the totalofintegration
public life.of The the
I in
"most powerful battalions" h a d b e c o m e the "highest culture."
"r The Nazis h a d another n a m e for the totalist or totalitarian aes­
k ' thetic;
th they called it p r o p a g a n d a . It is practically impossible t o d a y
to imagine the i m p a c t of this p r o p a g a n d a without a knowledge of
h
too w history h a d prepared the masses to respond to it. In the 1 9 2 0 s
the attitudes of an entire generation h a d been formed by the trau­
matic experience of having "pointlessly" risked their lives in w a r
a n d then having a "humiliating" peace foisted upon them. The
feeling of pointlessness recurred after World W a r II, but in this
c a s e people assessed the w a r quite differently. The surrender w a s
not considered a "humiliation"; in fact, at least a majority felt it to
be a liberation. ^,
This radically different assessment is one of the m a n y reasons
that the feeling of meaninglessness after 1 9 4 5 did not develop a
d j m a m i c similar to that of the 1920s. The East G e r m a n film Die
Russen kommen (The Russians A r e C o m i n g , 1 9 6 8 / 8 7 ) , directed b y
Heiner C a r o w , s h o w s the last d a y s of World W a r II t h r o u g h the
eyes of the 16-year old Hitler Youth Günter and h o w his hopes
a n d v a l u e s a r e shattered overnight. H o w e v e r , since the idea of
limiting the film's perspective to that of a y o u n g fascist h e r o (a
first time for a Defa^^ picture) w a s apparently a bit too radical for
the GDR, since in 1968 the c o u n t r y w a s trying to c o m e to t e r m s
with the past, the film w a s consigned to the archives a n d w a s not
p r e m i e r e d until 1987. Entire sequences from Veit Harlan's N a z i
p r o p a g a n d a film Kolberg w e r e edited in so as to emphasize the^
d r a m a surrounding the battle for the fortress t o w n of Kolberg—
the sacrifices m a d e by the townspeople, their ability to hold out to
the end, a n d above all the fact that the decision w a s taken b y a
civilian militia rather than the regular military. In Die Russen kom­
men the y o u n g people of the village see Kolberg at the local cinema,
a n d their reactions reflect the v a r i o u s functions of p r o p a g a n d a
films: to divert people's attention from the daily experience of w a r
(a soldier on leave and a y o u n g w o m a n use the time in the theater
for a bit of hanky-panky); to motivate t h e m to c a r r y on the w a r
a n d b e r e a d y to die. T h e faces of the y o u n g e r Hitler Youth a r e
a g l o w after the Kolbergers finally repel the French attack on the
town's fort.
70 The Triumph of Propaganda
"Until n o w it s e e m s as t h o u g h the fascists h a v e been consulted
t o o little a b o u t fascism, while those w h o c l a i m to u n d e r s t a n d it
h a v e been consulted t o o m u c h . " T h o u g h there is a g o o d deal of
truth in this the starting point of Klaus Theweleit's study, it d o e s
not m e a n that National Socialism should be tied primarily to the
p e r s o n of A d o l f Hitler. O n the contrary, by personalizing the sys­
t e m in this w a y o n e lays oneself o p e n to the suspicion of s u c ­
c u m b i n g to the spell of the Hitler m y t h , a s is the c a s e of J o a c h i m
Fest's d o c u m e n t a r y Hitler—eine Karriere (Hitler: the W h o l e Story,
1 9 7 7 ) . Rather, the point is to analyze the psychological a n d social
conditions of the people w h o fell u n d e r the F ü h r e r ' s spell, w h o
b u r s t into tears w h e n they s a w the d o c u m e n t a r i e s a n d newsreels
in t h o s e d a y s , w h o enthusiastically s h o u t e d "Heil" t h o u s a n d s
u p o n t h o u s a n d s of times.
In o r d e r to g e n e r a t e this kind of e n t h u s i a s m millions of times
over, the N a z i s p u t e v e r y available m e d i u m a n d m e a n s of c o m ­
m u n i c a t i o n a t the service of their p r o p a g a n d a machine. Still, it is
w o r t h e m p h a s i z i n g with regard n o t only to the success but also to
the form a n d content of N a z i p r o p a g a n d a that Goebbels mainly
u s e d the m o s t m o d e r n , cutting-edge m e a n s of m a s s c o m m u n i c a ­
tion, i.e., r a d i o a n d , m o s t powerful a n d effective of all, film.
In Dialektik der Aufklärung, A d o r n o and H o r k h e i m e r note that
"the step from the telephone to the radio has clearly distinguished
the roles. The former still allowed the subscriber to play the role of
subject, a n d w a s liberal. T h e latter is democratic: it turns all partic­
ipants into listeners a n d authoritatively subjects t h e m to b r o a d c a s t
p r o g r a m s w h i c h are all exactly the same."^^ However, as they g o on
to bolster their a r g u m e n t , they d r a w m o s t of their e x a m p l e s from
the m o s t a v a n t - g a r d e technology in the field of art—film. A d o r n o
and H o r k h e i m e r are not o p p o s e d to the technological a d v a n c e s in
film p r o d u c t i o n and the creation of fantasy, but to the use to w h i c h
they are p u t in standardizing the production of thoughts and ideas.
Published in 1 9 4 4 a n d deeply affected b y the p h e n o m e n o n of fas­
cism, the book sees the c a u s e of the "self-destructiveness of the
Enlightenment"^^ in the totalitarian Gleichschaltung of the e x p r e s ­
sion of ideas b y m e a n s of industrial technology.
H e l m u t F ä r b e r a n a l y z e s t h e u n i q u e o p p o r t u n i t y of the film
m e d i u m to influence the masses: "In film, reality, imagery, a n d the
commercial-like use of i m a g e r y b e c o m e one, creating a second-rate
reality. E v e n images that are inherently incongruous c a n be, as it
w e r e , forced into a relationship. In this sense, film is directly related
to demagoguery."^^ Bela Balazs points to another aspect of film's
Reasons for the Rise of Hitler 71
effectiveness as a tool of p r o p a g a n d a : "The w a y in which a director
arranges a shot reflects his attitude t o w a r d a subject—his affection,
his hatred, his pathos, or his mockery. H e n c e the propagandistic
p o w e r of the film m e d i u m . F o r the director does not h a v e to p r o v e
his point of view; he leaves it u p to us to absorb it visually. "^^
The e y e of the c a m e r a a n d m o n t a g e — t w o devices available to
the f i l m m a k e r — h e l p the v i e w e r t o a c c e p t film as reality. Irre­
sistibly, t h e y d r a w the m o v i e g o e r into their v e r s i o n of reality,
b a s e d on l a w s established in authoritarian fashion by the director.
There is n o escape. In this respect, t h o u g h , film is no m o r e t h a n a
reflection a n d a fimction of the m o d e r n industrialized w o r l d that
g a v e birth to it, a w o r l d that negates the individual, as the N a z i
d o c u m e n t a r y s h o w s u s in s u c h e x e m p l a r y a n d cynical fashion.
F i l m e p i t o m i z e d a n d p e r f e c t e d the o n e factor that f o r m e d the
basis of the entire N a z i m o v e m e n t a n d that, in a m u c h b r o a d e r
sense t h a n is c o n n o t e d b y the t e r m today, e m b r a c e d e v e r y area
and a s p e c t of life—propaganda.
Notes
1. Joseph Goebbels, "Der totale Krieg" in Joseph Goebbels, Der steile Aufstieg
(Munich, 1944), p. 128.
2. Cf. Hilmar Hoffmann, ed.. Gegen den Versuch, Vergangenheit zu verbiegen [with
essays by Martin Broszat, Gordon Craig, Jürgen Habermas, Hans Mommsen et
al.j (Frankfurt am Main, 1987). See also Charles S. Maier, The Unmasterable Past
(Cambridge, Mass., 1988); Richard J. Evans, In Hitler's Shadow (New York,
1989); Peter Baldwin, ed.. Reworking the Past (Boston, 1990).
3. Jürgen Habermas, "Eine Art Schadensabwicklung" in Die Zeit (Hamburg), vol.
29,11 July 1986, p. 40.
4. Ernst Nolte, Faschismus in seiner Epoche (Munich, 1963), English translation
Three Faces of Fascism (New York, 1965).
5. Ernst Nolte in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 6 June 1986.
6. Horst-Eberhard Richter, Leben statt machen (Hamburg, 1987), p. 110; cf.:
Hilmar Hoffmann, "Zukunft ist wieder denkbar" in Frankfurter Rundschau, 21
May 1988.
7. Horst-Eberhard Richter, Leben statt machen, p. 141.
8. "Über den Faschismus" in Gegen den Strom, Organ der KPD, Berlin (Opposi­
tion), 1930; now in Abendroth, Wolfgang, comp., Faschismus und Kapitalismus,
2nd ed. (Frankfurt am Main, 1967).
72 The Triumph of Propaganda Reasons for the Rise of Hitler 73

9. Georgi Dimitrov, Arbeiterklasse gegen Faschismus (Moscow, 1935; Marmheim, 1975). 31. [Defa was the acronym for Deutsche-Film-AG, the name of the GDR's film
10. Reinhard Opitz, "Über die Entstehung und Verhinderung von Faschismus," company—Transl.]
Das Argument (Berlin), no. 87,1974. 32. Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer, Dialektik der Außlärung, p. 109.
11. Joachim C. Fest, Hitler. 33. Ibid., p. 1.
12. John Toland, Adolf Hitler (New York, 1976). 34. Helmut Färber, Baukunst und Film: aus der Geschichte des Sehens (Munich, 1977).
13. Friedrich Heer, Der Glaube des Adolf Hitler: Anatomie einer politischen Religiosität 35. B^la Baläzs, Schriften zum Film, 2 vols. (Frankfurt am Main, 1972), vol. 2: Der
(Munich, 1968). Geist des Films: Artikel und Aufsätze 1926-1931, p. 73.
14. Wilhelm Reich, Massenpsychologie des Faschismus (Copenhagen, 1933; Cologne,
1971), English translation Mass Psychology of Fascism (New York, 1970).
15. Klaus Theweleit, Männerphantasien, 2 vols. (Frankfurt am Main, 1977-78), Eng­
lish translation Male Fantasies, 2 vols. (Minneapolis, Minn., 1987-89).
16. Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer, Dialektik der Aufklärung (Frankfurt
am Main, 1969; 1987), English translation Dialectic of Enlightenment (New York,
1944; 1972).
17. Ralf Dahrendorf, Gesellschaft und Demokratie in Deutschland (Munich, 1965),
English translation Society and Democracy in Germany (New York, 1967).
18. Saul Friedländer, Kitsch und Tod (Munich, 1984), p. 118, English translation
Reflections on Nazism: an Essay on Kitsch and Death (New York, 1984).
19. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, p. 371, English translation Man Kampf (Boston, 1943).
20. Seymour Martin Lipset, Soziologie der Demokratie (Neuwied, 1962), English
original Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics (New York, 1960).
21. See, e.g., Thomas Childers, The Nazi Voter (Chapel Hill, 1983); Richard F.
Hamilton, Who Voted For Hitler? (Princeton, 1982); Detlev Mühlberger, Hitler's
Followers (London, 1991); Michael Kater, The Nazi Party (Cambridge, Mass.,
1983). The extent of blue-collar Nazification before 1933 has remained contro­
versial. See, e.g., Conan Fischer, ed.. The Rise of National Socialism and the Work­
ing Classes in Weimar Germany (forthcoming).

22. Siegfried Kracauer, Die Angestellten (Frankhirt am Main, 1930).

23. Walter Hofer, ed., Der Nationalsozialismus: Dokumente 1933-1945 (Frankfurt am
Main, 1957), p. 24.
24. Ralf Dahrendorf, Gesellschaft und Demokratie in Deutschland, p. 442. See also lan
Kershaw, Der Hitler-Mythos (Shittgart, 1980), English translation The "Hitler
Myth": Image and Reality in the Third Reich (Oxford, 1987).
25. See the studies cited in note 21 above. [DNVP stands for Deutschnationale
Volkspartei or German National People's Party, Zentrum for the Catholic
Center Party, and BVP for the Bayerische Volkspartie or Bavarian People's
Party.—Transl.]
26. Klaus Theweleit, Männerphantasien.
27. Ibid., vol. 1, pp. 212-3.
28. Ernst Jünger, Der Kampf als inneres Erlebnis (Berlin, 1922), p. 53.
29. Ibid., p. 12.
30. Ibid., p. 37.

+ 4 + I the c o u n t r y b y car or rail. H e preferred to use a plane a n d descend
FILM PROPAGANDA IN THEJ
THIRD REICH
History of Propaganda
The most striking success of a revolution based on a philosophy of life
will always have been achieved when the new philosophy of life as far
as possible has been taught to all men and, if necessary, later forced
upon them ...
Adolf Hitleri
T h e Nazis will a l w a y s h a v e a place in the annals of m a s s decei^
a n d inciting hatred. N o one will dispute their right t o this claim to
f a m e . In fact, it s e e m s perfectly justifiable t o c h a r a c t e r i z e t h e
National Socialist m o v e m e n t as a " p r o p a g a n d a m o v e m e n t . " "We
m u s t inspire p r o p a g a n d a to p r o c e e d a t a n active, m o d e r n p a c e ,
a n d w e inust e n d o w it with life a n d breath," w a s Joseph Goeb­
bels's r e c o m m e n d a t i o n in a lecture delivered at N u r e m b e r g o n 16
September 1 9 3 5 to the G a u a n d Kreis p r o p a g a n d a leaders of the
m o v e m e n t . Unlike a n y o t h e r politician before o r since. Hitler,
from t h e time h e b e g a n his political activity, h a d v e r y definite
i d e a s r e g a r d i n g t h e effectiveness a n 4 t h e m e t h o d s o f m o d e r n
mass propaganda. ' ^^'^^•^j.
E v e n w h e n the N a z i m o v e m e n t w a s m a d e u p of nothing m o r e
t h a n a b u n c h o f s t r a g g l e r s a n d n u m b e r e d only s e v e r a l d o z e n
m e m b e r s , its rallies a n d r e c r u i t m e n t m e e t i n g s clearly differed
from those of other political splinter groups. Like a clever a d v e r ­
tising executive. Hitler h a d effectively planned a strategy for m a r ­
keting his p r o d u c t , n a m e l y himself, never confusing p r o p a g a n d a
w i t h sales p r o m o t i o n . A uniform set of p a r t y symbols, a p a r t y
n e w s p a p e r (which w a s founded v e r y early in the history of the
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 75
m o v e m e n t ) , a n d later a Nazified eclectic m a s s culture w e r e all part
of the strategy. The m o s t i m p o r t a n t c o m p o n e n t , though, w a s the
perfectly s t a g e - m a n a g e d public a p p e a r a n c e s of the Führer, which
Hitler h a d a flair for transforming into gigantic circus-like m a s s
rallies. Unlike his political adversaries. Hitler did not travel across
from the clouds like s o m e mythical savior to the waiting c r o w d s
of G e r m a n s below. Since the Nazis' m a n i a for theatrical effects
a n d t h e w a y in w h i c h they staged their spectacular s h o w s a r e
already well known, the following brief c o m m e n t s should suffice.
E v e n t h o u g h they considered "propaganda" the actual objec­
tive o f their policy (the content of w h i c h w a s m o r e often than not
of v e r y l o w quality) a n d perfected the art during their period of
rule, t h e N a z i s w e r e n o t t h e i n v e n t o r s o f t h e c o n c e p t . C o n s e ­
quently, a few r e m a r k s o n t h e history of p r o p a g a n d a a r e w a r ­
ranted in order t o p r o v i d e a n o v e r v i e w o f the historical material
that Hitler so unscrupulously a p p r o p r i a t e d a n d twisted for his
o w n purposes.
Initially, t h e t e r m p r o p a g a n d a h a d m e a n i n g only within the
context of the R o m a n Catholic church, w h e r e it originated as part
of the C o u n t e r Reformation. During the reign of P o p e Gregory XV,
the cardinals of the R o m a n C u r i a set u p the Sacra Congregatio de
Propaganda Fide ( t h e C o n g r e g a t i o n for t h e P r o p a g a t i o n o f t h e
Faith), t h e chief p u r p o s e of w h i c h w a s to c o m b a t L u t h e r a n i s m in
Germany. F o u n d e d in 1 6 2 2 , it b e c a m e both famous a n d infamous
as t h e C o u n t e r Reformation's main institution for training mis­
sionaries to spread the Catholic faith a r o u n d the globe.
D u r i n g t h e F r e n c h revolution of 1 8 3 0 , conspiratorial g r o u p s
secularized the ecclesiastical term, calhng their international c a m ­
paigns "La Propaganda." T h e e x t r e m e left w e r e the first to "propa­
gandize" their various causes.
P r o p o n e n t s of revolutionary activism in Russia i m p o r t e d the
c o n c e p t of p r o p a g a n d a from France, along with the idea of agita­
tion. T h e anarchist Sergei G. N e c h a y e v introduced t h e t e r m into
the v o c a b u l a r y of Russian anarchism with the activist slogan "tak­
ing p r o p a g a n d a to the people" (1869). C o a u t h o r of a w o r k titled
Revolutionary Catechism, N e c h a y e v w a s later vehemently criticized
b y M a r x a n d Engels. H e died after being imprisoned for ten y e a r s
in Peter Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. Dostoyevsky, himself a n
a d h e r e n t of "utopian socialism," inunortalized S. G. N e c h a y e v b y
basing the character Pyotr Stepanovich Verkhovensky o n the
f a m o u s anarchist in his Possessed, sometimes translated as Demons.
76 The Triumph of Propaganda
In 1 9 0 3 Lenin ridiculed the competition to g e n e r a t e relevant
ideas for the p u r p o s e s of indoctrination with his often-quoted
ironic r e m a r k that p r o p a g a n d a disseminates a lot of ideas to the
few, while agitation spreads a few ideas to the many. Be that as it
may, Lenin's C P S U ( C o m m u n i s t P a r t y of the Soviet U n i o n ) w a s
the first o r g a n i z e d m a s s m o v e m e n t to u s e p r o p a g a n d a as a n
instrument a n d a w e a p o n to mobilize an entire nation. Radio a n d
the press w e r e not the only m e d i a forced to p o u n d the p r o g r a m s
of totalitarianism into the hearts a n d minds of the masses. The
state u s e d literature, film, the fine arts, a n d even music as tools in
the c a m p a i g n to protect the revolution from an unbridled indi­
vidualism that could threaten the state's raison d'etre. H o w e v e r , it
w a s n o t until 1 9 3 2 that Stalin established socialist realism as the
o n l y officially a p p r o v e d s c h o o l of a r t w i t h i n the C o m m u n i s t
empire. Henceforth, the depiction of social reality could b e u s e d
only to e m p h a s i z e the positive accomplishments of socialism as
the s u p r e m e principle of the n e w reality. A t the s a m e time, the
p a r t y d e c r e e d that the "new m a n " w a s to be m a d e the e x e m p l a r y
Soviet h e r o of this n e w society. A n y deviation from the general
line of the party's officially established virtues w a s d e n o u n c e d as
f o r m a l i s m or d e c a d e n t b o u r g e o i s a r t — a n d n o t just verbally.
Repression, denial of permission to w o r k , a n d persecution w e r e
the responses to a n y attempts at p r o d u c i n g art on one's own.
Hitler p u r s u e d his plans to subordinate the press, the cinema,
a n d the arts to the p u r p o s e s of N a z i p r o p a g a n d a w i t h similar
u n c o m p r o m i s i n g vigor, albeit in a different direction with regard
to subject matter. In his case, others h a d already laid the "ground­
w o r k " for h i m in Germany. In a letter to the W a r Ministry d a t e d 4
July 1 9 1 7 , General Erich L u d e n d o r f f h a d m a d e the c o n n e c t i o n
b e t w e e n " p r o p a g a n d a " a n d the subject of this book—"film."
Given the universal hatred of G e r m a n y p r o v o k e d by A m e r i c a n
film p r o p a g a n d a a n d with a v i e w to the "further course of the w a r
... G e r m a n film p r o p a g a n d a m u s t m a k e a special effort to clarify
the G e r m a n point of view."
In fact, w e see a w o r l d w i d e a n d extremely effective film p r o p a ­
g a n d a c a m p a i g n w a g e d d u r i n g W o r l d W a r I b y the p o w e r s
a r r a y e d against Germany. F r o m the outset of the war. P r i m e Min­
ister Asquith continued the age-old British tradition of using p r o ­
p a g a n d a as a w e a p o n . Interestingly, in 1 8 2 6 F o r e i g n S e c r e t a r y
G e o r g e C a n n i n g m a d e a prescient statement in a speech to the
L o w e r H o u s e of P a r l i a m e n t in w h i c h h e f o r e s a w that if His
Majesty's g o v e r n m e n t w e n t to w a r o v e r P o r t u g a l , his c o u n t r y
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 77
"could n o t avoid seeing ranked under her banners all the restless
a n d dissatisfied of any nation with which she might c o m e in con­
flict."^ In 1 9 1 4 Asquith immediately set u p a n Office of P r o p a ­
g a n d a t h a t c a m e d i r e c t l y u n d e r t h e W a r C a b i n e t . A m o n g his
advisors w a s L o r d Northcliffe, w h o for twenty years, until 1928,
w a s Britain's press baron. A s t e m p o r a r y director of p r o p a g a n d a in
e n e m y countries under Lloyd George, h e w a s able to e x p a n d his
influence. Northcliffe fired the first shot in the journalistic w o r l d
w a r b y publishing in his various n e w s p a p e r s a horrific vision of
"child-molesting beasts." H e celebrated the Allies' sustained pro­
p a g a n d a b a r r a g e as the third factor—aside from the land w a r a n d
the w a r at sea—in deciding the o u t c o m e of the conflict: "The m o s t
ordinary pictures could b e c o m e rabble-rousing p r o p a g a n d a w h e n
c o m b i n e d with captions that w e r e in c o m m o n use at the time, e.g.,
u n d e r a p h o t o g r a p h of G e r m a n soldiers, the w o r d s 'And then
h o r d e s of the Kaiser's child-murderers arrived.'"^
C h a r l i e C h a p l i n ' s film Shoulder Arms ( 1 9 1 8 ) , w h i c h K u r t
Tucholsky called a "perfect satire of the military," w a s the story of
Charlie's d r e a m about capturing the Kaiser. While it w a s generally
c o n d e m n e d as vile e n e m y p r o p a g a n d a , Tucholsky, on the other
h a n d , pleaded: "This brilliant film should be s h o w n in darkest
Germany. C r o s s the Rhine, Chaplin, cross the Rhine."* The m o s t
obviously unrestrained of all Allied p r o p a g a n d a films. The Kaiser
—Beast of Berlin, w a s advertised in a correspondingly hostile m a n ­
ner: "Keep y o u r guns in y o u r pocket a n d don't shoot at the screen
n e x t Friday, b e c a u s e that's the d a y w e ' r e s h o w i n g The Beast of
Berlin." There w a s n o absolute difference in quality between the
inflammatory p r o p a g a n d a p r o d u c e d b y the Allies a n d that turned
o u t b y Imperial G e r m a n y in the First W o r l d War. E v e n F r e n c h
Premier Aristide Briand set up an office of p r o p a g a n d a (Maison de
la Presse) in October 1 9 1 5 , w h i c h Georges C l e m e n c e a u raised to a
secretariat for p r o p a g a n d a t o w a r d the end of the war.
U n d e r W o o d r o w Wilson, w h o had been elected president on a
platform to keep A m e r i c a out of the war, influential industrialists
like A n d r e w Carnegie a n d H e n r y Ford gave their initial financial
support to pacifist films such as Intolerance (1916), directed by D. W.
Griffith, a n d Civilization (1916), directed by T h o m a s Ince. Director
James Stuart Blackton signaled a 180-degree change in attitude with
his The Battle Cry of Peace (1916), the first nationalistic dramatic fea­
ture film. W h e n A m e r i c a entered the w a r on 5 April 1917, the C o m ­
mittee on Public Information took o v e r responsibility for the
organization of U.S. film propaganda. Wartime U.S. p r o p a g a n d a
 The Triumph of Propaganda
78
newsreels w e r e distributed b y P a t h e a n d H e a r s t a n d w e r e seen in
m o r e t h a n t w e n t y t h o u s a n d E u r o p e a n m o v i e theaters. G e o r g e
Creel, w h o supervised film p r o p a g a n d a in his capacity as director
of the U.S. Film Division, s u m m a r i z e d his achievements with a
m e a s u r e of self-satisfaction: "In our battle for public opinion in
foreign countries, w e o v e r c a m e the obstacle of a hostile press in
almost e v e r y case through our use of film to inform a n d a d v e r ­
tise."^ W a r p r o p a g a n d a is only successful w h e n the soil has been
p r e p a r e d well in a d v a n c e . A l d o u s H u x l e y w r o t e that "political
a n d religious p r o p a g a n d a is effective, it w o u l d seem, only u p o n
those w h o are already partly or entirely convinced of its truth."*
Since the subject m a t t e r of p r o p a g a n d a films w a s often d r e a r y
a n d did not h a v e great entertainment value, H o l l y w o o d , being
m o r e interested in profit than politics, soon returned to p r o d u c i n g
s c h m a l t z y m e l o d r a m a s after the end of the First World War. The
interest in b u s i n e s s to the e x c l u s i o n of e v e r y t h i n g else h e l p s
explain the fact that A m e r i c a p r o d u c e d hardly one film from 1 9 3 3
to the beginning of the Second World W a r that dealt with the sub­
ject of N a z i s m . O n the contrary, high-quality Nazi d o c u m e n t a r i e s
s u c h as Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia (1938) a n d glorifications of w a r
like Fritz Hippler's Sieg im Westen (Victory in the West, late 1 9 4 0 )
p a c k e d m o v i e theaters in A m e r i c a right u p to the beginning of
World W a r II. "Cheer up, A m e r i c a — t h e s h o w will g o on" assured
an M G M slogan.
In his w a r m e m o i r s , published in 1919, Ludendorff confirmed
the fact that e n e m y p r o p a g a n d a w a s one of the causes of the w i d e ­
s p r e a d defeatism inside G e r m a n y : "Blockade a n d p r o p a g a n d a
b e g a n gradually to u n d e r m i n e our fighting spirit ... Before the
e n e m y p r o p a g a n d a w e w e r e like a rabbit before a snake ... T h e
p r o p a g a n d i s t s w e r e clever in understanding the effects of s u c h
p h r a s e s as 'a p e a c e w i t h o u t v i c t o r s or v a n q u i s h e d ' {Verständi­
gungsfrieden, or p e a c e of understanding), 'post-war d i s a r m a m e n t , '
'league of nations,' a n d so on, on the G e r m a n people."^ E v e n
Hitler a c k n o w l e d g e d that h e ultimately "learned e n o r m o u s l y "
from "the a m a z i n g skill a n d truly brilliant calculation of e n e m y
war propaganda."
A s early as 1 9 1 0 L u d w i g JGitzsch, the publisher of the Leipziger
Illustrierte Zeitung, h a d r e c o m m e n d e d a "nationalist political
advertising c a m p a i g n " to c o u n t e r a c t "the encirclement policy of
future e n e m y p o w e r s b y using similar m e a n s of p r o p a g a n d a . "
Klitzsch invited the captains of G e r m a n industry to the A d l o n
H o t e l in Berlin to alert t h e m to "the great effectiveness of film
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 79
p r o p a g a n d a as u s e d b y o u r e c o n o m i c c o m p e t i t o r s " a n d to sug­
gest l a u n c h i n g a series of counteroffensives. Germany, he said,
m u s t n o t allow itself to b e p u s h e d into a c o r n e r in the w o r l d
m a r k e t . F r a n c e h a d ostensibly s p r e a d a n t i - G e r m a n "hate" films
in E g y p t in 1 9 0 9 "in o r d e r to acquire r e n o w n n o t only as the
inventor of the m o t i o n picture but as the inventor of the 'hate'
film as well."
But it w a s not until the middle of the w a r in 1 9 1 6 that Klitzsch
w a s able to p e r s u a d e the S u p r e m e C o m m a n d a n d the F o r e i g n
Office b y arguing that the British g o v e r n m e n t h a d allocated the
equivalent of 8 0 nüUion m a r k s solely for the p u r p o s e of p r o d u c ­
ing "hate" films for its a n t i - G e r m a n p r o p a g a n d a c a m p a i g n in
Latin America.^ To counter this effort, the G e r m a n g o v e r n m e n t ,
w i t h the s u p p o r t of other interested parties, founded Deulig, a
film c o m p a n y that t h r o u g h appropriate d o c u m e n t a r y films w a s
to publicize the fatherland a t h o m e a n d a b r o a d . The Deutsche
Lichtspiel-Gesellschaft (German Motion Picture C o m p a n y )
a s s u m e d the task of producing a n d distributing p r o p a g a n d a films
until G e n e r a l L u d e n d o r f f , e v e r the o m n i p o t e n t c o m m a n d e r ,
decided to p u t film p r o d u c t i o n under his authority. A t the begin­
ning of 1 9 1 7 , there followed the establishment in Berlin of Bufa
{das Königliche Bild-und Filmamt [Royal Picture a n d Film Office]),
set u p p u r e l y as a g o v e r n m e n t agency. Within a short time kiosks
c a r r i e d film p o s t e r s p r o c l a i m i n g "The h e r o i c exploits of o u r
i n c o m p a r a b l e soldiers"; "Kaiser Wilhelm in the midst of e n e m y
fire"; "Our soldiers p a r a d e p r o u d l y past the S u p r e m e W a r L o r d in
their field-gray uniforms."
Ludendorff, the Quartermaster-General, w a s n o w in c h a r g e of
another, different kind of ordnance—film. In order for film "not to
lose its e n o r m o u s i m p o r t a n c e as a m e a n s of political a n d military
influence, " it is "absolutely necessary for the successful p r o s e c u ­
tion of the w a r that film b e used with u t m o s t vigor w h e r e v e r Ger­
m a n y is still able to exercise its influence." In retrospect, this order,
issued in 1 9 1 7 b y the Chief of the A r m y General Staff, m a y be con­
sidered the charter that actually established Ufa {Universum-Film-
AG) in D e c e m b e r of that s a m e year.
O n 5 F e b r u a r y 1 9 1 7 Bufa c o m m i s s i o n e d the I m p e r a t o r - F i l m -
Gesellschaft to p r o d u c e a n official p r o p a g a n d a film titled Die
Schuldigen des Weltkrieges (Those Responsible for the W o r l d W a r ) .
T h e notes s h o w n below, o n w h i c h it w a s to be based, illustrate
the R o y a l Picture a n d Film Office's naivete regarding effective
counterpropaganda:
 The Triumph of Propaganda
80
1. The instigators of the worldwide conflagration;
2. Who fanned the flames? (Sir Edward Grey sitting behind his
desk);
3. Who added fuel to the fire? ((Clemenceau, the fanatic revanchist);
4. Who volimteered to be their accomplice? (Sazonov, the lackey of
the Entente);
5. Who was the butcher of Sarajevo? (Cinoci [sic], the minister of
war and purloiner of millions);
6. The gang of murderers and arsorusts;
7. Who ravaged and despoiled East Prussia? (Nikolayevich, the
murdering Cossack);
8. Who wanted German children to go without milk and Ger­
man mothers to go without bread (Asquith, who planned to
starve us to death);
9. Who allied himself with savage tribes on every continent?
(Poincare, England's loyal servant and Grey's co-conspirator);
10. Who ordered German doctors, nurses, officers, and men to be tor­
tured, murdered, mutilated? (Delcasse, King Edward's minion);
11. Who is deceiving and swindling the whole world? (Briand, the
windbag of the "grande nation");
12. Who is responsible for the Baralong incident and King Steffen
[sic] [possibly the Stephana, a British steamer sunk by the British
themselves—Transl.]? Who is spoiling for a fight to the firush?
(Lloyd George, England's Satan);
13. Who is Europe's biggest hypocrite? (Bratianu the two-faced);
14. Who violated his pledge to the Triple Alliance? (Sormino, the
most mendacious among this gang of thieves);
15. Who is going to prosecute them? (Hindenburg).
Evidently, the project to p r o d u c e Die Schuldigen des Weltkrieges
n e v e r c a m e to fruition.
While the w a r w a s still in progress, Ludendorff p r e p a r e d to
centralize filmmaking, with a n eye "to having a m o r e systematic
a n d stronger influence on the great m a s s of the people in the inter­
ests of the state b y using general standardized themes." A certain
Major A l e x a n d e r G r a u , a press specialist in the W a r Ministry, w a s
detailed to c a r r y out Ludendorff's orders. Ludendorff s h o w e d his
true colors w h e n he founded the "Tannenberg L e a g u e " in 1 9 2 6 . It
d e s c r i b e d itself as a militant Kampfbund (Fighting League)
directed against so-called "supranational p o w e r s " such as J e w s ,
F r e e m a s o n s , M a r x i s t s , a n d Jesuits. W i t h its stock of s h a r e s
a m o u n t i n g to about 2 5 million m a r k s , of w h i c h the Reich took
o v e r one-third, Ufa w a s set u p as a virtual film cartel without a n y
competition. Messter-Filmgesellschaft, P. Davidson's Film-Union,
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 81
and the motion picture companies controlled by Nordisk m e r g e d
to form the n e w Ufa enterprise. The official mission of Ufa w a s
nothing less than to advertise G e r m a n y ' s greatness. "[Govern­
m e n t directives] asked not only for u n a m b i g u o u s screen p r o p a ­
g a n d a , b u t also for films that w o u l d g i v e p e o p l e in foreign
countries a picture of G e r m a n culture ..
The n e w consortium's first report, published on 10 October 1918,
reflects the spirit one w o u l d expect of an enterprise that w a s b o m as
a result of the war: "In close collaboration with Lieutenant Colonel
v o n Haeften of the military department of the Foreign Office, Major
G r a u of the Royal W a r Ministry, Privy Councillor Walter of the
Reich Treasury, and under the guidance of Herr v o n Stauß of the
Deutsche Bank, and with the direct participation of the Prince Don-
nersmarck Foundation, the negotiations to effect a merger in the
film industry w e r e expanded. On the one hand, the merger repre­
sented a vigorous and promising enterprise, and on the other it
offered assurances that important questions in the areas of G e r m a n
p r o p a g a n d a and G e r m a n cultural and popular education w o u l d be
resolved in the spirit of the Imperial government. The private-sec­
tor p r o g r a m w a s aimed at creating a concern in which the m o s t
important activities of the film industry, i.e., production, distribu­
tion, and screening, w o u l d be adequately represented."^"
E v e n at this time Ufa w a s already a quasi-governmental opera­
tion. Consequently, it w a s not difficult for the Nazis "to induce [this
oligopoly of different companies] to cooperate by offering specific
e c o n o m i c incentives and autarkic protective measures and, after
they h a d a s s u m e d power, gradually to transform it into a m o n o p ­
oly subservient to their regime."" So far, though, the Germans, in
the w o r d s of Gottlieb Hqrmes, w o u l d not consider making movies
"like the Belgians, w h o *äefame our a r m y and its supreme c o m ­
m a n d e r s , or like the French." Instead, after the peace treaty w a s
signed, the naive G e r m a n s turned out movies "that were heavily
w e i g h e d d o w n by didacticism, statistics, and other methods asso­
ciated with a c a d e m e ... and that now, as at the time they w e r e pro­
d u c e d , w o u l d h a v e little or n o p r o s p e c t of finding a c c e p t a n c e
abroad."^^ Hence, there w a s a determination quickly to reverse the
defensiveness reflected in the G e r m a n cinema's underdeveloped
chauvinism and, with the help of Ufa and the inclusion of nation­
alist themes, g o over to the offensive on a worldwide scale.
The G e r m a n Kulturfilm industry o w e d its rapid rise after World
W a r I to t w o m e n : E m i l G e o r g v o n Stauß, p r e s i d e n t of the
Deutsche Bank, w h o successfully gave it the financial wherewithal
 82 The Triumph of Propaganda
t h r o u g h his bank's acquisition of the shares held b y the Reich a n d
N o r d i s k , a n d the a b o v e - m e n t i o n e d A l e x a n d e r G r a u , w h o w a s
responsible for conceptualizing the plan.
Alfred H u g e n b e r g , leader of the nationalist conservative p a r t y
from 1 9 2 8 a n d cofounder of the so-called H a r z b u r g Front, w h i c h
briefly a s s e m b l e d all the r i g h t - w i n g e n e m i e s of the W e i m a r
Republic in October 1931, soon appeared on the scene to help p a v e
the w a y for the d e v e l o p m e n t of the cinema into a tool for p r o p a ­
g a n d a . A cold, calculating profiteer w h o m a d e a fortune out of the
inflation of the 1920s, H u g e n b e r g b o u g h t u p dozens of provincial
n e w s p a p e r s , including the m u c h - r e a d Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger.
With the acquisition of the h u g e Scherl Verlag a n d with his n e w s
agency, H u g e n b e r g soon controlled the largest media empire that
h a d ever existed in Germany. After buying the Deulig film c o m ­
p a n y a n d the bankrupt Ufa (1927), he also used the film m e d i u m
to a d v a n c e his reactionary views. The media m o g u l w a s therefore
able to c o n d u c t an u n r e s t r a i n e d c a m p a i g n against the W e i m a r
republic a n d S t r e s e m a n n , the L o c a r n o P a c t a n d the L e a g u e of
Nations, internationalism, liberalism, socialism, a n d pacifism.
H u g e n b e r g ' s nationalistic w e e k l y newsreels s p r e a d a n a c h r o ­
nistic a n d chauvinistic ideas about G e r m a n supremacy. They w e r e
originally designed as contributions to help the Kaiser regain his
throne. After the a t t e m p t failed, H u g e n b e r g exploited t h e m with
greater success to p u s h Hitler's völkisch ideas. Using his cartel-like
e m p i r e to m a n i p u l a t e public opinion, H u g e n b e r g u l t i m a t e l y
helped Hitler to achieve power. H e h a d h o p e d , as a consequence,
to realize his long-range personal a n d political goals with Hitler's
help. But Hitler's gratitude to H u g e n b e r g w a s short-lived. Less
t h a n six m o n t h s after Hitler a p p o i n t e d H u g e n b e r g Minister o f
E c o n o m i c s in his first coalition cabinet after being n a m e d chancel­
lor, he used massive pressure to force the conservative press b a r o n
to resign his p o s t o n 2 6 June 1 9 3 3 . H u g e n b e r g ' s resignation led to
the dissolution of his party, the National People's P a r t y ( D N V P ) , a
d a y later.
This short e x c u r s u s d o e s not seek to p o r t r a y N a z i p r o p a g a n d a
as a lineal heir to Catholic or even Stalinist p r o p a g a n d a . The only
direct line w a s the one that led from Ludendorff to Hitler. W h a t it
d o e s intend to s h o w is that the Nazis did not originate the idea of
p r o p a g a n d a . A t the s a m e time, h o w e v e r , it is impossible to
explain N a z i p r o p a g a n d a ' s a t t e m p t to h a v e a profound influence
on ideas a n d attitudes—"while disengaging the critical faculties
{unter Ausschaltung des Denkens)" (Hitler)—without referring to its
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 83
ideological origins, the roots of w h i c h lie mainly in the nineteenth
century. H e r e w e will outline s o m e of the theories of m a s s psy­
c h o l o g y on w h i c h Hitler a n d his h e n c h m e n based their efforts to
bring t h e m i n d o f the m a s s e s into line {gleichrichten) a n d stan­
d a r d i z e their thinking, theories that they also used to give a "sci­
entific" u n d e r p i n n i n g to the s t a g e d s p e c t a c l e s that w e r e b o t h
c o n t e m p t u o u s a n d destructive of h u m a n life a n d individuality.
In his p s y c h o l o g y of c r o w d s , the F r e n c h social psychologist
G u s t a v e L e B o n ( 1 8 4 1 - 1 9 3 1 ) developed a pseudoscientific, elitist,
a n d cynical theory of m a n that b e c a m e the basis for his rejection of
d e m o c r a c y a n d socialism. It also b e c a m e the foundation for d e m ­
a g o g u e s w h o s e efforts w e r e a i m e d at using—or m o r e properly,
a b u s i n g — h u m a n beings a n d the truth. "Mass psychology" is a
variant of the nineteenth c e n t u r y conservative theory of revolu­
tion. In his Psychologie des Foules, published in 1 8 9 5 , Le Bon used
the following characteristics to identify individuals w h o s e per­
sonality h a s been s u b m e r g e d in a c r o w d a n d w h o m h e c o n t e m p ­
tuously t e r m e d "primitive people":
Disappearance of the conscious personality, predominance of the
unconscious personality, the turning by means of suggestion and
contagion of feelings and ideas in an identical direction, the ten­
dency to inunediately transform the suggested ideas into acts.... He
is no longer himself, but has become an automaton who has ceased
to be guided by his will. Moreover, by the mere fact that he forms
part of an organized crowd, a man descends several rungs on the
ladder of civilization."
T h e i n d i v i d u a l s w h o h a v e b e e n r e d u c e d to the level of
" a u t o m a t o n s " a n d w h o s e sentiments a n d ideas c o i n c i d e w i t h
those of all others in the c r o w d b e c o m e r e a d y targets of p r o p a ­
g a n d a . E v e n t h o u g h L e B o n c o n s i d e r e d c r o w d s , as a m a t t e r of
principle, destructive, he also recognized their "heroic" function,
w h i c h m a d e t h e m i m p o r t a n t to the Nazis: "It is c r o w d s rather
than isolated individuals that m a y b e induced to run the risk of
d e a t h to secure the t r i u m p h of a creed or an idea, that m a y be
fired with enthusiasm for glory a n d honor, that are led—almost
w i t h o u t bread a n d without a r m s , as in the age of the C r u s a d e s —
to deliver the t o m b of Christ from the infidel, or as in 1 7 9 3 , to
defend the fatherland."''* In his c h a p t e r titled "The L e a d e r s of
C r o w d s a n d Their M e a n s of Persuasion," L e Bon described the
malleability of c r o w d s as t h o u g h he w e r e establishing a set of
guidelines for future fascists.
84 The Triumph of Propaganda
The m o s t influential successor to L e Bon, the e n e m y of d e m o c ­
racy, w a s the Spanish cultural philosopher O r t e g a y Gasset. His
m o s t p o p u l a r work. La Rebelion de las Masas, published in 1 9 3 0 a n d
still p o p u l a r today, represents a n o t e w o r t h y variation on the the­
ory of m a s s psychology. A c c o r d i n g to Ortega y Gasset, the nega­
tive qualities of the m a s s e s a r e not linüted to t h e m alone; they
apply to the individual as well. This individual, w h o m he calls
"mass m a n , " only serves to e n h a n c e the s u p e r i o r individual's
sense of his o w n superiority. Ortega's definition of the masses con­
c l u d e s with the kind of i m p e r i o u s l a n g u a g e that is difficult to
imagine writing today: "The m a s s is all that which sets n o value on
itself—good or ill—based on specific g r o u n d s , but w h i c h feels
itself 'just like e v e r y b o d y ' a n d nevertheless is not concerned about
it; is, in fact, quite h a p p y to feel as one with e v e r y b o d y else."
In his theory of the g r o u p leader, published in 1 9 2 1 , S i g m u n d
F r e u d anticipated the e m e r g e n c e of the m a s s e s w h o w o u l d even­
tually b e manipulated b y a dictator. The g i s t of his theory is that
the m e m b e r s of a_grQup a r e b o u n d by libidinal ties, to i d e n t i f y
with a leader w h o then uses those ties to b e c o m e , as it w e r e , the
group's "superego."
In his Doktor Faustus (1947) T h o m a s M a n n introduces t h r o u g h
indirection a n influential e x p o n e n t of an o v e r b e a r i n g elitism.
Clearly, the ideas he represents are those of the French socialist
Georges Sorel ( 1 8 4 7 - 1 9 2 2 ) a n d are m e a n t to induce the illustrious
g r o u p of gentiemen conversationalists, gathered in the postrevo-
lutionary M u n i c h of 1 9 1 9 , into g o o d - h u m o r e d l y a p p r o v i n g the
scrapping of truth, science, a n d reason. M a n n has his chronicler
Serenus Zeitblom recall this intellectual soiree with a sinking feel­
ing in the pit of his stomach. Following the experience of Hitierism,
M a n n takes Georges Sorel's theory on the positive role o f m y t h
a n d violence—a theory which is said to have h a d a powerful influ­
ence on Mussolini—and uses it to to m a k e the following point:
... that in this a g e of the m a s s e s p a r l i a m e n t a r y d i s c u s s i o n m u s t
p r o v e entirely i n a d e q u a t e for the s h a p i n g of political decisions;
t h a t in its s t e a d the m a s s e s w o u l d h a v e in the future to b e p r o ­
v i d e d w i t h m y t h i c a l fictions, d e v i s e d like p r i m i t i v e battle-cries, t o
release a n d a c t i v a t e political energies. This w a s in fact the c r a s s
a n d flaming p r o p h e c y of the book: that p o p u l a r m y t h s o r r a t h e r
t h o s e p r o p e r for the m a s s e s w o u l d b e c o m e the vehicles of political
a c t i o n — f a b l e s , insane visions, c h i m e r a s — w h i c h n e e d e d t o h a v e
notfiing t o d o w i t h t r u t h o r r e a s o n o r science in o r d e r to b e c r e a t i v e .
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 85
t o d e t e r m i n e the c o u r s e of life a n d history, a n d t h u s t o p r o v e t h e m ­
selves d y n a m i c realities."^^
Conditions for the Rise of Hitler
The first task of propaganda is to win people for subsequent organiza­
tion; the first task of organization is to win men for the continuation
of propaganda. The second task of propaganda is the disruption of the
existing state of affairs and the permeation of this state of affairs with
the new doctrine, while the second task of organization must be the
struggle for power, thus to achieve the final success of the doctrine.
Adolf Hitier^^
A n u m b e r of the w o r k s cited above laid the intellectual founda­
tions a n d helped p a v e the w a y for Hitler a n d his p r o p a g a n d a
machine. But ultimately it w a s c o n t e m p o r a r y political a n d social
factors that allowed these destructive seeds to fall on fertile soil.
H o w could such unimpressive surrogate ideals, such high-sound­
ing but e m p t y formulations, a n d such i m m o r a l theories possibly
p r o v e themselves "dynamic realities" (Thomas M a n n ) ?
In researching the question of w h a t might h a v e induced b r o a d
s e g m e n t s of a nation of seventy million people to follow a politi­
cal pied piper like Hitier, A d o r n o based his essay Aufarbeitung der
Vergangenheit (Working U p the Past) on A m e r i c a n studies in the
field of social psychology. A c c o r d i n g to these studies, the psycho­
logical m a k e u p {Charakterstruktur) of voters, that is, of groups, is
defined in relation to factors s u c h as p o w e r or powerlessness,
rigidity or flexibility, conventionalism, conformism, lack of self-
determination, and, ultimately, "the general lack of ability to learn
through experience." A d o m o concludes that groups are fond of
identifying with p o w e r per se and, w h a t is m o r e , d o so "regardless
of the p a r t i c u l a r n a t u r e [of that p o w e r ] . " Basically, A d o r n o
believes t h a t m o s t people h a v e p o o r l y d e v e l o p e d egos, a n d in
their a t t e m p t to bolster them, they need to identify existentially
with a n d h a v e the protection of large groups. A d o r n o ' s interpre­
tation follows Sigmund Freud's line of argument.
There is n o need to g o into the details of these kinds of socio-
psychological interpretations. W h a t w e are ultimately interested
in knowing is w h a t kinds of people in w h a t kinds of actual situa­
tions a n d with w h a t kinds of outlooks w e r e impelled to join the
86 The Triumph of Propaganda
N a z i m o v e m e n t — n o t simply to e s c a p e material hardship, but to
find a w a y out of w h a t Georg Simmel, in describing conditions
after 1 9 0 0 , called "the crisis of the soul." A l r e a d y in 1932, T h e o d o r
Geiger h a d analyzed the social m a k e u p of Hitler's supporters. T h e
social crisis that developed t o w a r d the end of the W e i m a r r e p u b ­
lic as a result of u n e m p l o y m e n t a n d the Depression played into
Hitler's h a n d s a n d helped h i m to give people a sense that the
Nazis w o u l d take care of a n d protect t h e m from "society's natural
disasters": "[The Party] tightened the knots of the social [safety]
net to c a t c h e v e r y t h i n g (and e v e r y b o d y ) a n d insure protection
against the universal fear of falling through the m e s h a n d slipping
into poverty."
Hitler a n d the g r o u p s close to h i m clearly u n d e r s t o o d h o w to
create the impression that only the radical forces that h e repre­
sented a n d that w e r e d e t e r m i n e d to c h a n g e the system could, in
fact, t u r n the catastrophic e c o n o m i c a n d social situation a r o u n d
for the better. They claimed that under Hitler the kind of d e v a s ­
tating inflation that took place from 1 9 2 2 to 1 9 2 3 w o u l d not recur.
Using e v e r y m e a n s of p r o p a g a n d a at his disposal. Hitler c o m m u ­
n i c a t e d to p e o p l e the h o p e that u n d e r his rule fascism w o u l d
b e c o m e totalist a n d thus better able to solve all of society's p r o b ­
lems. [Fascist] totalism, h e said, w o u l d p r o v e to be a g o o d a n d
beneficial solution—^not to mention the correct one.
T h e p r o p a g a n d i s t s sought to justify their shrill a n d effective
a p p e a l to injured national pride a n d historical instincts b y point­
ing to w h a t Hifler called t h e "shameful diktat of Versailles."
Indeed, the p e a c e treaty of 1 9 1 8 forced G e r m a n y to suffer consid­
erable losses of territory. Alsace Lorraine, taken after the F r a n c o -
P r u s s i a n W a r , w a s r e t u r n e d to F r a n c e . T h e Saar c o a l r e g i o n
r e m a i n e d u n d e r F r e n c h administration until 1 9 3 5 , the Rhineland
demilitarized until 1936. East Prussia w a s separated from the rest
of G e r m a n y b y a w i d e strip of territory ruiming t h r o u g h West
Prussia to Poland. The G e r m a n Baltic port of Danzig w a s trans­
f o r m e d into an internationalized free city u n d e r the L e a g u e of
Nations. L a r g e parts of U p p e r Silesia w e r e lost to the reconstituted
Polish state. Finally, the occupation of the R u h r b y F r e n c h a n d Bel­
gian troops r e m a i n e d a thorn in the side of national pride, with
painful l o n g - t e r m effects.
In addition to the v e t e r a n s of World W a r I a n d the a r m y of
six million u n e m p l o y e d , the N a z i s d r e w their m a s s i v e social
strength from the ranks of the declasse lower middle class a n d a
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 87
large s e g m e n t of the u p w a r d l y mobile "new middle class," the
so-called white collar proletariat {Stehkragenproletariat).
Aside from the terrorism that h a d already begun. Hitler o w e d
his electoral success in 1 9 3 3 to the multitudes of voters w h o felt
totally c o n f u s e d b y the o v e r w h e l m i n g n u m b e r of p a r t i e s a n d
p a r t y platforms that w e r e a result of the use of proportional r e p ­
resentation in elections to the Reichstag. In addition, h e garnered
the votes of a n y b o d y w h o w a s disgruntled over G e r m a n y ' s bat­
tered international reputation. Hitler admitted that G e r m a n y w a s
positively p a n t i n g for o r d e r d u r i n g these m o m e n t o u s d a y s of
decision. P a r l i a m e n t a r i s m s e e m e d to h a v e reached the point of
absurdity w h e n in 1 9 3 2 just thirteen meetings of the Reichstag
w e r e d e e m e d necessary a n d the legislature h a d in effect been abol­
ished as a result of the frequent use of presidential e m e r g e n c y
decrees {Notverordnungen). The Nazis promised to lead the m a s s e s
out of this v a l e of w o e . Moreover, Hitler u n d e r s t o o d h o w to capi­
talize on the b a n k r u p t c y of other parties.
A l e x a n d e r a n d M a r g a r e t e Mitscherlich refer to the "interde-
pendencies" that played an important part in the whirlpool effect
of the m a s s m e d i a c a m p a i g n to mislead a n d that furthered the
notion of "the helpless m a n in the street being passively s w e p t
along." The Mitscherlich's a r e correct in recognizing that c o n ­
sideration of the p r o b l e m should begin, not with the period of
catastrophe, but "with the state of untroubled h a r m o n y that p r e ­
viously existed between people a n d dictator." B r o a d segments of
the G e r m a n population w e r e , after all, v e r y m u c h in favor of a
l e a d e r s h i p "that ... s u c c e e d e d in c o m b i n i n g typical Teutonic
ideals w i t h n a t i o n a l self-esteem. It g a v e p e o p l e the c h a n c e to
e m b o d y their self-importance in a uniform. Authorities, visibly
organized in ranks a n d hierarchies, suddenly appeared in profu­
sion before the eyes of 'fellow G e r m a n s ' long disillusioned b y
'party squabbles.' The readiness and promptness of our Germanic
o b e d i e n c e w a s d u l y tested, a n d an a l m o s t u n b o u n d e d will to
s h o w ourselves w o r t h y of the F ü h r e r ' s hopes spread quickly."'^
The Nazis p r o n ü s e d to set an e x a m p l e a n d undertake punitive
expeditions against the "initiators" of the ever-present crises in
people's personal lives, i.e., against Bolsheviks, Marxists, a n d c a p ­
italists—the three collective enemies of the people—and, a b o v e
all, against the Jews, again a n d again, against the Jews. Anti-Semi­
tism b e c a m e the centerpiece of National Socialist p r o p a g a n d a ,
a n d the N a z i s u s e d a n y o c c a s i o n to stir the flames of h a t r e d
against the J e w s .
 The Triumph of Propaganda Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 89

By airing similar themes in the press, on r a d i o , in films a n d In bringing together the various virtues designed to stabilize
public speeches, the N a z i s fulfilled w h a t A d o m o called the "col­ N a z i power, Saul Friedländer sees a "singular expression of a flow
lective p o w e r fantasies" of people w h o w e r e powerless as indi­ of ideas, emotions, and phantasms" that are kept separate in all
viduals a n d "considered themselves s o m e b o d y only in t e r m s of a other m o d e m W e s t e m societies. National Socialism, he writes, "in
powerful collectivity." This is w h y the stab-in-the-back legend, as its singularity, as in its general aspects, is the result of a large n u m ­
Hitler a d a p t e d it for p r o p a g a n d a purposes, fell on such fertile soil, ber of social, economic, and political factors, of the coming to a head
especially in v i e w of the fact that it w a s linked to the promise of of frequently analyzed ideological currents, a n d of the meeting of
revenge. The N a z i s w e r e d e t e r m i n e d to generate a n e w national the m o s t archaic myths and the most m o d e m means of terror. "^^
self-confidence in w h i c h e v e r y i n d i v i d u a l w o u l d s h a r e . T h e The Nazis allowed their followers to w o r k off their pent-up or
national humiliation of Versailles w o u l d b e e r a s e d ; the all-cor­ stirred-up aggressions, unhindered a n d with impunity, against
rupting influence of the J e w s eliminated, along with the initiators a n y o n e d e e m e d by Hitler to be a "representative of the system"
of c o r r u p t i o n themselves; the class w a r f a r e stirred u p b y capital­ (the Weimar republic) a n d therefore fair g a m e . Jews suffered the
ists a n d c o m m u n i s t s w o u l d end; the w o r k i n g class, threatened b y m o s t in this regard. Hitler had, in his o w n words, "fanaticized the
a decline in its social status, a n d the notoriously disgruntled lower masses" in order to m a k e them a tool of his policy. The masses w e r e
middle class w o u l d be absorbed into a n e w egalitarian G e r m a n to be "swept along" by the emotional appeal of the m o v e m e n t .
national-racial c o m m u n i t y {Volksgemeinschaft).
H o w e v e r , since it w a s not as easy to d o a w a y with capitalism as
it w a s to get rid of c o m m u n i s t s — a t least for the time b e i n g — c a p ­ T h e Ministry for P o p u l a r E n l i g h t e n m e n t
italists w e r e enlisted to w o r k for the national cause. The N a z i s
and Propaganda
considered they h a d d o n e their socialist d u t y b y establishing the
G e r m a n L a b o r Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront o r D A F ) , w h i c h s u p ­
Only after the simplest ideas are repeated thousands of times will the
p o r t e d the g o v e r n m e n t , a n d b y setting u p a classless national
masses finally remember them.
community. Therefore, they h a d no need to interfere with p r i v a t e
Adolf Hitler^o
o w n e r s h i p o r "creative A r y a n capital."
Nationalist sentiment, once inflamed, called for a red flag to
Hitler's bequest to his people—a bequest fraught with g r a v e con­
give it cohesion, a flag "with a big swastika for the little m a n "
s e q u e n c e s — w a s one of total submissiveness, as evidenced b y the
(Bertolt Brecht). With its völkisch ideology a n d its v a r i o u s organi­
e n t h u s i a s m of the masses for certain aspects of his d e s t r u c t i v e
zations, the N a z i Party w a s able to "combine symbols that w e r e
Utopia a n d their acquiescence in his v a g u e promises. To replace
effective in p e r s u a d i n g the masses a n d revolutionary in style with
the previous state of confusion, the Nazis prescribed a set of polit­
a doctrine that m a s k e d the reactionary class structure of G e r m a n
ical "convictions" a n d their o w n c o d e of ethics for the masses.
society. Uniforms a n d ranks, m e d a l s a n d decorations w e r e u s e d
Since National Socialism w a s incapable of developing a coherent
for the p u r p o s e of integrating people a n d opening u p opportuni­
ideology of its own, the Nazis proceeded to plunder other ideolo­
ties for 'individuals to rise' in the n e w l y created militarized hier­
gies a n d create surrogate religions b y m e a n s of a kind of aggres­
archy.... T h u s n u m e r o u s opportunities w e r e created to p r o m o t e
sive anti-ideology, the p u r p o s e of w h i c h w a s to maintain the n e w
a n d satisfy i n d i v i d u a l a m b i t i o n s w i t h o u t t h r e a t e n i n g p r i v a t e
social o r d e r a n d keep themselves in power. In essence, there w a s
p r o p e r t y rights."^^
n o ideology to p r o p a g a n d i z e . P r o p a g a n d a w a s a substitute for
A l o n g with the n e w social hierarchy, there also existed a n e w
ideology. P r o p a g a n d a itself w a s the message, d o w n to and includ­
hierarchy of mutually dependent fascist virtues that served as the
ing school textbooks. O n 11 M a r c h 1933, six w e e k s after the so-
foundation of the n e w state: loyalty, honor, c o m r a d e s h i p , obedi­
called Machtergreifung o r "seizure of power," the Nazis set u p the
ence, willingness to m a k e sacrifices, fighting spirit, bravery. The
"Ministry for P o p u l a r Enlightenment a n d P r o p a g a n d a . " O n 13
N a z i s used these martial values to legitimize their efforts to exter­
M a r c h Joseph Goebbels w a s n a m e d to head the ministry a n d w a s
minate a n y o n e w h o o p p o s e d their fascist scale of values.
 The Triumph of Propaganda
90
s w o r n in the following day. A decree issued b y President v o n Hin­
d e n b u r g that s a m e d a y outlined the mission of the n e w ministry
w h o s e v e r y n a m e w a s a perversion of the concept of enlighten­
ment. "The Ministry for Enlightenment a n d P r o p a g a n d a has been
established for the p u r p o s e of enlightening a n d p r o p a g a n d i z i n g
the people with regard to the policies of the Reich g o v e r n m e n t
a n d the national reconstruction of the G e r m a n fatherland."
T h e s u p r e m e d e m a g o g u e of the ministry a n n o u n c e d the p r o ­
g r a m m a t i c objectives of total m a s s persuasion: "The great initia­
tives m u s t c o m e f r o m h e r e . T h e r e a r e t w o w a y s to m a k e a
revolution. You can blast y o u r e n e m y with m a c h i n e guns until h e
a c k n o w l e d g e s the superiority of those holding the m a c h i n e guns.
That is the easy way. Or y o u c a n transform the nation t h r o u g h a
revolution of the spirit, a n d instead of destroying y o u r enemy, w i n
h i m over. W e National Socialists h a v e taken the latter a p p r o a c h
a n d will continue to d o so. The noblest goal of this ministry is to
w i n the entire nation over to the n e w state." Gleichschaltung or
bringing e v e r y o n e into line w a s n o w the chief task of the n e w l y
created ministry, a n d Bernhard Rust, a Reich C o m m i s s i o n e r in the
Prussian Culture Ministry, w a s quite frank w h e n he described the
process on 12 M a y 1933: "Our [policy of] Gleichschaltung m e a n s
that the n e w G e r m a n v i e w of the w o r l d (Weltanschauung), simply
b y dint of the fact that it has the force of law, takes p r e c e d e n c e
o v e r a n y other view."
It soon b e c a m e patently clear that Gleichschaltung w a s simply a
e u p h e m i s m for annihilation. Those w h o resisted being b r o u g h t
into line w e r e forced to back d o w n . In fact, radio h a d b e c o m e so
thoroughly attuned to the N a z i world-view within just a m a t t e r of
a few w e e k s that even Dr. Goebbels felt obliged the following y e a r
to r e p r i m a n d b r o a d c a s t e r s for their " v i g o r o u s politicization."
Apparently, zealous p a r t y m e m b e r s h a d g o n e o v e r b o a r d in trying
to achieve their goals.
A short time later, the cinema, the theater, the press, a n d e v e r y
other b r a n c h of journalistic, artistic, a n d scientific activity subordi­
nated itself to the dictates of p r o p a g a n d a . W h a t h a d n o w c o m e to
fruition w a s perfectly consistent with w h a t Hitler h a d formulated
in Mein Kampf in 1 9 2 5 . Although t w o million copies of the book
w e r e in circulation in 1933 (one of the m o s t b o u g h t a n d least r e a d
books in G e r m a n y ) , even those few w h o w e r e familiar with its con­
tents evidently did not take seriously the consequences of Hitler's
hateful a n d cynical theories. In Mein Kampf Hitler h a d plainly
anticipated the role of p r o p a g a n d a in a National Socialist state. The
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 91
f o r m a n d content of p r o p a g a n d a "must be geared to the b r o a d
mass." Therefore, "all p r o p a g a n d a m u s t be popular a n d its intel­
lectual level m u s t b e adjusted to the m o s t limited intelligence
a m o n g those it is addressed to. Consequently, the greater the m a s s
it is intended to reach, the lower its purely intellectual level will
h a v e to be."^^ Hitler's cynical estimation of the intellectual level of
the people w h o a p p l a u d e d his actions w a s outstripped b y reality
a n d in that sense confirmed the "correctness" of his v i e w that p r o ­
p a g a n d a "must b e m e a s u r e d exclusively b y the effect of its suc­
cesses." The first Reichstag elections in the one-party state on 12
N o v e m b e r 1 9 3 3 confirmed the Nazis' calculations a n d g a v e t h e m
9 2 percent of the vote: "The battle has been fought a n d victory
achieved. Just yesterday on S u n d a y the flags a n d banners w e r e
w a v i n g ... to invite every G e r m a n to d o his duty, a n d t o d a y they
w a v e as beacons of jubilation a n d victory."^^
By the s a m e token, however, p r o p a g a n d a revealed the "intel­
lectual level" of those like Goebbels a n d Rosenberg w h o "mar­
keted" ideology using e v e r y device at their disposal and in a w a y
that w a s unsurpassed in its lack of moral scruples. In his book
Blut und Ehre (Blood a n d H o n o r ) , Rosenberg c a m e to the conclu­
sion that in c o m p a r i s o n with the other arts "film, because of its
c a p a c i t y to affect primarily the emotions a n d the poetic [side of
m a n ] , i.e., nonintellectuals, has a particularly forceful a n d endur­
ing i m p a c t o n the psychology of the masses a n d in p r o p a g a n d a . " ^
For Goebbels, too, the first c o m m a n d m e n t of the cinema w a s
"not to p r a c t i c e psychology, but to tell a s t o r y t h r o u g h pictures."^*
H e tried to d o w n p l a y Hitler's actions by calling t h e m "a process
for d e v e l o p i n g a n opinion" (Willensbildung). In actuality, of
c o u r s e . Hitler's actions w e r e based on a well thought-out plan
w h o s e a i m w a s to create total d e p e n d e n c e a n d subordination. In
Hitler's o w n words: "All effective p r o p a g a n d a m u s t be limited to
a v e r y few points a n d m u s t h a r p o n these in slogans until the last
m e m b e r of the public understands w h a t y o u w a n t h i m to u n d e r ­
stand b y y o u r slogan. "^^
The "very few points" enunciated in 1 9 3 3 differed from the
a r g u m e n t s a d v a n c e d d u r i n g Hitler's w a r s of conquest. Likewise,
t h e a r g u m e n t s b r o u g h t f o r w a r d d u r i n g the m i d d l e p e r i o d of
H i t l e r ' s r e g i m e differed f r o m those a d v a n c e d d u r i n g its final
phase, w h e n the Nazi rulers "put t h e m to use as slogans" in the
d i s i n t e g r a t i n g T h i r d R e i c h . D u r i n g the first six y e a r s of the
regime, in other w o r d s , until Hitler's attack on Poland, the intent
of the Nazis' p r o p a g a n d a slogans w a s to anesthetize the G e r m a n s
92 The Triumph of Propaganda
ideologically, that is, to instill into the national consciousness the
dubious criteria formulated to p r o v e the innate superiority of the
G e r m a n s over other races, criteria that w e r e p r o c l a i m e d as n e w
national virtues. P r o p a g a n d a formulas accessible to all G e r m a n s
g a v e birth to clever c a t c h phrases that w e r e u s e d to arouse the
"masses' m o s t basic instincts" (Goebbels).
Scientifically u n t e n a b l e c l a i m s a n d elitist i d e a s r e g a r d i n g
"racial purity," a n d "Aryan blood" w e r e put forward to highlight
the Nazis' negative i m a g e of J e w s a n d to w a r n the G e r m a n s of the
m o r t a l national d a n g e r posed b y "subhumans."
T h e N a z i s took c o n t r o l of the arts b y i m p o s i n g their o w n
National Socialist ideals a n d dictating w h i c h artists w e r e to be the
object of public a d u l a t i o n . T h e y laid the g r o u n d w o r k for the
t a k e o v e r b y j u x t a p o s i n g so-called " d e g e n e r a t e a r t " a n d N a z i -
a p p r o v e d "völkisch culture." Hitler w a s "absolutely" c o n v i n c e d
that all culture w a s "almost exclusively the creative p r o d u c t of the
Aryan."^^ Verbal m o n t a g e s such as "German culture," "the Ger­
m a n n a t i o n a l c o m m u n i t y , " " G e r m a n y o u t h , " "the G e r m a n
w o m a n , " "German blood," etc., implicitly belittled anything that
w a s not G e r m a n . O n l y G e r m a n s w e r e e n d o w e d with the m o s t
noble virtues, e.g., cleanliness, discipline, c o u r a g e , the spirit of
sacrifice, loyalty, honor. "Loyalty is m y honor" {"Meine Ehre heißt
Treue") w a s the m o t t o inscribed on the belt buckle of e v e r y SS
m a n . The thousand-year Reich w a s to be m a d e u p of m e n i m b u e d
w i t h these sorts of h y p e d virtues. T h e N a z i s g e n e r a t e d c a t c h y
m e t a p h o r s to p r e p a r e the nation for Hitler's w a r s of conquest, to
justify t h e m as legitimate acts of defense, a n d to mobilize the a r m y
of fellow-travelers for the p u r p o s e of achieving "final victory."
H a n s Grinun's n o v e l Volk ohne Raum ( N a t i o n W i t h o u t Space)^^
offered a r g u m e n t s to justify the conquest of territories in Eastern
E u r o p e . The "shameful diktat of Versailles" w a s u s e d to legitimize
the invasion of France. " W h a t could y o u d o with the Versailles
p e a c e t r e a t y ? " Hitler a s k e d rhetorically. H i s a n s w e r : "[The
treaty's] boundless repressiveness a n d shameless d e m a n d s [have
p r o d u c e d ] the g r e a t e s t p r o p a g a n d a w e a p o n for r o u s i n g the
nation's d o r m a n t spirit of survival."
To m a k e the G e r m a n m a s s e s a w a r e of the n e e d for launching a
preventive w a r against the "plutocracies" that w e r e controlled b y
"the enemies of the people," the Nazis conjured u p the horror sce­
n a r i o of a "conspiracy b e t w e e n World J e w r y a n d F r e e m a s o n r y
directed against Hitler's Germany." In o r d e r to m a x i m i z e the use
of the film m e d i u m in the c o m i n g war, Goebbels in 1 9 4 0 p u t the
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 93
four existing newsreel c o m p a n i e s (Ufa, Tobis, Deulig, a n d F o x )
u n d e r the control of his ministry and m e r g e d them to form a sin­
gle w a r newsreel, the Deutsche Wochenschau. "News policy is a
w e a p o n of w a r in w a r t i m e . It is used to w a g e war, not to provide
information," Goebbels noted in his diary.
A s the fortunes of w a r b e g a n to turn against Hitler after the
defeat a t Stalingrad in 1 9 4 3 , Goebbels's p r o p a g a n d a a n d prevari­
cation m a c h i n e constantly ground out n e w slogans about the need
to "hold out" against all o d d s {Durchhalten), w h i c h h e convinc­
ingly "authenticated" with the aid of "film documents." Newsreel
p r o p a g a n d a reveled in the outpourings of hate about " G e r m a n
soldiers horribly mutilated b y Soviet beasts" a n d "women r a p e d
b y eastern subhumans," as it sought to mobilize the last reserves
in the h o m e l a n d against Germany's mortal enemy. These "docu­
m e n t s , " w h i c h w e r e n e v e r d e s c r i b e d m o r e specifically, w e r e
i m p o r t a n t in maintaining the will to endure. The propagandists
w a n t e d e v e r y G e r m a n m a n to see his o w n mother, wife, or sister,
a n d e v e r y G e r m a n w o m a n to see her o w n husband, son, brother,
or father in the figure of the d e a d fellow G e r m a n projected on the
screen. This kind of atrocity p r o p a g a n d a w a s not the least of the
reasons that Hitler w a s able to prolong the w a r until M a y 1945.
W h e n G e r m a n s greeted or saluted each other, they did so in the
n a m e of the Führer ("Heil Hitler"); and w h e n they died, they w e r e
p r e p a r e d to die with his n a m e on their lips. Virtually e v e r y officer
trainee in the trenches carried a c o p y of Hölderlin's novel Hyper­
ion in his knapsack a n d could quote the line in which the famous
p o e t glorified sacrificing one's life for one's country: "Now her­
alds of victory descend: the battle is ours. Live on high, O Father­
land. A n d c o u n t not the dead! F o r you. Beloved, not one too m a n y
has fallen!" In his Christmas E v e radio address on 2 4 December
1942, Goebbels sought to mitigate the idea of dying on the battle­
field b y s h o w i n g that Hölderlin's w o r d s reflected "[one of the]
h a r s h but c o u r a g e o u s lessons of war, a lesson that offers comfort
a n d strength, only in a loftier sense."
Propagandists h a d prepared the road to destruction so well, dis­
guising it as a kind of Götterdämmerung, that soldiers on the front
line a n d the p a r t y faithful on the h o m e front proceeded d o w n it
with a mixture of fatalism a n d fanaticism. Using the e x a m p l e of
songs such as "Volk ans Gewehr" ("People: To A r m s " ) , w h i c h he
considered fascist exhortations, Theodor A d o r n o concluded that
feelings hoisted up "to an irrational enthusiasm for death" could
b e drilled into people mechanically.^* F o r p r o p a g a n d a p u r p o s e s
94 The Triumph of Propaganda
t h e N a z i s d e n i e d the fact that taking p l e a s u r e in one's o w n
destruction, i.e, the longing for death, w a s a n inherent p a r t of fas­
cism. The N a z i s harked back to the traditions of archaic cults as
they d e v e l o p e d their o w n special self-promoting rituals and cere­
monial style in an effort to create m e a n i n g from the past (Sinnge­
bung), c a p t u r e the soul of the G e r m a n s , a n d stir their emotions.
Ritual a n d style w e r e combined with a n e y e to "mind-raping" the
masses. O n e e x a m p l e of the kind of m a s s demonstration designed
to c a p t u r e the e m o t i o n s w a s the quasi-religious c e r e m o n y sol­
e m n l y performed to the a c c o m p a n i m e n t of m e n bearing standards
a n d w a v i n g banners: the ritual of the "blood flag." It p r o c e e d e d as
follows: first, a song a b o u t the flag; then a p o e m a b o u t the flag; a
pledge to the flag; a m a r c h - p a s t of flags; finally, the consecration of
r o w s of flags a n d standards as Hitler solemnly t o u c h e d the n e w
flags with the old "blood flag," culminating in the singing of the
H o r s t Wessel song b y all those present ("Hold high the flag . . . " ) .
M a n y of the symbolic forms of expression used in N a z i ideology,
especially in the case of H i m m l e r ' s SS, w e r e geared to tribal-Ger­
m a n i c c u s t o m s a n d to m a s q u e r a d i n g as ancient G e r m a n s . Leni
Riefenstahl developed a cinematic aesthetic of N a z i i c o n o g r a p h y
out of this m e l a n g e of p a g a n m y t h o l o g y a n d m a g i c symbols. The
G e r m a n s w e r e prohibited from using their reason in formulating
their thoughts; instead, they w e r e to use their emotions.
Totalitarian p r o p a g a n d a also took possession of the deepest
recesses of the subconscious. The ideal N a z i w o u l d n e v e r indulge
in formulating his o w n a r g u m e n t s o r critical judgments. H e inter­
nalized p r e p a c k a g e d role m o d e l s a n d s t a n d a r d i z e d beliefs a n d
a c t e d in u n c o m p r o m i s i n g c o n f o r m i t y with them. A c c o r d i n g to
H e r m a n n Glaser, the real a i m of p r o p a g a n d a w a s to "erase peo­
ple's identity a n d individuality." People w e r e to be m a n i p u l a t e d
"like a b u n d l e of reflexes o n the basis of their instincts, urges, a n d
'gut feelings.' Nazi propagandists felt that they w e r e operating
the control panel of the h u m a n psyche."^' P r o p a g a n d a , however,
d o e s not create a n e w transcendence; it merely substitutes for tran­
scendence. In o r d e r successfully to mislead the "national psyche,"
Goebbels h a d d e v e l o p e d an efficient aesthetic that he i m p o s e d on
the audio-visual m e d i a , an aesthetic that w o r k e d subliminally.
T h e d o c u m e n t a r y film s e e m e d particularly well suited for this
p u r p o s e . Since it used authentic-looking pictures, it w a s the genre
that c o u l d m o s t persuasively represent lies as truth. The N a z i s
h a d realized that "the best w a y to tell lies is to use facts," H a n s
Richter n o t e d in "Der politische Film."
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 95
Since N a z i s m w a s not a n intellectual b u t rather a "spiritual
m o v e m e n t , one c a n n o t c o m p r e h e n d it intellectually (mit Argu­
menten)." In fact, the intellect w a s of value only to the extent that the
m o v e m e n t increased in size as a result of using the intellect (Wil­
h e l m Stapel). The goal of m a s s persuasion w a s to conceal the v a c u -
ousness of all those things that h a d been m a d e an official part of the
political l a n d s c a p e (politische Heimat) a n d w h i c h w e r e included
u n d e r the b r o a d heading of "the movement." This goal w a s to be
reached primarily through the use of the visual media and the arts,
a n d Leni Riefenstahl exploited t h e m to develop the prototype of
her aesthetic in Triumph des Willens (1934). Whether masquerading
as art or as artfully arranged slices of reality, "the movement" w a s
intent on expanding its influence. Goebbels believed that only spec­
t a c u l a r s that m e t these criteria d e s e r v e d the distinction m a r k s
(Prädikate) "artistically valuable" or "educational." L o n g before, L e o
Tolstoy knew that the influence of art—which he termed its "infec­
tiousness"—^was not simply "a sure sign of art, but the degree of
infectiousness is also the sole measure of excellence in art."
A c c o r d i n g to Goebbels, the cinema w a s "one of the m o s t m o d ­
ern m e a n s of m a s s persuasion" a n d therefore "could not be left to
its o w n devices" (Goebbels, 9 F e b r u a r y 1934). These principles led
Goebbels to p r o n o u n c e his infamous credo: "We are not one of
those secretive types with a silly childish fear of w o r d s like 'pro­
p a g a n d a ' a n d 'overtly political' (Tendenz) (Goebbels, 5 N o v e m b e r
1 9 3 9 ) . In 1 9 3 3 the N a z i tilm p r o p a g a n d i s t H a n s Traub defined
"pro-active p r o p a g a n d a " as the "intentional application of overtly
political m e a n s to achieve a political end, to m a k e a [particular]
ideology (Gesinnung) a goal."^
Goebbels, like Hitler, w a s fond of displaying his interest in the
cinema. H e d e m o n s t r a t e d this during an evening function, held
fourteen d a y s after his appointment as p r o p a g a n d a minister, to
w h i c h h e h a d invited the Filmwelt or the top representatives of the
G e r m a n c i n e m a . These included the Dachorganisation filmschaf-
fender Künstler Deutschlands o r D A C H O , the industry's official
t r a d e union, the Reichsverband deutscher Filmtheaterbesitzer, the cin­
e m a o w n e r s ' association, and the Spitzenorganisationen der Film­
wirtschaft or SPIO, the industry's m a i n professional representative
body. T h a t evening Goebbels praised himself as a m a n "who h a d
a l w a y s h a d a close relationship to the G e r m a n film." In fact, he
w a s "an inveterate film addict." Of course, h e also issued a clear
warning: "Should the cinema develop in a dangerous direction,
the state has a d u t y to intervene a n d take matters in hand."
96 The Triumph of Propaganda
Several y e a r s earlier, in 1 9 3 0 , Goebbels's thugs d e m o n s t r a t e d
w h a t the p r o p a g a n d a minister m e a n t b y "intervening a n d taking
m a t t e r s in h a n d " w h e n , in December, they disrupted the Berlin
premiere of L e w i s Milestone's m o v i e version of All Quiet on the
Western Front. The city's reactionary chief of police prohibited the
film from being s h o w n because of the threat to public safety. That
s a m e y e a r Carl v o n Ossietzky objected in the journal Weltbühne to
the b a n n i n g of the film in "the obscure c e n s o r s h i p office" a n d
wrote: "Against the National Socialist rabble p a r t y w e h a v e only
one logic: the h e a v y knout; to t a m e them, w e h a v e only one d o c ­
trine: A un corsaire—corsaire et demiV'^^ W i t h its realistic battle
scenes. Milestone's film w a s e v e n m o r e p e r s u a s i v e than G. W.
Pabst's G e r m a n anti-war m o v e Westfront 1918—made the s a m e
y e a r — i n demythologizing war.
All Quiet on the Western Front w a s a cinematic plea for pacifism.
It told of the experiences of seven G e r m a n boys as they m a t u r e d
from students avid for the glory of w a r to w e a r y w a r v e t e r a n s
w h o learned that w a r w a s n o m o r e than a living hell, by w h i c h
t i m e only o n e of t h e m w a s still alive. Erich M a r i a R e m a r q u e ' s
novel e x p o s e d the stab-in-the-back legend p r o p a g a t e d b y H i n ­
d e n b u r g a n d L u d e n d o r f f for the lie that it w a s . W h a t h a d dis­
gusted Goebbels, the "clubfooted p s y c h o p a t h " (Ossietzky), a b o u t
the b o o k w a s m a g n i f i e d m a n y t i m e s o v e r t h r o u g h the film's
relentless realism.
Immediately after Hitler b e c a m e chancellor, Goebbels b a n n e d
Fritz L a n g ' s film Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (The Last Will of Dr.
M a b u s e , 1 9 3 2 / 3 3 ) , an eerie allegory of the strife-torn political con­
ditions in c o n t e m p o r a r y Weimar Germany. The analogy b e t w e e n
the paranoid Führer a n d the psychopathic d e m a g o g u e Dr. M a b u s e
a p p e a r e d m u c h too obvious to the Nazis. (The censorship office
that enabled the N a z i s to ban the film h a d been established during
the W e i m a r republic as part of the Reich C i n e m a L a w passed b y
the National A s s e m b l y on 12 M a y 1920.)
Shortly before banning Dr. Mabuse, Goebbels, in a speech to
r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of the G e r m a n film industry, h a d p r a i s e d Die
Nibelungen (The Nibelungs, 1 9 2 2 / 2 4 ) , another m o v i e b y the s a m e
director, as a m o d e l of cinematic art. Goebbels w e n t on to m e n ­
tion that Die Nibelungen w a s one of the films that " m a d e a lasting
i m p r e s s i o n on m e . " "In this instance the story projected o n the
screen has n o t been s e p a r a t e d from w h a t ' s h a p p e n i n g today; it
is so m o d e r n , c o n t e m p o r a r y , a n d u p - t o - d a t e t h a t it w o u l d
e v e n m o v e t h o s e w h o a r e fighting for the N a t i o n a l Socialist
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 97
m o v e m e n t . " A s for the reaction to Goebbels's speech b y those
w h o w e r e there, the journal Die Filmwoche reported: "Thunderous
a p p l a u s e for the Reich Minister r a n g out from all those present.
The m e m b e r s of the p a r t y w h o w e r e in attendance broke into a
rendition of the H o r s t Wessel song, a n d the assembled filmmakers
rose to their feet a n d listened."
Joseph Goebbels did not try to w i n Hitler's confidence in the
efficiency of his p r o p a g a n d a m a c h i n e simply by making bellicose
speeches. H e also used m o r e concrete m e a n s , such as the passing
of legislation. O n 14 July 1 9 3 3 , for e x a m p l e , h e enacted a "law
establishing a n interim film chamber." This allowed him, a m o n g
other things, to cancel all of Ufa's contracts with its Jewish staff
m e m b e r s a n d with Jewish artists a n d b e u n d e r n o obligation to
give t h e m notice. "No individual, be he at the top or on the bot­
t o m , has the right to use his personal freedom at the expense of the
nation's freedom. This applies to the creative artist as well." So
said Goebbels on 15 N o v e m b e r 1 9 3 3 at the opening of the Reich
C h a m b e r of C u l t u r e . Ten w e e k s later Goebbels did not m i n c e
w o r d s w h e n h e a d d r e s s e d m e m b e r s of the specialty a d v i s o r y
council on film (Reichsfachschafl Film). H e w a s convinced, he said,
"that film w a s one of the m o s t m o d e m a n d far-reaching m e a n s for
influencing the public that has ever existed."
A s p r o m i s e d , the Nazis did not leave the film m e d i u m to its
o w n devices. A p p l y i n g direct a n d indirect censorship to e v e r y
detail of f o r m a n d content, the N a z i s eventually c r e a t e d the kind
of film that Goebbels envisaged in 1934: "We intend to give film a
G e r m a n face." " M a y the b r i g h t flame of e n t h u s i a s m n e v e r
expire," Goebbels proclaimed to the h u n d r e d thousand faithful at
the 1 9 3 4 N u r e m b e r g P a r t y congress. "It is this flame alone that
gives brightness a n d w a r m t h to the creative art of m o d e m politi­
cal p r o p a g a n d a . "
In 1 9 4 2 a giant holding c o m p a n y , Ufa-Film-GmbH (Ufa F i l m
C o r p o r a t i o n ) , a s s u m e d control of the entire G e r m a n film industry
a n d its foreign subsidiaries, creating a truly state-owned enter­
prise. The following e x a m p l e will s h o w the constantly increasing
i m p o r t a n c e t h a t p r o p a g a n d a strategists a c c o r d e d to the film
m e d i u m . O n 3 0 J a n u a r y 1 9 4 5 , the d a y of its premiere in Berlin, a
print of Veit Harlan's epic Kolberg w a s flown into the beleaguered
fortress o f L a Rochelle to lift the m o r a l e o f the d e f e n d e r s a n d
e n c o u r a g e t h e m to hold out to the bitter end.
98 The Triumph of Propaganda
T h e Youth Film Hours of the Hitler Youth
Remember, whenever you see the flag waving, it isn't some inconse­
quential piece of cloth. Remember, that behind this flag stands the will
of millions of people bound to Germany in loyalty, bravery, and fervent
love. You must remain inseparably bound to this flag, in good times
and bad. You must defend it when it is attacked and, if need be, cover it
with your young bodies when you die, just as your comrades did in the
Great War and during [the Party's] time of struggle in decades past.
Baldur v o n Schirach, during the dedication of the Hitler Youth's
Bann^^ flags in the P o t s d a m Garrison C h u r c h on 2 4 J a n u a r y 1 9 3 4
"These y o i m g people are learning nothing other than to think Ger­
m a n , to act G e r m a n , a n d after these boys h a v e c o m e into our orga­
nizations at age ten a n d gotten their first breath of fresh air there,
they m o v e four y e a r s later from the Jungvolk to the Hitler Youth,
where w e keep t h e m for another four years, by w h i c h time the last
thing w e w a n t to d o is h a n d t h e m back to the old originators of
o u r [social] classes a n d estates [Stände], so [we] take t h e m i m m e ­
diately into the Party, into the L a b o r Front, into the S A or the SS,
into the N S K K a n d so forth. A n d after they h a v e been there for
t w o y e a r s or a y e a r a n d a half a n d they still h a v e not b e c o m e true
N a t i o n a l Socialists, w e p u t t h e m in the L a b o r Service a n d drill
t h e m for six or seven months—all u n d e r one symbol, the G e r m a n
spade. A n d a n y class-consciousness or pride in one's social posi­
tion still remaining after six or seven m o n t h s will be taken over for
further treatment b y the Wehrmacht for t w o years, a n d w h e n they
c o m e back after t w o , three, or four years then we take them back
immediately into the SA, SS, and so on to prevent any relapse, and they
will never again be free for the rest of their lives" (Adolf Hitler).^^
The G e r m a n Youth M o v e m e n t e x p a n d e d its activities during
the late 1920s against the somber background of a republic scorned
as chaotic a n d deliberately destabilized as a result of the prolifera­
tion of political parties. The majority of the disillusioned y o u n g
people searching for absolute beauty a n d the innocence of nature
c a m e from the middle class. Their motivations for joining y o u t h
m o v e m e n t s such as the Wandervögel [literally, w a n d e r i n g or m i g r a ­
tory birds—^Transl.] w e r e m o r e emotional than rational. They w e r e
seeking a n affective substitute for the f r e e d o m that h a d b e e n
denied them. M o r e a n d m o r e of t h e m v i e w e d the w o r l d from a
perspective informed with the romantic values of the past. T h e y
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 99
discovered their o w n w o r l d h u d d l e d around the bonfires of s u m ­
m e r solstice celebrations or in c a m p i n g out, reading Stefan George
a n d Rainer Maria Rilke, singing the songs of the Bündische Jugend
(The G e r m a n Y o u t h M o v e m e n t ) , reciting archaic texts from the
h o a r y past, a n d enjoying the fellowship of like-minded convrades,
occasionally h o m o s e x u a l ones as well. M a n y of t h e m e x p o u n d e d
"a pantheistic love of nature a n d mystical love of the fatherland."^
Characteristically, the preface to the Zupfgeigenhansl [the Zupf­
geige being a dialect t e r m for the guitar or mandolin—^Transl.], a
compilation of folksongs popular during the Weimar period, began
as follows: "And because w e are the disinherited, because at our
stage of life w e feel more strongly within ourselves the spur and
desire to achieve total h a r m o n y with mankind, folksongs are a balm
a n d a comfort for us, indispensable a n d irreplaceable treasures."''^
The Nazis cleverly exploited a n d turned to Hitler's a d v a n t a g e
the latent desire of this generation for a different w a y of life a n d
their longing to b e independent of their parents. T h e y took the
c o n g l o m e r a t i o n of unfulfilled wishes a n d forged them into an ide­
ology of adolescence that ultimately found organizational expres­
sion in the Hitler Youth.
The ten- to fourteen-year-olds, or Pimpfe, w e r e the m o s t impres­
sionable a g e g r o u p t h r o u g h o u t the entire p e r i o d of N a z i rule.
Since they w e r e naive, they w e r e easy p r e y for the n e w m o v e ­
ment. The Nazis c a p t u r e d the hearts of these children with catchy
s l o g a n s b o r r o w e d f r o m the fascist c a t e c h i s m . T h e y m i x e d the
v o c a b u l a r y of Prussian militarism with the p r o g r a m of the Bün­
dische Jugend to p r o d u c e a n e w w a y of thinking that w o u l d strike
a c h o r d with y o u n g people. Given the alternatives offered b y the
Nazis, y o u n g people felt that they could dispense with religious
instruction a n d the values it imparted. The Nazis channeled the
natural enthusiasm a n d naive trust of y o u t h into areas w h e r e they
could generate activities a n d e x p e n d their pent-up energies while
at the s a m e time feeling that they w e r e m e m b e r s of a winning
team. The inflation in the number of badges of honor and wirmers'
m e d a l s took place against this psychological b a c k d r o p . The Hitler
Youth developed a dazzling variety of p r o g r a m s to meet y o u n g
people's need for c o m r a d e s h i p a n d to satisfy their desire to m a k e
sacrifices. Scouting g a m e s , cross-country expeditions, t e a m sports,
c a m p s , s u m m e r solstice celebrations, and sun worship sparked
the enthusiasm of the young, an enthusiasm that carried over to a
higher c a u s e that w a s shrouded in romantic mysticism. Their s y m ­
bol w a s the swastika flag. U n d e r the heading "War G a m e s 'Round
 100 The Triumph of Propaganda
the H Y Banner," Deulig newsreel no. 2 7 5 of 7 April 1 9 3 7 p r o v i d e s
a g r a p h i c e x a m p l e of the utter seriousness with w h i c h the Hitler
Youth r e g a r d e d this quasi-religious relic. In the tormented W e i m a r
republic, m a n y middle- a n d working-class y o u n g people w e r e
attracted to s o m e of the i m p o r t a n t c o m p o n e n t s of völkisch t h o u g h t
a d o p t e d by the Nazis—secularized m y t h s a n d tribal-Germanic rit­
uals—viewing t h e m as g l a m o r o u s alternatives to the values, atti­
t u d e s , folkways, etc., t h r o u g h w h i c h they h a d earlier b e c o m e
integrated into G e r m a n society. The n e w beliefs s e e m e d m o r e nat­
ural to t h e m "than traditional Christian values w h i c h were, admit­
tedly, derivatives [of these m o r e ancient religions]."^*
In analyzing this p s y c h o l o g i c a l p h e n o m e n o n , h o w e v e r , it is
impossible "to find any specifically fascist e l e m e n t . . . The special
character [of this p h e n o m e n o n ] lies not in its individual c o m p o ­
nents, b u t in their configuration." In the preface to Inszenierung der
Machfi'^ a n u m b e r of factors are credited with fostering a climate in
w h i c h "individuals w e r e e x e m p t e d from a n y social liability for
their actions because they h a d voluntarily b e c o m e part of a s y s t e m
{Gefüge)." Given their n e w sense of community, adolescents felt
powerful, destined to fulfill a higher p u r p o s e . T w o factors—"a
sensuality akin to happiness and successful collective c h a n g e " —
facilitated their integration into the m o v e m e n t a n d their conver­
sion into its m o s t faithful followers. E v e n i n g g e t - t o g e t h e r s
{Heimabende)^ a n d school lessons alone, however, w e r e not suffi­
cient to instill the N a z i ideology a n d the determination to "strug­
gle for survival as a g r o u p . " To accomplish this, other m e a n s w e r e
called for.
N a z i e d u c a t o r s w o u l d h a v e to project role m o d e l s o n t o the
m o v i e screen a n d bring t h e m to life in the m i n d s of spectators. In
other w o r d s , the experience of seeing these role models m u s t leave
an impression that could be recalled in the course of a lifelong
learning process. The first p a r t y - s p o n s o r e d films to accomplish
this objective w e r e Hitlerjunge Quex (1933), SA-Mann Brand (1933),
a n d Hans Westmar (1933). All three p r o p a g a n d a figures p r o d u c e d
effects that w e n t b e y o n d the aesthetic enjoyment of the film. The
a p p e a r a n c e in these films of a c t o r s w h o w e r e p o p u l a r before the
N a z i s c a m e to power, such as Berta Drews, Heinrich George, a n d
H e r m a n n S p e e l m a n s , i n d u c e d e v e n n o n - P a r t y m e m b e r s to see
them. A film like Hitlerjunge Quex s h o w e d just h o w d e t e r m i n e d
director H a n s Steinhoff w a s "to continue the brief tradition of the
W e i m a r proletarian film a n d use familiar things to c o m m u n i c a t e
the n e w Weltanschauung."^^
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 101
B y the e n d of that s a m e year, the task of disseminating Party
p r o p a g a n d a w a s assigned exclusively to the Kulturfilm, the d o c u ­
mentary, a n d the newsreel. Goebbels believed that authentic pic­
tures of the "new reality" w o u l d b e better able to p e r s u a d e
a u d i e n c e s than w o u l d feature films. W h e r e a s the p u r p o s e of a
short subject w o u l d be to monopolize people's thoughts, the sole
task of the feature-length film in the future w o u l d be to offer p e o ­
ple "lively entertainment" so as to assure the Führer that his peo­
ple w o u l d a l w a y s be in a g o o d m o o d . It soon b e c a m e obvious that
adolescents greatly preferred short subjects a n d Riefenstahl d o c u ­
mentaries to so-called "serious films."
Goebbels's film p r o p a g a n d i s t s derived s o m e of their insights
from a dissertation written in 1 9 3 3 , stating that "the majority of
y o u n g p e o p l e e v e n then liked natural, p u r e , a n d unaffected films
that reflected the spirit of the nation m o r e than so-called 'love
stories' or run-of-the-mill m o v i e s . . . . The responses of y o u n g p e o ­
ple clearly s h o w e d that y o u t h w a s b e c o m i n g enthusiastic a b o u t
qualities s u c h as beauty, strength, naturalness, a n d h e r o i s m . . . . In
g e n e r a l , y o u n g p e o p l e a r e a t t r a c t e d to a n y t h i n g t h a t is fast-
p a c e d , exciting, o r sensational, w h i c h reflects the g r o w i n g need
to b e active a n d seek n e w experiences that is characteristic of this
a g e group."'"'
To exploit in d e m a g o g i c fashion an aesthetic m e d i u m like film,
Goebbels n e e d e d y o u n g people w h o w e r e susceptible to e v e r y
t y p e of kitschy, "beautiful" fiction. H o w could a m e a n s of indoc­
trination such as film be m a d e accessible to y o u n g people on a
r e g u l a r basis? Since the short subjects a n d d o c u m e n t a r i e s that
w e r e included in the weekly m o v i e bills w e r e not v e r y p o p u l a r
with the viewing public, special screenings w e r e organized for the
Hitler Youth in w h i c h entire groups, not just individual boys a n d
girls, w o u l d b e b r o u g h t together to see films. The journal Der
deutsche Film stated in its December 1937 issue that only w h e n a
"strong sense of c o m m u n i t y " h a s been established c o u l d film
truly b e c o m e a vital experience, that is, "only w h e n the audience
thinks homogeneously, w h e n — h o w should one p u t it—it shares
the s a m e v i e w of the world; a n d w h e n a film is shown, its point of
v i e w nürrors that of the community." Film gives expression to the
forces that g o to form a community, but only "when the [idea of]
a c o m m u n i t y has a l r e a d y been planted in viewers' m i n d s a n d
only w h e n film acts to e n h a n c e that community, i.e., w h e n it has
an ideological m e s s a g e to c o m m u n i c a t e . We believe the 'Youth
Film H o u r s ' {Jugendfilmstunden) of the Hitier Youth d o both."
102 The Triumph of Propaganda
The grandiose premiere of the Youth Film H o u r took place in
C o l o g n e o n 2 0 April 1934, the F ü h r e r ' s birthday. The Film H o u r s
w e r e not subsidized by the state; the g o v e r n m e n t expected t h e m
to be self-supporting. A t 2 0 pfermigs per s h o w the price of a ticket
w a s low, the return on investment in t e r m s of fellowship high.
Fanfares, drumrolls, the singing of the H o r s t Wessel song, a n d the
reading of stirring N a z i p o e m s w e r e s o m e of the elements that
h e l p e d c r e a t e a quasi-religious a t m o s p h e r e , w h i c h for m a n y
b e c a m e a substitute for c h u r c h services. W h e n a film "is provided
w i t h a f r a m e w o r k in k e e p i n g w i t h its c o n t e n t s , its i m p a c t is
e n h a n c e d and its feeling for w h a t is genuine, valuable, a n d b e a u ­
tiful is roused, especially by reference to things outside itself."*^
P e r f o r m a n c e s s u c h as these c o m p l e t e l y satisfied the n e e d for
"affirmation and self-validation" ( H a b e r m a s ) . The Hitler Youth's
m a r c h to the theater in close-order formation under the swastika
flag "was a v e r y special prelude to a n y visit to a Hitler Youth Film
H o u r a n d g a v e it a v e r y special flavor." "After being seated, the
y o u n g d e m o n s t r a t e d the unique p o w e r of the Youth Film H o u r to
b u i l d a c o m m u n i t y as t h e y s a n g the s o n g s t h a t p l a y s u c h a n
i m p o r t a n t p a r t in the Hitler Youth, since they w e r e born out of
these y o u n g people's spirit of nationalism (aus dem volkbewußten
Geiste).'"^^ "You belong to the Führer, too!" w a s the slogan on a
poster with a n index finger pointing at a Jungmädel, a subdivision
of the Bund Deutscher Mädel ( L e a g u e of G e r m a n Girls) for girls ten
to fourteen.
With the promulgation of the Youth Service L a w (Jugenddienst­
pflicht) on 1 December 1936, Hitler imposed the state's control over
m o s t yoimg people, including almost all boys and girls between the
ages of ten and eighteen. Of the total number of 8.87 million youths
b o m between 1921 and 1 9 3 1 , 8 . 7 million were obliged, beginning in
1 9 3 9 , to b e c o m e m e m b e r s of N a z i youth organizations, for "the
future of the G e r m a n people depends on its y o u n g people." The
preamble to the law stated that all y o u n g G e r m a n s "must therefore
be prepared [to fulfill] their future obligations," specifically:
§1. All German young people are to be included in the Hitler Youth.
§2. Except for the parental home and the school, all German young
people are to be educated physically, spiritually, and morally in the
spirit of National Socialism for service to the nation and the
national commimity.
§3. The responsibility for educating all German young people in the
Hitler Youth is assigned to the Reich Youth Leader of the NSDAR He
is thereby the Youth Leader of the German Reich. He occupies the
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 103
position of a Supreme Reich Authority with headquarters in Berlin
and is directly responsible to the Führer and Reich Chancellor.
§4. The Führer and Reich Chancellor will issue the requisite decrees
and regulations for enforcing and amending this law.
Berlin, 1 December 1936
The Führer and Reich Chancellor
Adolf Hitler
State Secretary and Head of the Reich Chancellery
Dr Lammers
E v e n before m e m b e r s h i p b e c a m e compulsory, the Hitler Youth
a n d its subdivisions enjoyed great popularity. F r o m the end of
1932 to the e n d of 1934, m e m b e r s h i p in the Hitler Youth rose from
1 0 7 , 9 5 6 b o y s to 3 . 5 7 7 million; m e m b e r s h i p in the L e a g u e of
G e r m a n Girls during the s a m e period increased from 2 4 , 0 0 0 to
1.334 m i m o n . 4 3
During the initial y e a r of the Youth Film H o u r s in 1 9 3 4 , atten­
d a n c e w a s a p p r o x i m a t e l y 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 , e v e n though the Hitler Y o u t h
h a d l a u n c h e d t h e m in just a few big cities. During the 1 9 3 8 / 3 9
season, the n u m b e r of attendees h a d g r o w n to over 2.5 million;
the n u m b e r of p e r f o r m a n c e s w a s 4 , 8 8 5 that season. Later, almost
all of the 5 , 2 7 5 c i n e m a s in G e r m a n y w i t h an a v e r a g e seating
c a p a c i t y of m o r e 7 5 0 m a d e their facilities available for Youth Film
H o u r s e v e r y m o n t h . Goebbels's success statistics of 2 9 September
1 9 4 0 c o u n t e d a total of 9,411,318 y o u n g attendees at 19,694 Y o u t h
F i l m H o u r s from 1 9 3 4 to 1 9 4 0 "within the f r a m e w o r k of the Win­
ter Aid c a m p a i g n s " alone. The highest attendance figure w a s d u r ­
ing the 1 9 4 2 / 4 3 season w h e n 11.2 million y o u n g people visited
4 5 , 2 9 0 performances.^*
In rural areas where, in contrast to the cities, there w e r e virtu­
ally n o cultural diversions, not e v e n a cinema, the Y o u t h F i l m
H o u r s that w e r e held in school houses, inns, a n d c h u r c h halls
w e r e m u c h appreciated sources of entertainment. In the 1 9 4 2 / 4 3
s e a s o n alone t h e r e w e r e a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 8 , 2 5 0 p e r f o r m a n c e s
attended b y nearly 2.5 million Hitler Youth and B D M girls in areas
without cinemas, while in cities with cinemas there w e r e 24,100
screenings with 8,355,000 attendees during the s a m e period.
In 1 9 4 2 / 4 3 , 1,500 mobile film units traveled around the c o u n ­
t r y s i d e to s p r e a d the F ü h r e r ' s w o r d . A secret Sicherheitsdienst
(Security Service) report*^ d a t e d 3 April 1941 informed "higher
authorities" that these film presentations w e r e particularly p o p u ­
lar in rural areas w h e r e there w e r e n o cinemas, since they w e r e
104 The Triumph of Propaganda
often the only source of entertainment a n d information. G e r m a n
c i n e m a o w n e r s w e r e obliged "on the basis of a directive from the
Reich Film C h a m b e r to m a k e their theaters available once a m o n t h
on S u n d a y or, as local conditions require, twice monthly, for the
p u r p o s e of holding Youth Film H o u r s . " ^
T h o u g h a t t e n d a n c e a t the S u n d a y p e r f o r m a n c e s w a s n o t
m a n d a t o r y , w h e n e v e r a Hitler Youth Stammfiihrer or a B D M Ring-
führerin invited their c h a r g e s to see films s u c h as Das große Eis
(Kulturfilm d o c u m e n t a r y about Prof. Alfred W e g e n e r ' s expedition
to Greenland, 1936), Nanga Parbat ( d o c u m e n t a r y about a G e r m a n
mountaineering expedition to the Western H i m a l a y a s , 1936), Tri­
umph des Willens (Triumph of the Will, 1935), Fest der Jugend (Festi­
v a l of Youth) or Fest der Schönheit (Festival of Beauty, 1938), Hitlers
50. Geburtstag (Hitler's 50th Birthday, 1939), Feldzug in Polen ( C a m ­
p a i g n in P o l a n d , 1 9 3 9 ) or Sieg im Westen (Victory in the West,
1 9 4 1 ) , y o u n g people turned u p in droves, o c c u p y i n g e v e r y seat in
the house.
Of course, feature films such as Fridericus Rex (1936), Der große
König (The Great King, 1942), Bismarck (1940), a n d Die Entlassung
(The Dismissal, 1 9 4 2 ) w e r e also s h o w n , for as Hitler said, "our
educational s y s t e m lacked the art of picking a few n a m e s out of
the historical d e v e l o p m e n t of our people a n d making t h e m the
c o m m o n p r o p e r t y of the w h o l e G e r m a n nation, thus through like
k n o w l e d g e a n d like e n t h u s i a s m tying a uniform, uniting b o n d
a r o u n d the entire nation.... They w e r e not able to raise w h a t w a s
glorious for the nation in the various subjects of instruction above
the level of objective presentation, a n d fire the national pride b y
s u c h gleaming examples."*^
The Nazis w e r e skilled in persuading people that the dreary,
mythless e r a represented b y the "bourgeois," "Marxist," "Jewi-
fied" W e i m a r republic w a s in urgent need of bright shining role
m o d e l s w h o w o u l d lead the w a y to the "light." It w a s an era that
called for "Luther types" (as Rosenberg t e r m e d the p u r v e y o r s of
m y t h ) "to lift people's hearts in this chaos ... [and] deliberately
r e m a g n e t i z e them."**
Great scientists, inventors, a n d artists as well w e r e p o r t r a y e d in
films such as Robert Koch: der Bekämpfer des Todes (1939), Friedrich
Schiller (1940), Friedemann Bach ( 1 9 4 0 / 4 1 ) , Andreas Schlüter (1942),
a n d Diesel (1942), for "an inventor m u s t not only s e e m great as an
inventor, but m u s t s e e m even greater as a national c o m r a d e . O u r
a d m i r a t i o n of every great deed m u s t be bathed in pride that its
fortunate p e r f o r m e r is a m e m b e r of our o w n people. F r o m all the
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 105
innumerable great n a m e s of G e r m a n history, the greatest m u s t be
picked out a n d introduced to the y o u t h so persistently that they
b e c o m e pillars of an unshakable national sentiment."*'
Beginning in the 1940s, anti-Semitism h a d an important part to
p l a y in the Youth Film H o u r s . Films like Der ewige Jude (The Eter­
nal Jew, 1 9 4 0 ) , Jud Süss (Jew Süss, 1940), Leinen aus Irland (Irish
Linen, 1939), a n d Die Rothschilds (The Rothschilds, 1940) sought to
create an a u r a of historical authenticity. In the w o r d s of Hitler,
"the c r o w n of the folkish state's entire w o r k of e d u c a t i o n a n d
training m u s t be to b u m the racial sense and racial feeling into the
instinct a n d the intellect, the h e a r t a n d b r a i n of the y o u n g
entrusted to it. N o b o y a n d n o girl m u s t leave school without h a v ­
ing been led to an ultimate realization of the necessity a n d essence
of blood purity.
T h e w a r g a v e rise to a series of c o m b a t spectaculars a n d w a r
h e r o films, all c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y a bellicose c h a u v i n i s m . T h e y
r a n g e d f r o m Stukas ( 1 9 4 1 ) t h r o u g h U-Boote westwärts ( U - B o a t s
W e s t w a r d s , 1941) a n d Kampfgeschwader Lützow (Battle Squadron
L ü t z o w , 1 9 4 1 ) to the epic Kolberg, w h i c h premiered in M a r c h 1 9 4 5
to bolster the population's e n d u r a n c e in the face of o v e r w h e l m i n g
odds. With regard to y o u n g people, the p u r p o s e of these films w a s
to help render t h e m fit for military service a n d inspire t h e m with
the c o u r a g e to die, to p r e p a r e t h e m psychologically to sacrifice
their lives.
E v e n before w a r broke out—in fact, from the inception of the
N a z i r e g i m e — f i l m s c o n s i d e r e d pacifist or "effeminate" w e r e
strictly taboo for the Hitler Youth. "Healthy y o u n g people, con­
c e r n e d about their fitness for military service a n d the defense of
their [nation's] borders, y o u n g people e d u c a t e d in this spirit, are
i m m u n e to the effects of pacifist w a r movies. Indeed, this w h o l e
q u e s t i o n is o n l y of historical interest for u s G e r m a n s , since,
b e c a u s e of their w h o l e h e a r t e d c o m m i t m e n t a n d u n a m b i g u o u s
portrayals, the nationally m i n d e d films of the n e w G e r m a n y deal
w i t h t h e i s s u e of their p s y c h o l o g i c a l i m p a c t in a m u c h m o r e
straightforward w a y than the films of the past, especially since
they are confronted with y o u n g people w h o are m o r e [than ever]
of one m i n d a n d one will."^'
The subordination of the Hitler Youth to the dictates of "total
w a r " w a s not so m u c h a m a t t e r of collecting w o o l e n s for the win­
ter on the eastern front, scrap metal for the latest battle, or p o t a t o
beetles for the p u r p o s e of saving crops. Rather, it m e a n t sending
entire high school classes to help m a n anti-aircraft batteries during
106 The Triumph of Propaganda
air raids. A n d it culminated in the creation on 2 4 J u n e 1 9 4 3 of the
12th SS P a n z e r Division, the Hitler Youth Division of the Waffen-
SS, for the final battle in France. Ten t h o u s a n d sixteen-year-old
y o u t h s w e r e sent to their d e a t h in the desperate G e r m a n c o u n t e r -
offensives o n 6 J u l y a n d 4 S e p t e m b e r n e a r C a e n a n d Yvoir d e
Meuse. B y the time Field M a r s h a l v o n Rundstedt lamented, "It's a
crying s h a m e that these trusting y o u n g people are being slaugh­
tered in such hopeless circumstances," the situation w a s already
b e y o n d help.
The Pimpfe, the y o u n g e s t m e m b e r s of the Hitler Youth, w e r e
n e v e r s h o w n this " s t o r m of steel" d u r i n g Y o u t h F i l m H o u r s .
Instead, they heard newsreel c o m m e n t a r i e s such as the following:
"In one sector of the front w e see the Hitler Youth Division of the
Waffen-SS e n g a g e d in c o m b a t . . . as they a d v a n c e , they pass b u r n ­
ing A m e r i c a n tanks. G e r m a n tanks roll o n w a r d " (July 1944). W h a t
the newsreel c o m m e n t a t o r did not say w a s that they w e r e rolling
t o w a r d certain death. Before that happened, though, they knocked
o u t t w e n t y - e i g h t C a n a d i a n tanks. A British t a n k c o m m a n d e r
recalled that they s p r a n g at Allied tanks "like wolves, until w e
w e r e forced to kill t h e m against our will."^^
O n o r d e r s f r o m the Reich Y o u t h L e a d e r d a t e d 2 7 F e b r u a r y
1 9 4 5 , even y o u n g e r boys, a r m e d w i t h Panzerfäuste [a primitive
w e a p o n m o d e l e d on the A m e r i c a n "bazooka"—Transl.] a n d anti­
tank mines, w e r e p u s h e d into the final battle—a battle that w a s
lost e v e n before it h a d been fought—in o r d e r to s e r v e their h e r o
A d o l f Hitler to the last d a y of the w a r "with love for a n d loyalty
to the F ü h r e r a n d o u r flag," as the Hitler Y o u t h p l e d g e c o m ­
m a n d e d . T h e w a r m o v i e s s h o w n d u r i n g the Y o u t h Film H o u r s
w e r e not the least of the reasons they w e r e willing to m a k e the
ultimate sacrifice.
W h e n Goebbels spoke on G e r m a n radio to the y o u n g people of
the Reich at the opening of the 1 9 4 2 / 4 3 Youth Film H o u r s on 2 5
October 1 9 4 2 , he said nothing regarding the subject of film; h o w ­
ever, h e h a d a great deal to say about the heroic ethos of G e r m a n
b o y s in the war. The P r o p a g a n d a Minister w a s intoxicated by a
recent visit of "some thirty Hitler Youth between the ages of ten
a n d seventeen ... w h o w e r e without exception [decorated] with
the Iron C r o s s or the W a r Service Cross." T w o of the b o y s h a d
e a c h shot d o w n a British fighter plane a n d "had been d e c o r a t e d
with the s a m e medals a w a r d e d to soldiers at the front." Because of
their "service to the nation," they h a d g r o w n "several inches in
t e r m s of morale. "^^ W h o a m o n g the boys listening to Goebbels's
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 107
speech in a m o v i e theater as it w a s broadcast that Sunday w o u l d
not also liked to h a v e g r o w n "several inches"?
After the war, B e r n h a r d Wicki used the motion picture c a m e r a
with brutal effectiveness in his film Die Brücke (The Bridge, 1 9 5 9 )
to e x a m i n e the misguided h e r o i s m a n d idealism of "Hitler's chil­
dren" a n d the horrible absurdity of sacrificing y o u n g lives as Ger­
m a n y ' s defenses c r u m b l e d . H e s h o w e d s c h o o l b o y s t h r o w i n g
themselves in the p a t h of a d v a n c i n g A m e r i c a n tanks, only to die
pointlessly t w o d a y s before the end of the war.^*
"Nazism n e v e r g a v e people ... anything but power. You still
h a v e to ask w h y it w a s , if this regime w a s nothing but a bloody
dictatorship, that on 3 M a y 1 9 4 5 there w e r e still G e r m a n s w h o
fought to the last d r o p of b l o o d — w h e t h e r these people didn't
h a v e s o m e form of emotional attachment to power. "^^
Goebbels recalled a valiant Hitler Youth w h o w a s still breathing
as he w a s pulled out of a burning tank: "Unconscious for m o s t of
three days, n o w o r d of complaint ever crossed his lips; a n d then as
he g a v e u p the ghost, he whispered a greeting to the Führer. If
S c h o p e n h a u e r ' s d i c t u m is correct that y o u can judge a m a n in part
b y h o w h e dies, this b o y w a s ... a real man."^*
Just four w e e k s after the Battle of Stalingrad, Goebbels assigned
the Youth Film H o u r s the mission of making "real m e n " out of the
Hitler Youth (at least as Hitler u n d e r s t o o d the concept) a n d show­
ing films that w o u l d prepare t h e m for sacrificing their y o u n g lives
on the battlefield like their m o v i e heroes. The kitschy romanti-
cization of w a r f a r e expressed in songs a n d p o e m s lent emotional
s u p p o r t to the Film H o u r s as they celebrated heroic sacrifice. The
p o e m below is representative of their quality:
N o w let the flags w a v e
a g a i n s t the g r e a t r e d sky of m o r n i n g
lighting o u r w a y t o v i c t o r y
o r b u r n i n g us to death!
E v e n if w e fall in battle,
o u r state will s t a n d like a m i g h t y c a t h e d r a l !
A n a t i o n takes in h i m d r e d s of h a r v e s t s
a n d s o w s m a n y h u n d r e d s of times.
L o o k at us, G e r m a n y , d e a t h in battle
is the least w e c a n offer you!
S h o u l d the g r i m r e a p e r cut d o w n o u r r a n k s ,
w e will b e c o m e the s e e d s of the future!
Hans Baumarm
108 The Triumph of Propaganda
W h e n e v e r a Youth Film H o u r w a s held, the newsreel for that
w e e k w a s also s h o w n . To Goebbels, n e w s r e e l s w e r e " m a k e -
believe reality." Especially during the war, weekly newsreels ful­
filled a special function in the propagation of Hitler's w a r aims. In
1941 Goebbels n o t e d in his diary that "the newsreel is the best
m e a n s w e h a v e for leading the people."^'' Newsreels w e r e m a d e
m o r e effective b y skillfully combining t h e m with a p p r o p r i a t e fea­
ture films, "cinematic epics of G e r m a n heroism" (Goebbels) that
w o u l d ensure a continuing supply of "heroes." The p a r t y n e w s ­
p a p e r Das Reichr^ of 8 June 1 9 4 1 , devoted a lead article to the sub­
ject of film as a p r o p a g a n d a m e d i u m in w a r t i m e . A m o n g other
things, it stated that "the newsreel reports on the Polish c a m p a i g n
g a v e individuals for the first time the exciting sensation of being
placed in the middle of events as they w e r e unfolding. A s a result
of this experience with newsreels, audiences b e g a n to practice an
unconscious but v e r y effective film policy that they n o doubt p u r ­
sued m o s t energetically during the surrmier of 1940. In t e r m s of
content, technique, a n d effectiveness, these films w e r e v e r y closely
related to the newsreel." The films referred to w e r e features such
as KoTpf hoch, Johannes ( C h i n U p , J o h n , 1 9 4 1 ) , Wunschkonzert
(Request C o n c e r t , 1940), Feinde (Enemies, 1940), Kampfgeschwader
Lützow (Battle Squadron Lützow, 1941), Stukas (1941), a n d U-Boote
westwärts ( U - B o a t s W e s t w a r d s , 1941). M o r e i m p o r t a n t than the
inclusion of d o c u m e n t a r y footage in these features w a s the fact
that the newsreel h a d "clearly" b e c o m e "their leavening agent.
Like [the newsreel] these films p u t the m o v i e g o e r directly within
the experiential vicinity of events ... There are scenes that plainly
s h o w the close connection of this film genre to the newsreel."
Since the G e r m a n people h a d b e c o m e spoiled as a result of
hearing nothing but a n n o u n c e m e n t s of victory, Goebbels h a d to
be extremely careful not to squander the trust built u p through the
newsreels b y fabricating victories w h e n there w e r e nothing but
defeats to report ("enemy" radio stations, of course, kept G e r m a n
listeners u p d a t e d with r e g a r d to the military situation). C o n s e ­
quently, Goebbels c o n c e a l e d h u g e retreats f r o m the public b y
shifting the n e w s to reports of "victories" a c h i e v e d by c o m b a t
patrols, U - b o a t s , a n d individual airplane a n d tank c r e w s . T h e
c u m u l a t i v e effect of these m i n o r triumphs created the impression
of a massive "forward defense" p u n c t u a t e d by occasional "tactical
retreats" a n d efforts to "straighten the front," that is, b y relatively
positive events. H o w e v e r , to the v e r y last, the film p r o p a g a n d i s t s
n e v e r w e n t so far as to s h o w G e r m a n soldiers dying o n the screen;
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 109
that w a s strictly taboo. A s Nietzsche said, "art exists so that the
b o w w o n ' t break." In the c a s e of the film m e d i u m , the a r t w a s in
w h a t w a s omitted.
However, since young people "also [have] a right to laugh, the
Youth Film H o u r s feature comedies as well." According to film jour­
nalist H a n s Joachim Sachsze, "National Socialist youth education is
not oriented in an angry, violent, or rigid w a y to any particular ide­
ological concept of 'heroism.' Rather, the Hitler Youth recognizes
the need of y o u n g people to relax a n d lead healthy lives. "^
A m o n g the comedies p r o d u c e d during the war, the following
w e r e s h o w n during Youth Film Hours: A r t h u r M a r i a Rabenalt's
Weißer Flieder ( W h i t e Lilac, 1 9 3 9 ) , K u r t H o f f m a n n ' s Quax, der
Bruchpilot ( Q u a x the C r a s h Pilot, 1941), H e l m u t K ä u t n e r ' s Kleider
machen Leute (Clothes M a k e the M a n , 1940) a n d Wir machen Musik
(We M a k e Music, 1942), H e l m u t Weiß and Heinrich Spoerl's Die
Feuerzangenbowle (Hot Wine Punch, 1944), Heinz Rühmann's
Sophienlund (1943), a n d Willi Forst's Wiener Blut (Vienna Life). "In
addition to getting a spiritual uplift a n d boost, [young people
m u s t be able] to relax from the harsh daily grind of w a r t i m e w h e n
they g o to see a m o v i e " (Goebbels).
The g o v e r n m e n t conducted periodic surveys to determine the
popularity of films and g a u g e the extent of y o u n g people's interest
in political events a n d subjects, with the a i m of increasing the effec­
tiveness of state-sponsored film productions. In responding to the
question "Which movies did y o u like best?" y o u n g people c a m e
out unequivocally in favor of the following films, which the press
h a d also given top marks for both style and content. They are listed
in descending numerical order based on number of votes received:
Der große König (The Great King, 1942), Bismarck (1940), Die Ent­
lassung (The Dismissal, 1 9 4 2 ) , Friedrich Schiller (1940), Heimkehr
(Homecortdng, 1941), Ohm Krüger (Uncle Krüger, 1941), ... reitet
für Deutschland (Riding for G e r m a n y , 1 9 4 1 ) , Andreas Schlüter
(1942), Stukas (1941), Kadetten (Cadets, 1941), Diesel (1942), Wun­
schkonzert (Request Concert, 1940), a n d Kampfgeschwader Lützow
(Battle S q u a d r o n Lützow, 1941). W a y d o w n on the list, by the way,
c a m e the anti-Semitic Jud Süss (Jew Süss, 1940), which received 92
v o t e s , a s c o m p a r e d to 1,115 for Der große König.^
P r o p a g a n d a films, of c o u r s e , w e r e s h o w n not only at Youth
Film H o u r s . They w e r e also screened wherever school-age y o u n g
people gathered on a daily basis, namely, in classrooms a n d school
auditoriums, where they m a y have been received with even
greater enthusiasm. E v e n during the W e i m a r period there w e r e
110 ! The Triumph of Propaganda
enterprising u r b a n a n d regional educational picture centers {Stadt­
bildstellen, Landesbildstellen) that h a d both a well-diversified assort­
m e n t of films a n d portable 16 m m projectors so that they could
present films in a n y classroom, in a n y university seminar r o o m , or
at a n y evening social function. Bernhard Rust, w h o w a s appointed
Reich Minister for Science, Education, a n d Public Instruction on
3 0 April 1 9 3 4 , w a s interested in using audio-visual aids primarily
to e d u c a t e students in the spirit of militarism, G e r m a n national­
ism, a n d anti-Semitism: "We need a n e w A r y a n generation ... or
w e will forfeit the future."
In o r d e r to w i n the future, N a z i ideological training w o u l d
h a v e to begin in childhood. The schools w o u l d be responsible for
the total a d a p t a t i o n of the individual to the n e w politically regi­
m e n t e d society. The inculcation of political attitudes "would take
place before a n d during the time w h e n y o u n g people are trying
hardest to c o m e to t e r m s with their o w n identity a n d individual­
ity, i.e., puberty.""
O n 2 6 June 1 9 3 4 B e r n h a r d Rust issued a directive to introduce
political films into schools for the p u r p o s e of e d u c a t i o n : "The
National Socialist state asks the schools of G e r m a n y to a s s u m e
n e w a n d i m p o r t a n t responsibilities. To c a r r y t h e m o u t they m u s t
avail themselves of e v e r y educational a n d technical aid. E d u c a ­
tional films are a m o n g the m o s t i m p o r t a n t aids. Only the n e w
state w a s able fully to o v e r c o m e the psychological irüiibitions to
the use of the technological achievements of film, a n d it is deter­
m i n e d to enlist the film m e d i u m in the service of its Weltanschau­
ung. This m u s t take place primarily in the schools a n d , moreover,
as an integral part of c l a s s r o o m instruction."
In 1943 the regional educational picture centers h a d thirty-seven
centers t h r o u g h o u t G e r m a n y a n d w e r e optimally placed to dis­
tribute their p r o p a g a n d a films. The regional centers w e r e further
subdivided into urban a n d rural districts numbering 1,242, ensur­
ing the delivery of films to any desired target group. Moreover, b y
1936 the P r o p a g a n d a Ministry h a d 32 Regional Party Film Centers
{Gaufilmstellen), 771 District P a r t y Film Centers {Kreisfilmstellen),
a n d 22,357 smaller p a r t y film centers {Ortsgruppenfilmstellen).^'^
Reichshauptstellenleiter der NSDAP C u r t Belling, o n e of the
P a r t y ' s official spokesmen on film m a t t e r s , reported in the Film-
Kurier of 31 D e c e m b e r 1 9 3 6 in a n article titled "Film a n d the
Party": "Over three h u n d r e d mobile cinemas, fitted out with the
m o s t m o d e r n equipment, travel a r o u n d the c o u n t r y e v e r y day,
a n d w h e r e v e r they a p p e a r h u n d r e d s of G e r m a n s gather to share
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 111
the experience of participating in the great political events of our
d a y t h r o u g h film. In this way, it w a s possible to bring the issues of
our times in a lively format to the twenty-five million people w h o
live outside the large population centers a n d a w a y from the major
traffic routes."^^
Letter from an Old Soldier on the Siegfried Line
to His Sixteen-Year-Old Son
Come on, comrades, come on! When at the end of this war, on the day
of our great victory, the Führer looks around, may he see beside his
armies the shining banners of his Hitler Youth.
Refrain of the Hitler Youth w a r service song from the
d o c u m e n t a r y Junges Europa II [Young E u r o p e II, 1942],
directed b y Alfred W e i d e n m a n n
"I'm so p r o u d of y o u , m y boy! You've b e c o m e the standard-bearer
of y o u r Jungbann. N o other n e w s from y o u could m a k e m e h a p ­
pier than this. I a m grateful to Providence for allowing me, an old
soldier, to fulfill m y destiny so proudly. W h e n I w a s about the
s a m e age y o u are today, m y son, I w a s allowed to m a r c h off to the
Great War. I w a s permitted to join the wall of bodies ringing the
Fatherland, a wall that w a s sunk deep into e n e m y soil, braving
e v e r y hailstorm of iron a n d every hurricane of fire, defending the
h o m e l a n d , for days, weeks, months, years. Then suddenly it w a s
all over. W e h a d to return h o m e a n d w e r e derided for all our sac­
rifices. O u r flags w e r e torn d o w n , the flags in which all w e ever
s a w w a s the homeland. We w e r e forced to feed these sacred pieces
of cloth to the flames to prevent t h e m from being desecrated. W e
returned to a t o p s y - t u r v y w o r l d , one that they called a w o r l d of
p e a c e , but w a s nothing m o r e than a total humiliation. M a n y of us
w h o for four years withstood e v e r y hell of this w o r l d w i d e confla­
g r a t i o n w e r e shattered b y feelings of revulsion a n d c o n t e m p t .
M a n y clenched their teeth a n d m a n a g e d to pick u p the pieces of
their lives. S o m e like m e w e r e compelled to set out again, to the
Baltics, U p p e r Silesia ... You k n o w the stations of m y life as a sol­
dier, m y son.
"But while w e m o u r n e d , feared, despaired, a n d defended o u r ­
selves, there arose from our midst, from the a r m y of u n k n o w n
112 The Triumph of Propaganda
soldiers w h o h a d p a s s e d t h r o u g h all the h o r r o r s of w a r , one m a n :
the Führer.
"... In the midst of the doubters and the hopeless he hoisted a flag, a
new flag w i t h the old sacred colors and symbols, the flag of a united Reich
and a united people. With a few loyal followers rallied a r o u n d h i m ,
h e m a r c h e d off to d o battle on behalf of a great a n d distant ideal.
" A r o u n d the time y o u w e r e born, m y boy, theflrst casualties c o n ­
s e c r a t e d this flag with their blood. T h e r e w e r e sixteen of them; t h e y
w e r e the flrst to give their lives because they believed in this flag.
"In a d o g g e d , infinitely a r d u o u s s t r u g g l e f r a u g h t w i t h s a c r i ­
fice, the F ü h r e r w o n his p e o p l e over. A n d he built the Reich, the
g r e a t , strong, eternal Reich. H e b e c a m e the F ü h r e r a n d father of
all G e r m a n s .
"The flag of this Reich n o w waves, a n d no power on earth can pull it
down. Driven into the heart of every German, its staff stands unshak­
able—in m e n and w o m e n , old people and children—an
nation bearing the standard.
"While w e w a i t for the e n e m y h e r e on the Siegfried Line, m y
t h o u g h t s t u r n b a c k to the h o m e l a n d . A n d they are different f r o m
w h a t t h e y w e r e twenty-five y e a r s a g o ; they a r e tranquil, m o r e joy­
ful, certain of victory. P u r e of h e a r t a n d w i t h s t r o n g h a n d s , m y
boy, c a r r y the flag of the Jungbann in front of the t h o u s a n d s u p o n
t h o u s a n d s of y o u r y o u n g c o m r a d e s . Only the best, the strongest,
bravest, the most valiant shall be standard-bearers! This y o u know.
"In this spirit, greetings f r o m
Your Father, F e b r u a r y 1 9 4 0 . " ^
Notes
1. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, p. 654.
2. Wolf Schneider, Wörter machen Leute: Magie und Macht der Sprache (Hamburg,
1982), p. 121.
3. Hans Traub, ed.. Die Ufa: ein Beitrag zur Entwicklung des deutschen Filmschaffens
(Berlin 1943), p. 26.
4. Kurt Tucholsky, "Chaplin in Kopenhagen" in Die Weltbühne (Berlin), 7 June
1927 (under the pseudonym Peter Panter); in Kurt Tucholsky, Gesammelte
Werke., vol. 5 (Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1975), p. 226.
5. Hans Traub, ed.. Die Ufa, p. 29.
Film Propaganda in the Third Reich 113
6. Quoted in Richard Taylor, Film Propaganda: Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany
(London, 1979), p. 22.
7. Erich Ludendorff, Meine Kriegerinnerungen (Berlin, 1919), pp. 285f., English
translation Ludendorff's Own Story, August 1914-November 1918, 2 vols. (New
York, 1920); My War Memories, 1914-1918,2 vols. (New York, 1920).
8. Oskar Kalbus, Pioniere des Kulturfilms (Karlsruhe, 1956), pp. 18f.
9. Siegfried Kracauer, Von Caligari bis Hitler, p. 26.
10. Hans Traub, ed.. Die Ufa, p. 35.
11. Jürgen Spiker, Film und Kapital (Berlin, 1975), p. 34.
12. Gottlieb Hermes, "Politische Auslandsfilme" in Heinrich Pfeiffer, ed.. Das
deutsche Lichtbildbuch (Berlin, 1924), p. 35.
13. Gustave Le Bon, Psychologie der Massen (Leipzig, 1908), pp. 18f., Enghsh trans­
lation The Crowd (New York, 1896).
14. Ibid., p. 20.
15. Thomas Mann, Doktor Faustus (Stockholm, 1947), English translation Doctcrr
Faustus (New York, 1948).
16. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, vol. 2, p. 11.
17. Alexander and Margarete Mitscherlich, Die Unfähigkeit zu trauern: Grundlagen
entire des kollektiven Verhaltens (Munich, 1967), English translation The Inability to
Mourn: Principles of Collective Behavior (New York, 1978).
18. Iring Fetscher, Kunst im Dritten Reich (Frankfurt am Main, 1974), p. 8.
19. Saul Friedländer, Kitsch und Tod, p. 118.
20. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, vol.1, p. 6.
21. Ibid., p. 197.
22. Licht-Bild-Bühne (Berlin), 13 November 1933.
23. Alfred Rosenberg, Blut und Ehre (Munich, 1940), p. 214.
24. Film-Kurier (Berlin), 29 March 1933.
the
25. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf p. 198.
26. Ibid., p. 317.
27. Hans Grimm, Volk ohne Raum (Leipzig, 1926).
28. Theodor Adomo, Einleitung in die Musiksoziologie (Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1968),
p. 60, English translation Introduction to the Sociology of Music (New York, 1989).
29. Hermann Glaser, Das dritte Reich (Freiburg, 1961), p. 54.
30. Hans Traub, Der Film als politisches Machtmittel (Munich, 1933), p. 26.
31. Quoted in Peter Gay, Die Republik der Außenseiter, pp. 107f., English original
Weimar Culture: The Outsider as Insider (New York, 1968).
32. [The Hitler Youth was divided regionally into six Obergebiete, each containing
six Gebiete and a maximum of eight. Each Gebiet, depending on size, contained
several HY Banne. By 1943 there were 42 Gebiete and 223 Banne.—Trarxsl.]
33. Adolf Hitler in a speech on 4 December in Reichenberg, quoted in Völkischer
Beobachter (Munich), 4 December 1938.
34. Peter Gay, Die Republik der Außenseiter, pp. 107f.
35. Quoted in Werner Kindt, comp., Grundschriften der deutschen Jugendbe­
wegung (Düsseldorf, 1963), p. 66 (Preface by Hans Breuer to the lOth ed. of
the Zupfgeigenhansl).
36. Götz von Olenhusen, jugendreich, Gottesreich, Deutsches Reich (Cologne, 1987)
(Archiv der deutschen Judgendbewegung, 2), p. 8.
37. F. Wagner and G. Linke, eds.. Die Inszenierung der Macht: äesthetische Faszination
im Faschismus (Berlin, 1987).
114 The Triumph of Propaganda

38. [Heimabende were obligatory Hitler Youth meetings held during the evening
hours. They consisted of a prescribed program of ideological indoctrination
and activities such as singing and making things for Winter Relief (Winterhilfs-
zverk). See Christian Zentner and Friedemann Bedürftig, eds.. Das grosse
Lexikon des Dritten Reiches (Munich, 1985), p. 243.—Transl.]
39. Karsten Witte, "Der Apfel und der Stamm" in Schock und Schöpfung (Darm­
stadt, 1986), p. 306. + 5+
40. Hans Joachim Sachsze, "Filmpublikum von morgen" in Der deutsche Film
(Berlin), vol. 2, no. 6,1937, pp. 168f.
41. Ibid., p. 199. THE NONFICTIONAL GENRES OF
42. Curt Belling and Alfred Schütze, Der Film in der Hitlerjugend (Berlin, 1937), p. 62.
43. Arno Klönne, Jugend im Dritten Reich (Düsseldorf, 1982), p. 34. NAZI FILM PROPAGANDA
44. Armeliese Ursula Sander, Jugend und Film (Berlin,1944) (Das junge Deutschland:
Sonderveröffentlichung, 6), p. 72.
45. Secret report of the SD [Sicherheitsdienst], 3 April 1941 in: Bundesarchiv
Koblenz R 5 8 / 1 5 9 .
46. W. Hacker, "Der Aufstieg der Jugendfilmarbeit" in Das junge Deutschland, The Cultural and Educational Film
Amtliches Organ des Jugendführers des deutschen Reiches (Berlin), no. 10,
1943, p. 235.
The harmonically educated man should, as was true of Goethe, he well
47. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf p. 471.
48. Alfred Rosenberg, Der Mythus des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts (Munich, 1930), p. versed in representational as well as abstract thinking. Cultural films
521, English translation The Myth of the Twentieth Century: An Evaluation of the are therefore a culturally desirable counterweight to the excessive
Spiritual-Intellectual Confrontations of Our Age (Torrance, Calif., 1982). growth of abstract thinking and against the one-sidedness of a pre­
49. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, pp. 473f. dominantly intellectual education.
50. Ibid., p. 118. Das Kulturfilmbuch, 1924^
51. Alois Funk, Film und Jugend (Doctoral thesis, Munich University, 1934), p. 97.
52. Hannsjoachim Wolfgang Koch, Geschichte der Hitlerjugend, p. 173.
53. Ibid., p. 173.
54. Cf. Hilmar Hoffmann, "Die Brücke" [review of Bernhard Wicki's film] in
"Aunt Ufa's" Culture
Rheinischer Merkur/Christ und Welt (Bonn), no. 7 , 1 2 February 1988.
55. Interview with Michel Foucault in Cahier du Cinema (Paris), no. 2 5 1 / 2 5 2 , N o t m e r e l y the aesthetics of the cultural film present a typically
July-August 1974, p. 19. G e r m a n p h e n o m e n o n , b u t the notion of Kulturfilm as well. F r o m
56. Joseph Goebbels, Der steile Außtieg, pp. 45 and 48. the c e l l u l a r d i v i s i o n of a n a m o e b a to a n artistic g i a n t s u c h as
57. Diary entry by Joseph Goebbels, 23 July 1941 in: Bundesarchiv Koblenz BA IVlichelangelo, the cultural film deals w i t h e v e r y t h i n g that is being
NL 118.
i n v e s t i g a t e d b y biology a n d medicine, b y research a n d technol­
58. Das Reich (Berlin), no. 2 3 , 8 June 1941.
59. Hans Joachim Sachsze, Filmpublikum von morgen, p. 199. ogy, a r t a n d literature, e t h n o l o g y a n d g e o g r a p h y a n d i n c o r p o r a t e s
60. Armeliese Ursula Sander, Jugend und Film, p. 118. it all into a m o r e elevated w a y of looking at the w o r l d that is p e c u ­
61. Kurt-Ingo Flessau, Schule der Diktatur: Lehrpläne und Schulbücher des National­ liar to this genre. G e r m a n y ' s Kulturfilm-makeis demystify creation
sozialismus (Frankfurt am Main, 1984), p. 117.
a n d c o s m o s . T h e F r e n c h respectfully called the G e r m a n cultural
62. Curt Belhng, Der Film in Staat und Partei (Berlin, 1936).
film "film de niveau"; the A m e r i c a n s spoke of "oddities." B e t w e e n
63. Curt Belling, "Film und Partei" in Film-Kurier (Berlin), 31 December 1936.
64. Horst Kerutt and Wolfram M. Wegener, eds.. Die Fahne ist mehr als der Tod: ein 1 9 2 6 a n d 1 9 2 9 , the U n i t e d States c h a r m e l e d s o m e o n e h u n d r e d
deutsches Fahnenbuch (Munich, 1943), pp. 139-41. G e r m a n c u l t u r a l films in t h o u s a n d s of copies t h r o u g h its largest
c i n e m a chains.
A s R u d o l f Oertel p u t it in 1941:

Among the many gifts that the movie gave us, none seems to be
more precious and exhilarating than the gaze into the miraculous
world of the universe.... The immense richness of microscopic life
 116 The Triumph of Propaganda
in a water hole, the struggle for survival, the multiplications of invis­
ible microbes, the slow growth, blossoming, wilting of plagts,^je^^^
^Vtx^i^WAf^^n^trability of the n o c t u i i i a l ^ e s , the stars, the reali^of the"
clouds, the light raj^s, the cun-ents ^ energy, the circulation of the i^^j^
blood, the penetrating eyes of x-rays, the physician's operating s k i l l s % ^ )
but no less so the grandiose world of modem factories ... the infiiute^
cosmos and the small universe of humans.... The cultural film is the
great magician who shows us secrets that even our most daring ^ 5
imagination could not visualize more magnificently arid colorfully.^ ^uM-'ii^
Speaking at the "Filmforum" in 1 9 5 5 , Nicholas^ K a u f m a n n , for
n;\any y e a r s director of Ufa's c u l t u ^ filin divisioii,'^pi'ovided j v i d e d c, , ,^ ^
"^mneHShat m o r e solber reifospecffve asslssmerft
Tosp'ectrv^ss'essment of this genre's "
* -^gerlesis.^ During the reign of E m p e r o r Wilhelm II, the g o v e r n m e n t
h a d taken a stake,o^i^jwjf^ty-five million g o l d m a r k s in the found­
ing of U f a OTt'condition that a special d e p a r t m e n t b e established
for the production of films to instruct, enlighten, a n d e d u c a t e the
p o p u l a t i o n . Since this kind of film w a s controlled b y ^the Kul-
turpflege d e p a r t m e n t of the Reich Ministry of the I5itefior, it w a s
simply r e n a m e d Ufa "cultural d e p a r t m e n t " after 1 July 1 9 1 8 , a n d
its p r o d u c t s w e r e thenceferfSR called "cultural films." In 1 9 2 5 , he
a d d e d , the leading as'soaatlon of the G e r m a n film industry (SPIO)
defined this genre n a r r o w l y as a triad oif ed'ucrational filrn^^^^ir^
tific film, a n d film purely c o n c e r n e d w i t h l a n d s c a p k ^
A s late as 1 9 4 7 , a Swiss e n c y c l o p e d i a offered t h e following
description: "Cultural film is a cafcli-all for all films that h a v e cul­
tural objectives: fjlrns o n scientific research, educational films for
coitünunity colleges a n d universities, films about expeditions a n d
reportage, films to enlighten a n d advertise, documentaries. C u l -
tural nlms m a stricter sense are snorts siipporting the m a i n p r o ­
g r a m for the p u r p o s e s of entertainment a n d education." In other
w o r d s , the t e r m c o m p r i s e d ä hodge-p'odgfe of diverse subgenres
on the o n e h a n d , a n d w a s u s e d as a br^cfef'lor^^ütonomÖus gen­
res, such as documentaries, reportage films, or marketing films, on
the other. ^''v.
Supported by Wilhelm Prager, Kaufmann h a d decisively
s h a p e d t h e aesthetics of the G e r m a n Kulturfilm w i t h t h e 1 9 2 5
m o v i e Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit ( P a t h s t o w a r d P o w e r a n d
Beauty). A s he'sfi'e'ssed in Kis p o s t w a r assessment, this genre w a s
not invetTited b y tike Nazis. H e referred to the catalogue of "sup­
p o r t i n g films s u i ^ b l e for screening in public c i n e m a s " that as
e a r l y a s 1 9 1 9 listbd eighty-seven c o m p l e t e d cultural films a n d
a n o t h e r forty-foi|r that w e r e in p r o d u c t i o n relating to s o m e
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 117
twenty-one different fields. The preface to this catalogue contains
the following telling p a s s a g e : "The w p u r i a s that t h e w a r h a s
inÖicfed can be healed only b y fulfilling^e'cultura^tasks in t|:iis /
w o r l d . Arnohg t h e m is to b e found the recon'slÄcfion'of ins^tfe^:'^^^^
tion a n d of h u m a n e education that has been badly a f f & : t e ^ y the
war." In 1 9 1 8 there existed in G e r m a n y n o less than 3,130 p e r m a ­
nent cinemas, iA^one m o v i e theater per 18,000 inhabitants.
Ufa w a s ihdebted'to Ulrich K. T. Schulz for the first edition of a
biological Kulturfilm, the popular-scientific movie Der Hirschkäfer
(The Stag Beetle, 1 9 2 0 / 2 1 ) , w h i c h , screened at the Tauentzien-
Palast, i n a u g u r a i e a t h e s u p p o r t i n g film. H a v i n g perfected the
J ,
t i m e a c c e l e r a t o r m e t h o d in c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h his c a m e r a m a n
K r i e n , Schulz d e v e l o p e d the first m i c r o s c o p i c filin c a i ^ e r a
together with Zeiss, the optical engineering company, in o r d e r to'^^
reveal th^ "mysteries" of the microcosmos. W h a t filmmakers w e r e
still lacking o n their journey into^the u n k n o w n w a s the telephoto
lens with which to c a p t u r e elusive wild animals o n a forest clear­
ing o r the distant flight of exotic birds. A s E . W. M . Lichtwark
r e m e m b e r e d it, in 1 9 2 5 Schulz a n d Krien "created their first tele-
p h o t o lens from a n old c a m e r a . The first p h o t o hunt for deer w a s
successfully started."^
In becoming m o r e perfected technically, the cultural film hoped
t o e m a n c i p a t e itself from t h e one-dimensional c h a r a c t e r of the
newsreel, n o t merely artistically, but also thematically. In contrast
to the newsreel c a m e r a that c a n n o t reproduce m o r e than w h a t is
seen b y the h u m a n eye, the cultural film aimed to s h o w all those
things that the eye c a n n o t see: the variety of the w o r l d b e y o n d the
visible a n d the secrets of nature. A c c o r d i n g t o K a u f m a n n , the Kul­
turfilm alone offers "unique d o c u m e n t s of life in the star-studded
skies above." In order to m a k e these discoveries, the filmmaker
n e e d e d the x-ray screen, a tiqie accelerator, slow motion^ c a m e r a s ,
telepKotb and wide-angle lenses. People began to revel in the tech­
n i c a l l a n g u a g e of " p a n c h r o m a t i c film" (e.g., R. Reinert's Der
geheimnisvolle Spiegel [The Mysterious Mirror, 1928]), of "Schlieren"
c i n e m a t o g r a p h y (e.g., Martin Rikli's Unsichtbare Wolken [Invisible
C l o u d s , 1932]) or of "insect p e r s p e c t i v e s " as first developed in
1929 (e.g., Ulrich K. T. Schulte's Der Ameisenstaat [State of the Ants,
1934] w h i c h w a s a w a r d e d a prize at Venice a y e a r later). P a n c h r o ­
matic film^ a r e films that are sensitive to all colors a n d the full
spectral range. The "Schlieren" optic w a s an invention of A. Toep-
ler a n d E . Abbe a n d facilitates the n u a n c e d visibility of materials
 The Triumph of Propaganda
118
of divergent transparency, such as condensations, clouds, or gases;!
it also captures irregular light a n d pictures of m o v i n g currents. |
In 1 9 5 5 K a u f m a n n put his m e m o r i e s of this period before 1945|
into the following words: "We h a d three axioms. The first was:!
'The w o r l d is m y domain.' This m e a n t that there w e r e n o limits a^
far as the subject m a t t e r w a s concerned." In order to s u p p o r t hi^
o w n de-Nazification, h e e n u m e r a t e d i n n o c u o u s c u l t u r a l films]
with biological, natural-lyrical, a n d scientific topics listed in the]
1 9 4 1 - 4 4 catalogues, such as Tiergarten Südamerika (Zoological Gar-j
d e n of South A m e r i c a ) ; In Obedska Bara; Meerestiere in der Adria^
(Marine Life in the Adriatic Sea); Das Sinnleben der Pflanzen (The;
Inner Life of the Plants); Können Tiere denken? (Are A n i m a l s Capa-!
ble of Thinking?); Unsichtbare Wolken (Invisible Clouds); Unend-^
licher Weltraum (Infinite O u t e r Space); Röntgenstrahlen (X-Rays);
Radium. T h e s e w e r e the kinds of films in w h i c h p e o p l e c o u l d
develop a "truly genuine creativity" {wurzelechtes Schöpfertum) ä
la Goebbels.
T h e s e w o n d e r s of n a t u r e that c o u l d b e s e e n e v e r m o r e fre-j
quently during the w a r on the screens of an ever m o r e ravaged^
c o u n t r y w e r e designed to distract. The u n t o u c h e d purity of nature'
w a s j u x t a p o s e d to w a r t i m e destruction; they w e r e a feast for eyesi
that h a d b e c o m e a c c u s t o m e d to seeing the somber images of war. i
K a u f m a n n ' s second a x i o m reads: "Seize hold of the fullness o^
life; it is interesting, if y o u film it properly." Accordingly, h e listsj
(unpolitical?) strips like Jugend im Tanz (Dancing Youth); Jagd unter'
Wasser ( U n d e r w a t e r H u n t ) ; Der Zirkus kommt (The Circus Is C o m - j
ing); a n d Der Geisbub (The B o y Shepherd).
The third Ufa a x i o m is set in Latin: "Suum cuicjuel" b y w h i c h |
K a u f m a n n implied that e a c h topic w a s to be staged in such a w a y
as w a s a p p r o p r i a t e to its essence.
O n 1 July 1918, Ufa founded its o w n division for cultural a n d
educational film. O n the Ufa g r o u n d s in Berlin-Babelsberg, this'
division h a d several studios and equipment that w a s always u p t o
date. For example, it h a d a fully equipped microlab that guaranteed
the high standard of film on biological subjects. Movies such asj
Kraftleistung der Pflanzen (The P o w e r of Plants); Der Bienenstaat (The •
State of the Bees); Mysterium des Lebens (The M y s t e r y of Life); Natur]
und Technik (Nature a n d Technology); Hochzeiten im Tierreich (Ani-!
m a l Weddings); Bunte Kriechwelt (The Colorful World of Creepy-!
Crawlies); Können Tiere denken? (Are Animals Capable of Thinking);!
or Tiergarten des Meeres (Maritime Z o o ) set, if nothing else, stan-|
dards of perfection. E v e n in their time these films lived u p to twoi
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 119
d e m a n d s that Nelson G o o d m a n belatedly postulated in 1967: the
scientific goal w a s insight; the aesthetic goal w a s satisfaction. ^
N e x t t o Ufa, c o m p a n i e s like Bavaria, Tobis, Wien-Film a n d oth­
ers also p r o d u c e d cultural films. Bavaria's Germanen gegen Pharao­
nen (Teutons v e r s u s P h a r a o h s , 1 9 3 9 ) , for e x a m p l e , a t t e m p t e d to
illuminate m a n ' s early history b y c o m p a r i n g the cultural m o n u ­
m e n t s of ancient E g y p t a n d Germany. W h a t the objects c a n n o t
deliver in ideological t e r m s is c o m p l e m e n t e d b y a c t o r s on the
stage. A t the time of the N a z i seizure of power, Svend Noldan's
Was ist die Welt? ( W h a t Is the World?, 1933) attracted considerable
attention. It w a s the story of creation in nine acts that surpassed
e v e n the high "Ufa s t a n d a r d " of the time. The famous physicist
M a x Planck is said to h a v e been n o little astonished b y the techni­
cal feats a n d stunts of this film as a result of w h i c h N o l d a n suc­
c e e d e d in "giving visual expression" to d e v e l o p m e n t s "that in
reality took millions of y e a r s " to evolve. Planck w a s convinced
"that s u c h films a p p e a l not only to a small circle of so-called intel­
lectuals, but could also give m u c h to the broadest sections of the
population." This all the m o r e so because "the ordinary m a n is
longing to fulfill his life, is longing for the opportunity to u n d e r ­
stand life a n d genesis that h e sees a r o u n d h i m in a d e e p e r sense."
To the m u s i c of Beethoven's Die Himmel rühmen des Ewigen Ehre,
planet E a r t h recedes into s p a c e as a barely visible speck.
Since its founding in July 1918, Ernst Krieger w a s the director of
the Ufa cultural division—"a major from the front line with m a n y
w a r w o u n d s a n d a regimental c o m r a d e of Ufa director G r a u . "
A c c o r d i n g to O s k a r Kalbus's testimony "this old drilling-ground
c o n n e c t i o n w a s extraordinarily important."* B e t w e e n 1 9 1 9 a n d
1 9 2 6 Kalbus w a s responsible for the econonüc a n d public relations
side of Ufa's cultural film division.
T h e d e p a r t m e n t dealing with scientific films w a s led b y t w o
medical d o c t o r s . C u r t Thomalla a n d Nicholas Kaufmann. They
jointly p r o d u c e d Ufa's first medical blockbusters: Die Geschlechts­
krankheiten und ihre Folgen (Venereal Diseases a n d their C o n s e ­
q u e n c e s ) ; Die Pocken, ihre Gefahren und deren Bekämpfung
(Smallpox, Its D a n g e r s a n d the Fight Against It); Die weisse Seuche
(The W h i t e E p i d e m i c ) ; Krüppelnot und Krüppelhilfe (The Plight of
the Invalids a n d H o w to Help Them); Säuglingspflege (Infant Care).
Within the first five y e a r s alone, Ufa's cultural film division
p r o d u c e d a total of 135 films on medical a n d pharmaceutical sub­
jects. H o w e v e r , the division s o o n g o t into financial difficulties
120 The Triumph of Propaganda
since these films w e r e not b o x office successes a n d t u r n e d out to
b e too sophisticated for use in schools.
In April 1919 the Central Institute for Education a n d Instruction
established a film archive a n d office for the p r o m o t i o n of e d u c a ­
tional a n d instructional films designed for schools. A s the Minis­
ter for Cultural Affairs put it w h e n speaking before the Prussian
Diet: "The G o v e r n m e n t is nonetheless of the opinion that there is
n o better investment t o d a y than to sink as m u c h m o n e y as possi­
ble into p o p u l a r education, especially at the p r i m a r y level. Recon­
struction a n d the inner r e c o v e r y of the national b o d y (Volkskörper)
m u s t start from within G e r m a n y ' s schools."
U p to the end of the inflationary period in 1 9 2 3 , Ufa's cultural
film division h a d p r o d u c e d o v e r four h u n d r e d educational a n d
cultural films suitable for schools. Previously, the Kulturfilm h a d
been treated as a negligible quantity in schools a n d a t best h a d
been d e e m e d suitable for screening on the Kaiser's birthday or o n
Sedan Day, celebrating Prussia's 1 8 7 0 victory over France. H y p e r ­
inflation then put a t e m p o r a r y stop to this development. The L a w
of 13 October 1 9 2 3 , w h i c h introduced the Rentenmark as the t e m ­
p o r a r y currency, w a s designed to stabilize the G e r m a n c u r r e n c y
system. M a n y smaller film c o m p a n i e s w e n t broke in this period.
To p r e v e n t further b a n k r u p t c i e s , the Reich g o v e r n m e n t i n t r o ­
d u c e d b y decree the so-called quota system: a G e r m a n film w a s to
b e m a d e for e v e r y film i m p o r t e d from abroad.
The financial crisis of the cultural film coincided with a general
lull in moviegoing. A n attempt w a s m a d e to m a k e a virtue out of
necessity a n d to nationalize the film industry. A s M. Pfeiffer, a con­
servative Reichstag deputy, h a d declared as early as 1917, "The
privately o w n e d cinema is d e p e n d e n t on the needs a n d e x p e c t a ­
tions of the population. A publicly funded cinema, b y contrast,
c a n r e m a i n i m p e r v i o u s to c h a n g i n g tastes a n d fashions."'' T w o
y e a r s later, Fritz Tejessy, a socialist, writing in Die Glocke, also
d e m a n d e d that all cinemas be rigorously taken into c o m m u n a l
public ownership, like in "Soviet Hungary." H e claimed that "the
flooding [of the m a r k e t ] with disreputable films" h a d a s s u m e d
catastrophic proportions.
During the "tempestuous year of the c o m m u n a l i z a t i o n m o v e ­
m e n t in 1 9 1 9 , " the Kulturfilm "optimists" h a d envisaged a v a s t
a r r a y of c o m m u n a l cinemas, Urania theaters, church cinemas, a n d
c i n e m a clubs. They d r e a m e d of showcases that w o u l d screen noth­
ing but cultural films a n d w o u l d one d a y generate an "enormous
d e m a n d " for such movies.^ In his Der Wagenlenker (The Driver),
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 121
Willy Stuhlfeld pleaded for the nationalization of all B a v a r i a n cin­
e m a s that he characterized as "gold mines." If nationalization or
c o m m u n a l i z a t i o n never materialized, this w a s probably also d u e
to the s h a r p p r o t e s t b y the p o w e r f u l Ufa trust w h i c h , on 11
N o v e m b e r 1 9 1 9 , conjured u p the specter of "grave dangers for the
continued existence of o u r society a n d hence also a threat to the
Reich's stake in our c o m p a n y " if cinemas were communalized.
M o r e o v e r , for a long time—indeed until 1 9 2 6 — t h e develop­
m e n t of the G e r m a n cultural film w a s i m p e d e d by the economic
repercussions of the entertainment tax decree of 9 June 1 9 2 1 . Sud­
denly, local g o v e r n m e n t s pocketed between 2 5 a n d 8 0 percent of
c i n e m a profits as quasi-sleeping partners of the industry. In 1926,
t h e j o u r n a l Bildwart, w i t h b a r e l y v e i l e d irony, c o m p a r e d this
"immoral" source of income to n u d e shows w h o s e entertainment
v a l u e w a s being t a x e d at a m e r e 5 percent. A c c o r d i n g to H a n s
Traub, Ufa during its financial year 1 9 2 1 / 2 2 paid ticket sales taxes
to the tune of 6 3 million m a r k s , a m o u n t i n g to "more than the total
net profit." This d o w n w a r d spiral w a s stopped only on 10 June
1 9 2 6 , w h e n the Reich C o u n c i l issued a d e c r e e t h a t linked the
e n t e r t a i n m e n t t a x to a n equalization m e c h a n i s m : the t a x m a x i ­
m u m w a s p e g g e d at 15 percent of the gross income. F u r t h e r m o r e ,
the screening of cultural films w a s m a d e attractive to cinema own­
ers b y guaranteeing t h e m a lucrative tax reduction. The pejorative
t e r m "tax grinder," used in connection with p r o g r a m pictures,
originates in this period.
L o o k i n g back from a N a z i perspective, Leopold Gutterer, the
c h a i r m a n of the Ufa supervisory board a n d state secretary in the
Reich P r o p a g a n d a Ministry, judged the reduced entertainment tax
to b e in line with "the essence of the [Weimar] system period":
"First of all, it w a s b a s e d on purely material considerations; sec­
ondly, it w a s a half-measure; a n d thirdly, it achieved the opposite
of w h a t it w a s designed to accomplish.... This w a s the time w h e n
the n a m e Kulturfilm b e c a m e popular for films relating to nature
a n d r e s e a r c h — s a d l y in an often negative sense."'
After 1 9 2 6 the water-hole, insect and bird films m u s h r o o m e d :
Die verborgenen Wunder unserer Gewässer (The H i d d e n W o n d e r s of
O u r Inland Waters); Biene Maja und ihre Abenteuer (Bee M a y a a n d
Its A d v e n t u r e s ) , d i r e c t e d b y W o l f r a m J u n g h a n s a n d b a s e d on
W a l d e m a r Bonsel's book; Bengt Berg's Mit den Zugvögeln nach
Afrika (To Africa with the M i g r a t o r y Birds); or Erich Waschneck's
Kampf um die Scholle (The Struggle for the Soil). However, there are
other typical subjects—art as reality of a s e c o n d a r y kind. In 1 9 1 9
122 The Triumph of Propaganda
H a n s C ü r l i s f o u n d e d his Institute for C u l t u r a l R e s e a r c h a n d
invoked the Geist der Gothik (Spirit of the Gothic) a n d the Dom über
der Stadt (The C a t h e d r a l a b o v e the City). H e d e m o n s t r a t e d the
otherness of the w o r l d of a r t — a w o r l d that is elevated above life
a n d p u t on a pedestal.
M a n y of the hypocritical, parareligious films depicting the little
p o m p o s i t i e s of the fitness m o v e m e n t w o u l d t o d a y d r a w
ridicule—films such as Insel der Seligen (Island of the Blessed), Die
Grazilen (The Graceful O n e s ) , a n d Licht, Luft, Leben (Light, Air,
Life). K u r t Tucholsky reviled as h a v i n g nothing to d o w i t h a r t
those Najades w h o w e r e bathing their beautiful n u d e bodies in
M a x Reinhardt's first film p o e m Insel der Seligen (1913).^° The jour­
nal Film und Bild felt at least able to identify the "embodiment of
an idea" in this movie. "Here this idea has been p u s h e d to u t m o s t
perfection, a n d the principle of a v i e w i n g v a l u e (as the funda­
mental concept of the movie) has been realized to a high degree."'^
Restrained as they w e r e , these films w e r e m o d e s t p r e c u r s o r s of
the P r a g e r - K a u f m a n n film Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit (Paths to
Vigor a n d Beauty) which, released in 1 9 2 5 , used the skin as the
m e s s a g e . In 1 9 2 6 Ufa a l o n e satisfied the d e m a n d for artistic
m o v i e s b y p r o d u c i n g s o m e 9 0 cultural films a n d over 8 5 0 e d u c a ­
tional a n d instructional ones. Yet, h o w e v e r successful these films
m a y h a v e been from an artistic point of view, profitability left
m u c h to be desired. A c c o r d i n g to Ufa-Dienst of 11 J a n u a r y 1927,
the c o m p a n y ' s cultural film division w a s disbanded "for reasons
of reorganization." It w a s only w h e n Ufa a n d Deulig m e r g e d in
the spring of 1 9 2 7 that things b e g a n to look u p again.
Greatest attention a n d c o r r e s p o n d i n g financial s u p p o r t w a s
g i v e n to t h e scientific film a n d its m o r e p o p u l a r v e r s i o n s . B y
recruiting well-known scientists, the G e r m a n scientific a n d p o p u ­
lar-scientific m o v i e s gained b r o a d appeal as genres that w e r e b o t h
educational a n d thrilling. E v e n Albert Einstein, w h o s e relativity
t h e o r y — t h o u g h still controversial at this time—^was p r o d u c e d as
a trilogy, p r a i s e d cultural films, a r g u i n g that they p r o v i d e d "a
valuable enrichment for city dwellers" because the visual experi­
ences of the latter "mostly tend to be of great monotony."^^
Films of this t ) ^ e , a n d in particular the scientific insights c o n ­
t a i n e d in t h e m , also e a r n e d the G e r m a n c u l t u r a l film r e s p e c t
abroad. N o less a p e r s o n than G. W. Pabst put himself at the ser­
vice of this genre. In 1 9 2 6 a n d in cooperation with t w o pupils of
S i g m u n d F r e u d , he m a d e t w o films about the latter's p s y c h o - r a -
lytical m e t h o d s , titled Das Geheimnis der Seele (The M y s t e r y of the
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 123
Soul). U n d e r P a b s t ' s direction, c a m e r a m a n G u i d o Seeber s u c ­
c e e d e d in p r o d u c i n g a fascinating visualization of d r e a m images.
With the help of expressionist stylistic elements, the h u m a n soul
w a s g i v e n i m a g e s that o p e n e d u p a n e w dimension of film aes­
thetics. T h r e e y e a r s earlier another famous director h a d trans­
p o s e d a d r e a m into i m a g e s w i t h e x t r a o r d i n a r y filmic m e a n s .
W a l t e r R u t t m a n n p r o d u c e d Kriemhild's " d r e a m of the falcon"
that anticipated Siegfried's d e a t h in Fritz L a n g ' s 1 9 2 3 t w o - p a r t
film Die Nibelungen (The Nibelungs). (In the Third Reich, p a r t one
w a s t u r n e d into a s o u n d m o v i e u n d e r the title Siegfrieds Tod
[Siegfried's Death], while part t w o w a s deposited in an archive.)
T h e year 1 9 2 6 w a s a year of major change also in the sense that
R u t t m a n n ' s Berlin—Symphonie einer Großstadt (Berlin—Symphony
of a City) left the b o u n d s of the cultural film a n d established the
d o c u m e n t a r y as a c a t e g o r y sui generis. It also p r o d u c e d the style of
Neue Sachlichkeit ( N e w Sobriety). The enthusiasm for naked reality
w a s inspired by the desire "to see things objectively a n d in their
material substance, without burdening t h e m a priori with ideas.""
T h r o u g h their Berlin symphony, R u t t m a n n a n d his c o a u t h o r a n d
c a m e r a m a n Karl F r e u n d created the prototype of the synchronic
film: a p a r t from Berlin's skyline, the film captures the inner phys­
i o g n o m y of the hustle a n d bustle of a metropolis, its social con­
flicts a n d the h u m a n beings affected b y them. T h r o u g h the r h y t h m
of sequences that is structured like a s y m p h o n y a n d that translates
Berlin's hectic daily life into the d y n a m i c of a film, the viewer is
s u c k e d into the e d d y of images. T h e mobility of objects a n d a n
unfettered c a m e r a b y w h i c h even spaces are being shifted, pro­
d u c e d a fascinating picture of p u r e m o v e m e n t .
A l s o in 1 9 2 6 m o v i e enthusiasts w e r e captivated b y t w o other
s y n c h r o n i c films w i t h a n a l o g o u s d y n a m i c elements: B e r t h o l d
Viertel's Die Abenteuer eines Zehnmarkscheines (The A d v e n t u r e s of
a Ten-Mark Bill) a n d Alberto Calvacanti's portrait of Paris, titled
Rien que les hemes (Nothing But the H o u r s ) . Viertel's Berlin m o v i e
w a s s c r i p t e d b y Bela B a l a s z a n d p r o d u c e d w i t h Karl F r e u n d
behind the c a m e r a . A ten-mark bill provided the "red thread" by
fluttering from sequence to sequence through the "texture of life"
(Balasz) within w h i c h people m e e t merely coincidentally. C h a n g ­
ing kaleidoscopically on the hour, Calvacanti's m o v i e represents a
stroll t h r o u g h the rhythmically c h a r g e d asphalt labyrinth of Paris.
R u t t m a n n , Balasz, a n d C a l v a c a n t i h a d all been studying the
m o n t a g e s in Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin (1925). A n d yet reality
gets lost in the rapid sequence of the images. A s Siegfried K r a c a u e r
124 The Triumph of Propaganda
p u t it, "Life in its transient form, street c r o w d s , unintended ges­
tures a n d other ephemeral impressions p r o v i d e the main diet of
the cinema."^"* J o h n Grierson first used the t e r m " d o c u m e n t a r y
film" in his 1 9 2 9 m o v i e Drifters, or m o r e precisely in his critique of
Robert Flaherty's Moana m a d e in 1926.
W h e n , with the rise of right-wing nationalist parties a n d asso­
ciations, films, too, drifted into nationalist w a t e r s , left-wing a n d
liberal artists a n d w r i t e r s founded the People's A s s o c i a t i o n of
Film A r t in 1 9 2 8 . Heinrich M a n n , G. W. Pabst, a n d E r w i n Piscator
formed its presidium. They w a n t e d to u n m a s k the "hypocrisy" of
cultural films a n d newsreels. W h e n their enthusiasm w e n t n o fur­
ther than verbal actionism, film directors associated with H a n s
Richter founded the G e r m a n L e a g u e for the Independent Film.^^
After the Invention of Sound Film
It is in the nature of its technology that the movie has abolished the
distance between the viewer and a world of art that is itself secluded.
There is an inexorable revolutionary tendency in the destruction of the
solemn distance ofthat cultic representation that surrounded the the­
ater The film's gaze is the closeup gaze of the participant.
Bela Balasz^*
Just as all technological innovations w e r e first tried out in cultural
films before they b e c a m e perfected in feature films, Ufa's first
s o u n d film e x p e r i m e n t also w a s m a d e with this genre. The m o v i e
Gläserne Wundertiere (Transparent Miracles) w a s p r e m i e r e d o n 2
A u g u s t 1929 at the U n i v e r s u m C i n e m a in Berlin. This w a s t w o
y e a r s after Holl)rwood h a d d e c l a r e d the s h o r t film What Price
Glory a n d later Lights of New York (1928), the first feature film with
running dialogue, to be the beginnings of sound film. Similarly,
the first G e r m a n color film w a s a Kulturfilm titled Bunte Tierwelt
(Colorful A n i m a l World), which premiered in December 1931 a n d
fully lived u p to its title. N o m o r e than a total of sixteen color fea­
tures w e r e m a d e up to the end of World W a r II. O w i n g to the n e w
synchronization techniques, film also b e c a m e m o r e interesting to
political parties for the verbal transmission of p r o p a g a n d a than
h a d earlier been the case, w h e n its agitational potential h a d con­
sisted only in m o v i n g pictures.
E v e n before the s t a r t of s o u n d film. Social D e m o c r a t s , C o m ­
munists, Conservative Nationalists, and Nazis used short
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 125
films a n d d o c u m e n t a r i e s for t h e p u r p o s e s of s e l f - p o r t r a y a l ,
publicity, c a m p a i g n i n g , and p r o p a g a n d a . Thus, the Social
D e m o c r a t s c o m m i s s i o n e d E r n ö Metzner in 1928 to m a k e a senu-
d o c u m e n t a r y , entitled Im Anfang war das Wort (In the Beginning
W a s the W o r d ) , w h i c h dealt with the consequences of Bismarck's
anti-Socialist laws. In 1 9 3 0 M . H a r d e r w a s asked to d o a social
study, Lohnbuchhalter Kremke (Bookkeeper K r e m k e ) . The t w o doc­
u m e n t a r i e s Bau am Staat ( W o r k i n g on the State, 1 9 2 9 ) , w i t h a
speech by the Social D e m o c r a t Reich Chancellor H e r m a n n Müller,
a n d Ins Dritte Reich (Into the Third Reich) t w o years later w e r e
m o r e or less limp statements in the style of manifestoes. Short car­
toons, like Was wählst Du? ( W h a t A r e You Going to Vote F o r ? ,
1927) a n d Dem deutschen Volke (To the G e r m a n People, 1 9 3 0 ) , that
w e r e inspired by Social Democratic ideas, p r o v e d m o r e attractive.
T h e N a z i P a r t y h a d founded its o w n Reich Film Office as early
as 1 N o v e m b e r 1930. A s early as 1925, Hitler h a d noted in his book
Mein Kampf t h a t visual i m a g e s t r a n s m i t information instantly,
unlike the written w o r d that requires slow reading.^^ N a z i termi­
n o l o g y a n d strong visual i m a g e s notwithstanding, the N S D A P
e v i d e n t l y w a s m o r e successful in this m a r k e t t h a n o t h e r s , as
d e m o n s t r a t e d b y films such as Zeitprobleme. Wie der Arbeiter wohnt
(Problems of the Time. H o w the Worker Lives, 1931) or Hitler über
Deutschland (Hitler over Germany, 1932). In the place of analyti­
cally sharpened criticism of the W e i m a r state, these movies pro­
v i d e d straight polemics.
In 1 9 2 7 the H i n d e n b u r g C o m m i t t e e p r o d u c e d Unser Hinden-
burg (Our Hindenburg), which inaugurated a repetitive series of
tired films for the Field Marshal's and Reich President's glory. It
m a r k e t e d the hero of the Battle of Tannenberg in World W a r I as an
i m a g e o f steel that t r a n s c e n d e d the ages. This w a s not history
writing the script, but historicizing manipulation. The G e r m a n
Nationalist People's P a r t y ( D N V P ) tried to keep u p in this c o m ­
petition for filmic ideas a n d p r o g r a m s by commissioning Wohin
wir treiben (Whither We A r e Drifting, 1931).
B e t w e e n the invention of s o u n d film a n d its use in p a r t y p r o ­
p a g a n d a on the one h a n d , a n d Hitler's seizure of p o w e r in 1933
on the other, there remained little time for audiovisual p r o d u c ­
tions opposing the N a z i m o v e m e n t . In 1932 the C o m m u n i s t s w o n
o v e r Slatan D u d o w to p r o d u c e Kuhle Wampe oder: Wem gehört die
Welt (Kuhle W a m p e or: To W h o m Does the World Belong), a fea­
t u r e film with artistic ambitions, w h i c h w a s directed less against
the N a z i s than against the Social D e m o c r a t s , a n d indeed quite
 126 The Triumph of Propaganda
massively so. The film censors released Kuhle Wampe only after
radical cuts h a d been m a d e . This p r o p a g a n d a film, w h i c h c u n ­
ningly mobilized emotions with the help of Brecht-style alienation
effects a n d H a r m s Eisler's ballads sung b y Helene Weigel, repre­
sented materialist h e d o n i s m p u r e a n d simple; but it is w o r t h see­
ing to this day. Weltenwende (The Beginning of a N e w World) a n d
Was wollen die Kommunisten? ( W h a t Is It T h a t the C o m m u n i s t s
Want?), both m a d e in 1928 b y Carl Junghans, b y contrast offered
w o r t h y p r o p a g a n d a w h i c h in c o m p i l a t o r y fashion o p e r a t e d with
dissociative elements. J u n g h a n s denied responsibility for another
1928 C o m m u n i s t film, titled Die rote Fahne (The Red Flag), with
w h i c h h e h a d been credited. These films d e m o n s t r a t e n o t h i n g
m o r e than the interchangeability of parts that w e r e in themselves
h o m o g e n e o u s a n d that represented a present turned into history.
With the help of a p u b o w n e r a n d a n u m b e r of unpaid C z e c h
actors, J u n g h a n s h a d m a d e a n a m e for himself after shooting a
social-critical film of the life of a w a s h e r w o m a n , titled So ist das
Leben/Takovy je zivot (This Is W h a t Life Is Like, 1 9 2 9 / 3 0 ) . This w a s
a silent film with a tragic ending that sided with the d o w n t r o d d e n
w o r k i n g class in an unsentimental way. In t e r m s of film history, it
m u s t be seen as p a r t of the brief but impressive p h a s e of m o v i e s
about the proletariat. Its artistic success w a s also d u e to the intel­
ligent e d i t i n g t e c h n i q u e s t h a t J u n g h a n s later p e r f e c t e d into a
d y n a m i c m o n t a g e , w h e n he p r o d u c e d a d o c u m e n t a r y about the
1 9 3 6 W i n t e r O l y m p i c s entitled Jugend der Welt ( Y o u t h of the
W o r l d ) . Similarly, h e refined the a r t of alienation ä la B r e c h t
t h r o u g h the use of well-positioned intermediate titles. After 1933,
J u n g h a n s h a d to m a k e certain concessions to a v o i d having to sub­
mit to the regimentation of N a z i filmmaking.
In 1 9 3 2 the powerful Stahlhelm v e t e r a n s association c o m m i s ­
sioned films like Freiwillige vor (Volunteers Step F o r w a r d ) or Der
Stahlhelm marschiert (The Stahlhelm Is M a r c h i n g ) w h o s e images
a n d texts c a m e across in the staccato style of m a c h i n e - g u n fire;
during the s a m e year, the H i n d e n b u r g C o m m i t t e e p r o d u c e d Einer
für alle (One M a n for All). All these movies represented nothing
b u t the noisy w a r cries of barbarism (Unkultur).
A m o n g the unpolitical Kulturfilm spectacles, Svend Noldan's
1934 genesis film Was ist die Welt? m u s t be seen as an important step
in the evolution of the genre. E v e n Käthe Kollwitz confessed to hav­
ing been "captivated" b y it; it w a s , she added, as a result of this film
that she h a d b e c o m e conscious of "the enormity of the Creation"
that N o l d a n h a d presented "through the eyes" to "the senses."
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 127
E v e n if d u e credit is given to Noldan's strenuous efforts that pre­
date the Nazi period by three years and to the almost perfect w a y
in w h i c h scientific knowledge w a s transmitted, the p o m p o u s nar­
rative is nonetheless a nuisance. A g a i n s t the b a c k g r o u n d of
Beethoven's Die Himmel rühmen des Ewigen Ehre the pathos of the
c o m m e n t a r y reduced science to a question of fate a n d faith.
F o r the p u r p o s e s of Nazi p r o p a g a n d a , cultural films w e r e of
interest only to the extent that they could b e "appreciated with
interest b y v i e w e r s of all e d u c a t i o n a l a n d o c c u p a t i o n a l b a c k ­
grounds."^^ T h e m o n i e s that Goebbels invested in this g e n r e —
a m o u n t i n g to at least 3 0 , 0 0 0 m a r k s per 10- to 15-minute film—
w e r e a s s u m e d to b e paying off through popular appeal. B y view­
ing cultural films, e v e r y o n e w a s to h a v e an opportunity to "study
the few laws of nature" a n d to "inform himself" of "what is h a p ­
p e n i n g in the infinite r e a l m of nature." A s Fritz Hippler a d d e d in
his Betrachtungen zum Filmschaffen w h a t "concerns all of us directly
is b e c o m i n g evident all o v e r in m o s t v a r i e d forms: the great polar­
ity of life, the law of inertia, gravity, a n d striving for the center, of
fighting a n d conception, of g r o w t h a n d aging, of giving birth a n d
d y i n g , of killing a n d d e v o u r i n g . T h e great law, the inexorable
necessity that never disappears exists ever)rwhere a n d in every­
thing; it is a n infinite w o r l d that, its pitilessness notwithstanding,
is still so beautiful."^' Hippler s a w the cultural film as a kind of
healing w a t e r from w h i c h m a n c a n gain, "beyond insight a n d cog­
nition, strength a n d faith to deal with his daily jobs a n d with the
great objectives of the struggle."
Struggle in a n d with nature becomes one of the Nazi Kulturfilm's
inexhaustible themes, d e e m e d to be "significant from a state-polit­
ical point of v i e w a n d valuable for popular education." Indeed, is
'chere another subject with which to justify more easily the Social
Darwinist ideology of e a h n g a n d being eaten, of racist w a r s of
extermination against w h a t is "un-German" and "degenerate" than
b y reference to nature which provides a seemingly fitting analogy.
It w a s not mentioned that calculated m u r d e r and the systematic
liquidation of ethnic, religious, or social minorities is unique only to
the h u m a n species. Other strategists of the N a z i cultural film, fas­
cinated with power, either did not recognize this anymore, or they
tried to d r o w n it in a romantic a n d misconceived sentimentality.
Ufa's cultural films for the first time g a v e artistic expression to
living nature; or to quote Georg L u k ä c s , "the rushing water, the
breeze m o v i n g through the trees, the silence of sunset and the roar
of a t h u n d e r s t o r m as natural events are being transformed here
128 The Triumph of Propaganda
into art, t h o u g h not, as in painting, by m e a n s of artistic values that
are taken from other worlds. M a n has lost his soul, b u t he gains
his b o d y instead; its g r a n d e u r a n d poetic p o w e r lies in the force of
his skill to o v e r c o m e physical obstacles a n d its h u m o r consists in
h o w h e s u c c u m b s to them. "2°
The Popularity of the Mountaineering Film
A sharp incline lies before us. But we believe that it can be mastered
more easily by a people that through many years of tough exercise is
trained in the tribulations of mountaineering than by a people that has
learned its mountaineering skills in the plains.... We fully appreciate
our tasks, but also our opportunities. We know what we want. But
what is even more important: we also want what we know.
Joseph Goebbels^^
The lyrical portrayal of the Alps reached a culmination well before
the a d v e n t of the Third Reich. The w o r l d w a s initiated to the
m o u n t a i n e e r i n g film b y A r n o l d F a n c k . It w a s also h e w h o
declared the m o u n t a i n peaks to be the symbolic expressions of a
w o r l d - v i e w a n d w h o created a n e w type of film that combined the
feature with the documentary. It is wonderfully easy to e x t e n d the
horizon of m e a n i n g b y adopting the p a n o r a m i c v i e w from a t o p
the mountain. With films like Wunder des Schneeschuhs (The Snow-
shoe W o n d e r , 1 9 2 0 ) , Der Berg des Schicksals ( M o u n t a i n of F a t e ,
1924), Der heilige Berg (The H o l y Mountain, 1926), or S.O.S. Eisberg
(S.O.S. Iceberg, 1933), Fanck p r o m o t e d the Nazis' fuzzy philoso­
p h y of nature, as did Luis Trenker. The latter, a native of the Alps,
likewise tended to m a k e the high ascent into the glaciers' p a r a d i s e
with his films Der Kampf ums Matterhorn (Struggle for the Matter-
h o r n , 1 9 2 8 ) , Der Sohn vom weissen Berge (The Son f r o m W h i t e
Mountain, 1930), Berge in Flammen (Mountains in Flames, 1931), or
Der Rebell (The Rebel, 1932).
Both giants of this genre helped Leni Riefenstahl rise from a
lowly career as a d a n c e r to a continuous success in filmmaking.
N o t only did she play the lead parts in Fanck's Der heilige Berg a n d
Trenker's S.O.S. Eisberg as well as Die weisse Hölle von Piz Palu (The
W h i t e Hell of Piz Palu, 1929); she also d e v o t e d her o w n talent as a
director to the cultivation of the frigid soul a n d to the delusion of
unadulterated beauty w h e n in 1932 she filmed Das blaue Licht (The
Blue Light) in the Dolomites high above the clouds. There w a s n o
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 129
r o o m for the dark sides of this w o r l d in the shadowless light "at
the p e a k of the skies" (Riefenstahl). She h a d to be "'on top' at all
costs." In her view, the idyllic setting of the mountains ä la Stifter
s y m b o l i z e d t h e beautiful. M a r g a r e t e M i t s c h e r l i c h c a l l e d it a
m e t a p h o r of "the heroic, of the masculine principle that radiated
eternal glamour."^^ F o r Riefenstahl, the mountains represented the
metaphysical. H o w e v e r , she shared with m a n y other c o n t e m p o ­
raries her w o r s h i p of the mystical a n d eternal of the w o r l d of
m o u n t a i n s . Thus, w h e n T h o m a s M a r m describes the cloud-cov­
ered A l p s as "the experience of eternity, of nothingness a n d of
death, a metaphysical d r e a m ... [as something] elementary in the
sense of ultimate a n d u n t a m e d e x t r a h u m a n grandeur,"^^ he pre­
sents a w i d e s p e c t r u m of possible e x p e r i e n c e s . A n d F a n c k ,
Trenker, a n d Riefenstahl then selected one particular facet that,
given their tendency to mystify things from the position of their
life philosophy, n o longer allowed for critical distance.
Riefenstahl, after a lot of trouble with philistine p a r t y a n d film
industry functionaries w o u l d h a v e "loved nothing m o r e " than to
take refuge "in the mountains." But, she a d d e d naively, "unfortu­
nately I first h a d to finish the film of the [1935 N u r e m b e r g ] Party
rally."^* To quote Klaus Theweleit's sarcastic assessment: " W h a t
the elevated individual, w h a t the higher culture lacks to achieve
beatific totality, to gain bodily wholeness, is a 'beneath' that it can
subjugate."^^ Riefenstahl expressed this "beneath" that is to be
s u b j u g a t e d m o r e convincingly t h a n a n y o n e else before her. In
Theweleit's p s y c h o a n a l y s i s of fascism, the "beneath" is r e p r e ­
sented by the u n o r d e r e d chaotic w o r l d of m a l e sexual drives. This
w o r l d does not a p p e a r in Riefenstahl's movies. She—a w o m a n —
h a s probably been m o s t consistent in cleansing her artistic w o r l d s
c f the filth of the "beneath." H e r stories are set on t o p of the
whitest peaks; her figurative images stretch u p w a r d into the light;
her g a z e is that of the leader of the masses w h o merely notes t h e m
as well-ordered formations, linear columns, and imposing line­
ups. T h e masses (the "beneath") are so suppressed in Riefenstahl's
w o r k that they seemingly n o longer a p p e a r in it, or if they do,
they a p p e a r in a highly cultivated form. T h e y a p p e a r as nonliter-
ary formations, as shock troops. The massive a p p e a r a n c e of the
"beneath" is so clean that it n o longer presents a d a n g e r to "the
m a n of higher culture;" on the contrary, it makes h i m "shudder."
This is w h a t Riefenstahl's films d o to this day, though for different
reasons. A t his Berghof retreat n e a r Berchtesgaden, Hitler once
p r a i s e d F a n c k ' s t r a s h y a n d d i s h o n e s t film Der heilige Berg, in
 130 The Triumph of Propagar\da
w h i c h Riefenstahl a c t e d the lead part, as "the m o s t beautiful that
I h a v e ever seen on screen."
A b o v e all, however, it w a s the cultural film that invariably rose
to lofty heights that, in its strenuous attempt to c r e a t e a lyric of
nature, mostly failed to excel artistically w h e n e v e r its m a k e r s , fol­
lowing Ufa's Alpen p r o t o t 5 ^ e , p r o d u c e d in 1918 b y F. L a m p e , built
a sublime w o r l d o f its o w n , as c a n b e found in Majestät der Berge
(Majesty of the M o u n t a i n s ) , Bergbauern ( H i g h l a n d F a r m e r s ) ,
Heuzug im Allgäu ( H a y H a r v e s t in the Allgäu) or else in Hitler
Youth m o v i e s like Hitlerjugend in den Bergen (Hitler Y o u t h in the
Mountains, 1932), Bergsommer (Mountain Summer, 1936), Aus der
Geschichte des Florian Geyer ( F r o m Florian G e y e r ' s Story, 1 9 4 0 ) ,
Hochland HJ (Highland Hitler Youth, 1 9 4 1 ) , or finally p l o d d i n g
w a r m o v i e s like Alpenkorps im Angrijf {Alpine C o r p s on the Offen­
sive, 1 9 3 9 ) , Die Funker mit dem Edelweiss (The Wireless O p e r a t o r s
w i t h the Edelweiss Flower, 1939), a n d In Fels und Firn (Rocks a n d
P e r m a n e n t Snow, 1943). These are just a few typical e x a m p l e s of
m o v i e s in w h i c h the line between the cultural film a n d the d o c u ­
m e n t a r y h a d b e e n m o v e d in favor of the latter. In the period prior
to the N a z i film, m a n y m o v i e s that w e r e called "Kulturfilm" defy
strict classification in this category.
It w a s o n l y after 1 9 3 3 t h a t the d o c u m e n t a r y c a n b e c l e a r l y
defined as a one-sided p r o p a g a n d a device. E v e n the subcategories
of this genre, such as art film, educational film, travel film, etc.,
c a m e to b e p u t in the service of a higher ideological mission. In
those cases w h e r e the ideology cannot be explicitly discerned, it is
nonetheless present in e v e r y foot of film. A c c o r d i n g l y p a r a g r a p h
2, section 5 of the F i l m L a w of 1 6 F e b r u a r y 1 9 3 4 reads: "The Reich
F i l m P r o d u c e r [Reichsfilmdramaturg] has the following tasks: ...
[ H e is e x p e c t e d ] to prevent in g o o d time topics from being treated
that r u n c o u n t e r to the spirit of the age."^*
F r a n k Leberecht, in his Der Kampf um den Himalaya (The Strug­
gle for the H i m a l a y a s , 1937), celebrated the c o u r a g e of the Ger­
m a n N a n g a P a r b a t expedition to conquer the unconquerable. A s
the forward song went: "Even if the goal is u n r e a c h a b l e — y o u t h
will still c o n q u e r it." W h a t the c o r r e s p o n d e n t of the journal Der
deutsche Film o n c e w r o t e w i t h o u t a sense o f irony applies to all
those Alpine r o p e d parties of G e r m a n directors. H e a r g u e d that it
w a s less a m a t t e r of m e r e l y d o c u m e n t i n g d a n g e r o u s climbing
expeditions than of highlighting a "mental attitude" a n d "an idea
to w h i c h the climbers w e r e s w o r n " that flared u p w h e n t h e y
wrestled with the mountains. Thus, Der Kampf um den Himalaya
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 131
w a s said b y this journalist to h a v e b e c o m e "a general G e r m a n
symbol of the will to o v e r c o m e all difficulties of life in order to
reach the light."^^ Titles like Der Aufstieg aus der Tiefe empor (Ascent
from the Depths, 1 9 1 2 ) or Uns zieht es zu höherem hinauf (We A r e
A t t r a c t e d Toward Something Higher, 1916) accordingly represent
allegorical transfigurations of a lower ideology into the higher
spheres of belief. These examples also d e m o n s t r a t e h o w the cul­
tural film, walking a tightrope t o w a r d the documentary, b e c a m e a
N a z i o r g a n , a p a r t y organ.
Technical Perfection with the Aim of Increasing Visibility
In this sense the moviegoer not only participates in what is being
offered to him substantively, but also in the technical means by which
things are being transmitted. This participation is justified.
Alfred Kerr^»
Like abstract a n d expressionist art, imagination w a s banned in the
Third Reich as something critical a n d dangerous. The Nazis per­
ceived that they might lose control over content a n d over w h a t
c o n s t i t u t e d b e a u t y if forms a n d the "natural" gestalt of things
b e c a m e o p e n to interpretation. A s early as 1918, M a x Weber h a d
d e n o u n c e d expressionism as an "intellectual narcotic."
H o w m u c h m o r e vigorously did the Nazi arbiters of art identify
this sin against the prevailing spirit of the times with the destruc­
tion of o r d e r — i n the eyes of any dictatorship, the m o s t serious
sacrilege. Consequently, it w a s w r o n g to "allow imagination to
r u n wild! I m a g i n a t i o n m u s t b e b o u n d to the e t e r n a l l a w s of
nature, a n d the Utopian vision of such films m u s t provide its own
corrective. Senseless fantasies w o u l d result in a type of film that
w e s a w so frequently in earlier d a y s a n d in w h i c h Unkultur w a s
given free rein."^'
T h e cultural film, b y contrast, took a Goethean v i e w of life:
" W h e n y o u get it, it is interesting." The Kulturfilm's striving for
universality confronted it "with n e w tasks every day." These w e r e
"to transmit on film in comprehensible fashion w h a t w o u l d oth­
erwise not be accessible to the eyes of millions of its enthusiasts."
The cultural film's c a m e r a "made us the partners of the m o s t elu­
sive beings on this planet; its time accelerator allowed us to e x p e ­
rience the miracle of plant g r o w t h from the germinating seed to
full blossom; its slow-motion technique m a d e it possible to c a p -
 132; The Triumph of Propaganda
ture the flying bird in the air; with the help of x - r a y s it p e n e t r a t e d
the secrets of life; a n d in the science lab w e witnessed h o w n a t u r e
a n d its l a w s w e r e being outwitted."
Probably n o less suited to u n d e r w r i t e the G e r m a n Kulturfilm's
mission is another observation b y G o e t h e in w h i c h he rejects a
"separation of a r t a n d science." A s Heinrich K o c h a n d Heinrich
B r a u n e a d d e d : "The cultural film has discovered o u r h o m e l a n d ,
a n d u n d e r the m a g i c t o u c h of the c a m e r a e v e n m o n u m e n t s in
m a r b l e c o m e to life." This g e n r e "is a m u c h m o r e i m p o r t a n t
a s p e c t of c o n t e m p o r a r y life than w e surmise. A s an e d u c a t o r of
millions of people, it has p r o f o u n d l y c h a n g e d o u r c o n c e p t i o n s
about the mysteries of life a n d given the coup de grace to m a n y
superstitious prejudices."3°
T h e optical a n d m e c h a n i c a l s y s t e m s for i m p r o v i n g visibility
mentioned above (telephoto, time accelerator, slow-motion,
n u c r o p h o t o g r a p h y , etc.) took an i m p o r t a n t step with the further
d e v e l o p m e n t of the time lens which, from 1 9 3 7 , o p e n e d u p n e w
fields for scientific-technical cultural films. To optimize frequency
a n d to facilitate extremely slow-motion pictures, p r i s m s are p u t
before the existing c a m e r a lens that p e r m i t a fracturing of i n c o m ­
ing light. A s a result, the object that is being viewed a p p e a r s in an
a r r a y of identical images. The s t a g g e r e d individual i m a g e s are
then sequentially exposed. Thus, b y taking s o m e 3 0 0 pictures per
s e c o n d it b e c o m e s possible to observe a falling raindrop; at 3 0 , 0 0 0
pictures p e r second w e c a n study the tensions in a crystal at the
m o m e n t of rupture. A t 8 0 , 0 0 0 pictures per second w e c a n trace the
trajectory of a bullet. This w a s also the titie of a film (80.000 Bilder
in einer Sekunde [80,000 Pictures per Second]), p r o d u c e d b y the
A E G electrical engineering firm in 1 9 3 8 , that g a v e a g o o d impres­
sion of such an event.
The educational film that provided exact data and scientific d o c ­
u m e n t a t i o n satisfied a quest for learning in a n a g e that d e v e l o p e d
a craving for c o m p e n s a t o r y covmterimages to the uniform a n d ide­
ologically anaesthetizing pictures that the Nazi regime presented.
i of an ideological m o v e m e n t , or of a social stratum. "^^ H e believed,
There is a w o r l d of difference between the idealistic definition of
the cultural film as "an educator of miUions of people" a n d the
social function of the d o c u m e n t a r y as defined, for e x a m p l e , b y
H a n s Richter w h o postulated the d e v e l o p m e n t of a "societally
responsible film." Since the growing wealth of information con­
stantly a u g m e n t s man's interest in recognizing the reality a r o u n d
him, the d o c u m e n t a r y opens u p an opportunity to provide this
latent cogiutive interest with information that is true. E v e n if Susan
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 133
Sontag believes that "the purpose of art is not to help us with the
finding of truth, be it a particular a n d historical truth or an eternal
one,"^^ artistic ambition should nonetheless not obscure the sub­
stance a n d content of w h a t is contained as i m m a n e n t truth in those
pictures o r of w h a t they demonstrate a n d of w h a t can be objec­
tively transmitted. Instead, the aesthetic element will h a v e to con­
fine itself to the role that becomes the overriding factor under the
heading of transmission. The tension between art and real life, the
confusion of a p p e a r a n c e a n d reality that w e frequently encounter
in N a z i films, h a d been dissolved into social d o c u m e n t s in the doc­
umentaries of early pioneers like Vertov, Flaherty, and Ivens which
m a y be taken as yardsticks. Quite as Richter defined it, the d o c u ­
m e n t a r y should "draw concrete life into the artistic sphere" so as to
p r o m o t e "the cognition of living relationships."^^
W h a t Richter u n d e r s t o o d to be the inclusion of "concrete life
into the artistic sphere" the Nazis did not wish to see confused
with a t t e m p t s to individualize through aesthetic means. To t h e m ,
"concrete life" w a s a useful life only if it w a s lived in the anony­
m o u s n a t i o n a l c o m m u n i t y (Volksgemeinschaft). F i l m w a s to
strengthen the conviction that h a d b e c o m e increasingly virulent in
G e r m a n y that only the individual w h o h a d joined the N a z i m o v e ­
m e n t w a s capable of realizing himself—as a part of the whole. The
d o c u m e n t a r y in particular w a s expected to m a k e its persuasive
contribution to this self-assessment gained t h r o u g h self-insight.
The c o m m o n denominator w a s the notion that the individual w a s
n o t h i n g a n d the n a t i o n w a s e v e r y t h i n g . A s P e t e r v o n W e r d e r
defined the "secret leitmotiv of films" in 1943: "Put in a nutshell,
the self-image of the individual a n d the conception of the natural,
cultural, a n d civilizational environment m a y be r e d u c e d , espe­
cially in the field of artistic expression, to one basic denominator.
This is the i m a g e of m a n that predominates in a particular piece of
art that represents at the s a m e time the telos of a race, of a nation,
as h e continued sibyllinically, that such a simplification is called
for w h e n e v e r "a r a n g e of individual traits is to be scanned over in
order to recognize basic lines a n d to discuss matters of style."
Kulturfilm Weeks w e r e organized in all major cities of the Reich
w i t h the a i m of d e p l o y i n g this g e n r e as a m o r a l e b o o s t e r to
c o u n t e r a defeatist mentality that w a s being predicted in w a r t i m e .
Cultural films w e r e u s e d prophylactically but also as p a r t of a
strategy of distraction. Two films gained general a d m i r a t i o n in
this respect. Bunte Kriechwelt a n d Thüringen. Both w e r e p r o d u c e d

134 The Triumph of Propaganda
in Agfa Color in 1 9 4 0 a n d launched in September 1941 in M u n i c h
a n u d m u c h publicity. The second "Reich Week for the G e r m a n
Kulturfilm" in N o v e m b e r 1 9 4 2 registered a mainly allergic reaction
to the p r e d o m i n a n c e of p r o p a g a n d a films, such as the trashy p a r a ­
trooper epic Sprung in den Feind Qump into E n e m y Country, 1941)
b y Wilhelm Stöppler. The 1 9 4 3 Film Week, held in the Künstlerhaus
at Munich's L e n b a c h Square, h a d a better reception. With o v e r
one h u n d r e d films subndtted, it b e c a m e a sort of short film festi­
val, featuring m a n y deja vu topics. Accordingly, Goebbels a w a r d e d
prizes to rather unexciting movies like Welt im Kleinsten (Micro-
W o r l d ) , Netz aus Seide (Silk N e t ) , Dämmerung über dem Teufelsmoor
(Dusk o v e r Devil's Bog), Kopernikus, Künstler bei der Arbeit (Artist
at Work), as well as the color a n i m a t e d films Verwitterte Melodie
( F a d e d M e l o d y ) a n d Armer Hansi (Poor Jack). All these films w e r e
m a r k e d b y the conspicuous absence of the swastika flag. Films
loyal to the p a r t y line did not receive prizes this time, a m o n g t h e m
Das deutsche Wort (The G e r m a n Word). Cultural films m a d e at the
v e r y end of the Third Reich provided an even bigger escape into
the idyllic: Im Reich der Wichtelmänner (In the R e a l m of the
Dwarfs), Kraniche ziehen gen Süden (The C r a n e s A r e Flying South­
w a r d ) , Hochzeit im Korallenmeer (Wedding in the C o r a l Sea), Der
letzte Einbaum ( T h e L a s t D u g o u t ) , Romantisches Burgenland
(Romantic Burgenland), or Im Tal der hundert Mühlen (In the Vale
of the H u n d r e d Mills).
T h e r e p l a c e m e n t of Reich Film Superintendent Fritz Hippler
b y SS-Gruppenführer H a n s Hinkel in the spring of 1 9 4 4 n o longer
h a d a visible impact. It is, in a n y case, difficult to see h o w the cynic
Hinkel, w h o h a d been responsible for the production of Der ewige
Jude (The Eternal J e w ) , could h a v e been outdone.
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 135
The Documentary
What complicates the situation so much is that any simple "repro­
duction of reality" says less and less about that reality. A photo of the
Krupp Works or of AEG tells us virtually nothing about these com­
panies. Actual reality has slipped into the functional. The reification
of human relations, as, for example, a factory, will no longer let these
relations go. There is hence a building job to be done for something
"artificial," for something that is "put up."
Bertolt Brecht^^
The Forerunners
The first sixty-foot G e r m a n d o c u m e n t a r y w a s m a d e at the end of
the last century b y the G e r m a n film pioneer Oskar Messter when,
o n a s u n n y N o v e m b e r afternoon in 1897, h e p u t u p his tripod in
front of Berlin's B r a n d e n b u r g Gate. Messter h a d introduced the
Malteser Cross in G e r m a n y the year before a n d h a d thus facilitated
flicker-free screening. His n u m b e r one film is described as follows
in the 115-page catalogue in which he announced s o m e eighty-four
of his o w n films: "At the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The columns
of the Brandenburg Gate are visible in the background."^^
Messter h a d recognized even before his foreign colleagues the
v a l u e of film as a biographical document. The "writing" of lively
history b e c a m e possible only with the development of the docu­
mentary. W h a t kind of visual i m a g e s w o u l d w e h a v e t o d a y of
great statesmen a n d inventors without it? A s early as 1897, Mess­
ter p o r t r a y e d E m p e r o r Wilhelm II in a "living photo" and later he
also did one of Bismarck in retirement. H e w a s the first to use the
closeup a n d the time-accelerator dramaturgically. In 1902 the Ger­
m a n princes h a d "their picture taken mutoscopically b y order of
the All Highest [the Kaiser]." Only the town of Posen is revealed in
the simple report about the Imperial splendor when, "headed b y
His M o s t Serene a n d Royal Highness Prince Albrecht of Prussia,"
people arrived on 5 July 1902 at Marienburg which h a d just been
restored. Ten y e a r s later, the Kaiser hovered at length in the a u r a
above the people on the occasion of the twenty-fifth a r m v e r s a r y of
his c o m i n g to the throne. Eight different production c o m p a n i e s
w e r e involved in the making of Der deutsche Kaiser im Film (The
G e r m a n E m p e r o r in Film, 1912), M a x Reinhardt's Ambrosia-Film
136 \ The Triumph of Propaganda
a m o n g them.-'* The m e m b e r s of the royal house w h o c a n be seen
strutting through the c o n t e m p o r a r y w o r l d almost as a matter of
course give the a p p e a r a n c e of exotic stopgaps for the real novelties
that newsreels evidently could not get hold of.
F r o m the early period of the silent film, H a n s Cürlis has left us
shorts of the portrait-painting Liebermann, of Slevogt, Corinth,
a n d Zilie, a n d it w a s only in 1 9 5 7 that he put t h e m together in his
Schaffende Hände (Creating H a n d s ) . Probably the oldest portrait of
an artist, a genuine trouvaille, is b y Sascha Guitry: in 1 9 1 9 , just
before A u g u s t e Renoir's death, he d o c u m e n t e d a few m o m e n t s of
the almost paralyzed impressionist painter, representing the first
k n o w n tentative forays of the c a m e r a toward the authentic subject.
P r i o r to W o r l d W a r \, the G e r m a n E x p r e s s F i l m C o m p a n y
b e g a n to m a r k e t w a r newsreel material u n d e r the title Der Tag im
Film—Erste deutsche tägliche kinmatographische Berichterstattung
(The Day in Film—First Daily G e r m a n C i n e m a t o g r a p h i c Report­
ing). In 1 9 1 3 its reporter shot footage at the front line in the Balkan
W a r when, "in a hail of bullets," he succeeded in filming "an entire
c a m p a i g n including its culmination point as a real battle." Fried-
rich v o n Zglinicki reported in his book Der Weg des Films that the
"Kaiser w a s g i v e n a p r i v a t e s c r e e n i n g of "original f o o t a g e of
infantry b a y o n e t attacks, c a v a l r y patrols, firing g u n s , a n d R e d
Cross activities."^^
Similarly the Eiko-Woche of 1 9 1 3 , w h i c h s t a r t e d e v e n before
M e s s t e r ' s venture, d e m o n s t r a t e d w i t h its first film w h a t kind of
elements a five-hundred-foot newsreel had to contain to be a p o p ­
ular success: "Balloon Rally; Accident Due to Gale-Force Winds;
Jog in the Grunewald; the Brunswick Palace; The E m p r e s s Travels
to Berlin; H o m a g e Visit of a n Air Squadron; The R o m a n i a n C r o w n
Prince a n d C r o w n Princess in Berlin; The M o d e r n Rotation Press
at the Scherl Publishing House; Visit of the W ü r t t e m b e r g i a n Royal
Couple; The G e r m a n C r o w n Prince with Prince Carol of R o m a ­
nia." H a l f of the topics w e r e c o n c e r n e d w i t h royalty.
Before Messter once again e m p l o y e d his c a m e r a m e n for d o c u ­
mentaries and, in 1914, as w a r correspondents, he fully d e v o t e d
himself to making feature films, discovering in the process m a n y
later "stars" such as H e n n y Porten (Das LiehesglUck einer Blinden
[The L o v e of a Blind W o m a n , 1910]), Lil Dagover, Adele Sandrock,
a n d Emil Jannings (Vendetta, 1 9 1 6 ) . A s M e s s t e r explains in his
book Mein Weg mit dem Film, his excursion into feature films h a d
v e r y p r a g m a t i c reasons: the e x p e n s i v e n e w s r e e l s h a d to be
financed from the profits m a d e with features—^with the creation of
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 137
fictive w o r l d s that a p p e a l e d to c o n t e m p o r a r y tastes.^* In 1 9 1 2
E g o n Friedeil, the cultural critic, characterized the cinema as giv­
ing aesthetic expression to the spirit of the age: "To begin with, it
is brief, fast, and p u t in c o d e w o r d s , and it does not linger. There
is something curt, precise, military about it. This fits our age which
is an a g e of extracts."^'
Soon after the beginning of World W a r I, feature films w i t h a
heroic content, s u c h as Auf dem Felde der Ehre (On the Field of
H o n o r , 1 9 1 4 ) or Wie Max das Eiserne Kreuz erwarb ( H o w M a x
G a i n e d t h e I r o n C r o s s , 1 9 1 4 ) , a c t e d as b o o s t e r s of p a t r i o t i s m
a l o n g w i t h s o m e footage of d o c u m e n t a r y material. In the 2 , 4 4 6
c i n e m a s that existed in 1 9 1 4 as the only place of diversion, the
folks b a c k h o m e w e r e to be told w h a t they o w e d to the soldiers at
the front. A s A d o l f Hitler later p u t it in his book Mein Kampf
" W h a t the G e r m a n people o w e to the a r m y c a n be s u m m a r i z e d in
o n e w o r d : Everything!"*"
In Auf dem Felde der Ehre a father disowns his son w h o w a s given
a dishonorable discharge as an officer. The son is rehabilitated by
his t o u c h y father—an arrogant m a n with the frame of mind of a
heel-clicking subordinate—only after he has b e c o m e a volunteer
a n d conquered a flag from the enemy. A t the beginning of the war,
Heinrich M a n n called this species the "master race of subjects."
O n 2 4 July 1 9 1 4 , Eiko-Woche, Messter's strongest competitor,
advertised its pictures of the Sarajevo m u r d e r s under the heading
of "sensational p r o g r a m " : " A r c h d u k e Francis Ferdinand's Last
Reception in Sarajevo as well as the Funeral A r r a n g e m e n t s from
Sarajevo to the F a m i l y M a u s o l e u m . " Harbingers of World War I;
m u r d e r as a marketing device. L a n g u a g e d r o p p e d to the level of
p r o p a g a n d a . In his conversations with refugees. Brecht r e m i n d e d
us that in the G e r m a n language w a r s merely "break out" like a
pest. "This," he a d d e d , "is because n o one has started those w a r s ,
a n d n o one has been able to prevent them."
The newsreels of Messter-Woche then created the "Documents
on the W a r " w h i c h from 1 October 1 9 1 4 until the end of the w a r
p u t on the screens back h o m e "extracts" of heroic events from all
p a r t s of the front. A t this point at the latest, the b o u n d a r i e s
b e t w e e n d o c u m e n t a r i e s and newsreels b e g a n to disappear.
Censorship certificate N o . 36,732 of 3 October 1 9 1 4 provides a
g o o d impression of the propagandistic force contained in the v e r y
first Messter-Woche. Its bullying w o r d s are given here in full in
o r d e r to d o c u m e n t the mind-set of heroic G e r m a n c h a u v i n i s m
long before Hitler.
 The Triumph of Propaganda
138 i
Subheadings:
l . T h e City of D o m n a u (East Prussia), a D o c u m e n t of Rus­
sian Destructive Rage.
2. Market-Place in Domnau: M a y o r May, W h o H a s E s c a p e d
from a Russian C a m p , H e a d s the Procession of Returnees.
3. The G r a v e of Sgt. Abelt in D o m n a u . Abelt W a s the Last
Heroically to Defend the Town a n d Died for the H o n o r of
the Fatherland.
4. A C h u r c h Destroyed b y the Russians in Allenburg (East
Prussia).
5. The Town of D a r k e h m e n (East Prussia) as R a v a g e d b y
the Russians.
6. L o o k i n g after the W o u n d e d u n d e r t h e P r o t e c t o r a t e o f
Princess A u g u s t Wilhelm. The Princess A t t e n d s a Film
Showing for Invalids at the Palace Theater n e a r Berlin's
Zoological Gardens.
7. The Berlin Choir L e a g u e Organizes a Patriotic C o n c e r t at
Berlin's Königsplatz.
8. "A Call Roars by Like a T h u n d e r Clap."
9. The Brave C r e w of the G e r m a n "U 9 " Submarine T h a t
Sank Three British Battle Cruisers in the M o r n i n g of 2 2
September 1 9 1 4 Is Being Decorated with the Iron Cross.
10. C a p t a i n Lieutenant O t t o Weddingen, the C o m m a n d e r of
the Submarine.
11. "Dear Fatherland, You M a y Rest Assured."
Length: 5 0 0 feet.
T h e newsreels of the militarist Messter w e r e nothing m o r e than
p r o p a g a n d a that took its cue from Prussianism. Thanks to his c o n ­
nections with the Imperial C o u r t , the S u p r e m e A r m y C o m m a n d
finally commissioned Messter to censor all pictures from the front.
A p a r t from his o w n productions, these w e r e primarily the films of
four other c o m p a n i e s a n d their eight c a m e r a m e n w h o h a d per­
mission to m a k e films at the front, a m o n g t h e m Carl Froehlich of
later fame.*^ Messter's c a m e r a m e n w e r e also u s e d b y the General
Staff in aerial r e c o n n a i s s a n c e to p r o v i d e t a r g e t p h o t o s . It w a s
m u c h m o r e difficult to p r o v i d e s u c h p h o t o s from the trenches
either b e c a u s e the equipment w a s too h e a v y or because soldiers
a n d c a m e r a m e n h a d to g u a r d against being spotted by the enemy.
Thus, c a m e r a m a n Martin K o p p complained in the Berlin journal
Der Kinematograph of 12 M a y 1 9 1 5 h o w difficult it w a s "to film
scenes f r o m the trenches because the construction of the trenches
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 139
did not p r o v i d e a g o o d view. It w a s even m o r e difficult to film
actual c o m b a t scenes since the c a m e r a m a n naturally is not given
a n y information about a planned attack."
A l t h o u g h the d r a m a is often missing. World W a r I c o m e s across
in the newsreel on the w h o l e as something horrific; however, it
d o e s not a p p e a r as the c a t a s t r o p h e that it w a s . To be sure, the
soothing books by Werner Beumelburg (Ypres) and Paul Ettighofer
(Verdun) w e r e even less capable or willing to capture this aspect.
O n the contrary, they glorified the w a r as a cleansing s t o r m of
steel. A s Friedell p u t it: "The imagination of the m o s t sober a n d
block-headed viewer is still a h u n d r e d times m o r e gripping a n d
m y s t e r i o u s than all the printed books in the world."*^
In his m e m o r a n d u m o n film as a m e a n s of political p r o p a ­
g a n d a , written prior to the war, Messter d r e w attention to foreign
c o m p e t i t o r s to induce the Imperial authorities to take counter-
m e a s u r e s . A s h e w r o t e , the p r o g r a m of the F r e n c h c o m p a n i e s
Pathe-Journal, Gaumont actualite, a n d Eclair revue contained "much
that w a s beautiful a n d grandiose. But all of this h a d h a p p e n e d in
F r a n c e a n d E n g l a n d a n d not at all in Germany. They are s h o w i n g
exhibitions, p a r a d e s , athletic c o n t e s t s , christenings of ships,
m a n e u v e r s , fashion shows, etc., as well as beautiful landscapes;
but all of t h e m lie b e y o n d the Rhine River. A n d if these g o o d films
contain something about G e r m a n y at all, it is b o u n d to be s o m e ­
thing degrading. There is a system in all this. A n d these F r e n c h
newsreels are being supported b y foreign governments."
Messter-Woche c o n t i n u e d to exist u n d e r its old n a m e after
World W a r I until 1922, even after Messter's production c o m p a n y
h a d been taken over by Ufa. Only thereafter w a s it r e n a m e d as
Deulig-Woche. The first sound-film newsreel w a s issued b y Ufa on
10 September 1 9 3 0 as Ufa-Tonwoche No. 1. No less a person than
E m i l Jannings w a s the speaker. The first A m e r i c a n sound-film
newsreel, called Movietone News, d a t e d back to 2 5 April 1928.
H o w effectively the d o c u m e n t a r y c a n subtly m a n i p u l a t e
i m a g e s of reality that are photographically authentic is d e m o n ­
strated b y the intensive u s e of this genre in N a z i p r o p a g a n d a .
T h e r e is n o b e t t e r e x a m p l e to s h o w h o w the dialectic u s e of
authentic material during the editing process can deprive indi­
v i d u a l e l e m e n t s of reality of their " v e r a c i t y " a n d t u r n t h e m
upside-down, w h e n subjected to an ideological superstructure.
A s w e k n o w from the early 1 9 2 0 s m o n t a g e e x p e r i m e n t s b y
P u d o v k i n a n d Kuleshov, the authenticity of individual elements
of reality c a n be voided by this technique, i.e., by m e a n s of simple
140 The Triumph of Propaganda
cuts. The N a z i s later perfected this basic pattern of manipulative
tricks: they falsified facts b y shifting the context in a speculative
direction, b y twisting c a u s a l c o n n e c t i o n s t h r o u g h a c h a n g e of
chronology, b y bending the visual truth with the help of correc­
tions in the text, a n d used (heroicizing) m u s i c to a d d "what the
i m a g e s w e r e lacking in p o w e r " (Goebbels).
N a z i p r o p a g a n d a w a s generally not at all interested in objective
a r g u m e n t s . J o s e p h Goebbels, the Reich Minister for P o p u l a r
Enlightenment a n d P r o p a g a n d a , w a n t e d to see production only o f
s u c h d o c u m e n t s that exclusively p o r t r a y e d those aspects of reality
that h a r m o n i z e d w i t h N a z i ideas a n d goals. A s Goebbels said
before the Reich C u l t u r e C h a m b e r in 1 9 3 3 , o n l y " w h a t s e r v e s
National Socialism is g o o d a n d m u s t be supported."''-' In his view,
p r o p a g a n d a w a s the "most honest proclamation of the best truth."
This v i e w of truth reflects Darwin's basic premise p u s h e d to its
logical conclusion, i.e., that the evolution of life r u n s purposefully
t o w a r d s a better state of affairs. Since this evolution is based on
w h a t D a r w i n called "natural selection"—and this is nothing else
than the competition of the animal races a m o n g each o t h e r — t h e
"better" is equivalent to the "stronger" that has survived in the
competitive struggle. D a r w i n did, in fact, develop the vision that
a t s o m e future d a t e "the civilized r a c e s of h u m a n i t y " w o u l d
e v e r y w h e r e replace the m o r e "primitive" ones.'**
It w o u l d be w r o n g to a s s u m e that those parts of h u m a n i t y w h o
consider themselves "civilized" will soon h a v e exterminated those
parts they regard as "wild;" a t the s a m e time, w e are not too far
from the destruction of the cultures of the so-called Third World.
A n d yet this development does not confirm Darwin's ideas; rather
it highlights the perversity of equating quality with power.
The Influence of Open Propaganda
But the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success
unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and
with unflagging attention. It must conflne itself to a few points and
repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence
is the flrst and most important requirement for success.
Adolf Hitler«
T h e Nazi Party determined w h a t w a s to be of interest to the G e r m a n
people. Being its most powerful political weapons, d o c u m e n t a r i e s
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 141
a n d n e w s r e e l s w e r e c h a r g e d w i t h p r e p a r i n g N a z i i d e o l o g y as
clearly as possible, which m e a n t to say that it h a d to be c o m p r e ­
hensible e v e n to the m o s t obtuse a m o n g the Volksgenossen. It w a s
not Hitler's a i m to convince the minority of intellectuals, w h o in
fact w e r e to b e n e g l e c t e d . His p r i m a r y t a r g e t w e r e the b r o a d
masses; h e w a n t e d to c o n q u e r the soul of the ordinary people.
This is w h y all p r o p a g a n d a "had to be popular a n d its intellectual
level h a d to be geared to the receptivity of the m o s t limited m i n d s
a m o n g those w h o m it is designed to a d d r e s s . . . . The m o r e it exclu­
sively takes into a c c o u n t the feelings of the masses, the m o r e pen­
etrating will b e its success.... The art of p r o p a g a n d a lies precisely
in the fact that, in having the p r o p e r appreciation of the emotional
w o r l d of the masses, it attracts the attention of these masses in a
psychologically appropriate form a n d then finds its w a y into their
hearts." A s far as the d o c u m e n t a r y is concerned, it is therefore n o
longer the artist w h o leaves his imprint on the e p o c h , b u t the
politicians—and in w a r t i m e , the military.
Hitler concluded from this that "all effective p r o p a g a n d a m u s t
be confined to a v e r y few points to be turned into slogans until even
the slowest person perceives the slogan as something desirable."
W h a t then w e r e those "very few points" of N a z i ideology to
w h i c h all other items in the p a r t y p r o g r a m w e r e to be subordi­
nate? A n d r e a s Hillgruber has identified a striving for w o r l d d o m ­
ination a n d a racist doctrine as the core of this ideology.*^ All other
elements of N a z i s m h a v e a merely functional value. Their p r i m a r y
role is to realize the t w o m a i n objectives. A third core c o m p o n e n t
is the Führer principle that overarches the t w o key objectives. It
includes a notion of h o w the state functions in all its branches,
institutions, a n d laws.
E b e r h a r d Jäckel assesses the specific elements of N a z i ideology
in a similar w a y : "The state a n d all its aspects including the P a r t y
a n d its p r o g r a m are only m e a n s to an end: an end, h o w e v e r — a n d
this is absolutely crucial—^which is v e r y clearly defined, n a m e l y
the realization of the twin goals of territorial policy a n d anti-Senü-
tism.... G e r m a n y h a d to conquer n e w living space in the East, a n d
it h a d to r e m o v e the J e w s — a n d all the other aspects of public life
h a d to serve as m e a n s to those t w o ends."'*''
The ideological hopes and expectations of the G e r m a n people
that w e r e to be generated through indoctrination formed the psy­
chic foundation that Hitler urgently required to implement his t w o
m a i n objectives. H e needed it, firstly, in order to c o n d u c t his w a r s
of conquest o v e r a longer timespan without inducing paralysis in
142 The Triumph of Propaganda
the w a k e of a rising defeatism a m o n g the population. Secondly,
there w a s the "Jewish Question" to b e resolved b y m e a n s of the
so-called "Final Solution." It w a s not the Leitartikel—a series in
Goebbels's weekly Das Reich—that Hitler r e g a r d e d as the p r i m a r y
instrument of indoctrination. In his view, the audiovisual m e d i a
w e r e a m o r e powerful m e a n s to gain popular support for his aims.
Accordingly, h e u s e d the full weight of the P r o p a g a n d a Ministry
a b o v e all for the production of newsreels a n d documentaries, with
Goebbels personally setting the ideological p a r a m e t e r s . A t a time
w h e n the population still regularly w e n t to the m o v i e s to find
diversion, the newsreel a n d the short documentary, prominently
p l a c e d in e v e r y s h o w i n g , b e c a m e the P a r t y ' s m o s t reliable
m o u t h p i e c e a n d its m o s t i m p o r t a n t a n d p u n c t u a l l y d e l i v e r e d
m e a n s of m a s s communication.
N a z i newsreels a n d d o c u m e n t a r i e s e x c l u d e t w o areas as a m a t ­
ter of principle. To begin with, there is the p r i v a t e sphere: n o
extolling of an idyllic family life here; nor are deprivations treated.
Instead of s h o w i n g people in their daily lives or after w o r k , N a z i
p r o p a g a n d a s h o w s the private existence of m e n a n d w o m e n only
w h e n they are cheering. H o w e v e r , the reverse side of this coin
d o e s not a p p e a r on the screen either. Anti-Jewish p o g r o m s , book
burnings, deportations, forced labor, a n d concentration c a m p s are
n o t s h o w n . N o r d o sterilization a n d e u t h a n a s i a c o m e u p as
themes. Atrocities a n d deadly facts are quietly passed over.
T h e early d o c u m e n t a r i e s of Soviet p r o p a g a n d a s h o w the h e r o
of labor in his individual existence a n d p o r t r a y h i m as the repre­
sentative of a s y s t e m that will bring happiness. The N a z i film, b y
contrast, reduces the individual to the status of a purely n u m e r i ­
cal element within the larger Volksgemeinschaft.
It is therefore logical that d o c u m e n t a r i e s a n d newsreels repre­
sent all p e r s o n s in uniform as embodiments of N a z i s m . It is p a r t of
the d r a m a t u r g y of N a z i p r o p a g a n d a , w h i c h is presented with an
effective u n d e r s t a n d i n g of psychology, that e v e n Hitler, in his
a p p a r e n t omnipresence, is not p o r t r a y e d as an individual with his
o w n development, b u t — a s Kracauer put it—only "as the e m b o d ­
i m e n t of e n o r m o u s impersonal p o w e r s — o r to b e m o r e precise, as
their focal point. M a n y respectful closeups [of Hitler] notwith­
s t a n d i n g , these films t h a t a r e s u p p o s e d to glorify h i m c a n n o t
a d a p t his p h y s i o g n o m y to actual h u m a n life."*^
In contradistinction to the feature film with its a c t o r s conjuring
u p a fictive w o r l d , the newsreel c a m e r a c a p t u r e s real people living
within a real w o r l d a n d depicts t h e m as real p h e n o m e n a . F r o m all
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 143
w e k n o w about audiences, the filmed w o r l d will be received as an
authentic d o c u m e n t . N a z i p r o p a g a n d a knew h o w to exploit for its
p u r p o s e s this w i d e s p r e a d illusion concerning the facticity of w h a t
w a s being presented as documents. The c o n t e m p o r a r y viewer a n d
Volksgenosse took at face value w h a t in fact w a s merely presented
as a n extract of reality. The d r a m a t u r g y of lies to be found in the
N a z i newsreel is based on this insight. A s K r a c a u e r explains:
The effectiveness of Nazi propaganda results from the viewer's
delusion that the evidence presented is genuine: everyone is
inclined to believe that pictures taken on location are incapable of
telling a lie. But of course they can. Let us assume that a docu­
mentary that has been billed as nonpartisan does not contain any
purposefully staged scenes [and] simply confines itself, as it
should, to reproducing reality ... and yet it may highlight certain
aspects of a given situation at the expense of others and thus iriflu-
ence attitudes toward that situation. The shots that are being shown
are bound to be a selection from a range of pictures.*'
N e v e r h a v i n g seen the unedited truth a n d hence n o t missing it
either, the m o v i e g o e r m a y accept the pictures as perfectly truthful
e v e n t h o u g h they h a v e been put into the w r o n g context or are
b a s e d on material that h a s been t a m p e r e d with; the manipulation
of reality is perceived by the viewer as being authenticated b y the
d o c u m e n t s . The truthfulness of the d o c u m e n t s m a y s h o w a bias
only if the c o m m e n t a r y is tendentious because the full truth in
those pictures could either d a m a g e the reputation of the P a r t y or
u n d e r m i n e Hitler's image.
H o w e v e r , N a z i p r o p a g a n d a p u r s u e d as its main objective the
suppression of all negative images a n d indoctrinated the masses
w i t h optimistic pictures that w e r e presented as "genuine." It also
a i m e d to impress N a z i ideology u p o n the people by this m o s t
powerful m e a n s , until e v e r y o n e h a d b e c o m e convinced that h e or
she w a s the p r o u d witness to a globally historic moment. This w a s
the m a n d a t e of d o c u m e n t a r i e s a n d newsreels. W h a t they offered
in the w a y of information w a s determined exclusively b y their
propagandistic value. The appeal to have faith in the Führer a n d
confidence in his ideas a n d ideals w a s to be served u p until this
p r o p a g a n d a h a d been totally internalized. A s Hitler p u t it: "The
G e r m a n people m u s t be e d u c a t e d to accept one absolute, stub-
b o m , self-evident, a n d firm belief [that] in the e n d w e shall all
achieve w h a t is necessary. But this c a n only succeed if w e c o n ­
stantly a p p e a l to the p o w e r of the nation, if w e extol the positive
 The Triumph of Propaganda
144
values of a people a n d ignore as far as possible the so-called neg­
ative sides."^° This is w h y it w a s especially necessary that p u b ­
lished opinion "subscribes totally, blindly to the principle: the
leadership is acting correctly."
A s early as 1 9 3 3 , H a n s Traub, an interpreter of N a z i p r o p a ­
g a n d a films, h a d defined "active p r o p a g a n d a as the conscious
application of tendentious m e a n s for political purposes," as the
"implementation [Zielwerdung] of a mind-set." H e then e n u m e r ­
ated the main characteristics of "exemplary propaganda": "(1) The
p o s s i b l e subjective a p p e a l to the ' w o r l d of e m o t i o n s ' ; (2) t h e
restriction of content; (3) confrontationism [Kampfansage] from the
start; (4) repetition in ' p e r m a n e n t a n d regular uniformity' (Adolf
Hi tier). "^^ A s to the fields in w h i c h the educational film could act
in a n "enlightening a n d p r o p a g a n d i s t i c way," Traub r e c o m ­
m e n d e d p o r t r a y i n g "life in the c a m p s of the Labor Front, v i e w s of
Reichswehr m a n e u v e r s a n d exercises, pictures from the daily r o u ­
tine a n d Sundays in the navy, w o r k in individual occupations, a
d a y in the life of the Reich Chancellor.... W e [also] need e d u c a ­
tional films about World W a r [I] batties...."
In order to popularize the Führer principle as something nat­
ural, it w a s d e e m e d necessary for the individual to be s u b m e r g e d
in the nation—with the N a z i film providing the early e x a m p l e .
O n c e a sufficient n u m b e r of p e o p l e h a d seen a n d internalized
explicit p r o p a g a n d a movies, the Volksgenosse w a s to b e c o m e de
facto a p a r t of the w h o l e nation also—a small ( a n o n y m o u s ) c o g in
H i t l e r ' s m o v e m e n t . T h e v u l g a r i t y of the n a t i o n a l w h o l e is
depicted with gusto, a n d not merely in Riefenstahl's films, as a
q u a n t i t a t i v e o r n a m e n t t h r o u g h m a r c h i n g c o l u m n s or t h r o u g h
p a c k e d blocks of h u m a n s {Menschenquader) w h o listen to the
Party's rhetoric. O n the occasion that an individual is s h o w n , it is
in the shape of a "worker intimately b o i m d to a m a c h i n e " or of "a
soldier w e d d e d to his a r m s , " as Ulrich Kurowski w r o t e . G u s t a v e
L e Bon added: "The m o m e n t they become part of a mass, the uned­
u c a t e d a n d the scholars are equally incapable of being observers."
There w e r e to b e n o differences between a m e m b e r of the A c a d ­
e m y a n d a w a t e r carrier.
W h e n asked w h i c h art genre w a s u p to the challenges of this
e p o c h , Eisenstein replied:
T h e m e d i u m of c i n e m a t o g r a p h y alone! A n intellectual c i n e m a t o g ­
r a p h y alone. A synthesis of e m o t i o n a l , d o c u m e n t a r y , a n d absolute
film. O n l y the intellectual c i n e m a will be c a p a b l e of p u t t i n g a s t o p
t o the "disuniting of language"—^more p a r t i c u l a r l y o n the basis of
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 145
the dialectical l a n g u a g e of film. O n l y a n intellectual c i n e m a of a
k i n d t h a t h a s n e v e r before e x i s t e d a n d w h o s e social function is
o p e n ; a c i n e m a of highest intellectuality a n d e x t r e m e s e n s u o u s n e s s
that seizes h o l d of the entire a r s e n a l of optical, acoustic, a n d bio-
m o t o r i c stimuli in o r d e r to influence the viewer.^^
The Russian Montage as a Technical Model
The montage is just as essential an element of film as all others. After the
campaign for the montage and the storm against it the time has come to
approach the problems of montage de n o v o and without prejudice.
S. M. Eisenstein
Goebbels r e g a r d e d Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin (1925)
as the p r o t o t y p e of a powerful p r o p a g a n d a film a n d w i s h e d to
p r o d u c e a N a z i film that w o u l d h a v e a similar impact. H e w a s
convinced that "if s o m e theater here in Berlin w o u l d screen a film
that w o u l d genuinely reflect this age a n d b e a real National Social­
ist 'Battleship,' it w o u l d be sold out for a long time."^^ Addressing
Goebbels as "Herr Doktor," Eisenstein replied in the Soviet jour­
nal Literaturnaya gazeta of 22 M a r c h 1934 that truth a n d N a z i s m
w e r e incompatible: "Whoever stands for truth will find himself on
a different path from that of National Socialism. W h o e v e r is for
truth, will b e a g a i n s t you!"^* A n d u n d e r the h e a d i n g "No
Thoughts Wasted for W h a t Is Inexorable," Brecht wrote about Bat­
tleship Potemkin: "I have seen h o w even the exploiters next to m e
w e r e s e i z e d b y e m o t i o n s of a p p r o v a l w h e n t h e y v i e w e d the
actions of the revolutionary sailors. In this way, even the s c u m
participated in the irresistible seductiveness of the possible a n d
the powerful joys of logic."^^
H o w e v e r , Goebbels also took something usable from the m o n ­
tage theories of the Russians a n d drew opposite conclusions from
their insights. A c c o r d i n g to Lenin, film is the m o s t important of all
the art forms; in Stalin's v i e w it w a s therefore supposed to play an
i m p o r t a n t role in the cultural revolution not only "as a m e a n s of
c o m p r e h e n s i v e educational w o r k a n d C o m m u n i s t p r o p a g a n d a , "
b u t also as "a m e a n s of educating the masses in the arts, [and] of
offering t h e m purposeful relaxation a n d diversion."^^
A s M a y a k o v s k i succinctiy defined the function of Soviet film in
1922: "The cinema serves the proliferation of ideas." After 1933,
this w a s also the m a x i m that Goebbels tried to realize. In the
 146 The Triumph of Propaganda
m e a n t i m e , h e h a d c h a n g e d his m i n d w i t h r e g a r d t o b o r i n g
"Socialist Realism" a n d h o p e d to popularize his N a z i ideas with
the help of a n aesthetic that Riefenstahl w a s in the p r o c e s s of
developing. In both systems the c a m e r a is sent out on patrol to
size u p the existing order. M a x i m Gorki, it is true, h a d first coined
the t e r m "Socialist Realism" in 1921 a n d c h a r g e d it with the task of
"consolidating for the p r e s e n t w h a t h a s b e e n a c h i e v e d b y the
O c t o b e r Revolution a n d of illuminating accordingly the a i m s of
the socialist future." H o w e v e r , it w a s only at the 1 9 3 4 M o s c o w
Writers' C o n g r e s s that the t e r m w a s t u r n e d into binding doctrine
b y A n d r e i Z h d a n o v w h o simultaneously c o n d e m n e d the aesthet­
ics of formalism. A c c o r d i n g to V s e v o l o d P u d o v k i n , f o r m a l i s m
w a s "a comprehensive t e r m that includes everything that distracts
the artist from the actual life of the people a n d its needs. "^''
T h e p a t r i o t i c U k r a i n i a n filmmaker A l e x a n d e r D o v s h e n k o ,
w h o s e film Earth c a m e out in 1 9 3 0 , m a d e the shift t o w a r d parti­
sanship in g o o d time w i t h o u t sacrificing the lyric base a n d p o w ­
erful sensuality of his films to Socialist Realism. His 1 9 3 5 m o v i e
Aerograd, h e reveled, w a s b o r n e b y the idea "that life is beautiful,
that this p a r t of o u r c o u n t r y is beautiful, a n d that foreign flags
will n e v e r fly o v e r here."^*
H o w e v e r , the d o c u m e n t a r i e s a n d n e w s r e e l s t h a t h a d so
i m p r e s s e d Goebbels, like Vertov's The Camera Eye or The Man with
the Camera, w e r e p r o d u c t s of the 1 9 2 6 - 1 9 2 9 period a n d thus origi­
n a t e d in the period prior to a d o g m a t i z e d Socialist Realism. D u r ­
ing his tour of E u r o p e in 1 9 3 1 , Vertov h a d s h o w n these films to
large audiences. A t the s a m e time, h e revealed his insights into the
construction of film like a homo faber: "I create t h o u s a n d s of people
a c c o r d i n g to different schemes a n d plans. I a m the c a m e r a eye. It
is from one p e r s o n that I take his h a n d s — t h e strongest a n d m o s t
agile; I take the legs from another one—the prettiest a n d m o s t
well-proportioned. F r o m a third person I take the h e a d — t h e m o s t
beautiful a n d impressive." The s a m e manifesto b y Vertov also
contains the quintessential contradictio to his m o n t a g e of "super­
man": "The c a m e r a e y e represents c a m e r a t r u t h " — a s t a t e m e n t
that did n o m o r e than to articulate a fundamental truth about the
n a t u r e of film. After all, the c a m e r a e y e is the c a m e r a , a n d nothing
else c a n be s h o w n in film other than w h a t the c a m e r a "sees." That
the m o v i e g o e r s take w h a t is p u t before t h e m as reality to a greater
degree than in other m e d i a stems from the fact that they are forced
to a d o p t the c a m e r a ' s v i e w as the only one from w h i c h the w o r l d
that is being depicted c a n be seen. However, with this, nothing has
1
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 147
as yet been said about the use of formal m e a n s and possibilities
that are inherent in film. After all, Vertov does not assert that the
"camera eye" represents the truth; he only speaks about the camera
truth. H o w e v e r , unlike "genuine" truth, the latter is absolute.
W h e r e a s in reality things a n d events m a y be viewed from differ­
ent angles, film consists merely of the multitude of its pictures.
A n d these h a v e been taken b y the c a m e r a a n d carmot be perceived
from a n y other perspective.
A l t h o u g h his formalism w a s often extreme and included exper­
imental visualization, Vertov p u r s u e d the a i m of making political
ideas transparent from their substance. F o r him, this also c o m ­
prised the notion that the viewer m u s t join in reflecting about the
c o n d i t i o n s u n d e r w h i c h political events a r e p e r c e i v e d . This is
w h a t h e called the perception conditions of film. Eisenstein called
these e x p e r i m e n t s "formal antics" a n d "senseless v a g a b o n d i n g
with the c a m e r a . " E v e n w h e r e Vertov aimed to win over illiterate
viewers—the land laborer from Azerbeidjan, or the shepherd b o y
from the steppes—for socialist reforms, critics like Victor Shklovkij
reproached h i m that the facticity of individual scenes h a d disap­
peared d u e to the predominance of scenes that w e r e invented or
staged. Thus, even the succinct metaphor which h a d gained Vertov
a n d his a u d a c i o u s m o n t a g e s so m u c h admiration has r e m a i n e d
controversial: the y o u n g pioneers w h o hoist the red flag in a village
c a m p a r e n o t t h o u g h t to r e p r e s e n t w h a t Vertov calls "sponta­
neously" filmed life. Rather, such scenes are said to exhaust them­
selves in providing a calculated, purely aesthetic composition that
a i m s at achieving a visual effect. A s a result, the authenticity of the
m o m e n t that he h a d h a d in mind is robbed of its impact. In an
objective sense, this scene is nonetheless politically true in that it
certainly h a p p e n e d in a v e r y similar manner. Joris Ivens is simi­
larly k n o w n for setting u p scenes in his documentaries, as long as
he thought it served the document. A c c u s e d of formalism, Vertov
hardly received any commissions back h o m e during the Stalin era,
while his ideas remained virulent in Western E u r o p e .
A m o n g the G e r m a n s , it w a s above all Walter R u t t m a n n w h o
w a s inspired b y Vertov's s y n t a x , a c c o r d i n g to w h i c h the film­
m a k e r w a s u r g e d to think in visual rather than literary or verbal
c a t e g o r i e s . H o w e v e r , R u t t m a n n u s e d m o n t a g e t e c h n i q u e s to
develop formal progressions rather than ones concerned with con­
tent. The wealth of forms h e deployed culminated in a brilliant
fireworks w h o s e d y n a m i c s , p r o d u c e d as they w e r e through m o n ­
tage, d r o v e the various p a r t s a n d cadences into a chain reaction. It
148 The Triumph of Propaganda
w a s this that g a v e Berlin—Symphonie einer Großstadt its artistic
quality and t u r n e d it into a sensation. There is a parallel piece of
1 9 3 0 , entitled Apropos de Nice, w h i c h Jean Vigo m o n t a g e d w i t h
Vertov's brother Boris (Kaufmann) and w h i c h ignored all sense of
reality by relying on a self-propelling m o v e m e n t that is d e v e l o p e d
in masterly fashion. A n d yet the t w o films d o not merely represent
an explosive I'art pour I'art. By combining concrete images, they
succeed in distilling and thus m a k i n g transparent the p h e n o m e ­
n o n of the city as a space in w h i c h h u m a n s live closely and p r e ­
cariously together. Alberto Calvacanti's Rien que les hemes (1926),
w h i c h traces the course of a d a y in Paris in kaleidoscopic fashion,
also falls into the series of city portraits cast in a poetic a n d reflec­
tive m o o d . Regarding m u c h of this as artificial, Rene Clair called
these films "visual exercises."
R u t t m a n n , w h o s e w o r k with Riefenstahl on Triumph des Willens
e n d e d prematurely, did offer the Third Reich his cooperation, but
not his talent. His p r o p a g a n d a films Metall des Himmels (Metal of
the Sky, 1 9 3 4 ) , Altgermanische Bauernkultur (Ancient G e r m a n i c
P e a s a n t Culture, 1939) or Deutsche Panzer ( G e r m a n Panzers, 1 9 4 1 )
r e p r e s e n t e d a t a m e , technically perfect afterglow of his earlier
w o r k ; he e s c a p e d into f o r m a l i s m w i t h o u t e v e n a t t e m p t i n g to
reach a critical level. Nor, in his v e r y last w a r t i m e booster, did he
succeed in cutting the "Gordian knot" that Ernst Jünger h a d tied
in his 1 9 2 5 b o o k Feuer und Blut (Fire a n d Blood): "... w e m u s t
transmit w h a t is within us to machines; this requires distance a n d
a n ice-cold b r a i n that t r a n s f o r m s the convulsive flashes of the
blood into rational and logical energies ..." Finally, R u t t m a n n w a s
not killed at the Eastern front in 1941 while shooting his film Sieg
im Osten (Victory in the East); he died in a Berlin hospital in 1 9 4 2 .
Enter Leni Riefenstahl
Aestheticism that politicizes itself will always he radical, precisely
because of bellezza. It is quite common to confuse radicalism with
depth. Nothing is more incorrect. Radicalism is beautiful shallow­
ness—a liberal cult of gestures that leads directly into choreography ...
T h o m a s Mann^^
L e n i Riefenstahl w a s of a different caliber. By s y s t e m a t i c a l l y
excluding rational elements in the films she m a d e for the Third
Reich, she s u c c e e d e d in finding the balance between p r o p a g a n d a
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 149
a n d its aestheticism a n d in combining both in a perfect symbiosis.
Indeed, w i t h o u t the help of a theoretical p r o g r a m a n d completely
intuitively, she f o u n d e d the fascist film aesthetic in h e r first
m o v i e , about the 1 9 3 3 N a z i P a r t y rally, entitled Sieg des Glaubens
(Victory of Faith). She then so perfected it in her Triumph des Wil­
lens (Triumph of the Will) a year later that she set with this film
binding s t a n d a r d s that r e m a i n e d unsurpassed u p to the e n d of
the Third Reich.
Paul Rötha observed for the d o c u m e n t a r y in general w h a t the
N a z i film later p u r s u e d to excess: it h a d , he said, a l w a y s been one
of the g r a v e weaknesses of the d o c u m e n t a r y that it excluded the
individual.^ Eisenstein also k n e w from experience that "the m a s s
acts mechanically; it a m o u n t s to no m o r e than a numerical f a c t o r "
Henceforth, the c o m m u n i t y of faith, the m a s s b e c a m e d e g r a d e d to
the position of a m o v a b l e c a d r e p u r e and simple, that, as it m o v e s
along, is g u i d e d a n d directed artistically b y Riefenstahl in accor­
d a n c e w i t h the creative criteria that she has developed. With the
help of tableaux vivants that h a v e been pressed into firm blocks of
h u m a n s a n d banner-carrying c o l u n m s and which she utilizes aes­
thetically as geometric patterns, she creates emotional spaces that
include the v i e w e r in the cinema. F o r a director w h o is obsessed
w i t h r h y t h m , the formalized masses that h a v e been m o l d e d into
c o m p a c t units of m o v e m e n t a r e supposed to symbolize the p h y s ­
iological m a r c h i n g in step that evolves, aesthetically transfigured,
into the h a r m o n y between Führer and people. Riefenstahl's accel­
erated d y n a m i c r h y t h m , which drives the images forward, does
not give the viewers a n y c a e s u r a s that allow them to g r a s p n e w
d e v e l o p m e n t s a n d situations; does not give t h e m time for cogita­
tion or r o o m for catching their breath; in short, does not leave
t h e m a n y "half seconds" as formulated b y cognitive psychology.
M o v i e g o e r s are to be o v e r w h e l m e d by the breathtaking events
that N a z i s m generates a r o u n d them; they are to be c a p t u r e d by its
fast t e m p o .
It m a y sound paradoxical, but in the rapture of geometry Riefen­
stahl celebrates the contrast with abstract art. Thus, as Walter Ben­
jamin h a d predicted, the aestheticism of politics triumphs in Sieg
des Glaubens ( 1 9 3 3 ) and Triumph des Willens (1934): aesthetics
b e c o m e s a m a n u a l of downfall, becomes the imminent unleashing
of a global conflagration. Riefenstahl always rejected the reproach
that she h a d allowed herself to be abused as the h a n d m a i d e n of
ideology. She is right. After all, she w a s the standard-bearer of the

150 The Triumph of Propaganda
Führer in fascist fikn that, according to Susan Sontag "glorified sub­
ordination, celebrated blind obedience, a n d heroicized death. "^^
In Riefenstahl Hitler h a d found a congenial c h o r e o g r a p h e r of
his "Movement." Just like herself, he, too, w a s the "director w h o
aesthetically directed the masses as in a choir." Within the Gesamt­
kunstwerk, w i t h i n this "most g r a n d i o s e W a g n e r i a n o p e r a of all
times," the G e r m a n Volksgenossen represented the "actors a n d the
e x t r a s " at the s a m e time.^^
H o w e v e r , her films are not intended to celebrate themselves in
the inimitable aesthetic structure. They d o not represent I'art pour
I'art, b u t h a v e been turned into functional carriers of p r o p a g a n d a .
T h e y w a n t to exert emotional influence and, with their visual a n d
verbal messages, h a v e taken sides in a great cause. Siegfried K r a ­
c a u e r is mistaken in this respect if h e insists that such "patterns"
represented nothing that w a s precise a n d hence reinforced "the
impression of a v a c u u m . " E v e n if it is true that the i m a g e s a r e
s u p p o s e d to confuse the v i e w e r "in order to subject h i m m o r e eas­
ily to certain suggestions," w e m u s t nonetheless contradict K r a ­
c a u e r ' s conclusion that " m a n y i m a g e s are in effect nothing b u t a n
e m p t y b r e a k b e t w e e n t w o p r o p a g a n d i s t i c insinuations."*^ K r a ­
c a u e r ' s absolutist notion of reality assesses film exclusively from
this one-sided perspective that denies the aesthetic v a r i e t y of film
a n d a c c e p t s only w h a t "gives the i m p r e s s i o n of reality w h i c h
leads the v i e w e r to believe to see events that h a p p e n e d in real life
a n d that w e r e p h o t o g r a p h e d on location."^
Martin Loiperdinger has e x a m i n e d w h a t he called K r a c a u e r ' s
"emphatic notion of reality" a n d d e m o n s t r a t e d that the latter "val­
idates it only for d e m o c r a t i c realities."*^ Loiperdinger rightly sur­
m i s e s that K r a c a u e r ' s t h e o r e m s — s t a r t i n g w i t h his a s s u m p t i o n
that fascist p r o p a g a n d a lacks an "informative character" to the
idea of a "metamorphosis of reality"—are rooted in his desire to
d e n y G e r m a n fascism a n y political legitimacy b y "declaring it a
'pseudo-reality' a n d as such obsolete."**
Hitler's P a r t y rallies w e r e not "pseudo-realities," but e x p e r i ­
ences of a bitter reality. They w e r e not a "travesty." The legend that
K r a c a u e r has spread that Riefenstahl organized the 1 9 3 4 N u r e m ­
berg rally only to serve "as the b a c k d r o p for a film" that w a s then
to a s s u m e "the character of an authentic document,"*'' is a fatuity
that m a n y historians of film h a v e perpetuated. W h a t Riefenstahl's
art did w a s to encapsulate an extra-aesthetic reality with aesthetic
m e a n s in such a w a y that the people w h o lived in this reality rec­
ognized themselves in it—as parts of a c r o w d . Reality w a s thus
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 151
not utilized aesthetically in order to pretend w h a t it w a s . After all,
Riefenstahl w a s herself piously fixated on this actually existing
National Socialist reality.
Excursus: Reich Party Rallies and Their Transfiguration
In the actual act of deception, among all the preparations, the horror
in the voice, expression, gestures, amid the striking scenery, the belief
in themselves overcomes them. It is this that speaks so miraculously
and convincingly to the onlookers.
Friedrich Nietzsche*^
W h y did Hitler attach so m u c h i m p o r t a n c e to the films about the
N u r e m b e r g Party rallies? W h a t did these rallies m e a n for the Nazi
m o v e m e n t ? T h e y served a d u a l purpose: to maintain inner p a r t y
discipline a n d to p o r t r a y the m o v e m e n t to the outside world. The
decisions of the leadership that w e r e ratified b y a c c l a m a t i o n at
these rallies w e r e to be transmitted to the smallest local organiza­
tions b y h u n d r e d s of thousands w h o h a d been there. The fighting
spirit w a s to be c h a r g e d u p with ideological p o w e r a n d gain a
fresh m o r a l impetus—until the next m a s s rally c a m e along.
Pierre Bourdieu has hinted that under N a z i s m such forces w e r e
at w o r k e v e n in the b o d y l a n g u a g e a n d the expressions of the
masses that did not merely serve the movement: "All social orders
systematically exploit the fact that the h u m a n b o d y a n d l a n g u a g e
c a n serve as storehouses for r e a d y - m a d e ideas."*'
This, h e a d d e d , m a y b e instrumentalized, explaining the care
with w h i c h m a s s festivities are p r e p a r e d a n d w h y the a t t e m p t is
m a d e to p u t o r d e r into ideas a n d to suggest emotions, such as
laughter a n d sadness, through the regular patterns of h u m a n b o d ­
ies. Varying a n observation b y Proust, h e c o n c l u d e d that "arms
a n d bodies a r e full of hidden imperatives."''" Pudovkin w a s one of
the first to define film as one of the m e a n s of making an i m p a c t
u p o n "body a n d soul." H e called film the best teacher, "because its
lessons d o n o t m e r e l y a p p e a l to the m i n d , b u t to the entire
b o d y " — o r to be m o r e precise: the p r o p a g a n d a m o v i e is the best
instructor in this sense.
T h e first P a r t y D a y took place in 1 9 2 0 , at that point still orga­
nized b y the precursor of the B r o w n Shirts, the National Socialist
G e r m a n Workers' Association. Subsequent rallies w e r e held d u r ­
ing the Kampfzeit years at M u n i c h in 1923, at Weimar in 1926, a n d
152 The Triumph of Propaganda
at N u r e m b e r g in 1 9 2 9 . In 1 9 2 6 Hitler w a s able to h a v e both the
general p a r a d e as well as the consecration of the flags in Weimar,
a city full of symbols w h e r e the National Assembly h a d m e t in the
National Theater in 1 9 1 9 . A s Albrecht Tyrell put it, "the theater
w a s d o m i n a t e d by the P a r t y flag." With s o m e three h u n d r e d of
these flags on the stage behind him. Hitler repeatedly spoke of
their symbolism, but in subtle nuances: "Red—the symbol of a
social attitude; w h i t e — o u r nationalism of action, not of e m p t y
p h r a s e s ; b l a c k — t h e spirit of labor, t h a t will a l w a y s r e m a i n
o p p o s e d to the J e w s a n d protective of the [German] race." The
1 9 3 0 rally w a s canceled, a n d after the seizure of p o w e r all of t h e m
w e r e held in N u r e m b e r g , the last one in 1938.
In the Party's historiography, the chronology of the P a r t y D a y s
tends to start with the "great [1923] rally of infinite p o w e r a n d
confidence" (Hitler) in Munich. This is w h e n the basic p a t t e r n
b e c a m e established. Thus, the ritual of flag consecration, w h i c h
w a s designed to mobilize m e m b e r s ' emotions for a variety of m e s ­
sages, w a s inaugurated in 1 9 2 3 , t h o u g h later modified. All m e m ­
bers w e r e supposed to give life a n d limb for the swastika flag arid
for all that it h a d c o m e to symbolize. A s the v o w went: "I s w e a r to
y o u , our Führer Adolf Hitler, to stay with m y flag until the last
d r o p of blood."
T h e rallies did not represent a decision-making b o d y for p r o ­
g r a m m a t i c concerns. F r o m the start Hitler h a d p r e v e n t e d their
"parliamentarization." After all, his speeches w e r e not be put in
d o u b t b y ballots, h o w e v e r farcical they w o u l d h a v e been. T h e task
w a s to instill the Hitler m y t h deeply into the hearts of the faithful.
It w a s m o r e i m p o r t a n t to o r g a n i z e a festive, i n d e e d a s a c r a l ,
a t m o s p h e r e than to h a v e discussions. A s rituals that h a d been
interspersed in the rally, the fireworks a n d the invocations sur­
r o u n d i n g the flag h a d a self-fulfilling m a g i c a n d served as diver­
sions. "Two lines of tradition from the font of nineteenth-century
national festivities a n d the end of the Wilhelmine E m p i r e c a m e
together" at Hitler's Party Days.''' They included the p o p u l a r tra­
ditions of public festivals, as they w e r e held by bourgeois associ­
ations, singing clubs, rifle associations, athletic organizations, the
Youth M o v e m e n t , a n d working-class organizations.
Consecrations of the flag, m e m o r i a l services, nighttime torch­
light p r o c e s s i o n s , d e l e g a t e s of the military, militias, s t a n d a r d -
bearing m a r c h - p a s t s , as well as military music a n d songs from the
Y o u t h M o v e m e n t w e r e c o m m o n e l e m e n t s of s u c h e v e n t s a n d
w e r e p a r t of a festive ritual. The N a z i P a r t y s a l v a g e d m a n y of
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 153
these old-fashioned traditions for its all too obvious p u r p o s e s and
u p d a t e d t h e m for ideological use. T h u s , the Niederländische
Dankgebet (Netherlandian Thanksgiving Prayer) w a s secularized
with the aim of emotionalizing Hitler's Party Days. E v e n liturgical
elements of Christianity w e r e recast into Nazi symbols. Similarly,
the wilted c h a r m of the "blue flower" of Romanticism reappeared
in a n e w guise at Hitler's campfires.
T h e public i m p a c t of Hitler's collective, i m m e n s e spectacles
w a s relatively small prior to the Nazi takeover. E v e n d o c u m e n ­
taries on the subject did not strike m u c h of a chord. To begin with
a n d o w i n g to a lack of funds, they w e r e technically imperfect and
fell short on aesthetics. Until 1 9 3 0 , sound w a s missing. C i n e m a s
w e r e not interested, since the public refused to see party-political
films as an aesthetic experience. N o r w e r e there reputable direc­
tors w h o w o u l d h a v e been p r e p a r e d or able to give a m o v i e about
a m a s s rally a specific aesthetic flavor or d r a m a t i c structure. A s
B e n j a m i n h a d a r g u e d , fascist p r o p a g a n d a w a s less a b o u t the
politicization of art than about the aestheticization of politics. This
is w h y it w a s left to Riefenstahl's genius to d o the impossible a n d
to popularize the negative aesthetic of the state b y m e a n s of a pos­
itive film aesthetic. A s a result of her suggestive aestheticism of
fascism, she s u p p o r t e d the "rape of the masses," w h o m fascism
"forces to the g r o u n d in its Führer cult." Riefenstahl thus did vio­
lence to her filmic "equipment" which she p u t in the service of
cult values.''^ She succeeded in transforming the rituals of the rally
with its boring speeches and uniform p a r a d e s into a hedonistic
feast, into an easily sellable a r t p r o d u c t . Hitler found t h r o u g h
Riefenstahl true aesthetic energy, a n d she w a s firmly resolved to
realize, a t the height o f Hitler's o w n ambitions, her goal of consti­
tuting a fascist aesthetic. There w a s no r o o m here for societal sub­
limations a n d social improvisation.
In her Memoirs, she—in a w a y that is v e r y revealing of her iden­
tity—used "My" w h e n talking to Hitler about the production of
Triumph des Willens that he h a d been pushing for: "My Führer,"
she reports to h a v e said, "I fear I cannot m a k e this film.... The
w h o l e subject m a t t e r is strange to me; I cannot even keep the S A
a n d the SS apart."^^ H o w could the "subject matter" be strange to
her after she h a d p r o d u c e d Sieg des Glaubens, the one-hour m o v i e
about the 1933 Party rally a year earlier? She m u s t have k n o w n the
"subject matter" extremely well, as all the laudatory reviews in the
press confirmed. In this first film she h a d also p r o v e n quite c a p a ­
ble of sorting out those nine thousand standard-bearers from the
154 The Triumph of Propaganda
SA and SS. After all, she celebrated R ö h m ' s SA and H i m m l e r ' s SS
in separate sequences. A n d with the help of a n u m b e r of e x t r a v a ­
g a n t c u t s , she highlighted the role of H i t l e r ' s b o d y g u a r d unit
(Leibstandarte) w h i c h goose-stepped past the Führer w i t h steel hel­
m e t s a n d in black uniforms. It w a s precisely t h r o u g h the g e o m e t ­
ric shape of the m a r c h i n g c o l u m n s a n d the blocks of flag-bearers
that Riefenstahl w a s able to capture w i t h breathtaking images the
principle b y w h i c h the obedience that w a s reflected in the goose-
stepping c o l u m n s b e c a m e integrated into the larger w h o l e . A s
Walter H a g e m a n n put it: "The goose-step p r o v e d to be one of the
m o s t effective tools of m a s s suggestion; it forced thousands into
following the s a m e m o v e m e n t s a n d rhythms."^* W i t h her t w o
P a r t y rally films, Riefenstahl reinvented the "Nuremberg funnel,"
first d e v e l o p e d in the seventeenth century, w i t h w h i c h e v e n the
d u m b e s t w e r e instilled with Hitler's ideas.
Riefenstahl's third major m o v i e w a s to a u g m e n t Hitler's pres­
tige in the outside w o r l d , a n d the 1 9 3 6 O l y m p i c G a m e s in Berlin
p r o v i d e d a w e l c o m e opportunity. A y e a r after the N u r e m b e r g
racial l a w s h a d b e e n p r o m u l g a t e d , t h e task w a s to i m p r o v e
Hitler's battered image. The film, Olympia, w h i c h w a s c o m p l e t e d
t w o y e a r s after the G a m e s , consists of t w o parts, "Fest der Völker"
("Festival of Ü\e Nations") a n d "Fest der Schönheit" ("Festival of
Beauty"). A s in the t w o Party rally movies, Riefenstahl's theoretical
notion of b e a u t y remains undefined in this 2 2 5 - m i n u t e work.
T h e Third Reich p r o d u c e d i n n u m e r a b l e d o c u m e n t a r i e s that
c i n e m a s w e r e obliged to s h o w in conjunction w i t h the m a i n fea­
ture film. T h e y c a n be roughly classified as attempts to p r o m o t e
t h e following themes: the F ü h r e r m y t h ; G e r m a n d o m ; c u s t o m ;
blood a n d soil; Thanksgiving; the G e r m a n forest; national health;
sports; art, culture, and "Strength T h r o u g h Joy" (the Labor Front's
recreational m o v e m e n t ) ; Reich Party Days; successes of the Party;
the v a r i o u s N a z i o r g a n i z a t i o n s ; Hitler Y o u t h ; the N a z i Girls'
M o v e m e n t ; premilitary training; r e a r m a m e n t ; the G e r m a n soldier
in p e a c e , maneuver, a n d w a r ; a nation without space; w o r l d ene­
mies; enemies of the people; anti-Semitism; hereditary diseases;
euthanasia; belated victories over the Versailles system; Hitler's
c a m p a i g n s ; cult of the N a z i dead.
A s eager stooges of N a z i s m , next to Riefenstahl the following
directors lent their corruptible talents to the production of d o c u ­
mentaries: H a n s B e r t r a m (Feuertaufe—Fire Baptism, 1940); E d u a r d
v o n B o r s o d y (Früh übt sich—Early Start, 1 9 3 6 ) ; H a n s C ü r l i s
(Arbeitsdienst—Labor Service, 1 9 3 3 ; Arno Breker, 1 9 4 4 ) ; A r n o l d
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 155
F a n c k (Josef Thorak, 1 9 4 3 ; Atlantikwall, 1 9 4 4 ) ; Wolf H a r t (Rüs­
tungsarbeiter—Armaments Workers, 1943); Carl Junghans (Jugend
der We/f—Youth of the World, 1936; Jahre der Entscheidung—Years
of Decision, 1939); Svend N o l d a n (Deutsche Arbeitsstätten—Ger­
m a n Workplaces, 1940; Sieg im Westen—Victory in the West, 1941);
C u r t Oertel (Die steinernen Wunder von Naumburg—The Naum­
b u r g W o n d e r s in Stone, 1933; Grabmal des unbekannten Soldaten—
Tomb of the U n k n o w n Soldier, 1935); H a n s Steinhoff (Gestern und
heute—Yesterday and Today, 1938); Karl Ritter (Im Kampf gegen den
We/t/efnd—Fighting the W o r l d E n e m y , 1 9 3 9 ) ; Walter R u t t m a n n
(Altgermanische Bauernkultur—Ancient G e r m a n Peasant Culture,
1 9 3 9 ; Deutsche Panzer—German P a n z e r s , 1 9 4 1 ) ; Alfred W e i d e -
m a r m (Soldaten von morgen—Soldiers of Tomorrow, 1941; Hände
hoch—Hands U p , 1942); E u g e n York (Danzig, 1939). Gustav Ucicky
h a d to give his n a m e to Wort und Tat (Word and Deed, 1 9 3 8 ) with­
out h a v i n g been involved in the making of this film.
Piel Jutzi t h r e w o v e r b o a r d the humanist aesthetic of the prole­
tarian m o v i e to act as c a m e r a m a n in Jürgen v o n Alten's tired mil­
itary film Gewehr über (Shoulder A r m s , 1939). G. W. Pabst returned
from his A m e r i c a n exile to p r o d u c e without pressure tendentious
N a z i stuff like Paracelsus (1943). Karl Ritter, w h o h a d p r o d u c e d
Hitlerjunge Quex (Hitler Youth Q u e x ) in 1 9 3 3 , gained the r e p u t a ­
tion of being the m o s t consistent a m o n g the compliant p r o t a g o ­
nists of the sophisticated documentary. A m o n g his productions
w e r e such infamous a n d inflammatory m o v i e s as Verräter (Traitor,
1 9 3 6 ) and GPU (on Stalin's secret police, 1942), as well as heroic
pieces extolling w a r like Unternehmen Michael (Operation Michael,
1937); Stukas (Dive B o m b e r s , 1941), and Besatzung Dora (The D o r a
Force, 1943).
In his feature film Kampfgeschwader Lützow (The L ü t z o w Fight­
ing Squadron, 1941), H a n s B e r t r a m continues from his 1 9 4 0 d o c ­
u m e n t a r y Feuertaufe ( B a p t i s m of Fire) a n d t h u s w i t h his lofty
cockpit heroes, one of w h o m s u c c e e d s in salvaging a precious
b o m b e r o n the r u n w a y before—his face m a r k e d b y d e a t h — h e
gives u p his i m m o r t a l soul. After all, "even a dying m a n d e m o n ­
strates w h a t spirit is alive and well in the Air Force." During the
w a r the fascist film instrumentalized death. W h e n B e r t r a m p r o ­
d u c e d his Kampfgeschwader Lützow in 1 9 4 1 , Reich Film Director
Hippler held u p the heroic deaths to be seen in G e r m a n film as
something to be inutated. H e referred to Lessing's d i c t u m that
death expressed the "condition of calm and insensibility," in other
w o r d s , a condition that w a s m o r e comforting than particularly
 The Triumph of Propaganda
156
disturbing. H i p p l e r t h e n defined d e a t h in his o w n w o r d s a s a
state of weightlessness, if there really w a s a sense to it:
Poetry and visual arts that can only depict the process of dying
rather than the condition of death will put it into a larger philo­
sophical context that will elevate it from the senseless and depress­
ing sphere of nature into the world of values and ideals; this means
that the process of dying itself becomes irrelevant at this point (that
is merely a matter of medical record). What alone is essential is that
it is embedded in the larger picture that precedes or follows it, from
which it becomes necessary or in reference to which it bears fruit.'''
T h e c o n s t a n t p r e s e n c e of d e a t h is also reflected in relentless
fade-ins of sacred elements like c h u r c h bells, w a r memorials, pic­
tures of m a r t y r s , a n d specific N a z i s y m b o l s like p h o t o s of the
Führer. T h e y represent the ubiquitous icons just as swastika flags
b e c o m e the visual incense. The b a c k g r o u n d m u s i c of spheric har­
m o n i e s or pseudo-religious choral songs p r o v i d e for suitable ele­
vation. C a r r y i n g Hölderlin in his backpack, the poet p a y s h o m a g e
to the death-defying soldier, offering romantic verses during an
u n r o m a n t i c time.
The poet transforms the genuine fear of d e a t h into something
metaphysical. W h a t Hitler n e e d e d for his G e r m a n freedom strug­
gle w e r e filnis that e d u c a t e d people for w a r (Kriegserziehungsfilme).
T h e y are designed to explain w a r as a m e a n s of developing the
highest m a n l y virtues; for "war is the father of all things," as
Nicholas K a u f m a n n , Ufa's Kulturfilm e x p e r t p u t it in his article o n
"Ufa's Cultural Film Production."''* H e added: "Kriegserziehungs-
film a n d Kulturfilm exist under the totality claim of the G e r m a n
f r e e d o m struggle ... These films a r e faced with g r e a t tasks as w e
try to explain, in simple w o r d s , the m a n y m e a s u r e s that h a v e been
taken for the protection of our national life a n d , above all, for the
e x e m p l a r y a n d c i r c u m s p e c t c a r e of our a r m e d forces. It is p r e ­
cisely themes of a state-political or party-political character that
h a v e seized hold of the cultural film d u r i n g recent y e a r s . " ^ It is
not just spectacles like Feuertaufe or Sieg im Westen that offer typi­
cal e x a m p l e s of this kind of movie; there are also shorts like Unter
der Kriegsflagge ( U n d e r the W a r Flag, 1934), Unsere Infantrie ( O u r
Infantry, 1 9 4 0 ) , Balkanfeldzug (Balkan C a m p a i g n , 1941), Die Funker
mit dem Edelweiss (The Wireless O p e r a t o r s w i t h the E d e l w e i s s
Flower, 1 9 4 2 ) , Junker der Waffen-SS (The L o r d s of the A r m e d SS,
1 9 4 3 ) , Front am Himmel (Front Line in the Skies, 1944), Endkampf
um Berlin (Final Battle for Berlin, 1945).
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 157
N o less i m p o r t a n t for a n y verdict on the N a z i regime are also,
of course, all films that w e r e refused production permission, even
t h o u g h the a b o v e - n a m e d directors w o u l d no doubt h a v e m a d e
t h e m in masterly fashion. However, just as there w e r e no secession
m o v e m e n t s in N a z i a r t , it w a s equally impossible to p r o d u c e
m o v i e s against the regime. A s Eisenstein put it in 1934 in his open
letter to Goebbels, "this required c o u r a g e a n d bravery." H e c o n ­
tinued: "The h o n e y - s w e e t p h r a s e s in y o u r s p e e c h e s n o t w i t h ­
standing, y o u h a v e put y o u r arts a n d culture into the s a m e iron
chains in w h i c h y o u also hold the remaining thousands of incar­
cerated people in y o u r hundreds of concentration camps."''^
Leni Riefenstahl's Film Olympia
Politically, I did not know what was important. I only asked where the
best material could be found, where intensifications might be possible.
I concentrated on blending images and movements.
Leni Riefenstahl
Leni Riefenstahl's theoretical notion of beauty remained diffuse,
w h e r e a s the ideal of beauty that she shows in her pictures c a n be
d e d u c e d quite easily from her movies. However, w e m u s t differ­
entiate b e t w e e n the m e d i a n of w h a t c a m e to be p o r t r a y e d as the
ideal of the n e w m a n a n d m a n as the s u m total of an idea that
Riefenstahl set u p in formations of columns a n d their preferably
g e o m e t r i c m o v e m e n t s . Riefenstahl's standards for her stagings of
the beautiful a n d sublime take classicism as their original model,
w h e n symmetry, natural proportions, a n d h a r m o n y still consti­
tuted the c a n o n s of beauty. A n d w h a t she selects from these m o d ­
els is t h e n d r e s s e d u p w i t h e l e m e n t s of p o w e r a n d d y n a m i c
excitement to give the a p p e a r a n c e of beauty. H e r repertoire is the
b e a u t y of the masses, a n d these masses a r e not static but set in
m o t i o n in ornamental fashion. Insofar as they w e a r b r o w n shirts
a n d c a r r y swastika flags, she divests t h e m of w h a t e v e r m a y look
t h r e a t e n i n g a b o u t t h e m . She h a s e v e n sensually c a p t u r e d the
g e o m e t r y of the a n o n y m o u s marching columns a n d blocks of men
a n d has rendered viewing t h e m into an aesthetic experience.
A s far as the beauty of nature is concerned, Riefenstahl takes her
prejudgments from the platonic notion which postulated that the
ideally beautiful be imderstood as the primordial image of every­
thing that w a s beautiful in this world. If beauty w a s conceived by
158 The Triumph of Propaganda
the Greeks as a c o m p l e x being, as incarnation of the mythologi-
cally divine, Riefenstahl's c a m e r a forged from it her selection cri­
teria for a kind of beauty that could be h a r m o n i z e d with the ideals
of the N a z i m o v e m e n t .
T h e ancient Greek ideal of beauty, as reflected in the Venus d e
Milo or the Discus-Thrower of M y r o n , h a d been the foundation of
the idealistic aesthetic since the Renaissance. Kant's definition of
w h a t w a s beautiful in the arts h a d h a d profound repercussions for
G e r m a n cultural consciousness. The beautiful w a s seen as the sen­
sual manifestation of an idea.
Riefenstahl, with a sure instinct for w h a t is effective in the arts,
a d d e d a sizable dose of sympathy with nature in order to guarantee
the emotionalization of the viewer. This viewer w a s thus to find it
easier to identify with those ideas as they transported e x e m p l a r s
of beautiful, i.e., racially pure, m e n from the screen to the audi­
ence. In her m o v i e Olympia Riefenstahl lets the c a m e r a revel in
beauty. The lens is virtually glued to the b e a u t y of athletic torsos
a n d limbs with their muscle formations. She favors sequences that
s h o w a n aesthetically beautiful m o v e m e n t , b e it in long-jump,
sprint, or discus-throwing. E v e n as it w a s tripping a n d falling
over, the b o d y w a s to display its beauty. To the natural elegance of
a dart-like d i v e f r o m the d i v i n g b o a r d h e r fanatical quest for
b e a u t y w o u l d a d d a subtle photographic point. The actual physi­
cal strain is suppressed w h e n she shoots those sharply c o n t o u r e d
portraits of e x t r e m e concentration in the starting hole, d u r i n g tar­
get practice, or shot-putting a n d s m o o t h e s o v e r the tense b o d y
lines. Indeed, m a n y a c h a m p i o n on the field or the track b e c o m e s
a plagiarism of nature, a simple c o p y of life before a c a m e r a that is
c o n c e r n e d only with c a p t u r i n g radical beauty. B y turning b e a u t y
into something absolute, she aestheticizes processes a n d thus robs
t h e m of their reality. The gospel of beauty that Riefenstahl reels off
optically c a n a w a r d first prize to the perfectly shaped, steely b o d y
of the y o u n g m a n because the less attractive, old, a n d frail p e r s o n
is not permitted to c o m p e t e in the s t a d i u m n o r in the movie.
By excluding all p h e n o m e n a that in her subjective perspective
a p p e a r as ugly, a n d b y thus also excluding the large majority of all
m e n , she p e r p e t r a t e s a fraud on the i m a g e of reality. T h e lie is
taken out of the set. The u n w e l c o m e reality remains extra muros;
the green oval of the s t a d i u m is reserved for youth. Beauty exclu­
sive. Those m a n y millions outside G e r m a n y w h o s a w this exalted
picture with its optimistic emotions w e r e treated to a n idealized,
sympathetic, a n d peaceful G e r m a n y with a relaxed a n d smiling
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 159
F ü h r e r — a true masterpiece of misrepresentation. This, after all,
w a s the time of the N u r e m b e r g racial laws; the first concentration
c a m p s at D a c h a u a n d Sachsenhausen h a d brutalized opponents of
the regime since 1933; the preparation for w a r w a s started on the
d a y s after the o p e n i n g of the O l y m p i c G a m e s in Berlin w h e n
Hitier d e c r e e d the dispatch of the C o n d o r Legion to Spain to sup­
p o r t F r a n c o in his revolt against the Republic. In a secret m e m o ­
r a n d u m , c o m p o s e d during the G a m e s , Hitier ordered that for the
n e x t four y e a r s G e r m a n industry w a s to be geared t o w a r d w a r
a n d the a r m e d forces to be prepared for an offensive in the East.
B y c a p t u r i n g the peaceful c o m p e t i t i o n a m o n g the p a r t i c i p a n t
n a t i o n s , Riefenstahl's Olympia m o v i e thus stages a g r a n d i o s e
fraud: Der Stürmer, Streicher's anti-Semitic r a g , h a d been taken
off the n e w s p a p e r stands during the G a m e s and all signs d e m a n d ­
ing "Jews out" h a d been r e m o v e d .
There r e m a i n e d one difficulty in w h i c h Riefenstahl h a d to out­
wit her o p p o n e n t Goebbels. This w a s the delicate task of p r o d u c ­
ing a r o u g h approximation between the official ideal of beauty in
N a z i art a n d her o w n optical p r o d u c t s that frequently ran counter
to the p r o c l a i m e d N o r d i c i m a g e w h e n she filmed athletes at the
finishing line o r o n the winners' platform. A t these points during
the "Fest der Völker," as the first p a r t of her m o v i e w a s called, it
w a s difficult to uphold N a z i racist views. Riefenstahl could not
a n d did n o t w a n t to o m i t the obvious fact that the nations of
Africa, Asia, a n d other "non-Aryan" parts of the w o r l d h a d sent
m e n a n d w o m e n to the G a m e s w h o were, b y the standards of clas­
sical antiquity, in an e x e m p l a r y sense beautiful people. She there­
fore s i m p l y i n c o r p o r a t e d into her film w h a t e v e r w a s usable in
t e r m s of her physical ideal. A s far as p r o p a g a n d a w a s concerned,
Olympia plainly w a s to be a "hymn to the p o w e r a n d beauty of
m a n , a m a k i n g visible of the healthy mind in a healthy body, illus­
trated b y exquisite [!] y o u t h s from all over the world."''^
Master Works by Outsiders to the Nazi Film Industry
Willy Zielke, the c a m e r a m a n w h o shot the prologue to Olympia,
r e m a i n e d a n o u t s i d e r as a director. A p a r t from the s h o r t film
Arbeitslos ( U n e m p l o y e d , 1932) dealing with the fate of the jobless,
h e p r o d u c e d one other film that m a d e him k n o w n only after the
war. Fascinated b y the machine, Zielke transformed his script for a
c o m m i s s i o n e d exultation of the Reich railroad into a fortuitous
160 The Triumph of Propaganda
synthesis of d o c u m e n t a r y a n d feature film w h o s e s e g m e n t s are
a m a l g a m a t e d by experimental transitions. The 45-minute m o v i e
appeared in 1 9 3 5 under the title Das Stahltier (The Beast of Steel). Its
t h e m e is provided b y an idealistic engineer w h o tells his colleagues
during their coffee breaks amusing or dramatic episodes from the
history of the railroads during the past one h u n d r e d years. Zielke
translated these episodes into formally brilliant images, s o m e of
w h i c h remind the viewer of famous inventors, like J a m e s Watt,
Francis C u g n o t , or Stevenson. The film represents a dynamically
edited celebration of the machine, which is used as a m e t a p h o r for
the idea of progress and a glorification of technology. A n d yet the
a t t e m p t to m a k e its usefulness for the development of mankind
visible remains underexposed, despite s o m e partly expressionist
fireworks. The dominance of formalistic elements w a s probably also
one of the reasons w h y the movie w a s banned in the Third Reich.
C u r t Oertel is the n a m e of the other highly gifted outsider of the
d o c u m e n t a r y w h o w a s not p r e p a r e d to p a n d e r to N a z i aesthetics
for the sake of achieving early fame. In 1 9 3 2 his c a m e r a w o r k h a d
h e l p e d to m a k e Die steinernen Wunder von Naumburg a success.
This c a m e after Oertel h a d given his visual talents as ingenious
lighting director to Pabst for the latter's 1 9 2 5 m o v i e Die freudlose
Gasse (The Joyless Street) a n d to Geheimnis der Seele (Secret of the
Soul) a y e a r later. Oertel quickly gained an international reputa­
tion. In 1 9 4 0 Tobis a n d the Swiss P a n d o r a launched a m o n u m e n ­
tal c o p r o d u c t i o n u n d e r the title Michelangelo. In it, O e r t e l
ingeniously united the life a n d w o r k of the "Titan" ( 1 4 7 5 - 1 5 6 4 ) in
a historical portrait, using the latter's sculptures (tombs of the
Medici) a n d buildings (St. Peter's in R o m e ) as well as his paint­
ings a n d drawings. T h r o u g h a d r a m a t u r g y of light a n d s h a d o w s
that g a v e life to figures, objects, a n d landscapes, he created a m a s ­
terpiece that w a s received with reserve in the Third Reich because
of its e c c e n t r i c formal qualities. A c c o r d i n g l y , the p r e s s w a s
directed to play this m o v i e d o w n . It w a s only in 1 9 5 0 that the film
achieved international acclaim u n d e r the title The Titan: The Story
of Michelangelo, w h e n H o l l y w o o d a w a r d e d it a n Oscar.
Zielke's a n d Oertel's m o v i e s w e r e diametrically o p p o s e d to the
p r o p a g a n d a - s o a k e d d o c u m e n t a r i e s that w e r e elevated to Nazi art
not only with the help of Hitler's swastika flags, but also b e c a u s e
t h e y h a p p i l y s p o r t e d the flag in their titles, s u c h as Unter der
schwarzen Sturmfahne ( U n d e r the Black S t o r m Flag, 1935), Unsere
Fahne ist die Treue (Loyalty Is O u r Flag, 1935), Unter der Fahne der
Jugend ( U n d e r the Flag of Youth, 1935), Fäuste an dem Fahnenschaft
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 161
(Fists a r o u n d the Flag Pole, 1935), Wir tragen die Fahne gen Süden
(We A r e C a r r y i n g the Flag S o u t h w a r d , 1939).
The Compilation Film
The microcosm of the montage had to appear as a unified picture that
falls apart under the inner pressure of its contradiction so as to recon­
stitute itself at a new level into a new unit that was qualitatively
more advanced.
Sergei Eisenstein^"
T h e compilation film, with its artificial structure and its violations
of aesthetic rules, ignores traditional genre boundaries. The d r a ­
m a t u r g y of this p a r a s i t i c g e n r e c o m b i n e s m a t e r i a l s t h a t h a v e
already been used in other movies that are then put into a the­
matic a n d stylistic context different from the original one. T h e dis­
parate p a r t s a n d heterogenous ingredients are r e m o v e d from their
original aesthetic context a n d reality to achieve a specific didactic
p u r p o s e ; they m a y even a p p e a r as diametrically opposed to their
original c o n t e x t d u e to a m o n t a g e that c h a n g e s their entire orien­
tation. T h e y represent particles in a reconstructed film reality that
a p p e a r to be realistic; they develop their i m p a c t only in their c o m ­
p l e m e n t a r y role or in a correspondingly aesthetic combination.
The reality content of these films w a s changed simply by elimi­
nating the original context. The old "truths" percolated through the
sieve of the n e w ideology. The blending of m a n y rudimentary real­
ities p r o d u c e d a new, quite different filnüc reality, and, as far as the
Nazis w e r e concerned, this n e w reality w a s geared, above all, to its
ideological impact. The eclectic layout of the compilation movie is
not only structured by its thematic presuppositions, but in particu­
lar also b y the genres that h a v e been chosen. A s Svend Noldan's
two-part Der Weltkrieg (The World War, 1 9 2 7 / 2 8 ) and the anony­
mously p r o d u c e d Deutschland—mein Deutschland ( G e r m a n y — M y
Germany, 1 9 3 2 / 3 3 ) demonstrate, these m a y consist of combina­
tions of silent feature films, silent newsreels (taken from the Reich
Military A r c h i v e s a n d to s o m e e x t e n t also from H u g o v o n
K a w e c z y n s k i ) , a n i m a t e d film elements, as well as sequences,
reflecting the appropriate c o n t e m p o r a r y climate, that were espe­
cially shot for the occasion. Compilation films are strung together
S3moptically, but rarely with the aim of staking out an aesthetic
 162 The Triumph of Propaganda
claim or of creating a tangibly modified n e w form. In his retrospec­
tive on World W a r I, N o l d a n invented the general staff m a p , w h i c h
w a s enhanced by technical tricks, a n d used it to provide moving
visual images of the w a r ' s logistics. His n e w techniques m a d e it
possible for four years of w a r to b e c o m e visually m o r e graspable.
Such arch-reactionary compilation films as Johannes H ä u ß l e r ' s
Der eiserne Hindenburg in Krieg und Frieden (The Iron H i n d e n b u r g
in W a r and Peace, 1929) and Blutendes Deutschland (Bleeding Ger­
many, 1 9 3 3 ) provide e x a m p l e s of h o w unable the directors w e r e to
m a s t e r the wealth of material (by mostly u n k n o w n c a m e r a m e n ) ,
n o t to m e n t i o n their inability to p u t s o m e s t r u c t u r e into t h e m .
W i t h o u t the critical historical eye, a chain of visual events t u r n e d
into a p u r e l y m a t e r i a l c o n g l o m e r a t e . M a d e f r o m a n inflexible,
right-wing, patriotic perspective, these films p a y sentimental trib­
ute to the relics of the past. T h e e m p e r o r ' s long beard, so to speak,
p r o t r u d e s from everywhere. The iconographic past a s s u m e d a n
a l m o s t liturgical role.
H ä u ß l e r ' s Blutendes Deutschland w a s the m o s t frequently
screened film of its d a y in this genre. Historic truth is blatantly fal­
sified so as to enable the N a z i s to see themselves as the sole heirs
of Prussia's heroic virtues. History h a s b e c o m e a semantic space;
the N a z i s a p p e a r as alert jugglers with w o r d s a n d pictures u n d e r
w h o s e fingers history is g i v e n a n e w shape at the cutting table. In
three parts, H ä u ß l e r ' s c h e a p p r o d u c t conjures u p w h a t he calls
G e r m a n y ' s national uprising: (1) "Aus grosser Zeit" (Of G r e a t
Times), w h i c h runs from the birth of the G e r m a n E m p i r e , starting
at Versailles in 1 8 7 1 , u p to the "Storms of Steel of the World War";
(2) "Der Verrat an Deutschland" (The Betrayal of G e r m a n y ) , p r e ­
senting the N o v e m b e r Revolution, the Spartacist Uprising, the
Versailles "Treaty of S h a m e , " a n d the e x e c u t i o n of A l b e r t L e o
Schlageter ("with original photos") by the F r e n c h during the R u h r
O c c u p a t i o n in 1923; (3) "Deutschland e r w a c h t " ( G e r m a n y A w a k ­
ens), starting the "fateful turn" of 3 0 J a n u a r y 1 9 3 3 w h e n Hitier
w a s appointed Reich Chancellor.
These three headings constitute the technical pattern a n d the
basic bias of the propagandistic compilation film during the y e a r s
to c o m e . The m o n t a g e script a n d its technical realization at the
cutting table p u t together v a r i o u s visual set-scenes, facts, half-
truths, lies, false ascriptions, false or e x a g g e r a t e d emphases; in
o t h e r w o r d s they d o e v e r y t h i n g that Eisenstein defined as the
m o d e l c a s e of a "montage of attractions." A n insidious compila­
tion film of this type, w h i c h constructs a n actually desired reality
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 163
a n d presents images that h a v e been torn from their original c o n ­
text, r e m o v e s from this material all that does not serve the one and
only truth. Its fake authenticity, generated from genuine materials,
for e x a m p l e , from e n e m y newsreels, rests on the fact that it has
been u s u r p e d b y an ideology that is not c o n c e r n e d about truth.
C h a n g e s in c h r o n o l o g y a n d details that are either r e p o r t e d or
omitted, a n d hence a u g m e n t or reduce w e i g h t and meaning, also
s t e m from this dubious approach.
Of course, the strictly ideological use of preexisting material
that w a s typical of fascist compilation films does not apply to the
genre m o r e generally. Nevertheless, it is striking h o w rarely direc­
tors h a v e succeeded in making such films aesthetically satisfying.
A s Ulrich Kurowski put it, this is because "the film material cannot
be c o m p l e t e l y refashioned."^^ Thus, it m a y be possible only in
exceptional circumstances to compile a m o v i e about N a z i s m that
is critical a n d analytical and relies primarily on Nazi material with
its o w n peculiar aesthetic. Michail R o m m ' s Daily Fascism (1965)
m a y be s u c h a n e x c e p t i o n . It is b a r e l y feasible to c o u n t e r the
p o w e r of the pictures w i t h the acoustics of the corrunentary. His­
t o r y — s e e m i n g l y s u p p o r t e d b y the visual d o c u m e n t s — r e m a i n s
overwhelming. A s a rule, the w o r d tended to overlay the pictures
in N a z i c o m p i l a t i o n m o v i e s a n d thus to d o m i n a t e the overall
thrust. V a g u e c o m m e n t a r i e s are e m p l o y e d to spread historical
falsehoods in a quite literal sense. The conglomerate that consists
of heterogenous m e m o r y fragments, contradictory visual m a t e r ­
ial, and anachronistic chronologies is held together by a unifying
idea or ideology, b y the brackets of the director's dramaturgy, a n d
b y a text that insinuates symbiosis. This h o d g e - p o d g e that aims to
reconquer the past m a y be m a d e u p of silent film and sound film,
of 3 5 m m , 16 m m and super-8 film, of 16 and 2 4 pictures per sec­
o n d , photos, facsimiles, n e w s p a p e r cuttings and posters, black-
a n d - w h i t e as well as color film, animation a n d m o v i n g m a p s ,
a g g r e g a t e data, interviews, a n d n e w l y shot sequences. All these
elements a n d , as A l e x a n d e r Kluge called them, "self-contained
grarrunalogues," that at best represent miniatures b o r r o w e d from
divergent styles and currents, are strung together to be handled as
gratuitous pictorial proofs. It is only in the rarest of cases that they
form a m o s a i c that is also superior from a film-aesthetical point of
v i e w a n d has a synergetic impact.
While making his film Strike in 1924, Eisenstein w a s one of the
first to articulate h o w important the context is into which individual
shots a n d whole sequences are being put: "The essence of a film
 164 • The Triumph of Propaganda
m u s t not be sought in individual sequences, but in their interactions
... the expressive impact of a film is the result of combinations."^^
From Esther Shub to Jean-Luc Godard
Production advances all the time with fresh confidence and in the
clear consciousness that the traditional Ufa standards have to be, and
will be, upheld and that, with an unquestioned sense of duty, cultural
films will come out of the Babelsberg studios in sufficient numbers
and established quality: scientific films and technical ones, entertain­
ing and historically important ones, political as well as unpolitical
movies, films in black-and-white and in color. They are all designed to
discover life in its manifold variations, to discover nature and its mys­
terious laws that never cease to stimulate man to investigate them
anew and further; they are also designed to entertain and elate people
and to expand their knowledge for the benefit of the German people
and the world.
Nicholas Kaufmann^^
T h e m o d e l of the aesthetically structured compilation film w a s
c r e a t e d b e t w e e n 1 9 2 5 a n d 1 9 2 8 b y the Russian director E s t h e r
Ilyinichna Shub with her trilogy The Pall of the Romanov Dynasty,
The Great Road, a n d The Russia of Nicholas II and Leo Tolstoy. In three
y e a r s of w o r k , Shub, w h o w a s Eisenstein's m o n t a g e assistant for
his Strike, p u t together a filmic triptych from old newsreels dating
b a c k as far as 1 8 9 6 a n d from the private collections of the Tsarist
family. M e a n d e r i n g through its c h r o n o l o g y a n d adhering strictly
to a partisan point of view, she traces the d e v e l o p m e n t of Russia
from the Tsarist period d o w n to the tenth anniversary of the Bol­
shevik revolution. The a p p r o a c h is decidedly selective a n d gener­
alizes partial aspects a n d small points of information. Thus, Shub
contrasts sequences about impoverished peasants with images of
w e a l t h y people w h o are (apparently) a m u s e d b y the former's mis­
ery. A t this point, she does not c o m e through exactly as an a d v o ­
c a t e of truth. She uses the "Kuleshov Effect" as a stylistic m e a n s .
She described her w o r k on this project in these w o r d s : " W h e n
d o i n g t h e m o n t a g e , I tried to a v o i d classifying the m a t e r i a l
a c c o r d i n g to its inner value; rather I evaluated it with its d o c u ­
m e n t a r y importance in nünd. All details h a d to be subordinated to
this principle."**
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 165
In 1923 L e w Kuleshov, w h o s a w film as a synesthetic art, h a d
m a d e an e x p e r i m e n t to d e m o n s t r a t e the manipulative p o w e r of
the m o n t a g e . With the help of a simple cut, he confronts the stoic
face of the actor Ivan Moshuchin alternately with the picture of a
s o u p bowl, a corpse, a n d a n u d e beauty. The viewer believes that
h e sees in the a c t o r ' s face consecutively the expression of hunger,
fear, a n d lust.*^
Similarly to Kuleshov, Vsevolod Ilaryonovich Pudovkin, in the
early 1920s, g a v e impressive proof to h o w easily the reality of a
particular angle can be c h a n g e d w h e n juxtaposed with others. H e
chose three angles, with t w o showing the s a m e w o m a n , first smil­
ing a n d then in shock. The third picture is a closeup of an unse­
c u r e d revolver. B y c h o o s i n g the s e q u e n c e , w o m a n in s h o c k —
revolver—smiling w o m a n , h e gives the impression of a c o u r a ­
geous w o m a n w h o is in control of the situation. Meanwhile, the
reverse sequence w o u l d h a v e suggested panic.*^
P u d o v k i n w a n t e d to d e m o n s t r a t e h o w e a s y it is to r e v e r s e
m e a n i n g b y c h a n g i n g the c o n t e n t sequence. B o t h e x p e r i m e n t s
typify the simple m e a n s by which the public can be d u p e d a n d
d e m o n s t r a t e h o w effortlessly the manipulators c a n instrumental-
ize the m o n t a g e for d e m a g o g i c purposes.
Dziga Vertov h a d designed the basic dialectical pattern of this
genre s o m e six years prior to Esther Shub. U n d e r the title History
of the Civil War ( 1 9 2 1 / 2 2 ) , he m a d e a film that w a s less c o n c e r n e d
w i t h presenting an objectivized a r r a y of facts t h a n with using
these facts for agitation. Probably without knowing it, Vertov took
Nietzsche's d i c t u m literally, according to w h i c h there are n o facts
but only interpretations of them. It w a s a famous formula that
John Grierson later e x p a n d e d in his Creative Interpretation of Facts.
Vertov in his History interpreted the Bolshevik p a r t y line by refer­
ence to selected a n d one-sidedly presented sequences in w h i c h
the official p a r t y doctrine w a s nostalgically laid out in no less than
thirteen acts.
With this m o v i e Vertov anticipated the p r o g r a m of the later
Kinoki w h o p r o p o s e d to compile their w o r k s "from facts." T h e y
used intermediate texts to avoid giving the impression that they
w e r e not m e a n t to agitate, with the counterrevolution, of course, as
their target. The i n t r o d u c t o r y sentence of the Kinoki manifesto
m a y serve as an e x a m p l e of the thrust of their work: "The p o w e r
of the w o r k e r s a n d peasants h a d to c o n d u c t a long, d r a w n - o u t
struggle against their class enemies within the country after they
 166 The Triumph of Propaganda
h a d freed t h e n a t i o n , w h i c h w a s b l e e d i n g t o d e a t h , f r o m t h e
clutches of the imperialist war."
Vertov e x p e r i m e n t e d constructively with a formula that Soviet
m o v i e s later d e p l o y e d v e r y methodically, i.e., that putting t w o
i m a g e s next to each other generates the suggestion in the m i n d
a n d c o n s c i o u s n e s s of the v i e w e r that there exists a c o n n e c t i o n
b e t w e e n them. Once the v i e w e r b e c o m e s conscious of this c o n ­
nection, "construction sets in a n d its l a w s begin to h a v e their
effect," to quote Victor Shklovsky.
H o w clearly C o m m u n i s t functionaries h a d r e c o g n i z e d v e r y
e a r l y t h a t t h e y c o u l d u s e for p r o p a g a n d a p u r p o s e s historical
material that r e p r o d u c e d facts that h a d been declared to be such,
is confirmed by a reference in the first G e r m a n compilation film,
w h i c h h a d b e e n c o m m i s s i o n e d b y the K P D . U n d e r the title
Weltwende (The Beginning of a N e w World), Carl J u n g h a n s c o m ­
piled a one-hour m o v i e from newsreel material for the benefit of
the C o m m u n i s t P a r t y in 1918. This movie copied the principles of
t h e R u s s i a n m o d e l , t h o u g h w i t h o u t c o m i n g a n y w h e r e close to
Vertov's a d v i s o r y that the c a m e r a m u s t register "the w o r l d m o r e
variedly f r o m the m o s t divergent angles a n d m o r e perfectly t h a n
the h u m a n eye." Instead of enlightening the v i e w e r a b o u t M a r x ­
ism, J u n g h a n s rather turned it into a puzzle.
To this day, w e d o not h a v e a n y generally a c c e p t e d syntactic
rules for the compilation film. Its authenticity is created less b y the
persons a n d historical events it p o r t r a y s than b y the c o n t e x t into
w h i c h the film puts its extracts, making t h e m truthful b y m e a n s of
a lie (sie wahr lügt). It w a s not only the N a z i s (though they a b o v e
all) b u t other countries as well that p u t the compilation film into
the service of political agitation. They, too, t u r n e d the cutting table
into an e x p e r i m e n t a l g r o u n d for (subjective) history. Thus, w e
w e r e rarely g i v e n a true picture o f reality d u r i n g W o r l d W a r I,
w h i c h P a u l Virilio called the "first m e d i a t i z e d w a r . " W h a t w e
m o s t l y received instead w a s a n i m a g e that p r o p a g a n d a said w a s
"truthful." In other w o r d s , films w e r e m a d e that "confused the
last with the first" (F. Nietzsche). After all, pictures a n d texts d o
n o t m a k e a n aesthetic parallelogram; n o r d o form a n d c o n t e n t
lead to a symbiosis.
T o w a r d the end of World W a r I, the A m e r i c a n s spread w o r l d ­
w i d e their p r o p a g a n d a versions of the w a r ' s origins a n d conse­
quences in films like G e o r g e Crul's America's Answer to the Hun
(1917). During the s a m e year, the Allied p o w e r s p r o d u c e d Under
Four Flags, a n d in 1 9 1 9 the British followed suit with The World's
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 167
Greatest Story. All these movies satisfied the respective "syndrome
of expectations." Given that the compilation of the selected parts
into a m e r e l y c h r o n o l o g i c a l or f o r m a l s e q u e n c e w i t h o u t a n y
dialectical tension a m o u n t s to p u r e tinsel, the m o n o s y l l a b i s m
t h a t is g e n e r a t e d b e c o m e s the sister of b o r e d o m a n d fails to
induce reflection.
J a y L e y d a h a s r e p o r t e d that Joris Ivens a n d his friends fre­
quently b o r r o w e d copies of newsreels from cinemas. They then
edited t h e m "during the night in o r d e r to highlight their class
character a n d to screen t h e m before a working-class public." A t
the end of the weekend, the copies w e r e then r e v a m p e d into their
original state before they w e r e sent b a c k "with a few friendly
w o r d s on Monday." It w a s d u e to this influence that Henri Storck
w a s able to conceive the idea for his first short compilation film,
Histoire du Soldat Inconnu (History of the U n k n o w n Soldier), m a d e
in 1 9 3 2 , with a 1959 sovmd version.
The g r o w i n g signs of preparations for w a r in 1932 are taken b y
Storck, Belgium's pacifist pioneer of the documentary, as an o c c a ­
sion to w r i t e a satire a b o u t the Kellogg-Briand Pact. Signed b y
m o r e than 1 2 0 countries, this a g r e e m e n t a i m e d to outlaw w a r s of
aggression. Storck d r e w his material for this satire from the 1 9 2 8
newsreels that celebrated the Pact. H e believed these films to be
suitable to serve the unreconstructed militaristic attitudes a n d the
r e a r m a m e n t fever that w a s spreading throughout E u r o p e in the
early 1930s.
O n e of the smaller a n d m a c a b r e e p i s o d e s c o n t a i n e d in this
m o v i e is the e x h u m i n g of an "unknown soldier" w h o s e skull h a d
clearly been pierced b y a bullet. This is followed t o w a r d the e n d
b y a p o m p o u s c e r e m o n y at the Tomb of the U n k n o w n Soldier in
front of the " F l a m e of M e m o r y " flanked b y t w o lions in stone
seemingly r e a d y to pounce. The film concludes with shots of Brus-
sel's "Männeken Pis," which d o not seem out of place in this con­
text. It is m e a n t as a m e t a p h o r for w h a t a soldier's life has really
been w o r t h to g o v e r n m e n t s . The contexts into which Storck puts
representatives of the bourgeoisie, the churches, the army, capital­
ism, as well as "the silent majority" hint at his latent Marxist s y m ­
pathies; b u t French critics later accused h i m m o r e of anarchist a n d
surrealist proclivities.^''
T e m p o r a l d i s t a n c e f r o m e v e n t s p o r t r a y e d b y the m a t e r i a l
m a k e s it easier to manipulate them. This is because the material
c a n n o longer b e scrutinized by the accurate m e m o r y of the view­
ers. A t a n y rate, at the m o m e n t of projection onto the screen, it is
168 The Triumph of Propaganda
difficult to assess the truth content of the i m a g e of history offered
in a documentary.
A typical e x a m p l e m i g h t b e the A m e r i c a n c o m p i l a t i o n film
that F r a n k C a p r a m a d e in 1 9 4 3 , entitled Why We Fight. The first
two-thirds of this m o v i e deal exclusively with the p e r i o d prior to
t h e o u t b r e a k of W o r l d W a r II to justify its title. T h e s e q u e n c e
s h o w i n g infantry supposedly p a r a d i n g at the 1 9 3 7 N u r e m b e r g
P a r t y rally is based on archival material that m u s t date from the
beginning of the w a r t w o y e a r s later, since the soldiers w e a r w a r
d e c o r a t i o n s like the "Iron C r o s s , Second Class." H o w e v e r , this
fraudulent detail that is basically insignificant should not lead us
to c o n c l u d e that the entire film is designed to deceive. A n d yet,
the k n o w i n g v i e w e r is left w i t h serious doubts as to the credibil­
ity of the w h o l e enterprise.
With Luis Buftuel as the d o m i n a n t influence, Madrid '36, an
anh-fascist m o v i e , w a s c o m p i l e d that s a m e y e a r from newsreel
material a n d photos from the Republican side in the Spanish Civil
War. With Beethoven's symphonies as its music, it certainly suc­
c e e d e d in m a k i n g an emotional impact.
Nicole Vedres's Paris 1900, m a d e in 1 9 4 7 / 4 8 with Alain Resnais
as her assistant, m u s t be considered one of the m o s t influential
m o v i e s since the genre developed in the direction of a m o r e a n a ­
lytical structure. She does not simply pile the available pictures o n
t o p of each other. Instead, a n d in her o w n w o r d s , she "wants to
penetrate the c o v e r of the pictures that h a v e been selected a n d to
c a p t u r e , without particular emphasis, that special expression that
is a l w a y s h i d d e n u n d e r the surface of the i m a g e s . [Thus] this
b e a r d e d gentleman, a politician, struts about with a smile a n d an
air of joie de vivre, a n d yet w e sense his m e n d a c i o u s malice. H e
d o e s n o t s h o w it; his photo does."*^ This is the sophisticated con­
text of self-revelation in w h i c h Nicole V e d r e s presents, without
a n y c o m m e n t a r y , c o n t e m p o r a r i e s like Monet, Renoir, Bernhardt,
Carpentier, a n d m a n y others. The pointed music b y G u y Bern­
h a r d t m a k e s anything else superfluous.
Often the privileged p e r s o n s that are p o r t r a y e d are u s e d to
leave the v i e w e r with the bitter feeling of exclusion from their
w o r l d . This is true n o t only of Paris 1900 (though it is particularly
m a r k e d here), b u t also of m a n y other movies that w e r e cobbled
together from newsreel material. The film then c o m p e n s a t e s for
this "loss" b y giving viewers the impression that, as spectators,
they h a v e b e c o m e witnesses to m o m e n t s of historic encounters, at
least after the event. A s H a n s M a g n u s Enzensberger c o n c l u d e d
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 169
from similar situations, being n o m o r e than an onlooker reinforces
"the v i e w e r in his belief that paradise begins beyond the barriers.
The v i e w e r does not see through the m a c a b r e irony of this p a r a ­
sitic flashlight business, i.e., that those on display h a v e themselves
b e e n c h e a t e d , that the celebrity is his o w n e x t r a , a n d that the
e m p r e s s is her o w n model. It never occurs to h i m to doubt the
digruty of the empress w h o poses before the camera, a n d so it is he
w h o is putting clothes on the m o d e l that doubles for her."^' In
Paris 1900 people of different class b a c k g r o u n d s act like divergent
factors within a societal parallelogram of forces.
Major directors of the nouvelle vague, such as Frederic Rossif
{Mourir ä Madrid, 1 9 6 2 ) a n d J e a n - L u c G o d a r d (Les Carabiniers,
1963), are similarly not interested in the great m e n of the a g e b u t
in the consequences they left behind. Both of t h e m h a v e m a d e
m o n t a g e into the m o n t a g e movie; both invoke w h a t H a b e r m a s
w o u l d later call the "subversive p o w e r of reflection." Moreover,
b o t h of t h e m use the s a m e material with the aid of which they
h o p e d to gain access to the Spanish Civil War from the perspective
of the victims. Such films indirectly contradict the v i e w that the
e y e is the ultimate authority. Rather, it is the viewers' intellect.
G o d a r d believes that the corpse that is shown in his Les Carabiniers
t r i g g e r s a sense of u n e a s e , w h e r e a s the s a m e d e a d p e r s o n
enthused the viewers of Mourir ä Madrid. W h a t causes the unease
is that the corpse "remains w h a t it is: insignificant, i.e., it gains n o
i m p o r t a n c e , w h e r e a s it is given an i m p o r t a n c e in Mourir ä Madrid
that probably did c o r r e s p o n d to its life...."'° G o d a r d rightly calls
this a fraud, "even if it has been perpetrated with clean hands."
A n d , so w e are tempted to a d d , perpetrated with emotional p o w e r
a n d visual beauty.
Bashing the United States and the Soviet Union
...for contrary to earlier times, in this war we Germans have learned one
virtue that will make us invincible: the confidence in our own power
Joseph Goebbels'^
So far w e h a v e s u r v e y e d the genesis of the compilation movie o n
the basis of a n u m b e r of typical examples from the history of film
in o r d e r to d e m o n s t r a t e that this extremely ambivalent genre w a s
n o t an invention m a d e in Dr. Goebbels's diabolical laboratory,
e v e n if the N a z i s a p p e a r to h a v e i n v e n t e d it. W h a t m u s t b e
 170 The Triumph of Propaganda
stressed, however, is that the c i n e m a t o g r a p h i c falsifiers of history
a n d the atrocity propagandists of the Hitler regime studied the rel­
e v a n t techniques of m a n i p u l a t i o n a n d m e c h a n i s m s of p o p u l a r
seduction in detail. They a p p r o p r i a t e d w h a t e v e r w a s useful for
their negative designs a n d perfected it psychologically.
T h e c o m p i l a t i o n films t h a t w e r e p r o d u c e d a g a i n s t H i t l e r ' s
"world enemies" after the begirming of the w a r provide especially
telling e x a m p l e s of the kind of d e m a g o g i c deception that the P r o ­
p a g a n d a Ministry e n g a g e d in with its uninhibited use of the "art"
of m o n t a g e . These films w e r e s h o w n not just in the Reich, b u t also
in the o c c u p i e d territories. T h e y w e r e d e s i g n e d to justify w h y
H i t l e r w a s a l l e g e d l y f o r c e d t o w a g e a h o l y w a r a g a i n s t the
"beasts," plutocrats, a n d J e w s that w e r e represented.
Thus, the 1942 movie Amerika sieht sich selbst ( A m e r i c a Looks at
Itself) lays o u t a depressing picture of the c o u n t r y with unrefer­
e n c e d excerpts from A m e r i c a n feature films of the late 1930s a n d
early 1940s. Juvenile crime is r a m p a n t a n d indirectly contrasted
with visually tangible N a z i ideology u n d e r w h i c h y o u n g G e r m a n
criminals d o not h a v e a chance. The r e v a m p i n g of evidence relat­
ing to the p h y s i o g n o m y of A m e r i c a n society culled from A m e r i c a n
thrillers to p r o v i d e material for Goebbels's p r o p a g a n d a , blended
with original G e r m a n c o m m e n t a r i e s , p r o v i d e the elements that
h a v e been craftily constructed from a dramaturgical point of view.
It is this texture that m a d e this film so effective w h e n it c a m e out
in 1942. S l u m scenes, evidently portraying N e w York's East Side,
h a v e been taken out of their original context in the gangster m o v i e
Dead End ( 1 9 3 7 ) a n d c o m p i l e d as authentic d o c u m e n t s to fake
A m e r i c a n reality. These a n d other fictional images of the United
States achieved a higher degree of reality than the best German
p r o p a g a n d a m a t e r i a l c o u l d e v e r h a v e c o p i e d , since d i r e c t o r
William W y l e r h a d originally presented this milieu with artistic
license in a w a y that w a s aesthetically convincing. Consequentiy,
the G e r m a n compilation, its formal brilliance notwithstanding,
t u r n e d into a casuistic e x a m p l e a n d a propagandistic fraud. T h e
scenes from the A m e r i c a n feature film that the G e r m a n m a k e r s
h a d interconnected displayed a m a r k e d tendency to turn the func­
tion of self-criticism in Dead End into its opposite.
In 1 9 4 3 , then, w h e n Goebbels proclaimed "total war," the cari­
cature of Roosevelt which is cobbled together from the President's
different public a p p e a r a n c e s for the m o v i e Herr Roosevelt plaudert
(Mr. Roosevelt C h a t s ) is used at the s a m e time to personify the
J e w i s h "world e n e m y " w h o m it is n e c e s s a r y to extinguish; for
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 171
"Roosevelt, the w a r m o n g e r , has developed an appetite for [gob­
bling up] the w h o l e world." Again, a n d without indicating the
source, the film included a scene from John Ford's The Grapes of
Wrath ( 1 9 4 0 ) , w h i c h effectively r a n g true b e c a u s e the drastically
s h o w n capitalist m e t h o d s of exploiting the farming population
appear, in the deceptive context of newsreel material, as a reliable
report o f facts.
Together with the Jews, Bolshevism h a d been declared "world
e n e m y N o . 1." H e n c e , during the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Hitler alone
w a s in a position to declare a t h a w that lasted from the fall of 1 9 3 9
to June 1 9 4 1 . The SS-journal Das schwarze Korps (The Black C o r p s )
explained the r e n e w e d reversal in 1941 to its readers as follows:
"C)nly A d o l f Hitler w a s able to lead the G e r m a n people to this
c h a n g e of fronts, a n d it w a s only upon the G e r m a n people that the
F ü h r e r c o u l d impose at that m o m e n t the expectation of an uncon­
ditional willingness to follow him. E v e n if there w a s never a ques­
tion of an ideological reconciliation or e v e n r a p p r o c h e m e n t
between National Socialism and Bolshevism, superficial observers
could nonetheless easily gain this impression."'^ N o t surprisingly,
anti-Soviet p r o p a g a n d a pieces h a d long been lying in Goebbels's
drawer, to be taken out punctually w h e n Hitler tore u p the Nazi-
Soviet Pact. Subsequently, the Russians are p o r t r a y e d as a devilish
a n d inferior race in films that are even m o r e perfidious than the
ones against "plutocrats" a n d Wall Street. Movies like Das Sowjet-
Paradies (The Soviet Paradise, 1942) or Im Wald von Katyn (In K a t y n
Forest, 1 9 4 3 ) not only excoriate the C o m m u n i s t system, but the
nations of the Soviet Union as a whole.
The former film begins with an aggressive c o m m e n t a r y that
sets the tone for the rest of the movie: "Where once stood pros­
pering villages, the g r a y misery of the collective f a r m p r e d o m i ­
n a t e s today. This is w h e r e the Soviet p e a s a n t lives as a slave."
A n d : "Some eighty people m u s t vegetate in fifteen rooms." The
editors evidently h a d fun c o m p o s i n g a p o t p o u r r i of misery from
the sinister d o c u m e n t a r y material. The horror images certainly
d e m o n s t r a t e d w h a t the c o m m e n t a r y h a d promised, i.e., "the dis­
astrous results of twenty years of a bloody regime run b y a Jewish-
Bolshevik terror clique." The misery w a s c o d e d with the help of
a t t r i b u t e s like "caked in filth" {"dreckstarrend"), "unkempt,"
"enslaved," "liquidated," etc. In conjunction with the film Soviet
Paradise, Goebbels organized an exhibition with the s a m e titie in
w h i c h a m o n s t e r that w a s m a d e u p of J e w s a n d Bolsheviks w a s
declared "world e n e m y N o . 1" a n d then sent aroxmd the Reich.
 172 The Triumph of Propaganda
H e l m u t Krausnick has d o c u m e n t e d in his book Hitlers Einsatz­
gruppen the catastrophic consequences that the equating of J e w s
a n d Bolsheviks had, especially for the former. It a p p e a r e d in the
literature a n d film published b y Goebbels's P r o p a g a n d a Ministry
a n d Alfred Rosenberg's Ministry for the O c c u p i e d Eastern Terri­
tories in a g g r e s s i v e s l o g a n s s u c h as "Jewish-Bolshevik t e r r o r
clique."'^ Anti-Jewish p o g r o m s b e g a n immediately after the inva­
sion of the Soviet Union, following on the heels of the racist liqui­
dation p r o g r a m s that the N a z i s h a d initiated in P o l a n d in 1 9 3 9 .
J e w s w e r e m u r d e r e d in the t h o u s a n d s in b r i g h t d a y l i g h t a n d
before everyone's eyes. This refutes the contention that it w a s only
the d r e a d e d "Gestapo on wheels" w h o w e r e responsible for the
m a s s m u r d e r s of Jews. Rather, it w a s W e h r m a c h t generals w h o
either c o v e r e d or even ordered the deadly excesses against Jewish
civilians, since "a crusade h a d to be c o n d u c t e d against Bolshevism
a n d hence also against the J e w s w h o w e r e m o r e or less equated
with Bolshevism."'* The actions of Gauleiter Erich K o c h alone, in
his role as Reich C o m m i s s a r for the occupied Ukraine, reached the
proportions of genocide w h e n he ordered hundreds of thousands
of J e w s from Bialystok a n d the Ukraine to be liquidated b y bestial
m e a n s w h i l e i m p l e m e n t i n g his " G e r m a n i z a t i o n " policy in his
realm. A c c o r d i n g to A l e x a n d e r a n d M a r g a r e t e Mitscherlich, the
v a n q u i s h e d loses his quality as a h u m a n being in the eyes of the
victor. H e m a y be persecuted without inhibition after everything
t h a t is evil a n d d a n g e r o u s h a s b e e n projected o n t o him: "The
defeated b e c o m e s the prey of boundless bloodthirstiness."'^
T h e t w o - p a r t m o v i e Im Wald von Katyn, w h i c h is subtitled
" d o c u m e n t a r y film," t u r n s us into w i t n e s s e s of superficially
buried history. It e x h u m e s in a v e r y literal w a y the crimes of Katyn
Forest w h e r e in April 1943 G e r m a n soldiers c a m e across the m a s s
g r a v e s of 4 , 1 4 3 Polish officers. They h a d been m u r d e r e d there in
1939 during the occupation b y the Red A r m y w h i c h h a d m a r c h e d
into the eastern half of Poland as part of the deal with Hitler under
the Nazi-Soviet Pact. The litany of pictures of corpses, e x h u m e d
b y Polish prisoners, is a c c o m p a n i e d b y interviews with Poles w h o
"stand shattered in front of the blood of their former c o m r a d e s . "
These kinds of testimonies are designed to "objectivize" the hate-
filled G e r m a n commentary. The second part s h o w s m a s s graves of
U k r a i n i a n s as "witnesses to Soviet bloodthirstiness." A Greek-
O r t h o d o x bishop sprinkles holy w a t e r across the sea of corpses. In
the w o r d s of the commentator, Bolshevism a p p e a r s here as "a J e w ­
ish organization for the extermination of the intelligentsia a n d the
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 173
c u l t u r e of E u r o p e a n d the w o r l d . " The Soviets are not s i m p l y
p o r t r a y e d as enemies, but as a bestial brood. This film with its hor­
rifying photos w a s supposed to act as a diversion from the m o u n ­
tains of corpses in Hitler's concentration c a m p s . In the debate that
the Berlin historian Ernst Nolte unleashed in the 1980s concerning
the origins of the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question," w e have
been hearing vmacceptable a r g u m e n t s that challenge the unique­
ness of the H o l o c a u s t w h e n by quantifying Hitler's a n d Stalin's
victims for "objective historical writing," the deaths of sixteen or
m o r e million Ukrainians a n d kulaks w h o perished are alleged to
weigh, statistically speaking, m o r e heavily than the six million
J e w s w h o died in Nazi gas chambers.
The Eternal Jew (1940)
H e calls d e a t h m o r e sweetly.
D e a t h is m a s t e r in Germany.
H e shouts that w e should play our violins m o r e darkly.
Then y o u will ascend into the air as smoke.
T h e n y o u will h a v e a g r a v e in the clouds.
W h e r e it is not c r a m p e d .
Paul Celan»«
SS-Hauptsturmführer Dr. F r a n z Hippler w a s the m o s t eager a n d
i m s c r u p u l o u s a m o n g Goebbels's film experts w h o knew h o w to
a r r a n g e the m o s t disparate clips a n d m o s t antagonistic a r g u m e n t s
into a t r i u m p h of dialectical destructiveness. It w a s he w h o put
together the morally m o s t perfidious, intellectually m o s t under­
h a n d e d , a n d ideologically m o s t perverse m i s h m a s h that has e v e r
been p r o d u c e d . This w a s Der ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew), m a d e in
1 9 4 0 . O n l y h u m a n s c u m could bring out such a diabolical work.
Together with }ud Süß (1940) a n d Die Rothschilds (1940), as well as
the book b y H a n s Dieboro with the same title. Der ewige Jude raised
the p o g r o m m o o d against the J e w s to boiling point. These films
a n d a n u m b e r of other books w e r e calculated to justify in a d v a n c e
the m a s s m u r d e r of the E u r o p e a n Jews.'^ The film w a s prenüered
in Berlin on 2 8 N o v e m b e r 1 9 4 0 . Deportations to the c a m p s in the
East followed without delay. W h e n the film w a s first s h o w n in the
"Casino C i n e m a " in L o d z at the beginning of January 1941, s o m e
t w o h u n d r e d thousand J e w s w h o h a d been c r a m m e d into the local
ghetto w e r e liquidated shortly thereafter. U n d e r the impression of
174! The Triumph of Propaganda
the Polish premiere, the Berlin journal Film-Kurier w r o t e of L o d z
as "a place which, so to speak, symbolizes this film; for it w a s here
that a large part of this m o v i e w a s made."'^
There then followed this aggressive text: "The c a m e r a w a n d e r e d
[ t h r o u g h this g h e t t o ] before the o r d e r i n g h a n d of the G e r m a n
administration intervened to clean out this A u g e a n stable in order
to obtain a true, undiluted picture of this cesspit from w h i c h w o r l d
J e w r y w a s steadily supplied." This is w h e r e the c a m e r a discovered
those "types of J e w r y " a n d those "depraved faces" that are s h o w n
in the film. O n c e "they m o v e d as peddlers a n d parasites through
this city." A n d finally: "The m o v i e left a v e r y strong impression."
Succinctly a n d approvingly, Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung of 2 9
N o v e m b e r 1 9 4 0 g a v e a description of the emotional s t r e a m s of
h a t r e d that the film unleashed: "The v i e w e r breathes a sigh of
relief w h e n the film reaches its end. H e returns to light from the
darkest swamps."''
T h e Illustrierte Film-Kurier, another synchronized journal,
p l a y e d the s a m e p r o p a g a n d a tune: "In shining c o n t r a s t [to the
"rats"] the film, following these terrible scenes, ends with pictures
of G e r m a n people a n d G e r m a n orderliness. They fill the v i e w e r
with deepest gratitude that he belongs to this nation w h o s e Führer
is in the process of developing a fundamental solution to the J e w ­
ish problem. "^°° In J a n u a r y 1 9 4 2 the L o d z C a s i n o C i n e m a s h o w e d
G u s t a v Ucicky's hate-filled concoction Heimkehr ( H o m e c o m i n g ,
1941). In it, the return of the G e r m a n s from Volhynia is said to be
indebted to a dive b o m b e r attack: "Against the b a c k g r o u n d of a
world-historical decision, the fate of the ethnic-German m e n a n d
w o m e n from the late s u m m e r of 1 9 3 9 w h o are depicted in this
great a n d m o v i n g film leads to the c a u s e of the fateful struggle
t h a t h a s b e e n i m p o s e d o n us." T h e s e w e r e t h e w o r d s o f t h e
Völkischer Beobachter on 2 4 October 1 9 4 1 . Meanwhile, the d e m a ­
gogic texts in the Polish l a n g u a g e w e r e to h a v e a psychologically
humiliating effect.
T h e t r e m e n d o u s i m p a c t of both these films is d u e to several
factors that p r o v i d e an a p p a r e n t authenticity, systematically c o n ­
c o c t e d in the laboratory of destruction. Der ewige Jude combines
individual parts of the a r g u m e n t in a d e m a g o g i c c o m m e n t a r y a n d
a m o n t a g e that is artfully w e l d e d together by synthetic forces; it
does so in such a fashion that the individual s e g m e n t s m u t u a l l y
magnify their pitilessness. The shots taken for H i p p l e r ' s w o r k in
the ghetto "at the source of all evil" exclusively s h o w faces that
w e r e designed to confirm the prejudices a b o u t the "subhumans"
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 175
t h a t Julius S t r e i c h e r h a d s p r e a d in his anti-Semitic r a g Der
Stürmer. T h e dilapidated a n d filthy milieu for w h i c h the Nazis,
h a v i n g c r a m m e d twelve people into one r o o m , w e r e themselves
exclusively responsible is presented in "genuine" pictures as an
"Augean stable" that w a s typical of the Jewish "race" a n d that the
J e w s h a d m e r e l y b r o u g h t u p o n t h e m s e l v e s . A m o n g this "evi­
d e n c e " w e r e also e x c e r p t s from Joseph Green's The Purim Player
(1937) a n d Yidl Mit Fidl (]ew with a Fiddle, 1936). In a perfect fade-
over, several J e w s " m e t a m o r p h o s e " from m e n in o r t h o d o x dress
to people in West E u r o p e a n tailor-made suits without beards and
sideburns. This is s u p p o s e d to d e m o n s t r a t e the Jewish art of p e r ­
fect deception. In order, nevertheless, to be able to identify the
Jew, h e h a d to w e a r as the m a r k of Cain the Star of David, first
introduced in Poland on 2 3 N o v e m b e r 1 9 3 9 a n d in the Reich on 19
September 1 9 4 1 .
All these scenes of denial a r e escalated in this film into a guide
for action b y a c o m m e n t a r y w h o s e cynicism c a n hardly be sur­
passed. The result w a s m a n y spontaneous outrages against Jews,
not to m e n t i o n all the ones that h a d been officially o r g a n i z e d .
T h r o u g h insertions, v a r i o u s partial truths are further truncated
a n d lies are refashioned into truths. In short, as Theodor A d o r n o
p u t it, "everything that isn't, is nonetheless promised by the fact
t h a t it a p p e a r s . " T h e t h e m e of e x t e r m i n a t i o n is b u t t r e s s e d b y
"arguments" that look convincing in their primitivism. F o r e x a m ­
ple, an a n a l o g y is m a d e between a b u n c h of disgusting rats a n d
J e w s massively s w a m p i n g the civilized w o r l d a n d in turn conjur­
ing u p d a n g e r s of pest epidemics a n d festering sores. Just as in the
case of other contrapuntal m o n t a g e s , the indoctrinating c o m m e n ­
tary is i m p o r t a n t here: "Where rats appear, they spread disease
a n d c a r r y destruction into the land. They a r e wily, cowardly, a n d
cruel a n d a p p e a r m o s t l y in large numbers—^just like the J e w s
a m o n g the h u m a n s . "
The scenes of ritual slaughter of sheep a n d other artimals in this
film m a y look cruel to Christian souls, e v e n if the c o m m e n t a r y is
d i s r e g a r d e d . But the i m p a c t is w o r s e n e d in its polemical anti-
Semitic effect because faces of Jewish butchers w h o go after their
profession with a p p a r e n t voluptuousness h a v e been faded in. N o r
d o e s the film's m o n t a g e technique shrink from defanung famous
Jewish artists. Thus, scenes from F e d o r Ozep's Der Mörder Dimitri
Karamasoff and Fritz Lang's M (both m a d e in 1931) are b r o u g h t in
to personally identify Fritz Kortner a n d Peter Lorre with the psy­
c h o p a t h i c roles they p l a y e d in these m o v i e s as s e d u c e r a n d as
176 The Triumph of Propaganda
murderer. Within this hate-filled context, emotions are farmed b y
a n irrational chauvinism in o r d e r to turn the J e w s into scapegoats
on patriotic g r o u n d s as well. In these w a y s the p r o d u c e r s tried to
justify w h a t Foucault has called the "stigmatization of the victims
a n d the demonstration of the punishing authority."'"'
N a z i racism, as depicted in film, reached its terrifying c l i m a x in
Der ervige Jude. It is n o coincidence that the m a c h i n e r y of genocide
w a s set in motion at the s a m e time that this " d o c u m e n t a r y " justi­
fication of m a s s m u r d e r w a s released. The p o w e r of the w o r d s
a n d the w i z a r d r y of the pictures p r o v i d e d the a m m u n i t i o n for a
l a r g e - c a l i b e r anti-Semitic w e a p o n . A s A l b e r t M e m m i p u t it,
"Racism is n o doubt one of the c o g s in this diabolical engine."'"^
H e continued: "Man is the only being that systematically despises,
humiliates, a n d exterminates m e m b e r s of its o w n species physi­
cally a n d existentially for the p u r p o s e of self-justification. In large
p a r t this o c c u r s t h r o u g h l a n g u a g e , a n d this linguistic a s p e c t of
r a c i s m is certainly not just perverse. M a n is e n d o w e d with lan­
g u a g e , i.e., he d r a w s , c o m m u n i c a t e s , stresses, a n d erases his e x p e ­
riences in images a n d w o r d s . "
In M e m m i ' s view, racism at the level of symbols is a continuous
laboratory in w h i c h the destruction of the victims is being pre­
pared. Films like Der ewige Jude w e r e s u p p o s e d to justify at a s y m ­
bolic level Hitier's racist fanaticism worldwide. C i n e m a t o g r a p h i c
instruments that w o r k e d so insidiously a n d m a n i p u l a t e d the con­
sciousness of the masses as effectively as possible secured a c o n ­
senting silence on a massive scale. Racist anti-Semitism m a y arise
t h r o u g h "the generalized a n d absolutized valuation of actual or
Active differences to the a d v a n t a g e of the accuser a n d the detri­
m e n t of the victim with w h i c h privileges or aggressions are to be
justified."'°''In this anti-Semitic w o r l d . Hitler w a s the "cement" of
his N a z i m o v e m e n t .
Fritz Hippler's Feldzug in Polen (The Polish C a m p a i g n , 1940),
H a n s B e r t r a m ' s Feuertaufe ( B a p t i s m of Fire, 1 9 4 0 ) , a n d Sieg im
Westen (Victory in the West, 1 9 4 1 ) b y S v e n d N o l d a n a n d Fritz
Brunei p u r s u e d identical objectives. W h a t differentiates t h e m from
m o s t other compilation films that h a v e been m e n t i o n e d here is
that all events take place on the "field of h o n o r " This m e a n s that
they rely almost exclusively on G e r m a n w a r newsreel material,
w h i c h in turn w a s m a d e up of m a n y individual contributions from
a v a r i e t y of c a m e r a m e n . The thinking a n d feeling of these m e n
w e r e p e r v a d e d as strongly by the spirit of N a z i s m as their films.
Their authenticity is reinforced b y the a t t e m p t to use c a p t u r e d
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 177
newsreel in o r d e r to p r o d u c e a friend-foe dialectic. This is d o n e
with perfidious perfection in Sieg im Westen by omitting the con­
text in w h i c h the latter originated. In this w a y a n d for the p u r p o s e
of p r o v i n g the point, "foreign matter" from the opposing side is
incorporated into the narrative.
German War Film Compilations, 1939-1945
From the long-term perspective, war propaganda that exclusively
serves truth is the best.
Joseph Goebbels'"^
In a strict sense, e v e r y single newsreel represents a compilation
film. H o w e v e r , the photo material is m o r e h o m o g e n e o u s than in
other m o n t a g e s insofar as all of t h e m are p e r m e a t e d by the s a m e
heroic spirit a n d are w e d d e d to the s a m e cause, i.e., to win victory
for Hitler. T h e s e films e x u d e a n enthusiastic m o o d that is
e n h a n c e d by m a r c h i n g songs. To this extent, all of these films with
their a d o r a t i o n of the F ü h r e r b e l o n g to the s a m e c a t e g o r y of
equally c r u d e p r o p a g a n d a pieces. P a u l Virilio's a s s e s s m e n t of
Feuertaufe in the a r m e d forces journal Signal applies praeter propter
also to the other w a r films: "[These are] pictures without inunedi-
ate d r a m a t i c tension w h o s e judicious editing, w h i c h combines
events occurring m o r e or less far apart, a n d w h o s e c o n m i e n t a r y
are designed to e x p o s e the viewer to the vibrating r h y t h m of the
g r a n d historical event."'"^
T h e s a m e e n d s as in Feldzug in Polen also justified the m e a n s of
Feuertaufe, according to the subtitle of H a n s Bertram's "film about
the d e p l o y m e n t of the G e r m a n air force in P o l a n d . " B e r t r a m
released his d o c u m e n t a r y a few m o n t h s after Hippler's movie.
B e r t r a m w a s s e v e r e l y w o u n d e d on location a n d lost one eye.
A b o v e all, like m o s t other c a m e r a m e n attached to the air force, he
b e c a m e intoxicated with flying. These m e n w e r e trained to wield
both the c a m e r a a n d the machine gun and w e r e able to switch
positions if required. A s Major Carl C r a n z , the c o m m a n d e r of the
first A i r F o r c e P r o p a g a n d a C o m p a n y r e p o r t e d , thanks to this
training "our w a r reporters are full-fledged soldiers."'* This c o m ­
p a n y h a d gained its first relevant experiences only a few m o n t h s
earlier d u r i n g m a n e u v e r s in West Prussia a n d P o m e r a n i a a n d
during the occupation of Sudetenland. Perhaps without realizing
it, these m e n implemented in the baptism of fire high above the
178 The Triumph of Propaganda
Vistula a n d W a r t h e rivers the idea of the " a r m e d c a m e r a - e y e / '
albeit in a totally different w a y from w h a t Vertov h a d envisioned.
Virilio n o longer s a w the w a r of the twentieth century as a w a r
of w e a p o n s , but as a w a r of perception. In his view, battles are
only secondarily decided on the battlefields; the actual conflict
takes place as a m a p m a n e u v e r in the c o m m a n d centers. The effec­
tiveness of such scenarios is dependent on the e x a c t location of the
e n e m y positions—it is a perception that determines v i c t o r y a n d
defeat, life a n d death.
A n d indeed, combinations of guns and c a m e r a s , e.g., c a m e r a s
m o u n t e d on top of machine guns, w e r e quite w i d e s p r e a d in World
W a r II. W h o e v e r operated the g u n w o u l d automatically also trig­
ger the c a m e r a . A s Virilio w r o t e , "For the soldier the function of
the eye m e r g e s with that of the weapon."^"^ H e a d d e d that w a r has
s h o w n to the camera-artist that "military technology in action [is]
the-highest privilege of art." Soon the air w a r a p p e a r e d to m a n y
a i r m e n as the F r e n c h w r i t e r A n t o i n e d e S a i n t - E x u p e r y h a d
described it in his Flight to Arras—as n o m o r e than "an experi­
m e n t in a laboratory."^"^ Saint-Exupery, w h o h a d tried to elevate
the m a c h i n e as a symbol of the spirit, failed to return from a sortie
in J u l y 1 9 4 4 . T h e p o e t r y - w r i t i n g h e r o thus ennobled his w o r k
t h r o u g h his death.
B e r t r a m p r e s e n t s his r e p o r t on the e i g h t e e n - d a y blitzkrieg
against a Polish a r m y that w a s greatly inferior and totally u n p r e ­
p a r e d primarily from a bird's eye perspective a n d elevated also in
ideological terms. The sequences in the film's preamble identify
Britain as the m a i n w a r m o n g e r that instigated the Poles to unleash
p o g r o m s against ethnic G e r m a n s : "The West E u r o p e a n p l u t o c ­
r a c y — F r e e Masons and Jews—^have sworn an oath of truce to c o m ­
bat National Socialism."^'" The film then provides the response:
"Like a s w o r d in the sky, o u r air force is r e a d y for take-off."
W e also k n o w Hitler's reply: " F r o m n o w on w e shall retaliate
b o m b for b o m b . " The inferno h a d thus been prepared. Göring's
t w o air fleets systematically destroyed Polish airports, railroad
tracks, r o a d s , ports, military installations, a n d towns, allegedly
"in o r d e r to prevent the concentration, supply, a n d retreat of the
enemy." A s the speed of b o m b e r s increased, not only the aerial
v i e w s c h a n g e d all the time, but also the angle at w h i c h films w e r e
shot. A s a result, the walls of ruins a s s u m e the ghostly shape of
isometric projections. W h e n the film presents the horrifying pic­
tures of devastated Polish cities as a pleasurable p a n o r a m a , the
c o m m e n t a r y a d d s sneeringly that w h o e v e r "sees the true m e a s u r e
I
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 179
of the i m p a c t of air w a r f a r e will also recognize the extent of the
guilt that Britain has to shoulder."""
Wilhelm Stoeppler's lines, c o m p o s e d in 1939, are recited:
W e flew to the Vistula a n d Warthe rivers.
W e flew t o w a r d Polish land
W e hit the e n e m y a r m y hard
With lightnings a n d bombs a n d fire!
Göring's boastful delusions of revenge are supposed to provide
the c r o w n i n g c o n u n e n t a r y for the movie: "The promises the Ger­
m a n Air Force has m a d e in Poland will be fulfilled in Britain a n d
F r a n c e . . . . W e shall p r o v e to Mr. C h a m b e r l a i n t h a t islands n o
longer exist. The hearts of all airmen beat faster w h e n they are
cleared for take-off: We are flying against Engelland." A n d with
relentless optimism, the b o m b e r pilots sing themselves into the
apotheosis at the end of the film, in Stoeppler's w o r d s a n d with
m u s i c b y N o r b e r t Schnitze:
W e confront the British lion
for the last decisive attack.
We sit in judgment. A global empire is breaking u p .
That w a s o u r proudest day!
Cortu-ade! C o m r a d e ! The girls will h a v e to wait.
C o m r a d e ! C o m r a d e ! The order has c o m e through. We're off!
C o m r a d e ! C o m r a d e ! You k n o w the password:
Close u p to the enemy! Close u p to the enemy!
B o m b s for Engellandl
Do y o u h e a r the engines sing: close u p to the enemy!
Does it resound in y o u r ears: close u p to the enemy!
Bombs! Bombs! B o m b s d r o p p e d on Engellandl
Sitting in front of the screen, the spectators a r e sucked into the
fighting a n d the a s s u r a n c e that the enemy's potential has been
destroyed; they are included as a sympathizing m a s s that, through
its sons, brothers, a n d fathers, has been m a d e part of the victory.
The stirring m a r c h i n g b a n d music similarly swept people a w a y
a n d absorbed t h e m emotionally. M a n y joined in the singing of the
"Bombs for Engelland" song or at least quietly h u n u n e d it. This
p o w e r f u l e m o t i o n a l p u s h t o w a r d v i c t o r y a n d this p o p u l a r i t y
a m o n g the masses w e r e aspects of p r o p a g a n d a that b e c a m e deci­
sive in N a z i filmmaking.
180 The Triumph of Propaganda
Jerzy Bossak a n d Vaclav K a z m i e r c z a k h a v e included in their
1961 m o n t a g e , titled September 1939, the whining engines of dive
b o m b e r s from Feuertaufe. They h a v e also used the choir's happily
sung lines: "For w e are flying against Polenland ... with lightnings
a n d b o m b s a n d fire"—^which h a d been prognostically c h a n g e d to
"against Engelland" only t o w a r d the end of the movie. The t w o
Polish filmmakers then replay the cutting voice of the original
c o m m e n t a t o r w h o orders death a n d destruction for Poland. A s
Bossak explained: "This p a s s a g e enables us to say a great deal
a b o u t the spirit of fascism."'" F r o m the limited material that w a s
available to them, he a n d K a z m i e r c z a k compiled a 60-minute ret­
rospective that offered m o r e a passionate historicization than a
sober a r g u m e n t about the Polish c a m p a i g n . Consequently, they
h a v e u s e d p r e w a r n e w s r e e l s a n d Göring's glorifying air force
m o v i e s r a t h e r inorganically. W h a t t h e y h a v e p r o d u c e d is a
mechanical sequencing whose anti-fascist message is carried alone
b y the commentary, without reaching a n e w qualitative level. A s
the t w o directors added: "The editing m a k e s it impossible for us to
feel a n d think with them. If a particular scene is unusually d r a w n
out, this is not in order to p r o d u c e tension a n d cogitation, but only
b e c a u s e the m o n t a g e in question just h a p p e n e d to b e that long."
This a p p r o a c h is responsible for the film's inorganic structure that
leaves the viewer no r o o m to m a k e associations.
E d u a r d v o n Borsody's Wunschkonzert (Request Concert, 1 9 4 0 )
w a s the first G e r m a n feature film to fade in original d o c u m e n t a r y
clips as p a r t of the action. These authentic sequences from Riefen­
stahl's Olympia as well as w a r newsreels h a v e been so perfectly
blended with the m a i n narrative that the fictive persons b e c o m e
credible. There is, for e x a m p l e , the O l y m p i c S t a d i u m in Berlin
w h e r e Inge (Use Werner) a n d the d a p p e r lieutenant H e r b e r t K o c h
(Carl R a d d a t z ) discover their love. " G e r m a n y is coming," Inge
says enthusiastically as the G e r m a n O l y m p i c t e a m , dressed in
white, turns into the homestretch. The editing suggests that the
F ü h r e r is w a t c h i n g the s a m e scene as Inge a n d Herbert. Just as the
O l y m p i c bell is faded over, pictures of the O l y m p i c fire lead into
the film's second part. W e find ourselves in the w a r w h i c h ends
with another symbol-laden technique: a fade-out with swastika
flags in cumulo that promise victory.
In the second part, Herbert, the air force officer w h o has m e a n ­
while received the Spanish Cross and n o w acts against the back­
d r o p of original w a r newsreel, looks as if he has just returned from
a sortie in the heated air battle with the enemy. The request p r o g r a m
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 181
of "Greater G e r m a n Radio" contributed to this illusion of authen­
ticity. Using c o n t e m p o r a r y show-biz darlings, the Wunschkonzert is
broadcast as if the movie w e r e "by chance" witness to this Sunday
afternoon ritual of the nation. It w a s a ritual that w a s to keep sol­
diers as well as the "home front" in good spirits, with the help of
light music a n d obligatory morale boosters like the operetta star
Marika Rock a n d the schmaltz baritone Wilhelm Strienz.
This m o v i e certainly is an e x a m p l e of the attempt to blend the
simultaneity of the nonsimultaneous, as well as play a n d reality,
front a n d h o m e front into an optical unit b y deploying bits of
n e w s r e e l as a l t e r n a t i n g visual stimuli. T h a n k s to the b l u r r i n g
effect of a h e a v y dose of sentimentality, the viewer generally did
not notice h o w the nonidentical h a d been m a d e totally identical.
A d o r n o has called this realism resulting from a loss of reality.
A t t e n d a n c e figures prove h o w m u c h films w e r e loved at this time
that w e r e categorized as "popular" and "valuable" from a "state-
political" a n d "artistic" point of view: up to the end of the w a r
Wunschkonzert h a d been seen b y 2 6 . 5 million people.
By relying u p o n recognition effect, the stereotypical final cere­
m o n y of the request p r o g r a m provided a nullion-fold o p p o r t u ­
nity to identify emotionally with the sentiment that the popular
s h o w m a s t e r Heinz Gödecke h a d prepared:
The W e h r m a c h t request concert is n o w c o m i n g to an end.
The h o m e front stretches out to the front its h a n d .
The front stretches out its h a n d s to the h o m e front.
W e say: G o o d night, auf Wiederhören,
Until w e return next t i m e —
The Fatherland says auf Wiedersehenl
Allied War Film Compilations, 1940-1945
\ We live in an obsessed world ...It would not come as a surprise to
\anyone if the madness would some day suddenly turn into a rage into
which this poor European humanity would lapse, stunned and
insane; while the engines are still purring and the flags rustling, the
spirit has disappeared.
Johan Huizinga"^
Michail R o m m ' s impressive symbiosis of aesthetic quality a n d
enlightenment in the sixteen sections of his Obyknovennij fasizm
182 The Triumph of Propaganda
(Daily Fascism, 1965) has been u n s u r p a s s e d in its i m p a c t to this
day. Indeed, it signifies a crossroads on the well-trodden p a t h of
compilations about fascism. R o m m is himself convinced that his
w o r k is a criticism of m o v i e s about fascism in w h i c h the bitter
reality of N a z i s m h a s been t r a n s f o r m e d into an artistic reality,
since the critical perspective b e c a m e imprisoned b y stereotypical
i m a g e s a n d powerful concepts. A t the s a m e time his film is a "cri­
tique of m o v i e s about m a n y other historical themes." H e adds:
We have movies about the "Great Patriotic War," the history of the
Revolution, about a variety of countries.... They are all the same. I
am convinced that as a consequence of the principles that underlie
them they are all profoimdly untrue. And none of them is a success
with the viewers. They are successful only with those who com­
missioned them. Thus, the latter will already be happy if all has
been enumerated and reported. Meanwhile, the viewer is terribly
bored: "Everything is included and nothing else!" ... We watched
one documentarist movie about fascism, the war, and the Soviet
Union after the other; we then switched off the sound, and our
attention was drawn to the unintelligent and imiform language of
the pictures. It was not the primitiveness of the montage; [on the
contrary,] this was all neatly and expertly done; it was the unedu­
cated language of art [that struck us]. It was no longer what is
called "colds cuts" over here...."^
R o m m does not simply s h o w images of atrocities taken from
G e r m a n a n d Soviet newsreels in order to emotionalize the audi­
ence t h r o u g h shock treatment. The original material from those
N a z i films is not suited for his ambitious enterprise to develop a
t y p o l o g y of a terror regime. In R o m m ' s view, those films a r e in
a n y case "incredibly m o n o t o n o u s . . . . A m o n g six million feet of
film w e did not see a single picture of ordinary man.""* A n d yet it
is this ordinary m a n , the follower, on w h o m his interest is focused.
W h y did this m a n join in a n d w h y did he remain a n obedient
link in the chain of the m a s s m o v e m e n t to the bitter end? All m a t e ­
rial R o m m d r a w s u p o n is designed to u n m a s k the p r o p a g a n d a
m e t h o d s , including the aesthetic t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of ideological
c o n t e n t into a motivating force, w h i c h the N a z i s m a r s h a l e d in
order to use the G e r m a n people for their sinister purposes. R o m m
is not interested in the tabulation of history. H e w a n t s to g r a s p the
socio-typical m o m e n t behind the pictures, to get hold of the phe­
n o m e n o n of fascism in its totality. H e hopes to m a k e visible the
motives of blind obedience. This is w h y h e tears the veil from the
artificial a u r a surrounding the a d v e n t u r e r Hitler. H e u n c o v e r s the
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 183
mechanisnis of N a z i ideology through picture and commentary, in
w h i c h h e combines "the l a n g u a g e of the a n g r y journalist with the
p u n g e n c y of the satirist, the stylistic sensitivity of the artist with
the w i s d o m of the humanist.""^
R o m m chose a m e t h o d that is both intellectual a n d emotive to
investigate the truth about the Hitler period a n d to m a k e it acces­
sible: "If w e all c o o p e r a t e to describe the historical events not just
superficially a n d with didactic corrunentaries, but try to stop and
think w h e n dealing with e v e r y individual p h e n o m e n o n , w e shall
sooner or later c o m e close to the truth.""* H o w e v e r , this goal c a n
b e achieved only if the limits of the genre are broadened b e y o n d
the confines of the m a s s i v e m a t e r i a l that is available. In 1 9 6 5
R o m a n K a r m e n t u r n e d the Soviet m o v i e Velikaya Ochesvenaya
Voina (The Great Patriotic W a r ) into precisely such a m a m m o t h
enterprise that he, as the organizer of the w h o l e compilation, evi­
dently lost his thread. This film about a period of great t r a g e d y for
the Soviet people strings together all sorts of episodes to p r o d u c e
a n arbitrary c o n g l o m e r a t e of impressions that are all similar. This
is achieved with the help of N a z i newsreels a n d Soviet d o c u m e n ­
taries that K a r m e n himself w a s involved in. Thus, h e w a s the c a m ­
e r a m a n for Leonid Varlamov a n d Dya Kopalin's Victory Against the
German Armies before Moscow ( 1 9 4 2 ) a n d d u r i n g the s a m e y e a r
directed, with Yefin Uchitel, the d o c u m e n t a r y about The Struggle
for Leningrad. This latter film w a s shown u n d e r the title Moscow
Strikes Back in the United States a n d w a s a w a r d e d an Oscar in 1942
for best documentary. Still, in K a r m e n ' s case a n d even with a film
that r u n s for 1 3 0 minutes, it should h a v e been possible to avoid
c o n t r i v e d transitions a n d repetitions in s u c h l a r g e n u m b e r s , if
only he h a d developed a professional pictorial g r a m m a r .
K a r m e n w a s always directly on the front line, facing the enemy.
H e r e a c h e d Berlin w i t h t h e first Soviets tanks. T h u s , h e u s e d
scenes from his The Struggle for Leningrad (1942) a n d Stalingrad
(1943) both for his Great Patriotic War a n d for Sud Naradov (Judg­
m e n t of the Nations, 1947), a m o v i e about the N u r e m b e r g Trials of
the m a j o r w a r criminals. A n d "jointly with the judges a n d the
Allied nations w e documentarists rendered the verdict: death by
hanging.""^ H o w e v e r , it is only after Stalin's death that K a r m e n
also explicitly takes the v i e w that "barbaric fascism" rather than
the G e r m a n s w a s the e n e m y of the Soviet Union. In his Great Patri­
otic War Stalin h a d already been dethroned.
Ten d a y s after the Japanese attack on Pearl H a r b o r on 7 D e c e m ­
ber 1 9 4 1 , Roosevelt issued a Presidential Letter o n 18 December in
184 The Triumph of Propaganda
w h i c h h e a p p o i n t e d a " C o o r d i n a t o r for G o v e r n m e n t F i l m , "
t h o u g h without executive p o w e r s . This is the b a c k g r o u n d to an
initiative b y the U.S. W a r D e p a r t m e n t a u t h o r i z i n g Col. F r a n k
C a p r a to b e g i n a p r o p a g a n d a film offensive. T h e i d e a w a s to
counter the w e a p o n s p r o d u c e d in Dr. Goebbels's c i n e m a t o g r a p h i c
munitions factories. A film series seemed m o s t suitable, not only
to justify the United States's entry into the war, but also to depict
it "as the inevitable reaction to serious crimes." U n d e r the title
Why We Fight, a seven-part series w a s to be m a d e that w o u l d be
b a s e d on firsthand evidence a n d factual a c c o u n t s b e c a u s e they,
a b o v e all, w e r e d e e m e d to h a v e persuasive p o w e r . I n the first
i n s t a n c e , this i m p l i e d reliance o n n e w s r e e l s f r o m a r o u n d the
w o r l d . C a p r a ' s films w e r e s h o w n to GIs before they w e r e sent to
E u r o p e , but also in c i n e m a s b a c k in the U n i t e d States a n d the
British C o m m o n w e a l t h . Churchill personally introduced the C o m ­
m o n w e a l t h version. The movies w e r e designed to give a conclu­
sive answer to the question of " W h y w e fight" b y contrasting, in a
psychologically adept manner, the "Free World" with the "Slave
World" of the Axis Powers. The seven installments of, on a v e r a g e ,
sixty minutes w e r e to safeguard not only chronology a n d system­
atic interpretation, but also continued popularity.
T h e series b r o a d l y followed R o o s e v e l t ' s s o m e w h a t v a g u e
p r o c l a m a t i o n in his State of the U n i o n A d d r e s s of J a n u a r y 1942. In
it, the President identified as central points of the w a r a n d raison
d'etre of the A m e r i c a n entry: "the A m e r i c a n w a y of life," a n d , sec­
ondly, the "character of the enemy—^his ideology, his motives, his
m e t h o d s . " F u r t h e r m o r e , he m e n t i o n e d the U n i t e d Nations a n d
their Allied a r m e d forces a n d the need to secure, from "the p r o ­
duction front" supplies for the ultimate victory. Finally, there w e r e
the responsibilities of the civilian services at the h o m e front a n d
"our troops, our Allies a n d sympathizers.""'
"Prelude to War," w h i c h a p p e a r e d in 1942 as the first title in the
Why We Fight series, c o v e r s the y e a r s of Hitler's rise u p to 1938.
T h e n e x t part, "The N a z i Strike," reports w i t h biting irony the
W e h r m a c h t ' s m a r c h into Austria a n d Czechoslovakia as well as
the invasion of Poland. "Divide and Conquer" (1943) d o c u m e n t s
H i t l e r ' s w a r in W e s t e r n E u r o p e . T h e e v a c u a t i o n of the British
E x p e d i t i o n a r y Force from Dunkirk after the fall of F r a n c e in J u n e
1940 a n d the air raids on L o n d o n a n d C o v e n t r y are at the center of
"The Battle of Britain" (1943). "The Battle of Russia" (1944) s h o w s
the Soviets as brothers in a r m s a n d spreads s y m p a t h y for the suf­
fering population u n d e r the motto: "Generals m a y w i n battles.
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 185
b u t p e o p l e w i n w a r s . " T h e 1 9 4 4 installment, "The Battle for
China," w a s r e m o v e d from circulation because relations between
the C o m m u n i s t s a n d C h i a n g Kai-shek w e r e precarious. "The Bat­
tle of Russia" w a s w i t h d r a w n during the M c C a r t h y years of anti-
C o m m u n i s t hysteria in the United States.
A m o n g the seven Why We Fight movies, Anatole Litvak's "War
C o m e s to A m e r i c a " ( 1 9 4 5 ) is p r o b a b l y the m o s t i m p r e s s i v e .
A l t h o u g h opinion polls w i t h " c o m m o n people," official state­
ments, a n d historical facts are neatly interpreted in conjunction
with newsreel materials a n d dialogues, the constant fade-ins of
interviewees a n d the statistical evaluation of their a n s w e r s b y
Gallup d o b e c o m e s o m e w h a t unnerving. By including newsreels
a n d even clips from Triumph des Willens, Litvak succeeds in p o r ­
traying a cross section of c o n t e m p o r a r y A m e r i c a n history. These
i m a g e s are confronted with Hitler's w a r s of conquest and Japan's
raid on Pearl Harbor, resulting in the A m e r i c a n declaration of war.
Sentimental texts about the A m e r i c a n countryside in deep peace
a n d its lyrical transfiguration take the G e r m a n Kulturfilm as their
model. But then the trivial tone is replaced b y warlike language:
"We shall fight to the last m a n . " The movie also contains interest­
ing sequences about fascist m o v e m e n t s outside Hitler's sphere of
influence, a m o n g t h e m Nazi rallies and large numbers of swastika
flags in N e w York's M a d i s o n S q u a r e G a r d e n . N o d o u b t the
a n s w e r s to the overriding question of " W h y w e fight" h a v e been
carefully d o c u m e n t e d here; a n d yet it is not a "dramatic, exciting
... a n d e x t r e m e l y convincing film," just a v e r y patriotic one. A
statement b y G e o r g e C. Marshall, as c h a i r m a n of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, concludes the movie: "Victory of the democracies can only
be c o m p l e t e with the utter defeat of the w a r machines of G e r m a n y
a n d Japan." The film then s h o w s the Stars a n d Stripes with a fade-
o v e r of A m e r i c a n children w h o , with h a n d on h e a r t , sing the
national anthem.
In "Prelude to War," the first p a r t of the series, children in Nazi
Germany, Italy, a n d J a p a n are s h o w n from the opposite angle—
h o w they are p u t under the state's tutelage at an early age. There
is a G e r m a n blackboard with the w o r d s in Gothic script: "We are
living for Hitler, a n d we'll also joyfully die for h i m . W i t h the
F ü h r e r u n t o death, for h e is our God." A J a p a n e s e c e m e t e r y is
headlined: "To die for the E m p e r o r m e a n s eternal life." H o w e v e r ,
A m e r i c a n s also d o not shrink from a willingness to face death:
"Give m e Liberty or give m e Death." T h r o u g h judicious editing,
F r a n k C a p r a p u t together a d y n a n u c p r o p a g a n d a film for w h i c h
186 The Triumph of Propaganda
he recklessly exploited Riefenstahl's movies, G e r m a n newsreels,
a n d A m e r i c a n anti-Nazi films. "Prelude to W a r " c o m e s across as a
w e l l - r o u n d e d whole, s u p p o r t e d b y J o h n Huston's c o m m e n t a r y
a n d Dimitri Tiomkin's music, that is skillfully deployed from the
viewpoint of dramaturgy. Clearly, this is one of the best-made p r o ­
p a g a n d a films of World W a r II.
T h e s a m e c r e w also m a d e "The N a z i Strike" a success. Bis­
m a r c k is introduced as Hitler's p r e c u r s o r with the w o r d s : "We
shall d o m i n a t e the world." This is then e c h o e d in the song "Today
G e r m a n y Belongs to U s , a n d T o m o r r o w It's the Entire World."
Scenes from P a r t y rallies are designed to d e m o n s t r a t e the threat
p o s e d b y a tightly organized dictatorship a n d to reveal the psy­
c h o l o g y b e h i n d H i t l e r ' s military m a s s p a r a d e s , w h i c h tries to
" d e m o r a l i z e his e n e m i e s " w i t h these techniques. U s i n g N a z i
newsreels a n d Riefenstahl's films to buttress the basic a r g u m e n t ,
the film s u m m a r i z e s all major events in N a z i G e r m a n y that until
1942 c a u s e d the rest of the w o r l d to hold its breath. A critical c o m ­
m e n t a r y is a d d e d to Hitler's negotiations with C h a m b e r l a i n a n d
Daladier in 1 9 3 8 that led to the M u n i c h A g r e e m e n t . N e x t w e see
Polish c a v a l r y a d v a n c i n g against G e r m a n tanks—probably using
film from Polish m a n e u v e r s . C a p r a calls the Nazi-Soviet Pact of
A u g u s t 1 9 3 9 "the kiss of death for the Poles." Churchill's states­
manlike speech is juxtaposed with footage showing the faces of
d e s p e r a t e p e o p l e n e x t to their d e a d . T h e film e n d s w i t h the
V(ictory) sign.
The Battle of San Pietro is a m u c h m o r e shattering m o v i e t h a n
w o r d s c o u l d e x p r e s s , s h o w i n g pictures of the front line in the
d e v a s t a t e d m o u n t a i n s of Cagliari p r o v i n c e in Italy. It is n o e x a g ­
g e r a t i o n t o s a y t h a t this m o v i e is a document humaine t h a t ,
b e c a u s e of its sincerity a n d g r i m authenticity, reveals all heroi­
cizing N a z i p r o p a g a n d a as absurd. J o h n H u s t o n depicts the h o r ­
rors of w a r f r o m the p e r s p e c t i v e of the victims. Their b o u n d l e s s
suffering is reflected in the faces of i n n o c e n t w o m e n a n d the
angst-filled eyes of children that p r o v i d e a p h y s i o g n o m i c a l c o m ­
m e n t a r y f r o m the ruins of the village of San P i e t r o , the site of
fierce fighting. T h e e x t e n t of the d e s t r u c t i o n a n d the n u m b e r of
v i c t i m s a p p e a r in starkest c o n t r a s t to the strategic significance of
this battle. H u s t o n d o e s not shrink f r o m e x p o s i n g the v i e w e r to
c l o s e u p s of d y i n g soldiers a n d the m o s t e x t r e m e m o m e n t of
their life, i.e., their violent death. H u s t o n thus b r e a k s the g r e a t
t a b o o of the d o c u m e n t a r y , i.e., to s h o w the dying. T h e cai^-era
u n d e r w r i t e s their d e a t h certificates. The scene a s s u m e s a v e r y
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 187
h u m a n d i m e n s i o n b e c a u s e all this is d o n e w i t h o u t z e a l o u s
p a t h o s . D u r i n g a brief p a u s e in the fighting, the d e a d a r e p u t
into b o d y b a g s before they a r e b u r i e d far from their h o m e l a n d .
H i g h l y d e c o r a t e d with the L e g i o n of M e r i t m e d a l , H u s t o n c a n
c l a i m to h a v e c a s t d o u b t o n the m e a n i n g of w a r in a n A m e r i c a n
p r o p a g a n d a film.
A c c o r d i n g to R i c h a r d Griffiths, t o p P e n t a g o n officials then
edited the m a t e r i a l so that a b a d l y t r u n c a t e d version w a s ulti­
m a t e l y released to the public—pompously advertised as "the big
picture" a n d dedicated "to the A m e r i c a n soldiers w h o fought a n d
died in San Pietro." N o t a single shot of the d e a d a n d dying in the
original w a s to be seen in this version. E q u i p p e d with a n e w
leader, the film capitalizes on its H o l l y w o o d maker: sitdng u n d e r
the M e x i c a n sun with a stetson, H u s t o n is interviewed during the
shooting of his Western The Unforgiven (1960). In other w o r d s , fif­
teen y e a r s after the end of the w a r he contextualizes the d o c u ­
m e n t s of the battle of San Pietro. H e r e m e m b e r s this period as "a
time w h e n life h a d almost ceased to exist there." H e continues
laconically: "Most of the soldiers that y o u will see on the screen
are d e a d , h a v e died in battle. All m e n w h o served their colors a n d
h u m a n i t y . " In H u s t o n ' s m e m o r y , they a r e all h e r o e s w h o
a d v a n c e d until d e a t h or their injuries stopped them. H u s t o n then
lifts his stetson a n d The Battle of San Pietro begins.
A l t h o u g h the m o v i e has been severely cut, it nevertheless rep­
resents an authentic report of the fighting a r o u n d the villages of
L u n g o a n d San Pietro d u r i n g the fall of 1943. With Huston's intro­
d u c t o r y statements in mind, the viewer will note m o r e attentively
the closeups of GIs w h o s e faces a r e m a r k e d b y d e a t h than w o u l d
h a v e been the case without this m a c a b r e preknowledge. The rota­
tion of the c a m e r a (held b y Jules Buck, a m o n g others) resulted in
frequently blurred pictures, explained in the text with the w o r d s
that the soil "never stopped trembling." F o r a while, the c a m e r a
closely follows those shock troops w h o s e fate H u s t o n c o m m e n t s
o n w i t h the sober w o r d s : "Not a single m e m b e r ... ever c a m e
b a c k alive." D u r i n g a fire break, the survivors nail the identifica­
tion tags of their fallen c o m r a d e s to a w o o d e n cross: "The lives
lost w e r e precious lives to their country, to their loved ones, a n d
to themselves."
The leader of the second d o c u m e n t a r y that the P e n t a g o n c o m ­
missioned H u s t o n to m a k e reads like a medical bulledn.'^" A s an
invisible witness, the c a m e r a yields shattering images of six sol­
d i e r s >vho h a d suffered n e r v o u s b r e a k d o w n s w i t h s y m p t o m s
188 The Triumph of Propaganda
including loss of speech, loss of memory, partial paralysis, an end­
less flow of tears. In this case, this indiscretion as a legitimate
filmic m e a n s of u n c o v e r i n g t r u t h h a d a d e e p ethical i m p a c t .
B e c a u s e it u n s p a r i n g l y u n d e r t o o k p s y c h i a t r i c i n t e r v i e w s w i t h
A m e r i c a n invalids of differing IQs w h o h a d suffered shell shock at
v a r i o u s sections of the front, it w a s only in 1 9 4 8 that the film w a s
released u n d e r registration N o . P M F 5 0 1 9 , to be screened before
audiences of clinical experts.
A s early as 1933, E u g e n H a d a m o v s k y , a Stabsleiter in Goebbels's
Reich P r o p a g a n d a Office a n d director of the Deutschlandsender,
h a d defined "sobriety (Sachlichkeit) as a d a n g e r for w e a k c h a r a c ­
ters." L a t e r h e v i e w e d the c a r e of injured A m e r i c a n s from the
atrocity perspective of his office w h e n he denied that the Allies
offered their veterans h u m a n i t a r i a n support:
Whereas Soviet invalids simply go to the dogs and invalids in the
Westem democracies live a miserable life as beggars depending on
the charity of the plutocrats. National Socialist Germany, under the
leadership of outstanding physicians and psychologists, tries not to
condemn to an unsatisfying life as pensioners even those who by
general standards are severely wounded, but to give them the
opportunity to reintegrate themselves into professional life.'^'
In 1 9 4 1 C a n a d a started its World in Action series, w i t h J o h n
Grierson taking c h a r g e of production. A m o n g the legions of Allied
p r o p a g a n d a films, the series, despite the e n o r m o u s a m o u n t s of
material used, excels as a w o r k that combines irony with intelli­
gence. Director Stuart L e g g avoids all c r u d e a t t e m p t s to s h a p e
v i e w e r s ' opinions. B y providing associative connections b e t w e e n
the different parts, he gives the impression of objectivity, thereby
a u g m e n t i n g the p r o p a g a n d a value of the series. A n d yet it is diffi­
cult to overlook that this intelligent series, too, is c o m m i s s i o n e d
a n d primarily operates to a certain matrix.
F r o m 1940 o n w a r d France w a s partially occupied, a n d the cine­
m a t o g r a p h i c infrastructure, where it h a d not been s m a s h e d by the
G e r m a n s , w a s strictly controlled by them. A s a result, few impor­
tant films, for example, by the Resistance against the \ ^ c h y regime
a n d the G e r m a n occupiers, w e r e m a d e . F r o m his L o n d o n exile,
Charles d e Gaulle h a d m a d e the Croix de Lorraine the official flag of
his La France Libre organization in the spring of 1942. However, d e
Gaulle proved to be an a w k w a r d ally for the British, a n d the French
themselves failed to follow h i m with the exception of the French
colonies in Central Africa and the Pacific. The British, therefore.
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 189
hesitated to recognize the self-appointed leader of the "true France."
It w a s only at the Casablanca summit of Roosevelt, Churchill, and
de Gaulle in January 1943 that La France Libre received the Allies'
blessing after they h a d agreed to w o r k for the unconditional sur­
render of the Axis powers. In M a y 1943, then, de Gaulle w a s finally
nominated spokesman of La France Libre by the groups that h a d
formed the National Resistance Council. Still, the image of a heroic
resistance a r m y successfully fighting the fascists w a s more a reflec­
tion of "wishful thinking than of historical reality. "^^
To l a u n c h a F r e n c h film p r o p a g a n d a c a m p a i g n , d e Gaulle
lacked resources comparable to those that Roosevelt a n d Churchill
h a d at their disposal. Consequently, the only t w o i m p o r t a n t
m o v i e s a b o u t the F r e n c h Resistance w e r e p r o d u c e d by Holly­
w o o d . In 1 9 4 2 Reunion in France w a s m a d e u n d e r the artistic
supervision of M e t r o - G o l d w y n - M a y e r ( M G M ) , followed in 1943
b y The Cross of Lorraine. Based on H a n s Habe's 1941 novel A Thou­
sand Shall Fall, the latter is a feature film b y Tay G a m e t t , which
w a s partly shot in France. The leader shows the rustiing flag of d e
Gaulle's La Libre France with the Lorraine Cross. There are t w o
narrative t h r e a d s running t h r o u g h this film. T h e first reflects the
divergent m o r a l responses a n d physical conditions of French pris­
oners in G e r m a n labor c a m p s ; the second depicts French soldiers
w h o h a d e s c a p e d to F r a n c e a m o n g Resistance fighters n e a r the
village of C a d i g n o n as they join General Cartier's army.
Reunion in France b y Jules Dassin offers an ambivalent critique
of the c a u s e s behind France's precipitous capitulation in 1 9 4 0 a n d
identifies w h a t A n d r z e j Szczypiorsky called the "moral dilem­
m a s " of the Grande Nation. O n the one hand, Dassin a d v a n c e s the
h y p o t h e s i s t h a t t h e g e n e r a l s a n d industrialists h a d b e t r a y e d
F r a n c e to the N a z i s since they w e r e collaborating with them; on
the other h a n d , h e praises the activism of the Resistance m o v e ­
m e n t exclusively from a rightist perspective.
Etienne Lallier's F r e n c h - m a d e d o c u m e n t a r y Reseau X (1944)
p o r t r a y s the "Secret Service" trying to rescue Allied pilots w h o
h a d been shot d o w n . Camera sous la Botte ( C a m e r a under the Jack­
boot, 1944) relates kaleidoscopically the liberation of Paris. E v e n if
these films h a d possessed a different technical and aesthetic qual­
ity, there w a s n o c h a n c e to s h o w t h e m to larger French audiences.
H o w e v e r , there a r e at least t w o d o c u m e n t a r i e s dating from
this p e r i o d that c o n t i n u e to be historically significant. In 1 9 4 3
L u i s D a q u i n , J e a n G r e m i l l o n , J a c q u e s Becker, P i e r r e R e n o i r
(Jean's b r o t h e r ) , a n d o t h e r s h a d founded the Comite de Liberation
190 The Triumph of Propaganda
du Cinema Frangaise w h i c h included a t e a m of technicians. O p e r ­
ating u n d e r a c o n s t a n t threat to their lives, this latter g r o u p took
p i c t u r e s of the P a r i s u p r i s i n g f r o m its first b e g i n n i n g s on 19
A u g u s t 1 9 4 4 . T h e d o c u m e n t a r y t h a t e m e r g e d f r o m this w a s
s h o w n i m m e d i a t e l y following the w i t h d r a w a l of the G e r m a n
t r o o p s f r o m the o c c u p i e d territories u n d e r the title La Liberation
de Paris.
O n e of the few prominent directors of F r a n c e w a s Jean-Paul L e
Chanois w h o h a d m a d e a n a m e for himself before the w a r through
his w o r k w i t h the P r e v e r t brothers and w i t h Jean Renoir, a n d w h o
actively participated in the resistance m o v e m e n t . Operating in the
m i d s t of the fighters of Vercors Massif in the French Alps, the cen­
ter of the F r e n c h Resistance between 1 9 4 2 and 1944, he filmed the
c o v e r t and open guerrilla activities of the Maquisards against the
G e r m a n o c c u p a t i o n . H o w e v e r , this i m p o r t a n t d o c u m e n t c o u l d
only be s h o w n in 1 9 4 6 , after the war, u n d e r the title Au Coeur de
I'Orage (In the E y e of the Storm, 1945).
The Genre Is Upvalued by Well-known Names
The person who is being filmed is no more than the raw material for
the filmic phenomenon that is put together later on through montage.
The individual angle is no more than a single word. "Montage sen­
tences," the individual scenes and episodes and, finally, step-by-step
the completed work, the film itself, emerge only from the artistic shap­
ing of this raw material. However, this "step-by-step" should not
merely be described; the director must use it as an effective instrument.
Vsevolod I. Pudovkin^^^
M a n y big n a m e s c a n be found a m o n g the a u t h o r s of compilation
films, as well as writers w h o did not think it beneath t h e m to p r o ­
d u c e from other material "essayistic" movies, as H a n s Richter
called the genre in 1 9 4 0 before the n e w t e r m c a m e into use. Richter
r e c o m m e n d e d this type of m o v i e to illustrate "intellectual c o n ­
ceptions" and to m a k e visible w h a t "is basically invisible." H e r e ,
he a r g u e d , it w a s possible to d r a w u p o n an i m m e a s u r a b l y larger
reservoir of expressive opportunities than w a s available to the
p u r e documentary. The director w a s not b o u n d to a reproduction
of external p h e n o m e n a or to a particular chronological sequence.
O n the contrary, the illustrative material could be d r a w n f r o m
a n y w h e r e in order to be left m o v i n g freely in time and space.^^*
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 191
The following n a m e s m a y suffice as e x a m p l e s of feature film
directors w h o , b y m a k i n g compilation films, m o v e d into foreign
terrain: E d w i n S. Porter {The Life of an American Fireman, 1910),
C a r l J u n g h a n s {Weltwende, 1 9 2 8 ) , Walter R u t t m a n n {Die Melodie
der We/f—The M e l o d y of the World, 1929), Luis Bufiuel {Madrid
' 3 6 , 1 9 3 7 ) , F r a n k C a p r a a n d Anatole Litvak {Why We Fight series,
1943ff.), J o h n H u s t o n {The Battle of San Pietro, 1944), A l e x a n d e r
D o v s h e n k o {Victory on the Right Bank of the Dnieper, 1945),
L u c h i n o Visconti {Days of Glory, 1 9 4 5 ) , Carol Reed {The True Glory,
1945), Sergei Yutkevich {Liberated France, 1945), Joris Ivens {Song of
the Streams, 1 9 5 4 ) , A l a i n Resnais {Night and Fog, 1 9 5 5 ) , E r w i n
L e i s e r {Mein Kampf, 1 9 6 0 ) , C h r i s M a r k e r {Description d'un
combat—Description of a Battle, 1960), Jacques P r e v e r t {Paris la
belle, 1 9 6 0 ) , Sayajit R a y {Rabindranat Tagore, 1 9 6 1 ) , A l e x a n d e r
K l u g e / P e t e r S c h a m o n i {Brutalität in Stein—Brutality in Stone,
1 9 6 1 ) , J e r z y H o f m a n {Fatherland and Death, 1961), Frederic Rossif
(Le Temps du Ghetto—Ghetto Times, 1961), Paul Rötha {Das Leben
Adolf Hitlers—The Life of Adolf Hitler, 1961), Jean-Luc G o d a r d (Les
Carabiniers, 1 9 6 3 ) , Jerzy Bossak {Requiem for 500,000, 1963), Jean
A u r e l {La Bataille de France—The Battle for France, 1964), Lionel
Rogosin {Good Times, Wonderful Times, 1965), Michail R o m m {Daily
Fascism, 1 9 6 5 ) , Marcel Ophüls {The Memory of Justice, 1975). Well-
k n o w n p h o t o g r a p h e r s and intellectuals like Henri Cartier-Bres-
son (Le Retour, 1 9 4 6 ) or J o a c h i m C. Fest {Hitler—eine Karriere, 1977)
h a v e also tried their h a n d at this genre.
192 The Triumph of Propaganda
The Newsreel
The newsreel shall no longer be a more-or-less interesting and ran­
domly compiled hodge-podge of pictures from all over the world; rather
it is to be shaped into an artistic whole that is self-contained. Its optic
effect shall be cultural and propagandistic education and construction,
without the viewer realizing it.... We intend to use, by means of a
newsreel that is artistically rounded, the possibility of spreading state-
political, ideological propaganda and popular education.
H a n s W e i d e m a n n , Vice President of the
Reich Film Chamber, July 1 9 3 5
German Newsreels before World War II
"The m e a n i n g of p r o p a g a n d a is the excitement of ecstasy!" Thus
spoke Adolf Hitler as quoted in H a n s Traub's 1933 booklet Film als
politisches Machtmittel (Film as a Means of Political P o w e r ) . A n d
like his models Hitler a n d Goebbels, Traub w a r n s against the dan­
gerous blending of p r o p a g a n d a , entertainment, a n d art. A g a i n h e
quotes Hitler as his master, this time in a conversation in Berlin
with the actress Tony v a n Eyck: "True, on the one h a n d I w a n t to
use film fully as a m e a n s of p r o p a g a n d a , but only in such a w a y
that all viewers know: 'Today I'll be seeing a political film.' Just like
in the Sportpalast w h e r e he does not have sports mixed with politics
either. I find it revolting if politics is m a d e under the guise of art.
It's either art or politics." The purpose behind this restraint is also
m a d e v e r y clear: "We have to realize that a basic function of the
cinema, i.e., of entertainment, begins to s w e r v e in its foundations,
if w e deploy in the daily p r o g r a m the open, active p r o p a g a n d a fea­
ture film that can m a k e its full impact only w h e n it is s h o w n before
closed audiences or in special public screenings. The challenge will
be to concentrate on the overall production of films a n d their suc­
cesses in individual cinemas if, by judiciously mixing political a n d
general feature films, w e w a n t to keep the public enjoying the
m o v i e s {'kinofreudig') a n d willing to g o there {'kinowillig')."
As e a r l y as 1 9 3 1 w e find in a m e m o r a n d u m i s s u e d b y the
Party's Reich Film Office that one should not lose sight of the p r o ­
duction of "covert N S films" as "a v e r y considerable p r o p a g a n d a
factor." It w a s Georg Stark w h o w a s responsible for d r a w i n g up,
in M a y 1 9 3 1 , principles of Nazi film p r o p a g a n d a that a p p e a r e d in
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 193
C h a p t e r B (Internal P r o p a g a n d a ) , with the above quotation to be
found under the heading "Covert Films" on p a g e 12.'^^
"Kinofreudig" a n d "kinowillig"—these w e r e the m a g i c w o r d s .
Hitler, Goebbels, a n d their aides w e r e v e r y serious about supply­
ing the c i n e m a s with as m u c h "unburdened" entertainment as
possible. The feature film that p u r s u e d clear propagandistic aims
w a s to r e m a i n the exception. The m o s t powerful w e a p o n w a s the
p r o d u c t i o n of a g o o d m o o d a n d its constant proliferation.
There c a n be n o question that strict limits w e r e set to the free­
d o m of cultural expression. A doctoral thesis, completed in 1 9 3 8 ,
formulated this with striking frankness and without the author
realizing the cynicism of his words: "It is not in the interests of
National Socialist cultural policy to act patronizingly t o w a r d cul­
tural a n d artistic creativity. The state merely [!] d e m a n d s of e v e r y
c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r , just as of e v e r y G e r m a n , that the N a t i o n a l
Socialist Weltanschauung be the lodestar of all his work."'^*
Kinofreudig and kinowillig w a s w h a t the G e r m a n s w e r e expected
to be; then they w o u l d also be able to enjoy e x e m p l a r y p r o p a ­
g a n d a . A s Traub put it: "The first law of all p r o p a g a n d a reads that
p e o p l e m u s t be kept r e c e p t i v e a n d c a p a b l e of e n t h u s i a s m . "
Kinofreudigkeit w a s thus the precondition for Nazi p r o p a g a n d a ' s
favorite tool—the newsreel—and conversely this genre stimulated
the cinematic interests of the masses.
To be sure, the rulers of the Third Reich never tired of giving
public a s s u r a n c e s that the newsreel m u s t n o t be m i s u s e d as a
m e a n s o f p r o p a g a n d a ; for it w a s w r o n g " a l w a y s to b e a t the
d r u m s . . . . The public will slowly get used to the sound and then
fail to hear it."'^^ H o w e v e r , if w e analyze the care that w a s taken
with the newsreel in subsequent years, it is easy to recognize that
it constituted the Nazis' m o s t important propagandistic m e a n s of
convincing people.
The aspects of the Nazi newsreel that are to be discussed here,
with reference to a few typical examples, demonstrate h o w easily
reality can be falsified with the help of sequences that are, as such,
authentic. However, as is well-known, this statement does not just
apply to Nazi newsreels. Thus a study, commissioned by U N E S C O ,
about newsreels from all over the world c a m e to the conclusion
that the vjewei^"has to concentrate so m u c h on the fast s e q u e n c e ^
pictures that any response that goes beyond simple reception is
f o r c e d i n t o the subconscious. E v e n if the viewer is critically dis-
posed, heTiäs n o opportunity to check or c o m p a r e the information
that is offered to him." _

194 i The Triumph of Propaganda
This is precisely w h a t Goebbels a n d his accomplices in the P r o ­
p a g a n d a Ministry k n e w so well. Dr. Fritz Hippler being one of
them. H e w r o t e in 1942: "In c o m p a r i s o n with the other arts, film,
from a m a s s psychological a n d propagandistic viewpoint, has a
particularly d e e p a n d lasting i m p a c t b e c a u s e of its p r o p e r t y to
affect the visual a n d emotional, i.e., the nonintellectual."^^^
T h e following brief s u m m a r y is designed to show that National
Socialism r e m a i n e d a " p r o p a g a n d a m o v e m e n t " e v e n after the
seizure of p o w e r in 1 9 3 3 . W h e n Goebbels took o v e r the n e w l y
founded Ministry for P o p u l a r Enlightenment a n d P r o p a g a n d a on
13 M a r c h 1 9 3 3 , he a s s u m e d supervisory p o w e r s not only o v e r the
press, radio, a n d theater, b u t also over film. The Ministry's film
d e p a r t m e n t w a s characterized b y s o m e remarkable continuities.
T h u s , Dr. Seeger, w h o h a d been a l a w y e r with Bufa in World W a r
I until 1 9 1 7 before s e r v i n g as d i r e c t o r of the F i l m C e n s o r s h i p
Office, w a s appointed as its director. After World W a r I, Seeger
h a d acted as director of the Film-Oberpüßtelle in the Reich Ministry
of the Interior w h i c h also h a d censorship tasks. Goebbels simi­
larly u s e d e x p e r i e n c e d people in the n e w l y established division
for "Film Technology and Film Reporting." It w a s led b y Eberhard
F a n g a u f w h o h a d joined the P a r t y in 1931. During World W a r I, he
h a d been a w a r c o r r e s p o n d e n t a n d later h a d been involved with
the p r o d u c t i o n of d o c u m e n t a r i e s at Ufa. S o m e 9 2 percent of the
persormel in Goebbels's Ministry w e r e longtime p a r t y m e m b e r s .
A s h e once r e m a r k e d : "For m e , a National Socialist is only that
p e r s o n w h o h a s c o m e to us before 3 0 J a n u a r y [1933]. There a r e o v e r
3 0 0 m e m b e r s in m y Ministry w h o s e m e m b e r s h i p n u m b e r s [in the
N S D A P ] a r e below 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 . " i 2 '
F a n g a u f h a d well u n d e r s t o o d the signs of the n e w times. H e
quickly built u p an efficient a n d fast c o v e r a g e of events so that in
film a n d p h o t o s tribute c o u l d be p a i d to the n e w m a s t e r s a n d the
p o m p o u s w a y s in which they presented themselves. These "film
reporters," w h o w e r e given green a r m b a n d s , IDs, a n d all sorts of
special passes, received support from m a n y offices. Thus, the chief
newsreel c a m e r a m e n participated in the dress rehearsals for m a m ­
m o t h rallies a n d o t h e r e v e n t s . Their w o r k i n g c o n d i t i o n s w e r e
ideal. The wishes of the c a m e r a m e n w e r e taken into a c c o u n t as far
as possible so that the "intellectual content" of Nazi speeches a n d
the p a r a d e s that advertised the m o v e m e n t so effectively c o u l d be
t u r n e d into impressive pictures.
A s early as 1 0 F e b r u a r y 1 9 3 3 Goebbels h a d e x c l a i m e d enthusi­
astically w h e n h e g a v e a radio report on Hitler's first a p p e a r a n c e
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 195
a s Reich Chancellor: "At the foot of the p o d i u m stands a n a r m y of
p h o t o g r a p h e r s , an a r m y of film technicians. The entire speech is to
b e p u t o n s o u n d film to b e used propagandistically d u r i n g the
n e x t few weeks."
A s soon b e c a m e clear, the Gleichschaltung (totalitarian integra­
tion) of film o c c u r r e d with terrifying speed a n d thoroughness.
Licht-Bild-Bühne h a d this to say a b o u t the w o r k of the newsreel
m e n on 1 M a y 1 9 3 3 , the d a y that the Nazis h a d meanwhile con­
v e r t e d f r o m t h e t r a d i t i o n a l L a b o r D a y t o a "Day of N a t i o n a l
Labor": "The newsreel c o w o r k e r s h a v e the great task to p u t the
celebrations of this d a y o n s o u n d film a n d to preserve t h e m for
later p e r i o d s a n d subsequent generations [as well as] to m a k e
t h e m visible in the five thousand m o v i e theaters of G e r m a n y for
all those w h o w e r e unable to participate."
A n d w e e k after w e e k , p r o p a g a n d a w a s d i s s e m i n a t e d w i t h
newsreel in these five thousand theaters. A s Hippler, since 1939
t h e d i r e c t o r o f the film d e p a r t m e n t in the Goebbels Ministry,
a d m i t t e d after the war, this w a s not a matter of "objective report­
ing, of b a l a n c e d neutrality, b u t . . . of [providing] optimistic p r o p a ­
g a n d a t h a t s p r e a d confidence in v i c t o r y a n d w a s d e s i g n e d to
strengthen the spiritual fighting potential of the G e r m a n people.
Corrunentator a n d language, texts a n d music h a d to conform to
this objective."'™
Before 1 9 4 5 N a z i propagandists like Hippler e x p o u n d e d v e r y
different claims. Thus, H a n s - J o a c h i m Giese, author of the book
Die Film-Wochenschau im Dienste der Politik, published in 1 9 4 0 ,
t u r n e d the m a t t e r on its head w h e n he asserted that the hostile
Entente p o w e r s h a d developed their newsreels into "an extremely
effective instrument" of p r o p a g a n d a , whereas "the G e r m a n news-
reels w e r e to convince through truthful pictures."'''^ Giese w e n t
on: "Very m a n y things c a n accidentally give a tendentious color­
ing to pictures on the long path that film has to traverse from the
m o m e n t the c a m e r a begins to shoot to the screening in the m o v i e
theater. N e w s r e e l will therefore never be a mirror of an event that
c o n f o r m s to reality to the last detail." Giese then inadvertently
lapsed into a self-accusatory m o d e : "This is w h y newsreel can be
called a ' d o c u m e n t ' only in a conditional sense."
Indeed, already in the infancy of the newsreel, events that the
c a m e r a h a d failed to c a p t u r e w e r e later staged for the benefit of
the moviegoer. A telling e x a m p l e of this is provided b y the genial
Georges Melles w h e n in 1 9 0 2 he p r o d u c e d a credible studio ver­
sion in Montreuil of the coronation of king E d w a r d VII. With the
 196 The Triumph of Propaganda
help of ships' models in his bathtub, E d w a r d H. A m e t restaged the
destruction of the Spanish fleet b y the A m e r i c a n s in 1898.'^^ A few
y e a r s later, P a t h e similarly r e m a d e the battle between the Russian
a n d the J a p a n e s e fleet outside P o r t A r t h u r on 10 A u g u s t 1 9 0 4 b y
setting it u p with m o d e l s on a small pond.^^s
The thematic structure of the N a z i newsreel c o r r e s p o n d e d to its
gung-ho tendency. Let us take a production phase that c a n be sur-
"veyedTelatively easily. During the period from 1 June 1 9 3 5 to 31
M a y 1 9 3 6 , Ufa newsreels s h o w e d on a v e r a g e per reel s o m e 1 8 0
feet of p a r a d e s , 180 feet of speakers, 1 0 0 feet of a r m e d forces, 9 0
feet of fighting in the Italo-Ethiopian War, 9 0 feet of other political
events. H a r d l y a single precious foot of film w a s squandered with
unpolitical topics.'^
A s late as t w o years prior to Hitler's seizure of power, Siegfried
K r a c a u e r b e m o a n e d the o p p o s i t e t r e n d in W e i m a r n e w s r e e l s .
Newsreel, he said, avoided political a n d social implications a n d
instead w a s t e d its time with natural catastrophies, acrobatics, pic­
tures of h a p p y children a n d z o o animals:
By retreating, time and again, to the portrayal of imtamed nature,
their viewers gain the impression that social events are as inex­
orable as some flood calamity. He who has natural catastrophies
constantly served up to him, will inevitably transpose its causalities
to human affairs and will willy-nilly confuse the crisis of the capi­
talist system with an earthquake.'^
N a z i newsreel is even better at distracting the viewer from real­
ity b y mythologizing the N a z i Volksgemeinschaft as a social ideal
a n d b y p r o d u c i n g indistinction instead of insight w h e n it s h o w s
the regimented masses with their flags. Instead of picturing m a n
in his individuality, Goebbels's newsreel presents h i m as the for­
mulaic p a r t of a larger composition. His life b e c o m e s a p h a n t o m ­
like presence in the milling c r o w d .
F o r c o m p a r i s o n p u r p o s e s , the statistics of Deulig-Ton-Woche
m a y be of interest here that c o v e r the period from 3 0 J a n u a r y to 11
M a r c h 1 9 3 3 , i.e., the w e e k s before the establishment of Goebbels's
P r o p a g a n d a M i n i s t r y — r e l e v a n t i n f o r m a t i o n f r o m a r o u n d the
world: 4 1 . 8 percent; sport: 17.6 percent; c u s t o m s a n d fashion: 13.2
percent; military affairs: 13.2 percent; e c o n o m i c questions: 4.4 per­
cent; e n t e r t a i n m e n t : 2.2 percent; a n d a m e a g e r 8.8 p e r c e n t for
reporting of current political events. In this connection, H u g e n ­
berg used his c o m p a n y mainly to highlight the "National Revolu­
tion of 3 0 J a n u a r y " w h i c h h e p o r t r a y e d as a fruit particularly of
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 197
the policies of his party, the DNVP, a n d of policies m a r k e d by a
Prussian spirit, while playing d o w n the Nazi share.'^*
H a v i n g lost his cabinet p o s t in June 1 9 3 3 , H u g e n b e r g ' s dis­
missal b y Hitler w a s probably accelerated by the fact that H u g e n ­
b e r g ' s D e u l i g N e w s r e e l N o . 7 6 of 14 J u n e 1 9 3 3 highHghted
excerpts from a speech by Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen,
H i t l e r ' s c a b i n e t rival, a n d i n c u r r e d the w r a t h of Hitler a n d
Goebbels. H e r e are the w o r d s that Deulig reported from Papen's
speech at N a u m b u r g on Saale on the occasion of the leadership
m e e t i n g of the L a n g e m a r c k L e a g u e , the s t u d e n t w i n g of the
Stahlhelm veterans association:
The word about the revolution of our time is on everyone's lips. A
nation, that experiences itself anew; that becomes newly conscious
of its past, its values, its power and its hopes. We would fail to do
justice to the heritage of Langemarck [one of the mythical battle
sites of World War I—Transl.] if we were only to uphold the tradi­
tion of this patriotism. Of course, the object of this love, this Ger­
many, is dear and sacred to us. But the moral greatness that we
encounter in this commemoration of the Langemarck sacrifice
should be just as sacred to us.
It w a s with such w o r d s that the G e r m a n Nationalists a r o u n d
H u g e n b e r g tried to transfigure the m i s g u i d e d idealism of the
Langemarck League.
Hugenberg's Deulig-Ton-Woche thus strictly avoided showing a
single clip of Hitler b e t w e e n the middle of M a y a n d the middle of
July 1 9 3 3 w h e n the Reich Film C h a m b e r disenfranchised it. N o r
w e r e a n y of the F ü h r e r ' s w o r d s reproduced. Instead, the newsreel
s h o w e d H u g e n b e r g or H u g e n b e r g together with Papen, w h o h a d
been Reich chancellor for six m o n t h s in June 1932.'^^
In 1 9 3 4 , then, Goebbels issued an executive order via the Reich
Film C h a m b e r that all c a m e r a m e n working in the Reich h a d to be
a m e m b e r of this institution if they w a n t e d to receive a labor per­
mit. This brought the c a m e r a m e n into line.
T h e rest of this section will analyze five Deulig-Ton-Wochen a n d
c o m p a r e them with later N a z i newsreels in order to throw light on
the first m o n t h s after 3 0 J a n u a r y 1 9 3 3 w h e n the G e r m a n electorate
h a d the choice between t w o reactionary ideologies. Deulig, inci­
dentally, w a s the first newsreel c o m p a n y that m o v e d from silent
to s o u n d film in J a n u a r y 1 9 3 2 , one year prior to the Nazi seizure
of power. It w a s a system that w a s one of the best in the w o r l d a t
the time.
198 The Triumph of Propaganda
Deulig-Ton-Woche No. 57 (passed b y censor o n 1 F e b r u a r y 1933):
This newsreel covering the period from the e n d of J a n u a r y to the
beginning of F e b r u a r y is not yet d o m i n a t e d b y N a z i p r o p a g a n d a .
In c o n t r a s t to later reports that w e r e gleichgeschaltet, tiiere is a cos­
m o p o l i t a n variety of themes w h o s e information v a l u e is, as w a s
usual, small: a ship is being demolished in a dock—islands along
the N o r t h Sea coast are being supplied with the help of a Ju-52 air­
p l a n e — a J a p a n e s e rent-a-crowd bids farewell to soldiers going off
to the M a n c h u r i a n front—horse races in the second-largest city of
India, Calcutta, before local high society—skiers doing salti mortali
in the B a v a r i a n resort of Garmisch—international riding competi­
tion in Berlin with dresses from the time of Frederick the Great
a n d review to the tune of the Hohenfriedberger M a r c h .
The transition to a scene that w a s to a s s u m e great historical sig­
nificance is t h e n s u r p r i s i n g l y c a s u a l : "The R e i c h P r e s i d e n t
appoints the [Hitler] Cabinet of National Concentration." The cor­
responding pictures are as innocuous as these w o r d s : Relaxed a n d
d r e s s e d in civilian clothes M e s s r s . Hitler, H u g e n b e r g , G o r i n g ,
Frick, P a p e n , Krosigk et al. pose, like the presidium of a private
c l u b , for a g r o u p p h o t o , w i t h a n e w s p a p e r h e a d l i n e fade-in
a n n o u n c i n g the "new H i t l e r - P a p e n - H u g e n b e r g C a b i n e t . " T h e
o c c a s i o n a p p a r e n t l y silenced the corrunentator. N o r w a s Hitler
given an opportunity to say something, like P a p e n h a d d o n e in
Deulig-Ton-Woche N o . 2 3 of 9 June 1 9 3 2 w h e n h e h a d been n o m i ­
n a t e d Reich Chancellor. The film treats as self-evident that H u g e n ­
berg a n d P a p e n hold leading positions in the Hitler g o v e r n m e n t .
N o r d o e s the n e w s r e e l m a k e m u c h of the t h o u s a n d s of S t o r m
T r o o p e r s a n d SS m e n w h o f o r m e d a n e n d l e s s t o r c h p a r a d e
t h r o u g h Berlin w h e n Hitler's seizure of p o w e r b e c a m e k n o w n .
This historic torch p a r a d e that w a s u s e d in m a n y later d o c u m e n ­
t a r i e s is a c c o m p a n i e d b y a " b a l a n c e d " c o m m e n t a r y t h a t is
unlikely to h a v e p l e a s e d Goebbels: "After the n e w s b e c a m e
k n o w n , m e m b e r s of the Stahlhelm [veterans association] as well as
S A a n d SS formations gathered for an e n o r m o u s torch p a r a d e that
l a s t e d for h o u r s . " P r u s s i a n m a r c h i n g m u s i c a n d the n a t i o n a l
a n t h e m , but n o N a z i songs, a c c o m p a n y the d e m o n s t r a t o r s on this
winter evening. Peter B u c h e r has noted that the inscription "Der
Stahhelm" on one of the flags that h a d been filmed in m o r e favor­
able d a y l i g h t w a s p r o b a b l y edited into the n e w s r e e l after the
e v e n t . T h e a n s w e r to the question of w h a t Goebbels's p r o p a ­
gandists m i g h t h a v e d o n e with this event m a y b e found in Riefen­
stahl's Sieg des Glaubens (Victory of Faith, 1933). In this m o d e l of a
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 199
Hitler cult film, she developed a n e w pictorial language that w a s
aesthetically daring.
Deulig-Ton-Woche No. 63 (passed b y censor on 15 M a r c h 1933):
This newsreel begins with a report on Franklin D. Roosevelt a n d
his assumption of office on 4 M a r c h 1933. With Deulig at this point
still firmly in Hugenberg's hands, this issue is then d e v o t e d to the
imposing rallies of nationalist associations and organizations of
H u g e n b e r g ' s D N V P in Berlin a n d Munich that m e t to cultivate
the p a s t in cult-like fashion. A s late as six w e e k s after Hitler's
a s s u m p t i o n of power, this newsreel continues to give m u c h space
to heroic reminiscences in cormection with right-wing rallies o n
M e m o r i a l D a y in Berlin a n d with celebrations of the Fallen Soldier
{Heldengedenkfeier) o n Wartburg Castle at which the DNVP's lead­
e r s h i p intones a h y m n to the flag: " A s c e n d to the t o p of Ger­
m a n y ' s W a r t b u r g C a s t l e , y o u noble colors of the B i s m a r c k i a n
E m p i r e , y o u g l o w i n g flag in Black-White-Red, s a c r e d to e v e r y
G e r m a n heart t h r o u g h the millions of heroic sacrifices that h a v e
been m a d e in y o u r n a m e ! A n d y o u ascend, too, baimer that has
b e e n c h o s e n as its flag of c o n q u e s t b y a p o w e r f u l nationalist
m o v e m e n t that is determined to fight! Be [our] witness before the
entire w o r l d that the G e r m a n nation has a w a k e n e d a n d that it is
setting out, loyally following the call of its d e a d , to fight for life,
freedom, a n d honor!"
Deulig-Ton-Woche No. 62 (passed b y censor on 8 M a r c h 1933):
This newsreel similarly m o v e s in the w a k e of the G e r m a n Nation­
alists a n d gives m o r e sympathetic c o v e r a g e to the m a s s p a r a d e s of
the Stahlhelm than to those of the Nazis: "In the d a y s prior to the
[Reichstag] elections, SA a n d SS formations held n u m e r o u s p r o ­
p a g a n d a m a r c h e s . O n the afternoon of election Sunday [5 M a r c h ] ,
2 6 , 0 0 0 Stahlhelmers m a r c h e d through the Brandenburg Gate, sur­
r o u n d e d b y p o p u l a r jubilation." Looking at these columns, Hein­
rich M a n n , the leftist author a n d brother of T h o m a s , d e m a n d e d :
"The t i m e h a s c o m e for real h u m a n beings to b e c o m e visible
b e h i n d a n d beside all these p a r a d e s . T h e actual labor, the real
deprivation, attitudes t o w a r d life, a n d the direction of p o p u l a r
m o o d s that prevail in reality—all this ought to be expressed in
pictures. It is n o t just in newsreels that this is called for...."'^'
H o w e v e r , the newsreels did not take heed of the truth.
M e a n w h i l e , Emelka-Tonwoche No. 14 of 14 April 1 9 3 3 d e v o t e d
s e v e n a n d a half m i n u t e s to the "Day of P o t s d a m " w h e n H i n ­
d e n b u r g a n d Hitler a p p e a r e d with m a n y other right-wing digni­
t a r i e s for a m e m o r i a l s e r v i c e in t h e t o w n just o u t s i d e Berlin
200 The Triumph of Propaganda
w h i c h symbolized the old monarchical Germany. But m o s t of this
newsreel is d e v o t e d to entertainment, the m o r e so since the p r o ­
d u c e r s could not resist including, in t w o places, the usual n o n ­
sense r e s e r v e d for April Fools Day. A n d yet authenticity is not
taken literally. There is a sentimental scene s h o w i n g deer in the
p a r k of N y m p h e n b u r g P a l a c e b e i n g fed in d e e p snow. In t h e
m e a n t i m e , it h a d been thawing for a m o n t h , a n d the pictures h a d
thus been deprived of their asserted topicality.'*"
The P o t s d a m report remains silent about an important "omis­
sion" in the story, not only by its one-sided selection of pictures, but
also by its failure to c o m m e n t on important facts. Thus, it neglects to
mention that Hitler h a d originally refused to attend the service. N o r
is reference m a d e to the absence of the Social Democratic Reichstag
deputies, who—^in the words of one SPD deputy—did not wish to be
the physicians at the bedside of hospitalized capitalism. If w e count
the number of pictures of Hindenburg in comparison with Hitler, w e
m a y also g a u g e h o w little this newsreel h a d been poisoned b y
Goebbels's p r o p a g a n d a and e x u d e d a conservative spirit instead:
Hindenburg appears twenty times as against Hitler's ten. Moreover,
Hitler is shown in various marginal situations. The legendary shot of
the sjmibolic handshake between Hindenburg and Hitler w a s cele­
brated in papers and broadcasts at the time as sealing the alliance
between the old Prussiandom and the yoimg Nazi Movement.
Deulig-Ton-Woche No. 66 (passed b y c e n s o r on 5 April 1933):
T h o u g h Deulig w a s still privately o w n e d at this point, this n e w s -
reel h a d clearly b e g i m to take sides after the Ministry for Popular
Enlightenment a n d P r o p a g a n d a w a s established on 11 M a r c h 1933,
a n d chicaneries w e r e to be expected. There is a brief review of P o p e
Pius XI at the opening of the "Holy Year" of 1933, next to reports on
a n earthquake in far-away J a p a n a n d on the boat race b e t w e e n
Oxford a n d C a m b r i d g e . The newsreel h o m e s in rather casually o n
the n e w rulers of Germany: "Daughters of the Spreewald region
[near Berlin] p a y their respects to the Führer," the text announces.
The boycott of Jewish shops is highlighted from a N a z i perspec­
tive. Posters s c r e a m the slogan "Germans defend yourselves! D o
not b u y from Jews!" a n d the corrunentator adds: "Despite the boy­
cott, law a n d order in Berlin." The fade-over s h o w s o r t h o d o x J e w s
in the United States to suggest the "progress" that the Nazis h a v e
introduced in this respect in Germany.
A longer sequence is devoted to the DNVP. Together with other
national associations a n d delegations of the right-wing National
U n i o n of Student G o v e r n m e n t s , its m e m b e r s are seen standing at
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 201
the foot of the Bismarck M o n u m e n t in the Müggel Mountains near
Berlin, d e m a n d i n g "Back to Bismarck." In his speech at this joint
patriotic celebration, Goebbels extols the rally as a "miraculous
sign of national revival."
H u g e n b e r g ' s Ton-Woche is likely to h a v e irritated its s y m p a ­
thizers for the first time w h e n it reproduced the blaring sounds of
the N a z i song "Die Straße frei den braunen Bataillonen" (Clear the
Streets for the B r o w n Battalions). F r o m the mid-1930s, stylistic ele­
m e n t s taken from the A m e r i c a n n e w s m a g a z i n e The March of Time
temporarily exerted an influence on G e r m a n newsreel production.
Deulig-Ton-Woche No. 279 (passed b y censor on 4 M a y 1937):
T h e F ü h r e r is introduced to fifty of the "best y o u t h w o r k e r s of
Germany." Trivia are offered between this introductory sequence
a n d further a d o r a t i o n s of the N a z i leadership: a pedigree d o g
s h o w in Munich; record pole vaulting in L o s Angeles; a steeple­
c h a s e in Wimbledon.
R e f e r r i n g to t h e 1 9 3 6 F o u r - Y e a r P l a n , the c o m m e n t a t o r
p r o u d l y reports that such a plan h a d first been presented "shortly
after the seizure of power." Goebbels h a d his speech m a r k i n g the
o c c a s i o n e n r i c h e d w i t h closeups to p r o v i d e visual s u p p o r t for
w h a t is b e i n g p r o c l a i m e d as "a s h o w of G e r m a n efficiency."
R o b e r t L e y ' s "Strength t h r o u g h J o y " organization is p r e s e n t e d
d u r i n g the 1 M a y festivities. Cheerful spectators are s h o w n in a n
o v e r c r o w d e d stadium. Reich Youth L e a d e r Baldur v o n Schirach
reports to his F ü h r e r the opening of "the largest y o u t h rally in the
w o r l d . " E m i l Jannings receives an a w a r d from Goebbels for his
title role in the film Der Herrscher (The Ruler). Friedrich Bethge is
g i v e n a b o o k prize.
W h e n Hitler, in addressing the G e r m a n youth, discovers "joi de
vivre in their faces," the c a m e r a provides reinforcement by show­
ing blue-eyed faces. His charisma is supported by visual effects.
Hitler's enlarged figure is skillfully faded over smiling y o u n g ­
sters. A p a r t from a nebulous irrationalism a n d references to the
"resurrection of the G e r m a n people" the Führer's speech does not
offer anything special. Nevertheless, his w o r d s are synchronized
with the response of the masses, w h o s e b r o a d consent stems m o r e
from grandiose emotions than from intellectual insight. The pon­
d e r o u s concluding m e t a p h o r is provided b y the M a y Tree, a birch
that is taken from a tilted angle.
Meanwhile, Ufa's Wochenschau w a s calling the tune. Being the
i n s t r u m e n t of the P a r t y a n d the m o u t h p i e c e of partisanship, it
s h o w e d reality only with the intention of interpreting the facts
2021 The Triumph of Propaganda
a n d of proclaiming Nazi ideology. Objective meaning w a s w r a p p e d
in p r o p a g a n d i s t i c c o m m e n t a r y . T h u s , H a n s - J o a c h i m Giese
d e m a n d e d that the newsreel be given a strictly partisan role as a
carrier of ideology:
During the years of struggle [prior to 1933] the NSDAP was able to
use film only in a limited way. Now after the seizure of power, how­
ever, it consciously moved to put it in the service of one single great
idea, the idea of the people's state, and to imprint upon it the char­
acteristics of its Weltanschauung. In clear recognition of its suitability
as a means of political leadership, it was above all the newsreel that
was now geared to its actual journalistic task. The noncommittal
pictorial news of the previous years was replaced by film reporting
that was guided, in the first place, by state-political, cultural-politi­
cal and popular-pedagogical considerations. This approach pro­
vides valuable educational reconstruction work without the
individual viewer becoming conscious of it. Following the spiritual
renovation of film, the German newsreel has to some extent already
succeeded in exemplary fashion to commuiucate and deepen the
insight among all strata and circles of the population within and
outside the borders of the Reich just how vital and concerned with
the preservation of the state {staatserhaltend) are the measures that
the leadership has taken, and just how many fruits they can bear for
the present and the future.^*^
In order to give events as m u c h authenticity as possible, the
newsreel confined itself to a strictly realistic reproduction. H o w ­
e v e r incredible it m a y s o u n d , the Nazi newsreel, its role as the pri­
m a r y m e d i a instrument notwithstanding, hardly ever staged a n
event; instead virtually all pictures w e r e taken from reality.
It w a s only d u r i n g the second stage that reality c a m e to b e
manipulated. Thus, all elements of reality that w e r e detrimental to
the n e e d s of the h o u r w e r e deleted w i t h o u t further a d o . T h e rest
that w a s useful to the line of a r g u m e n t w a s given a suggestive
c o m m e n t a r y . It p r o v i d e d the intended p r o p a g a n d i s t i c effect in
o r d e r "to e m p o w e r a n d to e d u c a t e a nation to p r o m o t e its vital
claims," as Goebbels p u t it.
T h e remilitarization of the Rhineland b y G e r m a n troops on 2 7
M a r c h 1 9 3 6 offers an e x a m p l e of h o w p r o p a g a n d a could be pre­
sented v e r y effectively a n d in general staff fashion. This event w a s
t u r n e d into a perfect show. A c c o r d i n g to eyewitness reports, jour­
nalists a n d p h o t o g r a p h e r s w e r e asked to c o m e to the P r o p a g a n d a
Ministry on the previous day. There they w e r e kept waiting for
h o u r s until they w e r e taken b y b u s to the airport a n d flown to
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 203
Cologne—all without a w o r d of explanation. T h e c a m e r a m e n w h o
w e r e also taken to C o l o g n e with their equipment h a d a similar
experience. It w a s only in C o l o g n e that they w e r e told that Ger­
m a n troops w e r e on the march. This m e t h o d w a s extremely suc­
cessful: t h e e v e n t c o u l d b e fully c a p t u r e d o n film a n d t h e n
transformed into an impressive journalistic feat.
T h e s a m e y e a r s a w the establishment of a "War C o r r e s p o n d e n : ^
a n d P r o p a g a n d a Unit." T h e decision u n l e a s h e d a bitter feud
b e t w e e n W e h r m a c h t a n d P r o p a g a n d a Ministry o v e r w h o w a s in
c h a r g e a n d w h o w o u l d a s s u m e s u p r e m e c o n u n a n d over the sys­
t e m of w a r reporting in times of war.
Goebbels w o n an e p h e m e r a l v i c t o r y on this point. W h e n a t
m a n e u v e r t i m e "total c h a o s " b r o k e l o o s e a m o n g the civilian
reporters, the W e h r m a c h t h a d sufficientiy strong a r g u m e n t s on its
side to take c h a r g e of " w a r reporting." O n 3 M a y 1 9 3 8 , the Reich
W a r Ministry in its "Guidelines for the Cooperation between the
A r m e d F o r c e s a n d the Reich Ministry for P o p u l a r Enlightenment
a n d P r o p a g a n d a in Respect of W a r P r o p a g a n d a " firmly insisted
t h a t a m i l i t a r y w a y o f r e p o r t i n g b e instituted t h r o u g h p r o p a ­
ganda companies.
E v e n before this d a t e , newsreel r e p o r t e r s w e r e m a n d a t e d t o
w e a r uniforms. Apparently, the black shirts of the Italian reporters
d u r i n g Mussolini's visit in 1 9 3 7 h a d left a d e e p impression. L o n g
before Hitler, Mussolini h a d called p r o p a g a n d a "the best w e a p o n
in the struggle for interests." H o w e v e r , the P r o p a g a n d a Ministry
failed to convince the W e h r m a c h t that G e r m a n w a r reporters w e a r
b r o w n shirts or even SA uniforms. It w a s finally agreed to intro­
d u c e a "pike-blue" uniform—so to speak, a "neutral" color. It w a s
this uniform that is said to h a v e m a d e a big impression on the Ital­
ian population w h e n Hitler visited R o m e in the spring of 1938.
Ufa-Tonwoche No. 3 5 5 of 2 3 June 1 9 3 7 is a telling e x a m p l e of
h o w clumsily Goebbels's newsreels tried to p r o d u c e in the m i n d
of "the v i e w e r connections between ideas by the m o n t a g e of top­
ics." J o h a n n e s E c k a r d t , w r i t i n g enthusiastically in 1 9 3 8 in Der
deutsche Film, h a d this to say:
If the newsreel puts images of the German Labor Service right next
to gripping scenes from the Spanish Civil War, then almost every
viewer will connect in his mind the two picture complexes, which as
such have nothing to do with one another. However, in this way the
reproduction becomes a symbol. It grows beyond its technical pre­
conditions and completion and comes to be shaped in the realm of
ideas—a realm in which we can actually speak of artistic creation.'''^
 The Triumph of Propaganda
204 1
In October 1 9 3 8 another milestone in the t r i u m p h a n t rise of the
N a z i newsreel h a d been reached: Goebbels issued a decree m a n ­
d a t i n g m o v i e theaters to s h o w his newsreels. H e also s t o p p e d
o l d e r n e w s r e e l s f r o m being available a t a r e d u c e d p r i c e . This
m e a n t that all cinemas n o w screened the m o s t up-to-date news.
In A u g u s t / S e p t e m b e r 1938 a first training course w a s held to
e d u c a t e officers about the tasks of p r o p a g a n d a in case of war. P r o ­
m o t i o n of the willingness to serve (Wehrfreudigkeit), preservation
of the will to fight (Wehrwilligkeit), raising the p r e p a r e d n e s s to
m a k e sacrifices (Opferbereitschafl), preservation of law a n d o r d e r
a m o n g the i n d i g e n o u s population, a n d military c a m o u f l a g e —
these w e r e just s o m e of the objectives that one h o p e d to achieve
with the help of w a r reporting.
Increasingly, G e r m a n y ' s preparations for w a r w e r e reflected in
the creation of an effective contingent of w a r reporters. N u m e r o u s
p r o p a g a n d a c o m p a n i e s w e r e built u p in the s u m m e r a n d fall of
1938. In the winter of 1 9 3 8 / 3 9 General Wilhelm Keitel, the chief of
the A r m e d Forces H i g h C o m m a n d ( O K W ) , a n d Joseph Goebbels
signed an "Agreement C o n c e r n i n g the Execution of P r o p a g a n d a
in W a r t i m e . " The first sentence of this d o c u m e n t pinpointed the
i m p o r t a n c e that p r o p a g a n d a w a s given within the overall c o n ­
ception of N a z i warfare: "In its essential points the p r o p a g a n d a
w a r will be recognized as a m e a n s of w a r f a r e that has equal status
n e x t to the military war." U p to the s u m m e r of 1 9 3 9 , the n a v y a n d
air force also h a d p r o p a g a n d a c o m p a n i e s attached to them. B o t h
the W a r Ministry a n d the P r o p a g a n d a Ministry w e r e p r e p a r e d for
the c o m i n g conflict.
Ultimately, Goebbels a g r e e d to a c o m p r o m i s e b y w h i c h all
questions that "jointly c o n c e r n politics a n d the c o n d u c t of w a r
a n d t h a t m i g h t h a v e a n influence on s t r a t e g y (Gestaltung der
Kriegsführung)" w o u l d be resolved in cooperation with the O K W .
Ufa-Tonwoche No. 439/1939 (passed b y c e n s o r on 1 F e b r u a r y
1939): The introductory sequence celebrates Franco's occupation of
Barcelona. "Women a n d old m e n are the victims of the Bolshevik
reign of terror" a n d are said to be "fleeing t o w a r d France." A s an
eyewitness reported during a s y m p o s i u m at Bar Ilan University in
Israel in 1 9 8 6 , these victims were, in effect, fleeing the fascists. Pic­
tures of air raid exercises in Paris are supposed to legitimate black­
out exercises in G e r m a n y — s e v e n m o n t h s before the outbreak of
war. There follow police athletics in the Berlin Sportpalast with a
p a r a m i l i t a r y p r o g r a m : H i m m l e r a d m i r e s d a r i n g saltoes a c r o s s
police horses, etc. Finally, the c a m e r a m a n w h o is assigned to the
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 205
O l y m p i c ski j u m p in G a r m i s c h - P a r t e n k i r c h e n evidently r e c o g -
ruzes only winners from G e r m a n y or the Scandinavian countries.
S o m e 6 0 percent of newsreel N o . 4 3 9 / 1 9 3 9 is devoted to the
sixth anniversary of Hitler's seizure of power. M a n y swastika flags
decorate the Reichstag building for the occasion. Hitier's infamous
speech against the J e w s serves as a signal for a broader anti-Semitic
campaign: "If international finance Jewry succeeds ... this will be
the end of Jewry" as a whole. Compliantly, Goring, in his capacity
as Reichstag President, reinforces Hitler's apocalyptic words. F r o m
the midst of an endless torch parade, the swastika at the center of a
large flag is faded in until it fills the whole frame. This euphoric
scene is designed to be experienced in the cinema as if the viewer
h a d been present a t the meeting. The noise level from the c r o w d s
that cheer Hitler a n d Goring reaches hurricane force. W h a t this
newsreel has in c o m m o n with so m a n y other Nazi Wochenschauen is
above all the logic of disjointedness. The synthesis of its parts is
purely technical. The weakness of its dramaturgical scaffolding is
papered over b y the predoiiünance of the commentary.
Hitler's Fiftieth Birthday in Berlin
The essence of propaganda consists in the concept of winning men over
to an idea, an idea that is so gripping and so vivid that in the end they
fall prey to it and find it impossible to emancipate themselves from it.
Joseph Goebbels
Ufa-Tonwoche No. 451/1939 (passed by censor on 2 5 April 1939):
The a b o v e quotation from Goebbels seems to h a v e been the guid­
ing principle for the p r o d u c e r s of this particular newsreel, with its
e m o t i o n a l d r a m a t u r g y celebrating Hitler's fiftieth b i r t h d a y
a r o u n d the w o r l d . Conceptually, the film has three m a i n c o n ­
stituencies in mind: the Party faithful to gain self-assurance; the
still w a v e r i n g G e r m a n population so that it w o u l d fall p r e y to the
"great idea;" a n d finally foreign g o v e r n m e n t s that w e r e to b e
i m p r e s s e d b y the display of military power. W h a t e v e r Hitler's
a n d Goebbels's speeches a n d w h a t e v e r the w o r d s of these politi­
cal frauds that e x u d e d b a r b a r i s m w e r e unable t o t r a n s m i t w a s
p r o v i d e d by this film. It w a s a concentrate of the n e w mentality
w h o s e prejudicial p o w e r w a s carried into the population m o r e
impressively t h a n b y all other media taken together. This w a s sup­
p o s e d to be the "rise of the people's will" through the selective
206 i The Triumph of Propaganda
portrayal of a jubilant population. Newsreel N o . 451 is a masterful
directory for this kind of p r o p a g a n d a .
With t w o hundred copies distributed on 2 5 April 1939, N o . 451
w a s s h o w n at 4 0 percent of all G e r m a n cinemas up to the middle of
June. This m e a n s that s o m e forty million people b e c a m e partici­
pants in Hitler's cinematographic birthday party, i.e., m o r e than
half of the G e r m a n population of seventy million. That the rather
linear d r a m a t u r g y did not miss a single important phase in the fes­
tivities w a s d u e to the rare fact that the script h a d been meticu­
lously prepared a n d h a d been synchronized, with great logistical
precision, with the tightly organized birthday schedule. The c a m e r a
c r e w s used u p about seven miles of film of which a mere 1,500 feet
w e r e ultimately d e e m e d suitable for inclusion in the final version.'*'
Since it h a d b e c o m e m o r e a n d more difficult to deploy Hitler as the
m a g n e t of popular sympathies, the newsreel did not contain a sin­
gle closeup of him. Only photogenic material w a s selected for m a s s
p r o p a g a n d a purposes. In order not to imdermine the image of a
genius a n d h j ^ n o t i c figure that h a d been so painstakingly built u p
o v e r the years. Hitler w a s s h o w n without imperious gesturing a n d
vmcontroUed facial expressions. Indeed, on his great d a y h e did not
utter a single w o r d in front of the camera.
The prelude to the p o m p o u s s h o w starts o n the e v e of Hitler's
birthday. To the s o u n d s of festive m u s i c b y W a g n e r , Berlin's
Siegessäule (Victory C o l u m n ) is c a p t u r e d on film. There then fol­
l o w s a l o n g g l a n c e a t the a v e n u e t h a t r u n s f r o m w e s t t o e a s t
t h r o u g h the Zoological Garden, w h i c h c o m e s to f o r m the central
axis of the newsreel. This provides a foretaste of the great p a r a d e
that has been planned as a major historic event. F o r a few sec­
onds, the t y r a n n y behind the fagade s h o w s its true face. P o r t e n ­
tously, the c a m e r a s h o w s the turning of the calendar p a g e from 19
to 2 0 April 1 9 3 9 .
T h e b r i g h t s u n celebrates H i t l e r ' s b i r t h d a y ; it is " F ü h r e r
weather." T h e b a n d of Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, his b o d y g u a r d
contingent, has the honor of opening the event. N e x t to v a r i o u s
N a z i bigwigs, only Josef Tiso a n d Emil H a c h a , respectively the
Slovak p u p p e t minister president a n d p u p p e t president of the
Reich Protectorate of B o h e m i a a n d M o r a v i a conquered b y Hitler
d u r i n g M a r c h , c a n be seen a m o n g the prominent foreign guests.
Goebbels's children, all dressed in angel white, remain near Hitler
reflecting decorative irmocence so that s o m e of their affection m a y
fall on the Führer. The c o n v o y of M e r c e d e s cars begins to m o v e
t h r o u g h the enthusiastic c r o w d s of the Reich capital. The w o r d s
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 207 1
a n d s o u n d s of the newsreel remain restrained. The c o m m e n t a r y
leaves it to the m u s i c to p r o v i d e the sense of elation. The p a r a d e
begins after Hitler has a s s u m e d the appropriate position u n d e r
the c a n o p y o n the p l a t f o r m . T h e "largest p a r a d e of the T h i r d
Reich" takes four a n d a half hours. There are m a n y aerial photos
of the p a r a d e g r o u n d s a n d of the iconographic expressions of mil­
itary p o w e r that look like toys from above. All services goose-step
p a s t Hitler. Hitler's physical stairüna is s h o w n as he salutes the
troops with his a r m either stretched out or half raised. Foreign
military attaches a n d the diplomatic corps witness this d e m o n ­
s t r a t i o n of p o w e r , "astonished" or d u m b f o u n d e d . Hitler h a d
given his Foreign Minister J o a c h i m v o n Ribbentrop the following
m a n d a t e : "I ask y o u to invite a n u m b e r of foreign guests to m y
fiftieth birthday, a m o n g t h e m a s m a n y c o w a r d l y civilians a n d
d e m o c r a t s as possible before w h o m I shall p a r a d e the m o s t m o d ­
e m of all a r m e d forces [in the world]."'**
Time a n d again faces are s h o w n from a m o n g the c r o w d that
look a s if t h e y h a v e a b a n d o n e d t h e m s e l v e s to this historic
m o m e n t , a technique clearly designed to p u r v e y affective enthu­
siasm. The c a m e r a ' s angle of vision is not that of the participants;
it is the perspective from above. The static pictures are edited to
give the impression of d y n a m i c m o v e m e n t . Repetitions hardly
m a k e the m o n t a g e m o r e tolerable. The finale culminates in the
inevitable ritual w h e n the flags a r e l o w e r e d as the n a t i o n a l
a n t h e m is intoned: "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles in der Welt
. . . " A t this point content is dictating form.
The newsreel contains the following texts: "Preparations for the
F ü h r e r ' s fiftieth b i r t h d a y / T h a n k s a n d c o n g r a t u l a t i o n s of the
entire n a t i o n b e l o n g to t h e c r e a t o r of the G r e a t e r G e r m a n
R e i c h / P r e s e n t s are being delivered to the Reich chancellery all the
time from all regions of the Reich a n d from all strata of the p o p u ­
l a t i o n / Guests arrive in Berlin from all over the w o r l d / O n the eve
of the birthday, Albert Speer, the Inspector General for the Recon­
struction of the Reich Capital, opens the East-West Avenue with
the F ü h r e r / T h e r e m o d e l e d V i c t o r y C o l u m n s e n d s a w e l c o m e
from the m i d d l e of the grosser Stern r o t a r y / O n the m o m i n g of the
birthday, the serenade by the Leibstandarte opens the defile of the
w e l l - w i s h e r s / T h e Slovak minister president Dr. Josef Tiso, the
president of the Reich Protectorate Bohenüa a n d M o r a v i a , Emil
H a c h a , a n d Reich Protector Freiherr v o n N e u r a t h ( N e u r a t h gets
into the black l i m o u s i n e before foreign g u e s t H a c h a ) / T r o o p s
assemble for the m a r c h - p a s t / T h e largest military p a r a d e of the

208 The Triumph of Propaganda
Third Reich b e g i n s / F o r four a n d a half hours formations from all
the services m a r c h p a s t their s u p r e m e c o m m a n d e r / P a r a t r o o p ­
e r s / A m o t o r i z e d infantry d i v i s i o n / A tank c o n t i n g e n t o n trail­
ers/"Fahnenbataillon—Halt!" T h e r e is n o e x p e c t a t i o n t h a t the
m o v i e g o e r s m a k e their o w n differentiating, intellectual contribu­
tion to the c o n s u m p t i o n of this film.
Since the c a m e r a s are omnipresent, c o m m e n t a r y b e c o m e s dis­
pensable. W o r d s w o u l d unnecessarily exert pressure on the effi­
ciency of the optical language. It is only b y aesthetic m e a n s that
the e v e n t is raised to a festive level; the c o m m e n t a r y has been
r e d u c e d to providing sparse information. The quality of the N a z i
idea is not to be expressed through verbal messages, but t h r o u g h
its c a r r i e r s — a s a filmic m e s s a g e . T h e n e w s r e e l a b o u t H i t l e r ' s
birthday, therefore, represents a demonstration of h o w film c a m e
to be instrumentalized b y N a z i p r o p a g a n d a to create a reality of
its o w n in the public consciousness.
U n d e r the heading "Parade als Paradestück" ("Model P a r a d e " ) ,
G. Sante published an instructive report on h o w the twelve c a m ­
e r a m e n w h o h a d been sent out to d o c u m e n t the events of 2 0 April
1939 w e n t about their work. A p a r t from describing the planning
of the p r o g r a m in general staff fashion a n d its c a p t u r e on film, his
piece also offers a reliable impression of the m o o d , cast in the lan­
g u a g e of the period. Take, for e x a m p l e , h o w c a m e r a m a n N o . 2 fol­
l o w e d his instructions:
Move along the troop lineup. Capturing of the entire imposing
parade lineup. These shots were among the best. The cameraman
searched for and foimd new angles not by focusing his camera
directly on the Führer, but by constantly leaving rows of soldiers
between himself and the Führer's car. He thus obtained a complete
panorama that looked both purposeful and sensible. We may there­
fore begin to mention at this point what, as the objective, pervaded
the entire creation of the newsreel: [it was to be] a picture that in
equal measure satisfied and gripped eyes and emotions.
The shooting of the p a r a d e alone used u p s o m e thirty thousand
feet of film, a n d the c a m e r a m e n left nothing untried that "could
contribute to the augmentation of the impact": "The event con­
tained a sufficient d y n a m i s m within itself; a n d still the a t t e m p t
w a s m a d e to reinforce it by using different focal distances. T h e
c a m e r a s m o v e d from the p a n o r a m a to the closeup. F r o m n o r m a l
distance to reflect natural size they z o o m e d in on a contingent of
soldiers a n d sometimes literally almost m o v e d into their midst."'*^
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 209
Gerd Albrecht has quantified the various elements of the n e w s -
reel a n d has calculated that 6 4 percent of the newsreel's running
time is d e v o t e d to depicting the p r o g r a m ' s military aspects. The
treatment of the official ceremonies and activities that involve the
c r o w d s m a k e u p 3 6 percent. Some 81 percent of the film's total
angles deal with military sequences; meanwhile, s o m e 7 5 percent
of the nonmilitary sequences represent closeups a n d b l o w u p s .
W h a t is of interest in an analysis of Nazi p r o p a g a n d a films in gen­
eral is to see h o w far they w e r e m a d e up of symbols that w e r e
intended to impress.
In the first part, s o m e thirty-five to fifty angles c o n v e y the s y m ­
bols of this celebration. A m o n g these a r e s o m e t w e n t y - e i g h t
angles of the Third Reich (flags, standards, swastikas, a n d Führer
photos) a n d s o m e seven angles with historic symbols (Branden­
b u r g Gate, Victory C o l u m n ) that c a n n o t be d e c i p h e r e d b y the
fleeting glimpse of the moviegoers. They absorb everything as cre­
ations for the higher glory of the Führer. In the second part, w e
e n c o u n t e r the a r m e d forces relatively seldom, four times alto­
gether. B y contrast, the SS is presented in twenty-eight angles a n d
is clearly m e a n t to reflect power. The population a p p e a r s twenty-
three times, in half of the cases as an unspecified c r o w d . W h a t is
striking in this p a r t is that Hitier's c a r is s h o w n in connection with
the W e h r m a c h t on nineteen occasions, but only nine times in the
c o n t e x t of the s p e c t a t o r s . W i t h reference to the fourth p a r t ,
Albrecht reminds us that although c a m e r a s h a d been p u t u p at all
i m p o r t a n t points so that it w a s unnecessary to use a telephoto
lens, such a lens is nevertheless deployed w h e n e v e r the m a s s of
p a r a d i n g soldiers w a s to b e "compressed" in order thus to w e l d
t h e m into "a barely dissoluble unit." Albrecht counted n o m o r e
than seven angles in the epilogue that return to the s a m e places as
in the second part. H e r e w e should note the quick shifts in per­
spective that a r e achieved by the tilt of the c a m e r a .
A p a r t from Hitier, it is the flag that figures as a m y t h in this
newsreel. W h e n Hitier assumes his seat, the Führer standard is
s o l e m n l y hoisted. A specially c o n s t i t u t e d flag battalion keeps
s w i n g i n g its e n o r m o u s n u m b e r of flags in w a v e s all across the
a v e n u e , until it finally lowers the consecrated cloths respectfully
a n d to the tune of the national a n t h e m before the Führer. In a final
a n d striking sequence, the flag ritual disappears behind a fade-
o v e r showing b o y s a n d girls of the y o u t h organizations w h o look
u p to s o m e t h i n g w i t h o u t the object of their pious g a z e being
immediately evident. Only the next angle s h o w s that it is none
210; The Triumph of Propaganda
other thari Adolf Hitler. H e stands high above t h e m on a balcony.
It w a s with this m e t a p h o r that the film symbolizes the byzantine
p o w e r relations that obtained in the Third Reich.
Newsreel N o . 451 aims to be a h y m n to Hitler's greatness, but
it w a s also supposed to be an oratorio, created on the occasion of
his fiftieth birthday, to the idea a n d reality of the Greater G e r m a n
Reich a n d to the unity of the n e w nation. The end p r o d u c t faith­
fully illustrates the advice that L u d w i g H e y d e g a v e in his booklet
Film im Dienste der Führung (Film in the Service of the L e a d e r s h i p ) ,
published in Dresden in 1943: "The newsreel in particular is the
p r o p e r place of p r o p a g a n d a w o r k in order to elucidate the w o r l d
of the Führer for all Volksgenossen a n d to m a k e tangible his essence
as the e m b o d i m e n t of the all-German existence"—as a fermenting
m i x of emotions.
The German Newsreel During World War II
Whether or not 10,000 Russian women collapse from exhaustion while
building an anti-tank ditch is of interest to me only in the sense that
the ditch will be completed for Germany.... If someone comes along
and says: "I cannot build the ditch with children or those women;
that's inhuman for it will kill them"—my reply is: "You are a mur­
derer of your own kith and kin; for if the anti-tank ditch is not built,
German soldiers are going to die and they are sons of German moth­
ers. That's our blood."
F r o m a speech b y Heinrich H i m m l e r at
a n SS-Gruppenführer meeting
in Posen on 4 October 1 9 4 3
T h e "great e r a " of the G e r m a n newsreel started with the begin­
ning of the war. U p to the outbreak of w a r there h a d still been four
different companies: Ufa-Tonwoche, Deulig-Ton-Woche, Tobis, a n d
2 0 t h C e n t u r y F o x . This soon changed. F o r a few m o n t h s , a coordi­
n a t e d n e w s r e e l w a s s h o w n with different credits; but_from 21
N o v e m b e r 1 9 4 0 Deutsche Wochenschau b e c a m e the only one that
w a s being p r o d u c e d . N o w it paid off that the public h a d been kept
kinofreudig, as Goebbels h a d h o p e d w h e n h e administered film
p r o p a g a n d a merely in cautious doses.
T h e Nazi p r o p a g a n d a m a c h i n e o p e r a t e d as plarmed from the
first d a y of the war. The techniques that h a d been tested during
the m a r c h into the Rhineland in 1 9 3 6 w e r e n o w perfected as w a r
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 211
e n t h u s i a s m b e c a m e almost boundless. The G e r m a n troops that
invaded. Poland on 1 September 1939 v/ere a c c o m p a n i e d b y half a
d o z e n p r o p a g a n d a companies. They g a v e the public a gripping
i m a g e of the "lightning victories" on the Polish battlefields that
w e r e "true to reality."
W h e n on 1 F e b r u a r y 1 9 3 9 Hippler w a s m a d e director of the
" G e r m a n N e w s r e e l C e n t e r w i t h i n the M i n i s t r y for P o p u l a r
Enlightenment a n d P r o p a g a n d a , " he also seized hold of Deutsche
Wochenschau a s a p r o p a g a n d a i n s t r u m e n t . This C e n t e r w a s in
c h a r g e of "the political a n d overall d r a m a t u r g i c a l shape of the
n e w s r e e l s " a n d , in c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h the n e w s r e e l d i r e c t o r s ,
decided on individual commissions.'**
H a n s - J o a c h i m Giese, the Nazi analyst of the G e r m a n newsreel
in his book Die Film-Wochenschau im Dienste der Politik, formulated
in timely fashion for the begirming of the w a r the a x i o m that "the
newsreel w a s particularly suited for the political-spiritual direc­
tion a n d influencing of the public," even if Nazi p r o p a g a n d a h a d
been tacitly guided b y this a x i o m ever since 1 9 3 3 . Goebbels siirü-
larly h a d m a d e a d e m a n d from the start that h e i m p o s e d only
later, on 15 F e b r u a r y 1 9 4 1 , during the third w a r year: "Film has to
fulfill a state-political function today. It is a m e a n s of educating the
people. This m e a n s m u s t be in the hands of the political leader­
ship, a n d it is irrelevant w h e t h e r this is d o n e openly or covertly."
T h e N a z i newsreel g a v e an impression of facticity that w a s
u n a c c o u n t a b l e . It m e s m e r i z e d v i e w e r s a n d led t h e m to believe
that the film w a s taken directly a t the front line a n d u n d e r life-
threatening conditions. Accordingly, K u r t H u b e r t , the director of
Tobis, confirmed in the fall of 1 9 4 0 that the c a m e r a m e n w e r e sol­
diers w h o fully lived u p to their soldierly duties. T h e y o p e r a t e d
f r o m the m o s t a d v a n c e d positions, w h i c h , h e a d d e d , "explains
the realism that w e s h o w in our films." Heinrich Roellenbleg, the
w a r t i m e director of Deutsche Wochenschau, characterized P r o p a ­
g a n d a C o m p a n y ( P K ) reports as a w e a p o n . It w a s said to be a
m e a n s of " m o d e m g o v e r n m e n t that existed right next to the for­
m a t i o n s of the W e h r m a c h t in order to m a k e its contribution to the
final o u t c o m e " of the war.'*'' M e m b e r s of the P K w e r e not only
trained in the use of w e a p o n s , but in emergencies could also b e
d e p l o y e d at the front. Thus, a P K reporter in the air force might
occasionally h a v e to operate a b o m b e r ' s rear m a c h i n e gun; others
fought in the thicket of the battle. U p to October 1943, m o r e than
a t h o u s a n d of these m e n h a d fallen, w e r e reported missing, or
h a d been mutilated.
212; The Triumph of Propaganda
N a z i literature on the subject likes to sing the praises of the
c o u r a g e o u s correspondents w h o w e r e p r e p a r e d to face death. It
w a s in this w a y that their pictures a n d reports w e r e imbued with
the notion that being present a n d facing mortal d a n g e r h a d s o m e ­
thing heroic about it:
Stemming from the traditional Aktualitätenschau, the newsreel has
evolved into a imique document of the age. Only its [Nazi] bias
endowed its tightly edited sequences with an idea, an objective,
and a style of its own. It reached its high point in the German war
newsreels. The extreme exertions of the men in our Film Propa­
ganda Companies frequently created unique documents of manly
courage in which the boimdary between life and death was being
transgressed.'**
To highlight the heroism of the P K reporters, the credits m a r k e d
with a cross the n a m e s of those w h o h a d been killed in action. In
his Das eherne Herz Goebbels, writing in 1 9 4 3 , attributed the suc­
cess of the newsreel exclusively to the P K m e n , adding explicitly
that m a n y of t h e m g a v e their life in service to the G e r m a n nation:
"Here the m o d e r n w a y of conducting a w a r finds its highest m a n ­
ifestation with w h i c h the amateurish p r o p a g a n d a of the e n e m y
p o w e r s c a n n o t even begin to compete."'*' Goebbels w a s w r o n g .
The first c a m e r a m a n w h o w a s killed in action w a s a F r e n c h m a n . J.
A . D u p r e fell in 1 9 1 6 near Verdun during a G e r m a n artillery bar­
rage. F o u r G e r m a n c a m e r a m e n m e t their death w h e n filming on
the S o m m e . The n u m b e r of Soviet newsreel reporters killed on the
G e r m a n front w a s particularly high during World W a r II. M a r i a
Slavinskaya c o m m e m o r a t e d their w o r k in her d o c u m e n t a r y Fron-
tovoi Kinooperator ( C a m e r a m a n at the Front, 1 9 4 6 ) with material b y
Vladinur Sushinskij, w h o w a s killed near Breslau t o w a r d the end
of the war. A s the Russian director Esther Shub noted, "the c a m ­
e r a m a n is the film's m a i n hero."'^"
T h e determination of the N a z i leadership a n d the c o m b a t effec­
tiveness of the W e h r m a c h t that the G e r m a n newsreels suggested
or d e m o n s t r a t e d c o n t i n u e d to leave the i m p r e s s i o n of a r m y
a d v a n c e s even at a time w h e n it h a d long begun to beat the retreat.
T h e statistics s h o w h o w far the newsreel, even before its central­
ization within the Goebbels Ministry, w a s able to strike a respon­
sive c h o r d a m o n g the public simply by virtue of the suggestive
p o w e r of its p i c t u r e s from the Polish c a m p a i g n . A c c o r d i n g to
Giese, newsreel reporting p u s h e d u p c i n e m a a t t e n d a n c e b y 9 0
percent in J u n e 1 9 4 0 as c o m p a r e d to June 1 9 3 9 .
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 213
Production figures confirm this picture of increased popularity.
Before the w a r s o m e 5 0 0 copies w e r e m a d e of each newsreel film.
In 1 9 4 3 , if Hippler is to be believed, it w a s 2,400. W h e r e a s n o m o r e
t h a n about 3,000 feet of film w e r e taken per w e e k before the war,
after 1 9 3 9 the figure rose to 150,000 feet per week. Again according
to Hippler, a total of 4 0 million feet of film w a s used for the p r e w a r
p r o d u c t i o n of newsreels; at the height of the w a r the figure w a s
a r o u n d 3 0 0 million. With the a m o u n t of material exploding a n d
quantity b e c o m i n g m o r e important than quality, the a v e r a g e pre­
w a r length of 10 minutes w a s extended to 2 0 to 3 0 minutes during
the war. During the period w h e n it w a s still in a position to cele­
b r a t e victories, the p r o p a g a n d i s t i c quality of the G e r m a n w a r
newsreel w a s obviously higher than that of the Allies' offerings.
T h u s , t h e Manchester Guardian w r o t e the following flattering
w o r d s : "We s a w t w o G e r m a n w a r films next to w h i c h even the
best British newsreels that h a v e been s h o w n until n o w looked like
i m m a t u r e schoolboy pieces. British newsreels c o m p a r e with Ger­
m a n ones like l u k e w a r m w a t e r to a stiff whisky."'^'
Accordingly, the n u m b e r of copies rose from 8 0 0 to 2,000 for
d o m e s t i c distribution, w h i l e the n u m b e r distributed a b r o a d
increased from 3 0 to 1,000, dubbed in 15 different languages. A
n e w s p a p e r article, published in June 1941, h a d this to say about the
subject: "The foreign edition of the newsreel is sent to all countries
a r o u n d the globe, including N o r t h a n d South A m e r i c a , a n d is
flown there from Lisbon. W e e x c h a n g e newsreels with Russia. It is
p a r t i c u l a r l y w i d e l y seen in Japan. In E u r o p e , the G e r m a n w a r
newsreel has editorial offices in Vienna, Paris, M a d r i d , Brussels,
The H a g u e , C o p e n h a g e n , Oslo, Warsaw, Pressburg, a n d Zürich."
Rudolf Oertel s u m m a r i z e d the situation as follows:
During the Polish campaign and during our victories in the West,
millions of people stood in line outside movie theaters not because
of the feature films, but because of the newsreels [they wanted to
see]. This demonstrates how enormously important film has
become as a report on contemporary events.'^^
T h e G e r m a n n e w s r e e l s that w e r e c i r c u l a t e d a b r o a d h a d a n
exclusively propagandistic mission: the visual a n d verbal a r g u ­
m e n t s that h a d been t u r n e d into a National Socialist i c o n o g r a p h y
w e r e d e s i g n e d to g e n e r a t e s y m p a t h y a m o n g n e u t r a l g o v e r n ­
m e n t s . Hitler w a n t e d to secure this s y m p a t h y in order to buttress
his plans psychologically a n d to b e able to p u r s u e his conquests
w i t h o u t critical reactions from abroad.
 The Triumph of Propaganda
214';
A s to the territories that the W e h r m a c h t a n d A r m e d SS h a d
o c c u p i e d , newsreels w e r e s u p p o s e d to contribute to paralyzing
resistance efforts. T h e y tried to p r o m o t e G e r m a n confidence in the
final v i c t o r y of N a z i s m a n d to stifle partisan activities as well as
o r g a n i z e d u n d e r g r o u n d w o r k . W h a t Hitler said with r e g a r d to
G e r m a n y in 1 9 3 7 applied e v e n m o r e so to occupied E u r o p e : "I
h a v e n o use for opposition. That is w h y I h a v e built concentration
c a m p s . I could h a v e d o n e all this through the courts; b u t for m e
this takes too long."
A s early as the s u m m e r of 1 9 3 9 , the G e r m a n population h a d
b e e n p r e p a r e d through newsreel reports that a violent solution to
the conflict with Poland w a s imminent. Thus, Ufa-Tonwoche No.
468 (passed b y censor on 2 3 A u g u s t 1 9 3 9 ) offered a tendentious
"retrospective o n P o l a n d a n d D a n z i g since W o r l d W a r I" a n d
w i s h e d F o r e i g n M i n i s t e r R i b b e n t r o p farewell o n his t r i p to
M o s c o w . Ufa-Tonwoche No. 469 (passed b y censor on 3 0 A u g u s t
1 9 3 9 ) , the last p e a c e t i m e newsreel, informs the G e r m a n s a b o u t the
signing b y Ribbentrop of the Nazi-Soviet Pact that sealed Poland's
fate. R e p o r t s a b o u t "the deprivations of G e r m a n s w h o h a d fled
Poland" are given a p r o m i n e n t place, a c c o m p a n i e d b y a c o m m e n ­
t a r y t h a t indirectly anticipated the invasion of Poland: "A g l a n c e
at these refugees s h o w s w h a t terrible things they h a v e e x p e r i ­
e n c e d a n d w h a t they h a d to g o t h r o u g h before they c h o s e the final
w a y out ... the escape across the border." The refugees w h o are
being heroicized in these pictures a r e then s h o w n the newsreel
t h a t is d e d i c a t e d to t h e m in their c a m p . Film-Kurier c a r r i e d a
report o n w h a t h a p p e n e d next:
Warmest sympathies are being extended to our German brothers
and sisters. Almost all women pulled out their handkerchiefs; no
one was ashamed of their tears. The men sit upright, their faces
have hardened and show determination. Ten minutes of news-
reel—an experience that will never go away.'^'
Ufa-Tonwoche No. 470/37 ( p a s s e d b y c e n s o r o n 7 S e p t e m b e r
1939): The first w a r t i m e newsreel w a s released a m e r e six d a y s
after the beginning of the G e r m a n attack on Poland. M a n y c o m b a t
s c e n e s a n d the hate-filled l e a d e r w e r e later i n c o r p o r a t e d into
Feldzug in Polen ( C a m p a i g n in Poland, 1940). The 18-nünute Ufa-
Tonwoche No. 470 is divided into seventeen segments. W i t h the
exception of clips from Hitler's speech before the Reichstag on 1
September, it uses almost exclusively material taken d u r i n g the
"lightning c a m p a i g n " or from conquered Polish "enemy pictures."
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 215.:
Presented in segments 1 a n d 7, they are designed to create a p r o ­
totypical Pole represented as a collective h o m u n c u l u s . The film
speaks of a "Polish m u r d e r gang" that h a d killed such loyal ethnic
G e r m a n s as the S t o r m Trooper Josef Wessel, w h o w a s shot in the
back. Segments 9 , 10, a n d 12 suggest to the G e r m a n moviegoer
that Britain, in fact, is the m a i n enemy, the next threat to the nation
that m u s t b e c o u n t e r e d in time with anti-air raid preparations,
blackout exercises, a n d munitions production. Hitler Youths are
s e e n s a n d b a g g i n g the P e r g a m o n F r e e z e in Berlin to p r o t e c t it
a g a i n s t b o m b s . T h e n e w s r e e l illustrates the tactical interaction
b e t w e e n a r m a m e n t s a n d e n e m y actions.
Ufa-Tonwoche No. 472/39 (passed b y c e n s o r on 2 0 S e p t e m b e r
1939): W h e n this newsreel w a s given its first screening. Hitler a n d
Stalin h a d agreed on the demarcation line between G e r m a n y a n d
the Soviet Union which c a r v e d u p Poland. Remnants of the Polish
a r m y are seen "crawling from their hideouts" near Gdingen. A s the
c o m m e n t a t o r says sneeringly, after such "scenes of chaos ... secu­
rity a n d o r d e r returned with the G e r m a n soldiers." Confidence
radiates from another sentence, according to which "all forces in
the h o m e l a n d rally to fight the defensive struggle." This is followed
b y idyllic sequences with blond m a i d e n s gathering in h a y a n d
w o m e n w o r k i n g for the Red Cross, underlined b y lyrical tunes:
"Women replace their husbands a n d contribute energetically." This
is t h e n e w m o r a l i m p e r a t i v e . N e a t female g y m n a s t s of t h e
"Strength T h r o u g h Joy" organization d o a display in front of m e n
w o i m d e d in the Polish campaign. Everything is going perfectly in
Hitler's w a r : supply trains c a r r y munitions to the eastern front; the
field b a k e r y is busy baking bread. A French fighter pilot w h o has
been shot d o w n is buried "in chivalric fashion" a n d with full mili­
tary honors: w h o e v e r fights honorably, xmlike the Poles, will also
be buried honorably in foreign soil. A captured British officer "vol­
unteers" that h e is being well treated, has good a c c o m m o d a t i o n ,
a n d is fed well: he has "no complaints." Meanwhile, Polish prison­
ers of w a r are given an unsympathetic portrayal a n d are thrown
together as negative prototypes of "inferior" Slavs. After having
been p u t behind barbed wire, "the expelled ethnic G e r m a n s are
able to return to their villages." N o r is the h o m e front spared s o m e
horrifying pictures: "This m a n h a d his eyes gouged; this w o m a n
h a d her face mutilated; this m a n h a d his right h a n d pierced"—of
course by Polish "subhumans." Jews with shovels are s h o w n in the
W a r s a w ghetto: "For the first time in their life they are forced to
work." This scene w a s later edited into Hippler's Der ewige Jude.
 The Triumph of Propagai\da
216 i
Hitler flies o v e r the front in a Ju-52 airplane. Back on earth, he
is seen affably eating s o m e s o u p served from a field kitchen: "The
F ü h r e r stays w i t h his soldiers." G o r i n g and Walther v o n B r a u -
chitsch, the A r m y C o m m a n d e r in Chief, report to h i m at h e a d ­
quarters o n the military situation. N e x t , Hitler inspects the t o w n
of L o d z "shortly after its conquest." This is h o w the folks back
h o m e like t o see the Führer: "Hitler and his soldiers—a community
bonded together in life and death."
Finally, o n 1 9 July 1 9 4 0 Hitler said with reference t o Poland:
... One of the creations of the Versailles diktat that was very remote
from reality; politically and militarily an ii\flated bugaboo; behaves
offensively toward a state for months and tfireatens to knock it out,
to make mincemeat of the German armies, to move the frontier to
the Oder or Elbe rivers and so on.... Germany patiently watches
this behavior for months, although it would have required no more
than a single movement of the arm to beat up this bubble filled
with stupidity and arrogance.
Feldzug in Polen (1940) and Feuertaufe (1940)
T h e 4 0 - m i n u t e report titled Feldzug in Polen ( C a m p a i g n in P o l a n d )
that w a s compiled from several newsreels is a g o o d e x a m p l e of
trends in p r o p a g a n d a at this time. T h r o u g h the d e m a g o g i c use of
w o r d s a n d pictures, Hippler tries to justify the invasion of Poland.
T h e v e r y m u c h e x p a n d e d newsreel m o v i e begins with the obliga­
t o r y omissions w h e n it talks about the "urdeutsch character of the
city of Danzig" that the "Polish robber state" h a d gobbled u p .
"With an i c e < o l d mind" the Polish g o v e r n m e n t h a d p u s h e d for
w a r in o r d e r to "eternalize the injustice of Versailles." A n d : "It
w a s P o l a n d ' s task p e r m a n e n t l y to threaten G e r m a n y f r o m the
East. It is the proclaimed objective of Britain to uphold this threat."
A single burning hut w a s sufficient proof for Hippler that "the
Poles are burning a n d devastating farmsteads of ethnic G e r m a n s . "
L o o k i n g from a v e r y different perspective at the trigger that the
N a z i s h a d set u p to justify their i n v a s i o n of P o l a n d , G ü n t h e r
A n d e r s w r o t e after the war: "Following the ignominious farce at
the Gleiwitz" radio station in Silesia w h e r e G e r m a n agents provo­
cateurs h a d been p u t in Polish uniforms to fake a Polish attack.
Hitler "assaulted the East, r a z e d villages a n d towns to the g r o u n d
a n d m u r d e r e d millions u p o n millions of people." The newsreel
c o m m e n t a r y , b y c o n t r a s t , r e a d s a s follows: "After P o l a n d h a d
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 217 i
taken u p a r m s against G e r m a n vital rights in a threatening m a n ­
ner, G e r m a n troops m a r c h e d across the German-Polish border on
1 September 1939."
Since the film w a s u n a b l e t o p r o v i d e realistic p i c t u r e s to
d e m o n s t r a t e the alleged threat—except for the burning hut that
has been mentioned—Hippler relied on the persuasive p o w e r of a
faded-in m a p . O n it, Polish expansionist designs t o w a r d Ger­
m a n y ' s eastern provinces c a n be seen in the shape of giant tenta­
cles. In this way, Hippler enables the viewer to witness the w o r k of
the general staff and its ingenuity. H a v i n g been incited to b e c o m e
accomplices to these policies, the population, it is h o p e d , will give
s u p p o r t to its leaders. A s to the border lines that appear on the
m a p , the c o m m e n t a t o r offers a retrospective justification for Ger­
m a n y ' s alleged n e e d to c o n d u c t a preventive w a r against Poland:
"Excessive annexationist aims are proclaimed [by the Poles]." The
latter "have visions of the Polish frontier n m n i n g along the O d e r
river or e v e n along the Elbe."
T h e p a n z e r units t h a t o v e r r u n P o l a n d w i t h the s p e e d of a
"lightning w a r " are s h o w n without commentary. Only euphoric
m u s i c b y H e r b e r t Windt a c c o m p a n i e s the rolling c o m m a n d o s for
a b o u t ten m i n u t e s . U n e n c u m b e r e d b y d i s t r a c t i n g w o r d s , the
v i e w e r w a s s u p p o s e d to b e able to visualize the precision w i t h
w h i c h the general staff did its w o r k at all stages. In this way, the
G e r m a n a t t a c k o n P o l a n d c a m e to be extolled as a historic
m o m e n t . The m o v i e g o e r on the h o m e front w a s to be its witness.
Overjoyed b y the swift victory that even Hitler had not thought
possible, the regime compiled t w o full-length documentaries from
newsreel material. Both tried to o u t d o e a c h other in their overes-
timation of the G e r m a n a r m e d forces and of the air force in par­
ticular. After Feldzug im Polen b y the p a r t y h a c k Hippler, there
followed Feuertaufe by the professional H a n s Bertram. M a n y film
histories, e v e n those b y K r a c a u e r and C o u r t a r d e / C a d a r s , erro­
neously list both m o v i e s as one and the same.
Feuertaufe ( 1 9 3 9 / 4 0 ) s h o w s the Führer getting out of his M e r c e ­
d e s c a r in the small h o u r s of 1 September 1 9 3 9 to m a k e a
thimderous speech to the nation broadcast over millions of Volksem­
pfänger, the cheap radio sets that the Nazis had been marketing after
1933. His infamous w o r d s signaled the catastrophic consequences
that followed: "For the first time Poland has sent regular fighting
troops into our territory during the night; we've been shooting back
since 5:45 a.m.! A n d from n o w on we'll retaliate b o m b for bomb!"
 Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 219
The Triumph of Propaganda
218 i

that c o m b a t scene is guided b y the s a m e h a n d that will g r a b a g u n

S h o u t s of joy flare u p . W h e n w e r e a c h the p r o l o g u e of
in another moment."'^^
B e r t r a m ' s Feuertaufe, action follows without delay. Standing a l o n g
Films like Feuertaufe, Feldzug in Polen a n d Sieg im Westen w a g e
the r u n w a y under the m a c h i n e guns of their dive b o m b e r s , pilots
the baffles for a second time, this time to win t h e m also with aes­
tighten their helmets. T h e c a m e r a revels taking in the neat techni­
thetic m e a n s . B y compressing the battle, picking s o m e scenes a n d
cal g a d g e t s that spell death: m a c h i n e g u n s , control stick, w h e e l
deleting o t h e r s , c o n s t r u c t i n g r u d i m e n t a r y c o n t e x t s t h a t n e v e r
hubs, e m b l e m s , etc. The engines are started. The aestheticism of
existed in reality in this density, these movies discard all that is
w a r takes its d i s a s t r o u s c o u r s e . L i k e s w a r m s of l o c u s t s , o n e
u n d e s i r a b l e f r o m a p r o p a g a n d i s t i c point of view. T h e y s h o w
s q u a d r o n after the other climbs into the steel-blue sky, a c c o m p a ­
"images of horrific beauty" instead of brutal horror pictures. The
nied b y the noisy w a r c h a n t "We are flying eastward!" written b y
opulent display of pictures is m a d e to overlay the true misery of
Wilhelm Stoeppler, with music by N o r b e r t Schnitze:
w a r a n d the legions of G e r m a n y ' s o w n fallen heroes, a n d in the
... the p a s s w o r d is k n o w n ... v i e w e r ' s m i n d the c a m p a i g n is turned into thrilling legend. Frank
C l o s e u p with the e n e m y ! M a h r a u n , writing in Der deutsche Film, N o . 11, 1 9 4 0 , w e n t on to
Close u p with the enemy! describe its t h e m e : "a single d a r k p y r a m i d of s m o k e h o v e r i n g
B o m b s for Polenlandl a b o v e the burning city a n d even higher up the overarching d o m e
W e flew to the rivers Vistula a n d W a r t h e of c u m u l u s clouds glistening in the sun topped b y squadrons of
W e flew o v e r Polish land o u r fighter planes unloading their lethal loads into the clouds a n d
W e hit it h a r d . smoke"—until W a r s a w surrendered. The m o v i e g o e r back h o m e is
The enemy a r m y d r a w n in emotionally; h e is himself a participant in the w a r with­
With lightnings a n d b o m b s a n d fire. out being e x p o s e d to imminent danger. By tampering with the
reality of the actual war, the event is divested of its tangibility (ent-
It w a s not just the conduct of this lightning w a r a n d the verbal dinglicht). Thus, to m a n y w a r b e c a m e p a r t of their experience in a n
h u r r a h patriotism that Schultze's shrill music is supposed to under­ aesthetically transfigured form.
line. T h e roaring soldiers' songs also generate an affective tension
T h e m o v i e w a s compiled from s o m e fifty t h o u s a n d feet of d o c ­
that binds the emotional response to the verbal message. Thus, the
u m e n t a r y material a n d , in t e r m s of its structure a n d a p p r o a c h ,
trivial pathos of "Close u p with the enemy!" will h a v e its i m p a c t
w h i c h a d o p t e d the high g r o u n d of the victor, did not differ m u c h
o n the viewers in the theaters m a n y thousands of miles from the
from the m a n y P K reports that w e r e to emerge from Hitler's
front. To quote F r a n k M a h r a u n , they will receive the film as the
"lightning war." T h e y all confirmed from begirming to end w h a t
"heroic song of a service a r m . " Or as Völkischer Beobachter p u t it:
Goebbels h a d p r o u d l y a n n o u n c e d to the w o r l d on 1 9 J a n u a r y
"Millions will catch fire from the g l o w of Feuertaufe." B e r t r a m also
1940: "We h a v e planned a n d thoroughly organized this w a r to the
reports his "most unforgettable experience." This w a s his flight
last detail." This w a s also true of Bertram's film, w h i c h turns the
along the B z u r a river, "where the encircled Polish troops tried des­
compilation of history into a m a s t e r p i e c e of film m o n t a g e a n d ,
perately a n d vainly to break out a n d the air force rained d o w n
indeed, served as a m o d e l for this genre. A s Goebbels w r o t e in
their b o m b s o v e r a space of thirty square kilometers.... N o o n e
Der deutsche Film: "World history w a s written here with the help
escaped alive through this fiery curtain that our pilots put u p along
of the c a m e r a . " i 5 6
the river banks. W h e r e v e r our air force attacks, its hits are fatal."'^
In a "Wehrmacht O r d e r of the Day" Hitler expressed his thanks
Thus, the battle of armihilation near K u t n o m a r k e d not only the
a n d appreciation to the soldiers of the Polish c a m p a i g n for a fight
strategic but also the dramaturgical climax of the c a m p a i g n .
that "tells of the best of G e r m a n soldierdom." N o r did h e forget to
B y m a k i n g direct c a m e r a c o n t a c t w i t h the e n e m y , the w a r thank those w h o h a d fallen—^just as t w o million m e n w h o died in
newsreel h a d developed its o w n martial standards; being p a r t of W o r l d W a r I h a d g i v e n their lives so that G e r m a n y m i g h t live.
the offensive, it h a d itself gone on to attack. It "abandoned the "We stand together m o r e closely than ever before a n d tighten our
n o n c o m m i t t a l attitude of the leisurely observer a n d m o v e d into h e l m e t s u n d e r the flags t h a t fly e v e r y w h e r e in G e r m a n y w i t h
firing r a n g e ; a n d o n e senses that the c a m e r a that c a p t u r e s this or
 The Triumph of Propaganda
220 j
p r o u d joy."'^^ Seven P K reporters w h o participated in the m a k i n g
of Bertram's Feuertaufe w e r e a m o n g the fallen.
Deutsche Wochenschau No. 513/28 (passed by censor on 3 July
1940): This newsreel celebrates the Führer in a retrospective o n
the c a m p a i g n against F r a n c e . Hitler's a p p e a r a n c e obviates the
need for a general staff m a p . Thus, w e see h i m "touring the Vos-
ges Mountains," "in the midst of his soldiers w h o d r o w n h i m in
their cheers;" h e is seen in Strasbourg a n d "on the battlefields of
the M a g i n o t L i n e . . . . T h e F ü h r e r ' s train rolls t h r o u g h the jubilant
c o u n t r y s i d e ; h e e n c o u n t e r s signs of love, d e v o t i o n , a n d g r a t i ­
tude." Celebratory i m a g e s a n d texts certify that Hitler's c h a r i s m a
is infallible. H a v i n g gotten back to his Reich capital, the "victori­
ous leader is received b y his people against the b a c k g r o u n d of the
festive ringing of bells"'^* that celebrate his strokes of genius.
M a n y of these clips from F r a n c e will reappear in Sieg im Westen a
y e a r later to p r o v i d e another boost to collective m o r a l e .
Sieg im Westen (1941)
Think of the Führer by day and by night and no bullet, no bayonet will
ever reach you.
O K W leaflet
Victorious we want to beat France
And die as a brave hero.
Soldiers' song from Musketier seins lust'ge Brüder
(The Musketeers A r e F u n n y G u y s )
War moves across the fields
Up and down the streets.
Many a soldier's grave
Lies in the dim woods.
Song from Sieg im Westen
T h e c a m p a i g n a g a i n s t F r a n c e w a s likewise t u r n e d into a full-
length d o c u m e n t a r y compiled from newsreel. The film sang the
high praises of the Führer a n d his genius. The journal Der deutsche
Film called Sieg im Westen the greatest of all G e r m a n newsreels.
Moreover, "by reproducing the m o s t direct pictures that, in defi­
a n c e of death, h a d been w n m g from reality at the v e r y front line.
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 221
the breathtaking continuous illustration [of the fighting] has also
yielded something of the spirit of the troops about which the w a r
correspondents h a v e been reporting in the press and on the radio."
With the help of m a p s , the "course of Germany's fate" (thus the
a c c o m p a n y i n g b r o c h u r e ) w a s to be m a d e visible for all "with
u t m o s t brevity" against the background of Hitler's strategic vision.
In this way, confidence in the infallibility of the Führer and his inge­
nuity w a s to be strengthened that w o u l d also guide future actions.
Sieg im Westen is an epos that Svend N o l d a n a n d Fritz Brunei
forged from newsreel through a cleverly organized structure. H a v ­
ing s e r v e d as a p r o t o t y p e for m a n y others, it is a m o v i e in w h i c h
the W e h r m a c h t figures as a "community of fate" that has been
w e l d e d together b y the belief in the "final victory." Close to one
million feet of film w e r e used to extract an ideal-typical portrait of
the w a r r i o r — t h e i m a g e of the "German hero." This heroic c h a r a c ­
ter is c o n f i r m e d b y a closeup of a soldier's face that K r a c a u e r
describes as "soft," yet w h i c h "unintentionally betrays a close link
b e t w e e n blood a n d soul, between sentimentality and sadism."
Because Hitier's heroes h a d to be portrayed as invulnerable, all
d o c u m e n t s w e r e deleted that reported h u m a n and material losses.
Clearly, the ideology of invincibility w o u l d h a v e been nullified b y
scenes of cripples a n d c o r p s e s , w h i c h w o u l d also h a v e p u t a
d a m p e r on the delirious enthusiasm. H o w e v e r , corpses that are
s h o w n buried in the film look like bodies that are not part of the
national c o m m u n i t y (volksfremde Körper). The optimistic portrayal of
the w a r culminates in Hitier as the personification of all Wehrmacht
successes a n d those of its generals. With the exception of the last
t w o editions, Nazi newsreels turned Hitler into "superman."
In contradistinction to Feldzug in Polen, the heroism of the Ger­
m a n soldiers in this film is mirrored in the c o u r a g e of their o p p o ­
n e n t s . T h e " h e r e d i t a r y e n e m y " F r a n c e is not d e n i g r a t e d ; the
c o m m e n t a t o r explicitly concedes that the "Poilu" fought bravely.
The Teutonic victory w a s not d u e to the weakness of the French,
but alone to superior military leadership.
To the v e r y end Sieg im Westen remains nationalist to the core,
but it is not a typically National Socialist strip of the kind regularly
p r o d u c e d by Deutsche Wochenschau. E v e n the oft-cited episode in
w h i c h the c a m e r a lingers over c a p t u r e d Senegalese soldiers per­
forming "negro dances" is presented without commentary. The
m o v i e g o e r is left to d r a w his o w n conclusions. Deutsche Wochen­
schau No. 5 1 3 of 3 July 1940, b y contrast, a d d e d biting c o m m e n t s
222 The Triumph of Propaganda
about the black barbarians w h o h a d been selected by the F r e n c h to
defend E u r o p e a n civilization.
Der deutsche Film s p e c u l a t e d that it w a s possible to see
"naivete" (Ahnungslosigkeit) in the faces of French P O W s a n d c o m ­
p a r e d their "playful p r i v a t e a t t i t u d e " a n d their "aimlessness"
w i t h the diametrically different G e r m a n mentality a n d its virtues.
T h u s e m e r g e d "the clear a n d noble i m a g e of the optimistic Ger­
m a n soldier w h o remains upright even in the toughest battle a n d
is u s e d to being victorious." It w a s an i m a g e that w a s "also w o n ­
derfully highlighted by closeups."'^'
A c c o r d i n g to the a c c o m p a n y i n g brochure, the film's m o s t noble
task w a s "to m a k e a p p a r e n t the values for w h i c h w e a r e fighting
today." Sieg im Westen w a s c o m m i s s i o n e d b y the A r m y H i g h
C o m m a n d ( O K H ) a n d w a s designed to conjure u p the p o w e r of
the all-powerful. This glorification is divided into three chapters:
the introduction, titled "Der Entscheidung entgegen" ("Toward the
Decision"), the m a i n part, called "Der Feldzug" ("The C a m p a i g n " ) ,
followed b y the finale.
T h e introduction takes as its guideline the formula of the p r o ­
fessional N a z i film ideologue H a n s - J o a c h i m Giese. In 1 9 4 9 Giese
published his b o o k Die Film-Wochenschau im Dienste der Politik
( N e w s r e e l in the Service of Politics) in w h i c h h e wrote: "This jour­
nalistic m e a n s of leadership, in fulfilling the basic a x i o m of all
p r o p a g a n d a , d o e s n o t represent the objective truth per se. B u t ,
using d e c e n t m e a n s , it d o e s represent that side of truth that it is
n e c e s s a r y to proliferate in the interests of the G e r m a n people." Of
c o u r s e , the "necessary" version of "the encirclement policy o f the
e n e m y p o w e r s u p to the [First] World W a r a n d the Versailles dik­
tat" w a s , in Giese's view, p a r t of this picture that he continued to
s p r e a d even after 1945.'*°
The following sentences are taken from the leaflet advertising
the movie:
In Adolf Hitler, the German people gained a leader toward new
unity and freedom. The injustices of Versailles are removed step by
step; universal service is reintroduced; the lost German territories
are liberated; Czechoslovakia is put out of action as an air base of
the Western powers. Despite the Führer's repeated peace initia­
tives, war breaks out with Britain and France. Poland is destroyed
within eighteen days. The Westwall [German fortifications in the
West] is reinforced. In the North, Germany secures Europe from
Narvik to Copenhagen.
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 223
The introduction starts off with the oath to the flag a n d shows
the d e v o u t faces of those w h o have just taken the oath. The cere­
m o n y is given a festive exultation with rousing music. The sug­
gestive i m p a c t of this p r e l u d e w a s s u p p o s e d to induce y o u n g
viewers to soon join those w h o w e r e presented to t h e m as models
on the screen: "I swear that I will be prepared, as a b r a v e soldier, to
risk m y life for this oath at a n y time!" This is followed by postcard-
style clips of beautiful G e r m a n landscapes that are presented as
symbols of all that is sublime, for which G e r m a n y goes to war.
Scenes from the idyllic h o m e l a n d are continuously faded in. In
their interaction with p h o t o s from the front, they a r e supposed to
give the impression of a nation that is united in its struggle. There
is also the statue of Saint U t a in the eleventh-century N a u m b u r g
C a t h e d r a l t h a t is u s e d a s a s y m b o l o f t h e G e r m a n i c female. It
serves as an object of identification just as the Horseback Rider of
B a m b e r g w a s deployed in other documentaries. Both figures w e r e
d e s i g n e d to e m b o d y t h e m y t h of the N o r d i c ideal. A s Alfred
Rosenberg, the Party's chief ideologist put it: "The hero is a l w a y s
beautiful, but this m e a n s [he is] of a certain racial type."'*'
It is a b o v e all in the idealized sculptures of Klimsch, Breker,
a n d T h o r a k that the fascist aesthetic of physical perfection cele­
brates its greatest triumphs. Their figures look like healthy nudes
in h o m e o p a t h i c journals. To quote Traub's statement of 1933: "It is
the first c o m m a n d m e n t of all p r o p a g a n d a to keep m e n receptive
a n d capable of enthusiasm."'*^
Like A d o l f Hitler, the Führer a n d Reich Chancellor, Bismarck,
the "Iron Chancellor," is said to have fulfilled a historic mission,
i.e., to w e l d the Reich together. In order to tie Hitler's greatness to
Bismarck, the latter's "ingenious leadership" is pronounced as the
heritage to be honored. Hitler's w a r s of conquest are legitimized
as a task that is rooted in Bismarck's policy of expansion. With
original clips from W o r l d W a r L w e m o v e to the assertion that
inflation a n d u n e m p l o y m e n t w e r e a consequence of the "Versailles
diktat." As the c o m m e n t a t o r explains the ideological background,
"it w a s in this period of d e c a y that Hitler founded the NSDAP."
With the slogan "The Führer takes back w h a t belongs to Ger­
many," the optically opulent introduction w a s supposed to c o v e r
u p the problems of legitimating the horrors that follow: the occu­
pation of the Saar; the annexation of the M e m e l district; the Sude­
tenland; the o c c u p a t i o n of the C z e c h territories, n o w cynically
called the "Protectorate" of Bohemia a n d Moravia; the invasion of
Austria; a n d finally the assault on Poland.
 The Triumph of Propaganda
224 !
T h e "authentic" pictures fail to p r o v e the film's contention that
" G e r m a n d o m in Poland experiences terror of the w o r s t kind." The
o c c u p a t i o n of D e n m a r k and N o r w a y is merely noted in passing,
as if it h a d been a little a r m e d outing.
The movie's m a i n p a r t is titled "The C a m p a i g n . " The s u m m a r y
of contents presents the following operations in terms of a heroic
d r a m a for w h i c h s o m e optical shortcuts w e r e justified:
The major advances in the West in May and June 1940; the German
armies move against Holland and Belgium on a broad front; the
fortress Holland is taken after five days; the Maas river is taken; the
Maginot Ltae is pierced; the EngUsh Charmel is reached; the encir­
clement of the Anglo-French troops is completed and triggers the
chaotic flight of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk; the
king of the Belgians offers his country's capitulation; another major
assault by the German army is prepared along the lower Somme
river, the Oise-Aisne Canal, and the Aisne river; the Weygand Line
is smashed; Rouen is taken; Paris surrenders on 14 June; the First
Army attacks the Maginot Line along the Saar; it crosses the upper
Rhine; fortresses are taken; the last major constructions of the Mag­
inot Line are being occupied; France offers a truce; Compiegne
becomes the site for truce negotiations.^*'
T h e actual c o m b a t scenes are as interchangeable as they are tir­
ing, e v e n t h o u g h the m o s t d r a m a t i c parts from a variety of n e w s -
reels are incorporated. The symbolic p o w e r of the Maginot Line,
together w i t h its fortifications, is to be destroyed by s h o w i n g for
several long minutes the artillery b o m b a r d m e n t of this "complex
defense mechanism." W h a t the film tries to put across is that "the
m a c h i n e itself c a n never be the deus ex machina in itself;" even "the
m o s t perfect organization remains useless if it is not an instru­
m e n t , but is v i e w e d as an a u t o n o m o u s force by a d e c a d e n t gener­
ation" of Frenchmen.'** This sequence has n o other p u r p o s e than
to d e m o n s t r a t e that the Maginot Line represents w h a t this quote
asserts: that the G e r m a n victory is also a victory of life over death,
of the future o v e r the past. Pictures of British P O W s in a c a m p are
a c c o m p a n i e d b y the p o p u l a r British s o n g "We will h a n g o u r
w a s h i n g on the Siegfried Line!", but set in a minor key to offer a
telling illustration of "Perfidious Albion's" w a n i n g optimism that
victory is o n their side. W h e n invading p a r a t r o o p e r s a r e s h o w n
o v e r Holland at a height of three h u n d r e d meters, the c o m m e n ­
t a r y p r o u d l y anticipates the sentiments of the moviegoers: "The
w o r l d is h o l d i n g its b r e a t h — E b e n E m a e l F o r t r e s s h a s c a p i t u ­
lated." H o w e v e r , the film m a k e s one prognosis that did not c o m e
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 225
true, i.e., that this c a m p a i g n "will decide the fate of the G e r m a n
nation for the next thousand years."
T h e verbal introduction of the main part is supported b y a ster­
ile sequence of faces of "typically G e r m a n " heroes. Clips from
c a p t u r e d newsreel material h a v e been effectually edited into the
film. T h e y m a k e u p a p a t c h w o r k of "enemy faces," with Sene­
galese soldiers being particularly in evidence to reinforce racial
prejudices. Their "alien" ecstatic dancing is m e a n t to be v i e w e d as
disgusting. The technique of contrasting m o n t a g e is also u s e d
w h e n G e r m a n troops, p a r a d i n g to the tunes of dashing m a r c h
music, are juxtaposed with colunnns of flabby P O W s . All viewers
are m e a n t to realize that the e m e r g e n c e of the G e r m a n s as the
m a s t e r r a c e is preordained b y nature.
Still, the w a r a g a i n s t the F r e n c h is d e p i c t e d as chivalric. A
"hygienic war," it spares the viewer from the sight of d e a d and
w o u n d e d soldiers. Instead, death is t u r n e d into the d e c o r a t i v e
symbol of a double g r a v e covered with flowers. A fresh bunch of
flowers will r e a s s u r e the m o v i e g o e r b a c k h o m e that fulfilling
one's d u t y with fatal consequences will result in lyrical transfigu­
ration: a noble death guarantees that the d e a d person will be taken
into the Valhalla. The m o u r n i n g of genuine loss is to be mitigated
b y sacralizing it.
In order to illuminate the prospect of an aesthetic transfigura­
tion with greater theatrical effect, the c a m e r a repeatedly c a p t u r e s
the diffuse light of dusk a n d heavily clouded skies. This enables
t h e d i r e c t o r s to m o v e all the m o r e i m p r e s s i v e l y t h r o u g h the
v a p o r s that hint at impending calamity t o w a r d the light of victory.
Conversely, the unreal m o r n i n g fog of another scene is designed
to mitigate looming dangers. To perfect their scenario, the skillful
engineers of viewer m o o d s include backlighting in their d r a m a to
give the impression that d a n g e r is merely threatening the d a r k
s h a d o w s they h a v e p r o d u c e d . After all, there is n o space in this
m o r i b u n d b a c k d r o p for individuals w h o h a v e b e c o m e heroes.
T h e y disappear as extras; they submerge a m o n g Hitler's anony­
m o u s s u p e r n u m e r a r i e s w h o are destined to die. The theatrical
h o c u s - p o c u s on the battlefield in the rrtiddle of e n e m y c o u n t r y
e n d o w s the heroic struggle of the G e r m a n "community of fate"
w i t h the mystical flair of the unreal, helping the viewer in the cin­
e m a back h o m e feel that both fronts are one. The tragic death has
been deleted from the script; in Hitler's w o r l d theater, only the
d e a t h that is d r a p e d in heroism gets a w a r m exit, as in an epic of
2261 The Triumph of Propaganda
classical antiquity. W h a t e v e r the pictures fail to transfigure is left
to opera-like music: "Yes, the flag is m o r e than death!"
The c a m e r a captures the tirelessly a d v a n c i n g G e r m a n soldiers
as engineers of action w h o , bursting with energy, m a r c h a c r o s s
bridges. Their eyes are fixed firmly o n the other side as the goal
that holds out victory, in a symbolic as well as a literal sense.
T h e notion of "home front" represents the qualitative equiva­
lent of the front line. Those fighting for Hitler's victories are to b e
found a t b o t h fronts; they constitute a n inviolable " c o m m u n i t y of
fate" in their certain k n o w l e d g e that they c a n m u t u a l l y d e p e n d
on e a c h other. Clips from a G e r m a n a r m a m e n t s factory s h o w the
intelligent a n d s e r i o u s faces o f G e r m a n skilled l a b o r e r s t h a t
reflect an unconditional confidence in their precision w o r k . In the
n e x t sequence w e are given, high a b o v e in the cloudless skies, a
p o w e r f u l i m p r e s s i o n of h o w reliably the technical p r o d u c t i o n
e m p i r e of A r m a m e n t s Minister Fritz Todt is capable of operating.
Relentlessly, d i v e b o m b e r s a n d h e a v y b o m b e r s are seen u n l o a d ­
ing their d e a d l y c a r g o on military a n d civilian targets. W i t h the
target firmly pinpointed, stuka pilots dive to one h u n d r e d m e t e r s
a b o v e the g r o u n d . A c c o m p a n i e d b y a nerve-grinding, w h i n i n g
noise, the speeds they r e a c h are e n d o w e d with a sensuous qual­
ity. M a n a n d m a c h i n e b e c o m e a single unit. Effectively presented
m a p s introduce the assault on the l e g e n d a r y Chemins des Dames
fortress, designed to d e m o n s t r a t e the a c c u r a c y of logistical gen­
eral staff w o r k , in this instance personified b y Colonel General
G e r d v o n Rundstedt.
Of c o u r s e , the G e r m a n soldier is also p e r m i t t e d to r e l a x
b e t w e e n his victories. E v e n h a r d e n e d old blades c a n b e f u i m y — o r
w h a t the scriptwriters thought to be funny. Billeted o n a f a r m a n d
s u r r o i m d e d b y cackling hens, m e n w h o h a v e been t h r o u g h t o u g h
battles splash a r o u n d in a tub of w a t e r that is m u c h t o o small. T h e
c a m e r a c a t c h e s t h e m getting a h a i r c u t , polishing their b o o t s ,
b r u s h i n g their h o r s e s , a n d w r i t i n g letters. M e a n w h i l e , the fire
b r e a k n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g , the c o m m a n d i n g officer c o n t i n u e s his
s a c r e d duties: h e studies the m a p in p r e p a r a t i o n for t h e n e x t
attack. W h o a m o n g those sitting in the theater w o u l d not like to b e
with those h a p p y victors. The pulsating r h y t h m s of m a r c h music
then c h a n g e to the m o r e elegiac sounds of an organ-playing sol­
dier. His m o o d is represented t h r o u g h a soft fade-over s h o w i n g
w a t e r in w h i c h a blond G e r m a n w o m a n b a c k h o m e rinses her
laundry. A s this scene intends to convey, it is to fight for her in
o r d e r t o p r e s e r v e her happiness that the b o y s h a v e crossed the
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 227,1
M a g i n o t L i n e in their w a r against the "arch enemy." After all,
"Siegreich woll'n wir Frankreich schlagen" ("Victoriously W e A r e
A i m i n g to Beat France"). There n o w follows, neatly presented, a
special a n n o u n c e m e n t t h a t p r o m i s e s v i c t o r y : f r a m e a n d c o n ­
sciousness a r e once again filled with pictures of the trenches.
If the verbal polemic against France is relatively restrained, the
root c a u s e for this is probably to be found in the fact that the Ger­
m a n s did not wish to offend unnecessarily the collaborating Vichy
g o v e r n m e n t a n d its aging M a r s h a l Retain. Accordingly, the caval­
c a d e of riders o n w h i t e horses on the C h a m p s Elysees in Paris
looks rather tamely anachronistic, as if this sequence h a d been
taken from a historical feature film. Incidentally, Hitler w a s absent
f r o m this p a r a d e a n d only C o l o n e l G e n e r a l F e d o r v o n B o c k
attended. Meanwhile, the G e r m a n flag flies from the top of the Eif­
fel Tower a n d above the m o n u m e n t s of Verdun a n d C o m p i e g n e ,
symbols of G e r m a n y ' s defeat in World W a r I.
The film culminates in a depiction of the capitulation c e r e m o n y
in C o m p i e g n e F o r e s t that is t r o t t e d out w i t h g u s t o . After the
F r e n c h general has reviewed the G e r m a n g u a r d of honor, Hitier—
s h o w n here for the first t i m e — a n d O K W chief Keitel receive the
defeated e n e m y in the s a m e railway car in w h i c h the G e r m a n s
h a d been forced to sign the armistice in 1 9 1 8 , the historic requisite
of the " G e r m a n trauma."!^^
T h e finale s h o w s Hitler, as triumphator Germaniae, a n d his
e n t o u r a g e strutting t h r o u g h Reims Cathedral. The choral music
f r o m "Lieb Vaterland magst ruhig sein" ("Dear F a t h e r l a n d , Rest
Assured") reaches a crescendo. The viewers c a n n o w comfortably
l e a n b a c k in their seats. T h e y k n e w t h e y c o u l d rely o n the
W e h r m a c h t a n d its s u p r e m e c o m m a n d e r Adolf Hitler.
In a concluding tour d'horizon, a final attempt is m a d e to con­
vince potential doubters of the justice of this G e r m a n war. A c c o r d ­
ingly, the m o s t impressive scenes from the m o v i e a p p e a r as a brief
jumble, peaking in a clip of the inexorable a d v a n c e of G e r m a n y ' s
soldiers. The sequence resumes the opening theme: the h a n d s of
soldiers taking their oath to the flag stretched u p w a r d s into the
sky—the symbol of u t m o s t loyalty.
U p to this point, H e r b e r t W i n d t ' s soldiers' s o n g "Auf den
Strassen des Sieges" ("On the Roads of Victory") has been skillfully
n ü x e d in with the visual material. N o w the refrain b e c o m e s the
movie's leitmotif, replacing the slowly m o v i n g swastika flag:
2281 The Triumph of Propaganda
W h e n G e r m a n soldiers a r e o n the m a r c h
N o devil will stop them.
Then the w a r ' s die will be cast
Then the turn of w o r l d history will c o m e
Together with the flags of victory.
Approaching the Downfall
Soldier, y o u are m y buddy.
W h e n our bones begin to fade.
T h e m o o n will shine u p o n us like blue s m o k e .
The m o n k e y roars in the b a m b o o bushes.
Soldier, y o u are m y buddy.
W h e n o u r bones begin to fade.
Song b y Klabund that w a s b a n n e d in the Third Reich
T h e r e g u l a r p e a c e t i m e c i n e m a p r o g r a m c o n s i s t e d of a s h o r t
m o v i e , followed b y a Kulturfilm d o c u m e n t a r y a n d the newsreel,
a n d c o n c l u d e d with the m a i n feature film. During the w a r a n d
d e p e n d i n g on availability, this p r o g r a m tended to b e w e i g h t e d in
favor of the newsreel. Newsreel content w a s adjusted to times that
h a d b e c o m e increasingly darker. Offering h u m o r o u s relaxation
c a m e to b e f r o w n e d u p o n . A s early as 1 9 4 0 , Goebbels w a r n e d
against coloring the newsreels with too m u c h optimism. His Min­
istry a v o i d e d giving the impression that the w a r h a d e n d e d with
the capitulation of France. W h e n , at the e n d of 1 9 4 1 , the Russian
c a m p a i g n experienced its first crisis, Goebbels even a d m i t t e d that
psychological mistakes h a d been m a d e . Until now, the population
h a d b e e n shielded from getting too m u c h unpleasant news.
In the spring of 1 9 4 2 the P r o p a g a n d a Minister r e c o r d e d in his
diary that it w a s necessary to s h o w the population the realities of
w a r f a r e in the East. This w o u l d p r e v e n t t h e m from falling p r e y to
illusions, but also tell t h e m that there is n o difficulty that cannot,
in the end, be o v e r c o m e b y h u m a n will power.'**
L o n g after the end of the Thousand-Year Reich h a d a p p e a r e d
o n the horizon, people quite naively continued to ramble on about
the final victory. However, as the w a r w o r e on, Goebbels recog­
nized that n e w a n d additional psychological difficulties kept aris­
ing. T h u s , in M a y 1 9 4 3 h e w r o t e in his d i a r y t h a t w i t h the
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 229
lengthening of the w a r the problem of the newsreel w o u l d b e c o m e
m o r e acute. H e w a s no longer certain w h a t should be shown.
A r o u n d this time, during the spring of 1 9 4 3 , the p r o p a g a n d a
units of all the services totaled s o m e fifteen thousand. A s to film
reporters, the a r m y h a d about eighty-five, the navy, forty-two, the
air force a n d the A r m e d SS, forty-six each. E v e r y week they sent
their r o u g h s per express to the studios in Berlin w h e r e Goebbels
personally supervised the editing with relentless energy, turning
the interplay of text a n d context into masterpieces of p r o p a g a n d a .
A s w e k n o w from his diaries, he considered the newsreel to be one
of the "really important m e a n s of p r o p a g a n d a that w e have in w a r
at this time." H e a d d e d that it w a s h a r d w o r k each w e e k to put the
newsreel together in such a w a y that it constituted effective p r o ­
p a g a n d a . Overall, Goebbels appears to have applied to the n e w s -
reel w h a t Musil said about literature, i.e., that it w a s its task to
describe not w h a t is, but w h a t should be.
W h e n t h e e s c a l a t i n g c a m p a i g n in the E a s t resulted in a n
erilargement of the p r o p a g a n d a units, a special d e p a r t m e n t w a s
established in the O K W to take charge of their work. A t this time
t h e "Twelve C o m m a n d m e n t s for F i l m R e p o r t e r s " w e r e also
d r a w n u p . The first of these rules read: "Always r e m e m b e r that
millions participate in w o r l d events through y o u r personal c o m ­
m i t m e n t a n d that y o u m u s t give present a n d future generations a
truthful a n d lively description of the gigantic struggle for Ger­
m a n y ' s greatness."
U p to the bitter e n d , Goebbels c o n t i n u e d to believe in the
p o w e r of p r o p a g a n d a a n d in victory with the help of the images it
p r o d u c e d . However, reality h a d long taken a different turn a m o n g
the P K units a n d h a d destroyed all illusions that they h a d helped
to create. F r o m the end of 1 9 4 4 , all P K persormel that w e r e "fit for
the front" (frontverwendungsfdhig) w e r e ordered to join the c o m b a t
troops. B y October 1 9 4 3 m o r e than one thousand P K reporters h a d
been killed in action or h a d been reported missing or w o u n d e d . In
N o v e m b e r 1943 Ufa's m a i n office in which all newsreels w e r e p r o ­
d u c e d w a s h e a v i l y d a m a g e d b y b o m b s . T h e newsreel studios
• w e r e m o v e d to a shack in Buchhorst on the outskirts of Berlin. Yet,
Goebbels's o p t i m i s m remained unshakable, even if at m o s t one
third of the regular personnel w a s still around. O n 22 M a r c h 1 9 4 5
he notes his surprise in his diary "that the G e r m a n people still feel
inclined to g o to the movies. Nevertheless, this is the case to a
v e r y large extent."'*^ It w a s on this 22 M a r c h that the last Deutsche
Wacfen§c/jau w a s r e l e a s e ^
 NonficHonal Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 231
The Triumph of Propaganda
230 :

suggestive question of G e r m a n history: "Do y o u w a n t total w a r ?

A s m a t t e r s w e n t from b a d to w o r s e in the Reich, the d e s p e r a t e
D o y o u w a n t it m o r e total a n d m o r e radical than w e can imagine
will to achieve final v i c t o r y w a s nourished a m o n g the front line
even t o d a y ? " To b e sure, the concept of "total w a r " w a s coined b y
troops a n d at the h o m e front b y Goebbels's fanatical slogans to
Erich Ludendorff w h o g a v e this title to his 1 9 3 5 study on the sub­
h o l d out. Veit H a r l a n , a m a n w h o w a s in a position to know, later
ject of patriotic sacrifice.'*'
characterized the P r o p a g a n d a Minister as the "master of disinfor­
T h e n e w s r e e l also r e c o r d s the r e s p o n s e — t h e "Yes" s h o u t e d
mation." Hitler a n d Goebbels h a d long begxm to realize that they
with great enthusiasm with w h i c h the invited representatives of
w e r e driving the G e r m a n s into an abyss. The ultima ratio of their
the G e r m a n people v o t e d for the descent into total chaos. W h e n
c y n i c i s m w a s precisely this: those "who w o u l d be left after the
Goebbels a s k e d the question w h e t h e r "your confidence in the
struggle w o u l d merely be those of inferior quality, since the g o o d
F ü h r e r is greater, m o r e deeply held, a n d m o r e imshakable than
ones h a d been killed in action." A c c o r d i n g to Speer, Hitler is said
e v e r before," the banner-carriers spontaneously raised their flags
to h a v e opined on 18 M a r c h 1945: "If this w a r is lost, the G e r m a n
in order to give Hitler a noisy salute, albeit from great distance.
p e o p l e will also be lost. This fateful o u t c o m e is inexorable." It w a s
W h e n Goebbels's speech culnünated in the w o r d s : "Now, P e o ­
imnecessary, h e thought, to take a c c o u n t of the G e r m a n s ' needs
ple, arise! A n d s t o r m be unleashed!" the c a m e r a s succeeded in
for their survival u n d e r the m o s t primitive conditions. O n the c o n ­
m a k i n g s u c h a n i m p a c t with their pictures of ecstatically jubilant
trary, it w a s better to d e s t r o y everything. This w o u l d then p r o v e
m a s s e s that this m a y explain w h y so m a n y viewers found them­
that the people h a d been too weak. The future. Hitler c o n c l u d e d ,
selves in total a g r e e m e n t with the Minister's w o r d s . W h a t h a p ­
belonged exclusively to the stronger peoples of the East.'*^
p e n e d a t the Sportpalast is w h a t Hitler h a d d e s c r i b e d in Mein
Hippler h a d this to say in response to intermittent r e p r o a c h e s
Kampf as the " c o m m u n i t y of the great rally." To him, this w a s the
that the newsreel minimized total w a r a n d suppressed the e x t e n t
rally at w h i c h the individual w o u l d fall under the spell of m a s s
of G e r m a n losses from the perspective of the front soldier: the lat­
suggestion, at w h i c h the p e r s o n w h o joined at the beginning, v a c ­
ter w o u l d b e "the last to d e m a n d that the m o s t g r u e s o m e w a r -
illating a n d v e x e d b y doubts, left with firm convictions, having
related events b e r e p r o d u c e d . It will b e e n o u g h for h i m personally
b e c o m e b y the end "a m e m b e r of a community."'''''
to e x p e r i e n c e the h o r r o r s of w a r . . . . The G e r m a n soldier w o u l d
In this connection, E r w i n Leiser quoted from the reports of the
object to the publication of pictures that s h o w e d a c o m r a d e being
Security Police (SD) that regularly monitored m o r a l e a n d public
hit b y an e n e m y bullet."
opinion in the Third Reich until the Nazi leadership stopped t h e m
Deutsche Wochenschau No. 651/10/1943 (passed b y censor o n 2 4
b e c a u s e t h e y h a d b e c o m e too gloomy. W h e n the newsreel w a s
F e b r u a r y 1943): This edition of newsreel provides a g o o d e x a m p l e
released, it is said to "have tangibly heightened the p r o p a g a n d i s ­
of the d e m a g o g i c p o w e r e x e r t e d b y N a z i p r o p a g a n d a . It deals
tic effect of the Sportpalast rally a n d to h a v e raised it even in places
with the capitulation of the 6th A r m y at Stalingrad on 2 F e b r u a r y
w h e r e skepticism h a d hitherto prevailed. E v e n m o r e diffident cir­
1 9 4 3 — a historic date that m a r k s the turning point of the war. This
cles of the population found it difficult to escape from the capti­
defeat w a s reinterpreted as p a r t of an offensive strategy; the w a r
v a t i n g i m p a c t of the s p e e c h that w a s n o w to b e s e e n o n film
w a s n o w f o u g h t in a n i m a g i n a r y p l a c e , s o m e w h e r e , a n d t h e
together with the response from those w h o attended it."
m o v i e g o e r w a s not told w h e r e .
By this time the fate of the 6th A r m y at Stalingrad h a d already
N e w s r e e l s like this one b e c a m e famous not only b e c a u s e of t h e
been sealed. Yet, the newsreel did not even hint at this defeat. O n
infamous w a y in w h i c h the propagandistic dialectic h a d been per­
the contrary, it suggested that G e r m a n t r o o p s w e r e continuing
fected in pictures a n d c o m m e n t a r y , but also because of Goebbels's
their a d v a n c e .
artful rhetoric. His a d d r e s s to the nation f r o m the Berlin Sport­
To be sure, Goebbels a d v o c a t e d a m o r e realistic reporting on
palast on 1 8 F e b r u a r y 1 9 4 3 m u s t be c o u n t e d a m o n g those m a c a b r e
the military situation in the E a s t so that Deutsche Wochenschau
p e r f o r m a n c e s that hypnotized the G e r m a n people a n d d r a g g e d
w o u l d not suffer a further loss of confidence a m o n g the popula­
t h e m into the abyss of defeat. It d o c u m e n t s the m o m e n t w h e n
tion. B u t Hitler explicitly v o t e d against putting the facts o n the
Goebbels asked, "before our enemies w h o a r e listening to us at
screen b y s h o w i n g starkly realistic pictures. A s Goebbels r e c o r d e d
the side of their r a d i o sets," w h a t w a s probably the m o s t fatally
232 s The Triumph of Propaganda
in his diary on 21 J a n u a r y 1 9 4 3 , the regime h a d to begin to face u p
to telling the population about Stalingrad. H e himself h a d a d v o ­
cated this for s o m e time, but Hitier h a d been o p p o s e d to it. It w a s ,
Goebbels felt, d a n g e r o u s to let m a t t e r s drift a n d to inform the
h o m e front only after the event.''''
In the w o r d s of the p o s t w a r G e r m a n w r i t e r H a n s M a g n u s
Enzensberger, Hitier had never thought it possible that the impend­
ing catastrophe, c a p t u r e d on newsreel, might b e c o m e "the only
propellant of history." W h a t Hitler w a n t e d w a s to present N a z i
ideas as the sensational n e w s in optically interesting w a y s in order
to satisfy the himger for "auti:ientic reality"; and he did not plan to
achieve this by showing "corpses that had been flattened, cities that
h a d been laid in ruins, and ships that h a d been b l o w n up." The
only authentic reality that the F ü h r e r w a n t e d to display w a s a
National Socialist one; n o other reality w a s even allowed to exist."'^
A s Peter B u c h e r h a s d e m o n s t r a t e d in his c o m p r e h e n s i v e study,
the N a z i newsreel never again achieved the degree of credibility
t h a t it h a d g a i n e d d u r i n g the c a m p a i g n s a g a i n s t P o l a n d a n d
F r a n c e . Instead, it "increasingly b e c a m e a n object of ridicule."
Bucher also quotes a c o n t e m p o r a r y source from the period after
the fall of C h e r b o u r g in July 1944: "'For m o n t h s on end the N e w s -
reel s h o w e d us the invincibility of the Atlantikwall. N o w the lovely
d r e a m is over.'"'^^
After Stalingrad, the G e r m a n s w h o s a w newsreels b e c a m e wit­
nesses to Hitler's g r a d u a l deterioration, w h i c h he tried to control
w i t h iron discipline. Deutsche Wochenschau No. 660/19 of 2 8 April
1 9 4 3 provides a n illustration of this. Officially d e v o t e d to his fifty-
fourth birthday, it w a s m o r e c o n c e r n e d with his c a m p a i g n s in the
L e n i n g r a d region, in the Ukraine, and a r o u n d the bridgehead at
Kuban. Congratulating h i m on 19 April 1 9 4 3 , Goebbels h a d a fit­
ting explanation for Hitler's o u t w a r d appearance: "Working all
d a y a n d w a k i n g a n d w o r r y i n g at night u n m i s t a k a b l y inscribe
themselves in his face in w e e k s like these. "'^*
T h e newsreels of the 1 9 4 0 - 1 9 4 3 period h a d been d e v o t e d to a
single theme: to secure the "final victory." Relying on the incapac­
ity of the p e o p l e to m a k e clear j u d g m e n t s , the p s y c h o l o g y of
Deutsche Wochenschau had been completely fixed on this objective.
A g a i n s t the b a c k g r o u n d of the c o m m e n t a r y , pictorial a r g u m e n t s
w e r e g e a r e d t o w a r d activating the so-called will to hold out. E a c h
issue w a s directed to c o n d e m n as diabolical the "mortal enemy."
This e n e m y w a s d e n o u n c e d either as a n " E a s t e r n s u b h u m a n "
{ostischer Untermensch) or as an exploitative "decadent capitalist."
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 233
O n e of the hate-filled slogans that the newsreels spread systemat­
ically w a s the notion that G e r m a n s w o u l d be unable to live a
w o r t h w h i l e life in a w o r l d d o m i n a t e d b y Jews. In the language of
the Third Reich, J e w s existed only in the plural or in the collective
singular as "the Jew." There is no space here to e n u m e r a t e all the
c)mical statements about J e w s in their infinite variety.
T h e N o r m a n d y invasion b y the Western Allies on 6 June 1 9 4 4
accelerated the impending defeat of the Third Reich. Thenceforth,
N e m e s i s w a s on Flitier's heels also in the West. Deutsche Wochen­
schau No. 719/26 (passed by censor on 14 June 1944) focuses on this
invasion that h a d been thought impossible until then. A s Film-
Kurier c o m m e n t e d on this particular newsreel: "The G e r m a n front
is being jerked into action.... Fire is spewing from all g u n s . . . . T h e
invaders r u n straight into the hell of the G e r m a n defenses, into a
s y m p h o n y of blood a n d filth.""'^ A n d : "The traces of annihilation,
of the e n o r m o u s losses in m e n and material that the e n e m y suf­
fered in this hell a r e to be seen e v e r y w h e r e . " W e c a n h e a r
Goebbels from the p r o m p t e r ' s box.
Deutsche Wochenschau No. 746/1944 (passed b y c e n s o r o n 2 0
D e c e m b e r 1944); Deutsche Wochenschau No. 747/2/1945 (passed b y
censor on 4 J a n u a r y 1945); Deutsche Wochenschau No. 749/4/1945
(passed b y censor on 18 January 1945): In December 1 9 4 4 the Sovi­
ets h a d b e g u n to m o v e into East Prussia a n d the A m e r i c a n s w e r e
a p p r o a c h i n g the G e r m a n frontier in the West. A n d yet Deutsche
Wochenschau s p r e a d the tale of a n offensive G e r m a n strategy.
Thus, N o . 7 4 7 reported that the W e h r m a c h t w a s taking building
after building, village after village, and that the Allies' tank arrrues
w e r e being smashed.
In N o . 7 4 6 the c o m m e n t a r y ' s heroic tone is reinforced b y the
m u s i c in the background: "Bursts of fire scan the skies ... A battie
of materiel of unimaginable proportions is raging on the g r o u n d .
Walls of fire and steel are put u p between the combatants on both
sides a n d create a z o n e that a p p e a r s to be impenetrable." A g a i n ,
the handwriting w a s Goebbels's. U p to the middle of 1944, Hitler
h a d still personally supervised the production of Deutsche Wochen­
schau; now, from the winter of 1 9 4 4 that r a n g in the last phase of
the chaos, he n o longer s h o w e d an interest.
O n 2 4 D e c e m b e r 1944, the last Christmas E v e under N a z i s m ,
Goebbels's trivial pathos blends with a line from the "Forward!
F o r w a r d ! " s o n g that, h e a d e d b y the flag, promised to lead to eter­
nity. It w a s the flag that w o u l d then also m e a n death to m a n y in
reality. Speaking on G e r m a n radio, Goebbels is m o r e derisory of
234 i The Triumph of Propaganda
the fallen heroes than he offers comfort to those w h o m o u r n them:
" F o r w a r d across the graves! T h e a r m i e s of the d e a d a r e stronger
than w e a r e o n land or at sea. They m a r c h a h e a d of us. They left us
in the noisy battles of the war. They will return to us w h e n the
bells ring in a victorious peace. W e o w e t h e m the Reich m o r e than
w e o w e it to all the living. That is the only m a n d a t e that they h a v e
left us. W e a r e d u t y - b o u n d to fulfill it. L e t us keep o u r h a n d s a n d
hearts p r e p a r e d for this. A s the poet says, the w o r l d will then soon
rejuvenate itself like a n e w b o r n child." In his m o v i e Hitler, ein Film
aus Deutschland (Hitler, a F i l m from Germany, 1 9 7 8 ) H a n s - J ü r g e n
Syberberg used these cynical w o r d s to contrast t h e m with pictures
of the g a s c h a m b e r s a t A u s c h w i t z .
Deutsche Wochenschau No. 749 of the m i d d l e of J a n u a r y 1 9 4 5
t h r e w o u t the last a n c h o r of h o p e . It deals with those m i r a c l e
w e a p o n s for w h i c h the w a r - w e a r y population h a d b e e n p r e p a r e d
for m o n t h s t h r o u g h the deliberate spreading of r u m o r s . Goebbels
tried d e s p e r a t e l y to p r o p a g a n d i z e the m a g i c "V W e a p o n s " as
r e a d y for deployment, although they literally w e r e n o m o r e than
e m p t y shells: "We bring y o u the first pictures of the V-2 rocket on
its flight t o Britain. F o r security reasons they w e r e taken f r o m a
distance, a n d therefore they p r o v i d e n o m o r e than a faint idea of
the actual size of the V-2." Hitler h a d personally reserved for h i m ­
self all decisions concerning newsreel reports on this topic.
Meanwhile, Speer h a d told Hitler on several occasions that he
considered this p r o p a g a n d a quite wrong.'''* O n 2 N o v e m b e r 1 9 4 4
h e a d d e d in a letter to Goebbels that he t h o u g h t it "unwise to
a r o u s e h o p e s in the public w h i c h cannot possibly be fulfilled for a
considerable t i m e . . . . I w o u l d therefore request y o u take m e a s u r e s
so that the daily press a n d technical journals refrain from alluding
to future successes in our a r m a m e n t s production."'*^
Goebbels h a d a n n o u n c e d the c o m i n g of the V-2 in Deutsche
Wochenschau No. 723/30/1944, No. 725/32/1944 a n d No. 737/44/1944,
a n d for the first time in a speech in Breslau o n 8 July 1944. Deutsche
Wochenschau No. 724/31/1944, No. 732/39/1944, a n d No. 735/42/1944
h a d also presented pictures of another miracle w e a p o n , the "one-
m a n torpedo."
In the m e a n t i m e , the endless streams of refugees from the E a s t
c o u l d n o l o n g e r b e c o v e r e d u p . F a c e d w i t h these p r e s s u r e s ,
Goebbels for the first time c o n c e d e d that military defeat w a s a
fact, t h o u g h not an inevitable fate. H e thus constructed the fiction
of a b u l w a r k that w o u l d bring about a last-minute t u r n of the tide.
A s newsreel N o . 7 5 2 p u t it, it w a s u p o n the soil of the Reich that
I
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 235;
"Germany m u s t force a reversal in the fate of Europe." In newsreel
N o . 751 horrifying scenes are to be found of fleeing G e r m a n s w h o
h a d "to give u p their h o m e l a n d a n d their belongings a n d to take
refuge before the a d v a n c i n g H i m s {Mongolensturm)." These pic­
tures spoke a l a n g u a g e that reflected reality.
Deutsche Wochenschau No. 753/8/1945 (passed by censor on 5
M a r c h 1945): "The newsreel that is s h o w n of Berlin is incredible. It
is m y intention to turn the battle for Berlin into a hero's song. The
Berliners deserve this. T h e entire Reich looks t o w a r d the Reich
capital t o d a y with restrained expectation, but a l w a y s also in the
fear that the city is not u p to the pressures. We shall d e m o n s t r a t e
that these fears are groundless." It is w o r t h remembering these
w o r d s b y Goebbels in connection with N o . 7 5 3 / 8 / 1 9 4 5 which,
a p a r t from "atrocities c o m m i t t e d b y Soviet soldiers" a n d "defen­
sive battles" in the regions of Jülich in the Rhineland, Budapest,
Ratibor, a n d Frankfurt on Oder, reported for the first time on the
d e p l o y m e n t of the Volkssturm (People's A r m y ) in Berlin w h o s e
m e m b e r s — t h e v e r y y o u n g a n d elderly draftees—^were construct­
ing b a r r i c a d e s in the beleaguered Reich capital.
Deutsche Wochenschau No. 754/9 (passed b y censor on 16 M a r c h
1945) will be recorded in the armals of journalism as an e x a m p l e of
imbridled demagoguery. It turned every defeat into a victory a n d
celebrated even the s p a s m s of death as signs of recuperation. It
also transformed a w a g e strike in the United States into a conso­
lation for the G e r m a n population's misery.
In m o v i e s like Sieg im Westen, Hitler's troops h a d in fact been
victorious. Yet, in 1 9 4 0 / 4 1 the c o m m e n t a r i e s tended to be m u c h
less euphoric than n o w during the last phase of the catastrophe
a n d in the face of m a n y deaths. A s early as 1 9 3 0 Ernst J ü n g e r h a d
predicted a G e r m a n h o u r of fate that "possessed mythical dimen­
sions." O n l y in Germany, he w r o t e , a n d "in the face of death w a s
it possible that G e r m a n i c irmocence w a s preserved in the hearts of
the best."'78
Of c o u r s e , those w h o kept on producing the newsreels knew
that all w a s lost. Nevertheless, they fabricated texts that, while
they read like satire today, m u s t h a v e sounded to contemporaries,
if not d e a d l y serious, at least like p u r e C5micism. Goebbels h a d
once w i s h e d to attract the Jewish satirist Robert N e u m a n n to the
Völkischer Beobachter "so that e v e r y o n e w o u l d read the p a p e r with
interest.""^ N o w it w a s mostly the Minister himself w h o beefed
u p the d e m a g o g i c content of his p r o p a g a n d a . H e ordered H i p ­
pler, the director of the Ministry's film d e p a r t m e n t , to submit the
236 S The Triumph of Propaganda
r o u g h s of e v e r y single newsreel edition. Goebbels then corrected
it a n d a c c e n t u a t e d its thrust a n d context. A b o v e all, h e c h a n g e d
the c o m m e n t a r i e s . A t the b e g i n n i n g of e a c h w e e k , H i p p l e r
a p p e a r e d before Goebbels with "the silent r o u g h s " a n d later with
the fully edited version. "We then discussed a n d decided w h e t h e r
and w h a t should be modified and complemented."'™ Hippler
a d d e d : "It w a s not a m a t t e r of 'objective' reporting, of well-bal­
a n c e d neutrality, but of [providing] optimistic p r o p a g a n d a that
e x u d e d confidence in v i c t o r y a n d 'recognized o u r right.' [Our
efforts] w e r e designed to strengthen the spiritual potential of the
G e r m a n people to fight."'^!
It suffices to present four e x a m p l e s of this type of p r o p a g a n d a
d u r i n g the final phase of Deutsche Wochenschau a n d the Greater
G e r m a n Reich. W h a t is significant about t h e m is that they, too, d o
not say m u c h about the actual situation. The first sequence of No.
754/9/1945, reporting on events in the United States, s h o w s violent
clashes between strikers a n d the police. In effect, these clips date
from 1 9 3 7 a n d w e r e taken in C h i c a g o . The c o m m e n t a r y p e r p e ­
trates several lies at the s a m e time: "Workers protesting against
low w a g e s in an A m e r i c a n industrial t o w n are beaten u p [by the
police]. Since the seizure of p o w e r [in 1933], police clubs h a v e dis­
a p p e a r e d in Germany." Indeed, Hitler's h e n c h m e n did not n e e d
clubs; they h a d concentration c a m p s .
The next sequence suggests the a d v a n c e of G e r m a n troops in
the West: "These a r e the mercenaries of an ambitious U.S. general
w h o once again closely rrüssed his target. H e did not succeed in
w i n n i n g a C a n n a e [total victory] against the G e r m a n troops. Just
like in the East, G e r m a n soldiers fight on stolidly for as long as
t h e y breathe. The bulk of the G e r m a n a r m y g r o u p h a s crossed the
river with all its h e a v y weapons." W h a t the newsreel did not say
w a s that the W e h r m a c h t w a s crossing the river on its retreat.
The third sequence s h o w s units of the "Committee for the Lib­
eration of the Peoples of Russia" m a r c h i n g by, equipped with the
"most m o d e m weapons," w h i c h belonged to the collaborationist
Vlassow A r m y . In the fourth sequence, Bolshevik soldiers are seen
attacking the K u r l a n d bridgehead in the Baltics n o less than four
times. A n d "four times their offensive w a s t u m e d back with enor­
m o u s losses in m e n a n d material." The c o n u n e n t a t o r does not say
w h o suffered those losses.
The fifth sequence depicts refugees trekking across the frozen
Haff o n the E a s t Prussian Baltic c o a s t "from d a w n t o d u s k " to
r e a c h "the shelter of the Reich." T h e n e x t s e q u e n c e c a p t u r e s
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 237 !
SS-Obersturmbannßhrer O t t o Skorzeny, w h o h a d been involved in
the kidnapping of Mussolini in September 1 9 4 3 a n d h a d b e c o m e a
p o p u l a r hero. H e is trying to spread confidence with swashbuck­
ling w o r d s in the style of a mercenary: "Even Ivan can be beaten.
O u r b u n c h has p r o v e d it."
T h e c o m m e n t a r y a c c o m p a n y i n g the seventh sequence e x u d e s a
victorious m o o d : "In t o u g h fights, street after street is cleared out
b y tanks a n d infantry. B e t w e e n b u r n i n g buildings, g r e n a d i e r s
equipped with anti-tank guns slowly m o v e forward to finish off
the r e m n a n t s of the retreating Bolsheviks. Just as in the West, the
w a r has b e c o m e m o r e than ever a m a t t e r for the entire population
in the Görlitz region [just w e s t of Silesia]. Liberation of the City of
Lauban: in the first d a y s of M a r c h G e r m a n tanks a n d grenadiers
l a u n c h their c o u n t e r a t t a c k w i t h s t r o n g s u p p o r t f r o m the air
against this t o w n outside Görlitz. After days of heated fighting,
the G e r m a n s m o v e into the t o w n on 6 M a r c h . " Goebbels is then
seen decorating Wilhelm Hübner, a sixteen-year-old Hitler Youth
with the Iron C r o s s "in the marketplace of L a u b a n that has only
just been retaken."
The eighth sequence, dealing with Soviet atrocities, is designed
to distract from the regime's terrible crimes against the J e w s of
E u r o p e b y denouncing the Russians: "In this field, too, the Bolshe­
vik beasts h a v e corrunitted the w o r s t crimes. All decent G e r m a n s
see their blood pressure rise w h e n considering the bestial activities
of these subhumans. These are the allies of Roosevelt's Christian
soldiers. M u r d e r o u s deeds betraying a horrific sadism h a v e once
again d e m o n s t r a t e d to the G e r m a n soldier that there m u s t be n o
retreat before, a n d n o p a r d o n for, this enemy.—^A w o m a n in chains
w h o has been d r a g g e d to her death." This is w h e r e the newsreel
followed Goebbels's advice from the time of s t m g g l e before 1933
literally: to keep the p r o p a g a n d a machine " i n t a c t . . . w e m u s t n o w
appeal to the m o s t primitive m a s s instincts."
In the runth sequence Goebbels's neurotic rhetoric triimiphs one
m o r e time. The c a m e r a discovers signs of hope on the gaunt faces
of a r m a m e n t s w o r k e r s a n d of exhausted soldiers as they listen
d e v o u t l y to the Minister's w o r d s that will be quoted here only in
their m o s t typical key sentences:
Our soldiers will know and offer no pardon when they now start
their offensive in various parts of the eastern front. The divisions
that have already begun their smaller offensives and will, in the
course of the next weeks and months, launch major offensives, will
enter the fight as if they are going to a chvirch service. And when
238 The Triumph of Propaganda
they shoulder their arms and mount their armored vehicles they
wiü have in front of their eyes nothing but the killed children and
their raped women. And a shout for revenge will rise from their
chests that will cause the enemy to turn pale. Just as the Führer has
mastered the crises of the past, he will also master this one. He is
firmly convinced of this. As he said to me only the day before yes­
terday, "I am firmly convinced that we shall overcome this crisis,
and I firmly believe also that we shall beat and roll back the enemy
once we throw in our new offensive armies; and I believe as firmly
that one day we shall pin victory to our banners as I have ever
firmly believed in something in my life." To our Führer Adolf
Hitler: Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil.
As during the p r e - 1 9 3 3 period, Goebbels, d u r i n g the final agonies
of the N a z i regime, transforms the faith in Hitler's invincibility
into a "religion of success" (Carl Friedrich v o n Weizsäcker). F o r
h i m rhetoric w a s a r g u m e n t , not enlightenment.
W e c a n be certain that this newsreel promising victory b y the
side of the m a s s g r a v e of the Third Reich, m a d e with d e m a g o g i c
virtuosity a n d including Goebbels's speech, will be used in semi­
n a r s to analyze paradigmatically his verbal, mimic, a n d gestural
p o w e r s . A p a r t from providing an insight into his psyche, his Gör­
litz speech also offers a telling picture of the state of the ( G e r m a n )
m a s s soul that the Nazis w o u l d h a v e liked to p r e s e r v e forever.
The tenth sequence of the newsreel s h o w s Hitler for the penul­
timate time as a m a n w h o is a physical a n d mental wreck. Yet, the
c o m m e n t a t o r annovmces h i m cheerfully: "The Führer is here! The
joyful w e l c o m e of the soldiers is like an oath of loyalty of all fight­
ers to the m a n w h o is holding Germany's a n d E u r o p e ' s fate in his
h a n d s — a n d w h o will m a s t e r it!" O n c e this m a n h a d been Ger­
m a n y ' s shining h e r o . N o w the Götterdämmerung is d e t e r m i n e d
m o r e b y the somber figure of that s a m e man: slowly d r a g g i n g his
feet a n d bent forward by ill health, h e walks u p to a g r o u p of offi­
cers w h o m h e greets with a handshake. Seated at a table, h e m a k e s
a few jerky m o v e m e n t s ; his p h y s i o g n o m y looks nervous; he utters
s o m e hectic sentences that the newsreel does not reproduce.
Hitler walks past s o m e soldiers t o w a r d the c a m e r a before he
gets into his car. T h e w h o l e scene leaves a ghostly impression, a s if
Hitler's final "exit" is to be hinted at. It is difficult to conceive of a
starker contrast between Goebbels's strong w o r d s just earlier o n in
this newsreel. A s the P r o p a g a n d a Minister notes in his diary on 4
M a r c h 1945: "I noticed with d i s m a y that the n e r v o u s twitch of his
left h a n d has greatly increased."'*^ A w e e k earlier on 2 4 F e b r u a r y
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda
239 i
w h e n h e m e t w i t h Gauleiter Karl Wahl, Hitler m a d e "the impres­
sion of a m a n w h o w a s visibly ill a n d at the end of his tether."'*^
A l t h o u g h Hitler k n e w that the w a r h a d been lost, h e nonetheless
p r i d e d himself on his "success" in having exterminated the J e w s
of E u r o p e . Thus, h e w r o t e in his "Testament": "I, at a n y rate, h a v e
forced w o r l d J e w r y to d r o p its mask; a n d even if our efforts h a v e
failed, that failure will merely be ephemeral; for I h a v e opened the
eyes of the w o r l d to the Jewish danger."'^
T h e t e n - p a r t Deutsche Wochenschau No. 755/10/1945 that w a s
released o n 2 7 M a r c h 1 9 4 5 a d d s u p to a fateful d o c u m e n t not just
b e c a u s e of the w a y it ends; it also contains the last clips of Hitler.
Together w i t h Reich Y o u t h L e a d e r A r t h u r A x m a n n , the Führer,
m a r k e d b y d e a t h a n d a psychic wreck, distributes the Iron C r o s s
t o t w e n t y teenage Hitler Youths in the g a r d e n of the Reich c h a n ­
cellery. The last gesture that w e h a v e of him—his gentle stroking
of the cheek of a thirteen-year-old Pimpf—was perhaps the only
sign of h u m a n i t y or even of reluctant emotion on the p a r t of the
F ü h r e r d u r i n g his demise; but it also symbolizes the perversion of
a w a r to the bitter e n d . E r i c h F r o m m , the p s y c h o a n a l y s t , h a s
a r g u e d that w h o e v e r w a n t s to u n d e r s t a n d Hitler's personality,
should realize that "the m a s k that covered the face of this restless
m a n w a s t h a t of a n affable, polite, self-contained, a n d a l m o s t
timid person."'*^ F r o m m , w h o h a d left G e r m a n y in 1 9 3 4 , d i d not
k n o w Hitler.
T h e other p a r t s of the newsreel, reporting o n the retreat along
the eastern front from Breslau, Körügsberg, a n d Stettin, give the
impression that General L a s c h a n d Gauleiter K o c h are the m a s t e r s
of events a n d even of the offensive, as they lean over their m a p s .
A screen-filling m a p d o e s not offer a n y details about the location
of the front line. G e r m a n troops h a d a b a n d o n e d the bridgehead
a r o u n d Stettin on 2 0 M a r c h 1 9 4 5 , the w e e k before this newsreel
w a s released. A n o t h e r scene tells the viewer that half a million
G e r m a n s w e r e being "brought back into the Reich" by ship, while
G e r m a n w a r s h i p s are said to be delivering w e a p o n s to the Kur­
land region. N o r does this newsreel miss the opportunity to talk of
Soviet atrocities, with plundering a n d m u r d e r i n g Russians r a p i n g
sixty-year-old g r a n d m o t h e r s , a n d — t o be sure—in the m o s t bestial
a n d p e r v e r t e d manner.
A c c o r d i n g to this last Deutsche Wochenschau "the G e r m a n peo­
ple [continue to] fulfill their d u t y ... a n d one pressing need: to fight
a n d stand fast." However, instead of fighting a n d standing fast,
instead o f "taking u p position a t intersections with anti-taiik g u n .
 The Triumph of Propaganda
240
m a c h i n e pistol, a n d rifle," as Goebbels h a d written in Völkischer
Beobachter o n 2 4 April 1 9 4 5 in a salute to the F ü h r e r ' s "genius,"
H i t l e r p r e f e r r e d t o w i t h d r a w f r o m his m u c h - v a u n t e d Volks­
gemeinschaft b y c o m m i t t i n g suicide in his "Reich capital" a w e e k
later, o n 3 0 April 1 9 4 5 . Goebbels followed h i m o n the n e x t d a y to
w h e r e the flag in the H o r s t Wessel s o n g h a d pointed b o t h of t h e m .
Hangmen Also Die is the title of the A m e r i c a n film a b o u t Rein-
h a r d H e y d r i c h , Hitler's m a n in c h a r g e of the Reich Security M a i n
Office. Fritz L a n g m a d e it o n the basis of a script b y Bertolt Brecht
to honor, t o g e t h e r w i t h the v i c t i m s of the village of Lidice that h a d
b e e n r a z e d to the g r o u n d after the assassination of H e y d r i c h in
1942, the i n n u m e r a b l e m e n a n d w o m e n w h o h a d been m u r d e r e d
b y Hitler's s t o o g e s H i m m l e r , E i c h m a n n et al. H a n s Eisler w r o t e a
m o v i n g a n d thoughtful s o n g for this m o v i e that h e called "No
surrender." B u t it w a s n o c o n s o l a t i o n for the v i c t i m s of L i d i c e ,
W a r s a w , A u s c h w i t z , B u c h e n w a l d , a n d other places of terror t h a t
the executioners themselves died a violent death—Hitler a n d
H i m m l e r , G o e b b e l s a n d G o r i n g c o m m i t t e d suicide; E i c h m a n n
w e n t t o the gallows.
T h e m a s s m u r d e r e r s d o not o c c u p y a hero's g r a v e ; n o flag r u s ­
tles a b o v e t h e m . O n the o c c a s i o n of the v i c t o r y celebrations in
M o s c o w , the blood b a n n e r s t h a t h a d o n c e b e e n elevated to p o n ­
d e r o u s symbols w e r e t h r o w n into the slushy s n o w o n R e d S q u a r e .
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 241
Notes i
1. F Lampe, "Kulturfilm und Filmkultur" in Das Kulturfilmbuch (Munich, 1924),
p. 24.
2. Rudolf Oertel, Der Filmspiegel (Wien, 1941), pp. 227f.
3. Nicholas Kaufmann, "Sein Feld ist die gesamte Welt" in: Filmforum, vol. 4, no.
11,1955, p. 7.
4. E. W. M. Lichtwark in Kulturfilm-Almanach (Hamburg, 1948).
5. Nelson Goodman, "Kunst und Erkenntnis" in Dieter Henrich and Wolfgang
Iser, eds., Theorien der Kunst (Frankfurt, 1984).
6. Oskar Kalbus, Pioniere des Kulturfilms, p. 27.
7. M. Pfeiffer in Die Bedeutung des Films und Lichtbildes (Munich, 1917), p. 33.
8. Oskar Kalbus, Pioniere des Kulturfilms, p. 27.
9. Leopold Gutterer, "Form und Gehalt. Die geistigen und materiellen Grund­
lagen der heutigen deutschen Kulturfilmarbeit" in Der deutsche Film, vol. 7, no.
8 / 9 , 1 9 4 2 , p. 2.
10. Kurt Tucholsky in Die Schaubühne Berlin, 23 April 1914.
11. Alexander Elster in Bild und Film, quoted in Marlies Krebstakies, ed.. Die Ufa. Auf
den Spuren einer grossen Filmfabrik. Berlin von 1920 bis 1945 (exhibition catalogue
publ. under the auspices of the Bezirksamt Tempelhof) (Berlin, 1987), p. 30.
12. Oskar Kalbus, Pioniere des Kulturfilms, p. 46.
13. Neue Sachlichkeit (catalogue for an exhibition on German Expressionism at the
Städtische Kurwthalle Mannheim, 14 June-13 September 1925), with an intro­
duction by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub (Mannheim, 1925).
14. Siegfried Kracauer, Theorie des Films (Frankfurt, 1964), English translation The­
ory of Film (London, 1965).
15. Ulrich Kurowski, ed., Lexikon des internationalen Films (Munich, 1975), vol. 1, p. 60.
16. B61a Baläzs, Der Geist des Films (Halle, 1930), pp. 215f.
17. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf p. 526.
18. Fritz Hippler, Betrachtungen zum Filmschaffen (Beriin, 1943).
19. Ibid.
20. Georg Lukäcs, "Gedanken zu einer Ästhetik des Kinos" in Peter Ludz, ed., Georg
Lukäcs. V/erkauswahl (Neuwied, 1972), vol. 1: Schriften zur Literatursoziologie.
21. Joseph Goebbels, Der steile Außtieg, p. XIII.
22. Margarete Mitscherlich, "Triumph der Verdrängung" in Stern, no. 42,1987, p. 32.
23. Thomas Mann, Gesammelte Werke in zwölf Bänden (Frankhirt, 1960), vol. 10, p. 394.
24. Leni Riefer\stahl, Memoiren (Munich, 1987), p. 212.
25. Klaus Theweleit, Männerphantasien (Basel, 1986), vol. 2, p. 64.
26. Das deutsche Lichtspielgesetz vom 16.2.1934, clause 2, para. 5 in Reichsgesetz­
blatt, pt 1, Beriin, 1934, no. 1894, p. 95.
242 i The Triumph of Propaganda
27. Johannes Eckhardt, "Abbild und Sinnbild" in Der deutsche Film, vol. 3, no. 1,
1938, p. 44.
28. Alfred Kerr, "Kino" in Pan, vol. 3, 1912/13, pp. 553-54, repr. in Kino-Debatte
(Tübingen, 1978), p. 76.
29. Anton Kutter, "Der 'utopische' Kulturfilm" in Der deutsche Film, vol. 7, no.
8 / 9 , 1 9 4 2 , p. 18.
30. Heinrich Koch and Heinrich Braune, Von deutscher Filmkunst (Mimich, 1943), p.
4 of photo section.
31. Susan Sontag, Kunst und Antikunst (Munich, 1980), p. 31.
32. Hans Richter, Der Kampf um den Film (Frankhirt, 1979), p. 37.
33. Peter von Werder, Trugbild und Wirklichkeit. Aufgaben des Films im Umbruch der
Zeit (Leipzig, 1943), p. 10.
34. Bertolt Brecht, "Der Dreigroschenprozess, 1931" in Siegfried Unseld, ed.,
Brechts Dreigroschenbuch (Frankfurt, 1960), pp. 93f.
35. Rudolf Oertel, Macht und Magie des Films (Frankfurt, 1959), p. 75.
36. Friedrich R von Zglinicki, Der Weg des Films (Berlin, 1965), p. 336.
37. Ibid.
38. Oskar Messter, Man Weg mit dem Film (Beriin, 1936), p. 130.
39. Egon Friedell, "Prolog vor dem Film" in Das junge Deutschland. Blätter des
Deutschen Theaters Berlin, vol. 2,1912, p. 509.
40. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf
41. Rudolf Oertel, Der Filmspiegel, p. 236.
42. Egon Friedell, "Prolog vor dem Film," p. 510.
43. Joseph Goebbels, Rede des Reichsministers Dr. Joseph Goebbels bei der Eröffnung
der Reichskulturkammer am 15. November 1933 (Frankhirt, 1933).
44. Charles Darwin, Descent of Man (New York, 1886).
45. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (Boston, 1943), p. 184.
46. Andreas Hillgruber, "Imperialismus und Rassendoktrin als Ken^tück der NS-
Ideologie" in Leo Haupts, ed., Strukturelemente des Nationalisozialismus
(Cologne, 1981), pp. 11-36.
47. Eberhard Jäckel, Hitler's World View (Cambridge, Mass., 1981), p. 81.
48. Siegfried Kracauer, Von Caligari bis Hitler, vol. 2, p. 339.
49. Idem, Theorie des Films, p. 220.
50. Quoted in Hermann Glaser, Das dritte Räch (Freiburg, 1961), p. 57.
51. Hans Traub, Film als politisches Machtmittel (Munich, 1933), pp. 26ff.
52. Sergei Eisenstein, "Perspektiven" in H.-J. Schlegel, ed., Sergei Eisenstein.
Schriften (Munich, 1973).
53. Joseph Goebbels, "Rede vor den Filmschaffenden in der KroU-Oper am 10.
Februar 1934" in Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, 11 February 1934.
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda
243 i
54. Sergei Eisenstein "Über den Faschismus, die deutsche Filmkunst und das
echte Leben" in H.-J. Schlegel, ed., Sergei Eisenstein, vol. 2, p. 210.
55. Bertolt Brecht, Gesammelte Werke (Frankfurt, 1967).
56. Vsevolod Pudovkin, "Die grundlegenden Etappen in der Entwicklung des
sowjetischen Films" in V. Pudovkin et al.. Der sowjetische Film (Berlin-East,
1953), p. 16.
57. Ibid., p. 17.
58. Ulrich Kurowski, Lexikon Film, p. 121.
59. Thomas Mann, Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man (New York, 1982), p. 402.
60. Paul Rötha, Documentary Film (London, 1951), p. 142.
61. Hilmar Hoffmann, "Triumph des Willens" in Rheinischer Merkur/Christ und
Welt, 29 May 1987.
62. Gert Kalow, Hitler—Das deutsche Trauma (Munich, 1974), p. 42.
63. Siegfried Kracauer, Von Caligari bis Hitler, p. 328 (appendix to new 1979 edition).
64. Siegfried Kracauer, Theorie des Films; cf. Hilmar Hoffmann, "Abfallhaufen des
Kinos. Über Kracauers Theorie des Films" in Nürnberger Nachrichten, 10 Octo­
ber 1970, p. 18.
65. Martin Loiperdinger, Ritmle der Mobilmachung (Opladen, 1987), p. 34.
66. Ibid., pp. 34f.
67. Siegfried Kracauer, Theorie des Films, p. 354.
68. Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human (Lincoln, NE, and London, 1984),
p.51.
69. Pierre Bourdieu, Sozialer Sinn (Frankhirt, 1987), p. 127.
70. Ibid., p. 128.
71. Institut für den wissenschaftlichen Film, ed., Publikationen zu wissenschaftlichen
Filmen (Göttingen, 1977), vol. 4, p. 15 (article by A. Tyrell).
72. Walter Benjamin, Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit
(Frankfurt, 1969), p. 42.
73. Leni Riefer^tahl, Memoiren, p. 222.
74. Walter Hagemann, Publizistik im Dritten Räch (Hamburg, 1948), p. 123.
75. Fritz Hippler, "Der Tod in Kunst und Film" in Der deutsche Film, vol. 6, no.
6/7,1941.
76. Hans Traub, ed.. Die Ufa, p. 165.
77. Ibid., p. 112.
78. Sergei Eisenstein, "Open Letter to the German Propaganda Minister Dr.
Goebbels" in: Literaturnaya gazeta, 22 March 1934.
79. Chronik 1938 (Dorhnund, 1987), p. 70.
80. Sergei Eisenstein, Ausgewählte Aufsätze (Berlin-East, 1960), p. 207.
81. Ulrich Kurowski, Lexikon Film, p. 83.
244 • The Triumph of Propaganda
82.H.-J. Schlegel, ed., Sergei Eisenstein. Schriften, vol. 2, p. 138.
83. Nicholas Kaufmann in Hans Traub, Die Ufa, p. 183.
84. Jay Leyda, Film aus Filmen (Berlin-East, 1967), pp. 24f.
85. Hilmar Hoffmann, Marginalien zu einer Theorie der Filmmontage (Bochum, 1969),
p.26.
86. Ibid.
87. Marcel Martin, cited in Georges Sadoul, Dictionary of Films (Los Angeles, 1972),
p. 150.
88. Jay Leyda, Film aus Filmen, p. 104.
89. Hans-Magnus Enzensberger, "Scherbenwelt—Anatomie einer Wochenschau"
in idem, Einzelheiten vol. 1: Bewusstseins-Industrie (Frankfurt, 1964), pp. 106-33.
90. Jean-Luc Godard, "Feuer frei auf die 'Carabiniers'" in Frieda Graefe, ed.,
Jean-Luc Godard. Ausgewählte Kritiken und Aufsätze über Film, 1950-1970
(München, 1971).
91. Goebbels in a speech on 8 February 1942, repr. in Joseph Goebbels, Reden.
92. Das schwarze Korps, 3 July 1941.
93. Helmut Krausnick, Hitlers Einsatzgruppen (Frankfurt, 1985).
94. Christian Hacke, "So unschuldig war die Generalität nicht" in Die Zeit, 29
November 1985, p. 19.
95. Alexander and Margarete Mitscherlich, Die Unfähigkeit zu trauern.
96. Paul Celan, "Todesfuge" in idem, Mohn und Gedächtnis (Frankfurt, 1975), pp. 37ff.
97. Hans Zöberlein, Befehl des Gewissens (Munich, 1937).
98. Film-Kurier, 20 January 1941. Cf. Joseph Wulf, Lodz. Das letzte Ghetto auf polnis­
chem Boden (Bonn, 1962).
99. Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, 29 November 1940.
100. Illustrierter Film-Kurier, 1940.
101. Michel Foucault, Überwachen und Strafen (Frankfurt, 1976), p.47, English trans­
lation Discipline and Punish (New York, 1977).
102. Albert Memmi, Rassismus (Frankfurt, 1987).
103. Ibid.
104. Joseph Goebbels in Das Reich, no. 27,1941.
105. Paul Virilio, Krieg und Kino (Munich, 1986), p. 110.
106. Carl Cranz in Der deutsche Film, vol. 6 / 7 , no. 42,1941, p. 4.
107. Paul Virilio, Krieg und Kino, pp. 35f.
108. Antoine Saint-Exup^ry, Flug nach Arras (Stockholm, 1942), Enghsh translation
Flight to Arras (New York, 1942).
109. Illustrierter Film-Kurier, 28 April 1940.
110. Ibid.
Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 245]
111. Jay Leyda, Film aus Filmen, pp. 160f.
112. Johan Huizinga, Im Schatten von morgen (Berne, 1935).
113. Michail Romm, "Wer sich anpasst, altert rasch. Ein Gespräch aus dem Jahre
1965" in Friedrich Hitzer, ed., Zeitzeichen aus der Ferne (Hamburg, 1987), p. 91.
114. Kinemathek, no. 24, February 1966, p. 3.
115. Horst Knietzsch, Film gestern und heute (Leipzig, 1967), p. 444.
116. Michail Romm, see note 113 above, p. 99.
117. Hermann Herlighaus, ed., Dokumentaristen der Welt (Berlin-East, 1982), p. 62.
118. Richard Griffiths in Paul Rötha, Documentary Film, p. 310.
119. Cf. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, vol. 3, no. 2,1983, pp. 171f.
120. Richard M. Barsam, Nonfiction Film (Bloomington, Ind., 1973), p. 236.
121. Bundesarchiv Koblenz, R 1 0 9 III—Universum Fihn AG, letter of 25 July 1944.
122. Jan-Christopher Horak, Anti-Nazi-Filme der deutschsprachigen Emigration von
Hollywood, 1939-1945 (Münster, 1985).
123. Vsevolod Pudovkin quoted in Ulrich Kurowski, Lexikon Film, p. 76.
124. Hans Richter, "Der Film-Essay. Eine neue Form des Dokumentarfilms" in
Nalional-Zeitung (Basle), 25 April 1940 (supplement).
125. Quoted in Joseph Wulf, Theater und Film im Dritten Reich (Gütersloh, 1964), p. 300.
126. Kurt Wolf, "Entwicklung und Neugestaltung der deutschen Filmwirtschaft
seit 1933," unpubl. Ph.D. thesis, Heidelberg Uiuversity, February 1938.
127. Joseph Goebbels, Reden, vol. 1, p. 238.
128. Fritz Hippler, Betrachtungen zum Filmschaffen.
129. Joseph Goebbels, Reden, vol. 1, p. 250.
130. Fritz Hippler, Die Verstrickung. Auch ein Filmbuch (Düsseldorf, 1983).
131. Hans-Joachim Giese in Leipziger Beiträge zur Erforschung der Publizistik, vol. 5
(Dresden, 1940).
132. Liz-Anne Bawden and Wolfram Tichy, eds., rororo Filmlexikon (Reinbek near
Hamburg, 1978).
133. Rudolf Oertel, Der Filmspiegel, p. 236.
\U.Film-Kurier, 18 September 1936.
135. Siegfried Kracauer, Kino (Frankfurt, 1974).
136. Peter Bucher, "Machtergreifung und Wochenschau" in Publizistik, vol. 30, no.
2 / 3 , 1 9 8 5 , p. 190.
137. Ibid., p. 193.
138. Ibid., p. 190.
139. Heinrich Mann, "Der Film" in Anton Kaes, ed., Kino-Debatte (Tübingen, 1978),
p. 167.
140. Stefan Dolezel, ed., German Newsreel, 1933-1947 (Munich, 1984), pp. 9f.
 Nonfictional Genres of Nazi Film Propaganda 247
246 The Triumph of Propaganda

171. Joseph Goebbels, Tagebücher aus den Jahren 1942-43.

141. Hans-Joachim Giese, "Ganz gewusst" in: Joseph Wulf, Theater und Film im
172. Hans Magnus Enzensberger, "Scherbenwelt."
Dritten Reich (Frankhirt, 1983), pp. 363f.
173. Peter Bucher, "Goebbels und die deutsche Wochenschau" in Militärge­
142.Joharmes Eckhardt, Abbild und Sinnbild, p. 44.
schichtliche Mitteilungen, 2 / 1 9 8 6 , pp. 53-69.
143. Filmdokumente zur Zeitgeschichte, No. 34,1958: Die Entwicklung der Wochenschau in
174. Joseph Goebbels, Reden, vol. 2, p. 212.
Deutschland. Ufa-Tonwoche Nr. 451/1939. Hitlers 50. Geburtstag (Göttingen, 1960).
175. Helmut Hagenried, "Dokument vom Kampf gegen die Invasion" in Film-
144. Erich Kordt, Wahn und Wirklichkeit (Stuttgart, 1948), p. 152.
Kurier, 20 July 1944.
145. Georg Santo, "Parade als Paradestück" in 25 Jahre Wochenschau der Ufa
176. Albert Speer, Inside the Third Reich (London, 1971), p. 549.
(Beriin, 1939).
177. Ibid., p. 550.
146. Peter Bucher, "Wochenschau und Staat" in Geschichte in Wissenschaft und Unter­
178. Emst Jünger, "Die totale Mobilmachung" in idem, Krieg und Krieger (Berlin,
richt, no. 11,1984.
1930).
147. Heinrich Roellenbleg, "Von der Arbeit an der Deutschen Wochenschau" in Der
deutsche Film, special issue, 1940/41. 179. Fritz Hippler, Die Verstrickung, p. 186.

148. Heinrich Koch and Heinrich Braune, Von deutscher Filmkunst, p. 3. 180. Ibid., pp. 185f.
181.Ibid.
149. Joseph Goebbels, Das eherne Herz (Munich, 1943).
182. Joseph Goebbels, Final Entries 1945 (New York, 1978), p. 40.
150. Esther Shub et al., Dsiga Vertov. Publizist und Poet des Dokumentarfilms
(Berlin, 1960). 183.Kari Wahl, Patrioten als Verbrecher (Heusendamm, 1973), p. 155.

151. Fritz Hippler, "Fragen und Probleme der deutschen Wochenschau im Kriege" 184. F. Genoud, ed., The Testament of Adolf Hitler. Bormann Documents, February-April
in idem, Betrachtungen zum Filmschaffen. 1945 (London, 1962).

152. Rudolf Oertel, Der Filmspiegel, p. 237. 185. Erich Fromm, Anatomie der menschlichen Destruktivität (Shittgart, 1974), p. 383,
Enghsh translation The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness (New York, 1973).
l53.Film-Kurier, 25 August 1939.
154. Hans Bertram, "Wie der Fliegerfilm entstand" in Jenaer Zeitung, 11 April 1940.
155. Oskar Wesel in Film-Kurier, 8 August 1941.
156. Joseph Goebbels in Der deutsche Film, vol. 5, no. 11,1940, p. 220.
157. Emst Wisshaupt, ed.. Der grosse deutsche Feldzug gegen Polen (Wien, 1940).
158. Felix Heseleit, "Die neue Wochenschau" in Film-Kurier, 11 July 1940.
159. Hans Spielhofer in Der deutsche Film, February 1941.
160. Harw-Joachim Giese, Die Filmxvochenschau im Dienste der Politik (Dresden, 1940).
161. Alfred Rosenberg, Blut und Ehre, p. 280.
162. Hans Traub, Der Film als politisches Machtmittel, p. 24.
163. Cf. P. M. H. Bell, The Origins of the Second World War (London, 1986), pp. 268ff.
164. Siegfried Kracauer, Kino, p. 336.
165. Bundesarchiv Koblenz, NS 10, no. 44, "Aus der Persönlichen Adjutantur des
Führers und Reichskanzlers."
166. Joseph Goebbels, Tagebücher aus den Jahren 1942-43 (Zürich, 1948).
167. Joseph Goebbels, Tagebücher 1945 (Hamburg, 1977).
168. Erwin Leiser, Deutschland Erwache! (Reinbek near Hamburg, 1968), p. 113.
169. Erich Ludendorff, Der totale Krieg (Munich, 1935).
170. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (German original), p. 563.
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 Index of Names 251

Eckardt, Johannes, 203 Goebbels, Joseph, passim

INDEX OF NAMES Ebert, Friedrich, 1 0 , 1 7 Gödecke, Heinz, 181
Edward Vll, King of England, 8 0 , 1 9 5 Goring, Hermann, 17,178f., 180,198,
Eichmann, Adolf, 240 205, 216, 240
Abbe, Ernst, 117 Brunei, Fritz, 176, 221
Einstein, Albert, 122 Goethe, Johann Wolfgang, 115,131f.
Adomo, Theodor W., 70, 85, 88, Bucher, Peter, xii, 198, 232
Eisenstein, Sergei N., 32f., 123,144f., Goodman, Nelson, 119
93,175 Buck, Jules, 187
157,161,163f. Gorki, Maxim, 146
Albrecht, Gerd, xif., 209 Bufiuel, Luis, 168,191
Eisler, Hanns, 2 7 , 1 2 6 , 240 Graff, Anton, 49
Allgeyer, Sepp, 55
Engels, Friedrich, 29, 75, Grau, Alexander, 8 0 , 8 2
Altdörfer, Albrecht, 2 Cadars, Pierre, xi, 217
Enzensberger, Hans Magnus, 168, 232 Green, Joseph, 175
Alten, Jürgen von, 155 Canetti, Elias, xi, 1,3, 5, 24
Ettinghofer, Paul, 139 Gregory XV, Pope, 75
Amet, Edward, 196 Canning, George, 76
Ewers, Hanns Heinz, 54 Grömillon, Jean, 189
Anders, Günther, 216 Capra, Frank, 168,184ff., 191
Eyck, Tony van, 192 Grey Edward, 80
Arndt, Moritz, 25 Carnegie, Andrew, 77
Grierson, John, 1 2 4 , 1 6 5 , 1 8 8
Asquith, Herbert Henry, 76f., 80 Carol, Prince of Rumania, 136
Färber, Helmut, 70 Griffiths, D. W., 77
August Wilhelm, Princess of Carow, Heiner, 69
Fanck, Arnold, 128ff., 155 Griffiths, Richard, 187
Prussia, 138 Cartier-Bresson, Henri, 191 Fangauf, Eberhard, 194 Grimm, Hans, 92
Aurel, Jean, 191 Calvalcanti, Alberto, 1 2 3 , 1 4 8 Fest, Joachim C , 24, 64, 70,191 Guderian, Heinz, 49
Axmann, Artur, 239 C61an, Paul, 173 Flaherty, Robert, 124,133 Guitry Sascha, 136
Chamberlain, Neville, 1 7 9 , 1 8 6 Ford, Henry 77 Gutscher, Leopold, 16
Baläsz, Böla, 70,123f.
Chaplin, Charles, 77 Ford, John, 171 Gutterer, Leopold, 121
Barthes, Roland, 19
Charlemagne, 2, 29 Forst, Willi, 109
Baumann, Hans, 107
Chiang Kai-shek, 185 Habe, Hans, 189
Bauriedel, Andreas, 22 Francis Ferdinand, Archduke, 137
Churchill, Winston, 186f. Franco, Francisco, 159,204 Habermas, Jürgen, 6 1 , 1 0 2
Becker, Jacques, 189
Claire, Rena, 148 Frederick II (the Great), 9, 23, 34, Hächa, Emil, 206
Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1 1 9 , 1 2 7 , 1 6 8
Clemenceau, Georges, 77, 80 Hadamovsky, Eugen, 188
Belling, Curt, 110 44ff., 198
Corinth, Lovis, 136 Freihgrath, Ferdinand, 6f. Hagemarm, Walter, 154
Benjamin, Walter, 153
Courtade, Francis, xi, 217 Freud, Sigmund, x, 12,84f., 122 Harder, M., 125
Berg, Bengt, 121
Bernhardt, Guy 168 Cranz, Carl, 177 Freund, Karl, 123 Harian, Veit, ix, 4 3 , 4 6 , 58f., 69,
Bernhardt, Kurt, 55 Creel, George, 78 Freytag, Gustav, 7 , 1 0 97, 230
Bertram, Hans, 154,176ff., 217ff. Crul, George, 166 Frick, Wilhebn, vii, 198 Harold II, King of England, 2
Bethge, Friedrich, 201 Cürlis, Hans, 1 2 2 , 1 3 6 , 1 5 4 Friedeil, Egon, 139 Hart, Wolf, 155
Beumelburg, Werner, 139 Friedländer, Saul, 25, 64, 89 Hartmann, Paul, viii
Dade, Peter, 11 Fröhlich, Gustav, 48 Hatheyer, Heidemarie, vüi
Bharatis, Agehananda, 14
Dagover, Lil, 136 Froehlich, Karl, 138 Häußler, Johannes, 162
Bismarck, Otto von, 8f., 1 8 , 4 4 , 1 2 5 ,
Dahrendorf, Ralf, 6 4 , 6 6 Fromm, Erich, 239 Hebbel, Friedrich, 20
186,199, 201, 223
Blackton, James Stuart, 77 Daladier, Edouard, 186 Heer, Friedrich von, 64
Bloch, Ernst, 28 Daquin, Louis, 189 Gallehr, Theo, 34 Heine, Heinrich, 7
Bock, Fedor von, 227 Darwin, Charles, 140 Garnett, Tay 189 Heller, Hermarm, 64
Bonseis, Waldemar, 121 Dassin, Jules, 189 Gaulle, Charles de, 188f. Hermes, Gottlieb, 81
Borsody Eduard von, 5 8 , 1 5 4 , 1 8 0 David, Eduard, 10 Gebühr, Otto, ix, 45 Heyde, Ludwig, 210
Bossak, Jerzy 180,191 Delacroix, Eugene, 3 Geiger, Theodor, 64 Heydrich, Reinhard, 240
Bourdieu, Pierre, 151 Dieboro, Hans, 173 George, Heinrich, 5 0 , 5 8 , 1 0 0 Hillgruber, Andreas, 6 1 , 1 4 1
Bratianu, Jon, 80 Dimitroff, Georgi, 64 George, Stefan, 99 Himmler, Heinrich, 34,154, 204, 210
Brauchitsch, Walter von, 216 Dostoyevsky Fedor, 75 Giese, Hans-Joachim, 195, 202, Hindenburg, Paul von, 12,16f., 80,
Braune, Heinrich, 132 Dovshenko, Alexander, 146,191 211f., 222 90,125, 199f., 240
Brecht, Bertolt, 20, 3 1 , 8 8 , 1 2 6 , 1 3 5 , Drewniak, Boguslaw, xi Glaser, Hermann, 94 Hinkel, Hans, 134
137,240 Drews, Berta, 5 0 , 1 0 0 Gneisenau, August Wilhelm Hippler, Fritz, vi, 7 8 , 1 2 7 , 1 3 4 , 1 5 5 f . ,
Breker, Arno, 223 Dudow, Slatan, 3 1 , 5 6 , 1 2 5 Count, 46 173,176f., 194f., 211, 213, 215ff.,
Briand, Aristide, 7 7 , 1 6 7 Dupr6,J. A., 212 Godard, Jean-Luc, 4 , 1 6 4 , 1 6 9 , 1 9 1 230, 235f.
 252! Index of Names Index of Names 2531

Hitler, Adolf, passim Krieger, Ernst, 119 Möller, Wolf gang Eberhard, 11 Reed, Carol, 191
Hölderlin, Friedrich, 9 3 , 1 5 6 Krosigk, J. L. von, 198 Mondi, Bruno, 48 Reich, Wilhelm, 1 5 , 6 4 , 67
Hoffmann, Franz, 32 Kuleshov, Lev, 139,164f. Monet, Claude, 168 Reinert, R., 117
Hoffmann, Kurt, 109 Kurowski, Ulrich, 144,163 Mochuchin, Ivan, 165 Reinhardt, Max, 122
Hofman, Jerzy, 191 Kurosawa, Akiro, 36f. Müller, Hermann, 125 Remarque, Erich Maria, 96
Horkheimer, Max, 64, 70 Musil, Robert, 229 Renoir, Auguste, 136
Hubert, Kurt, 211 Lallier, Etienne, 189 Mussolini, Benito, 84, 203, 237 Renoir, Jean, 168
Hübner, Wilhelm, 237 Lammers, Hans-Heinrich, 103 Renoir, Pierre, 189
Hugenberg, Alfred, 82,197ff. Lang, Fritz, 43, 9 6 , 1 2 3 , 1 7 5 Nakamura, Robert A., 35 Resnais, Alain, 168,191
Huizinga, Johan, 181 Leberecht, Frank, 130 Napoleon I, 46 Ribbentrop, Joachim von, 207, 214
Huston, John, 186f., 191 Le Bon, Gustave, 13,83f., 144 Nechayev, Sergei, 75 Richter, Hans, 9 4 , 1 3 3 , 1 9 0
Huxley, Aldous, 78 Le Chanois, Jean-Paul, 190 Neumann, Robert, 235 Richter, Horst-Eberhard, 62f.
Legg, Stuart, 188 Neurath, Konstantin von, 207 Riefenstahl, Leni, ixf., 18f., 24, 3 1 , 3 6 ,
Ince, Thomas, 77 Leiser, Erwin, 191, 231 Nietzsche, Friedrich, 46, 6 1 , 1 0 9 , 55,78,94f., 101,128f., 144,146,
Ivens, Joris, 1 3 3 , 1 4 7 , 1 6 7 , 1 9 1 Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich, 7 6 , 1 4 5 151,166 148ff., 154,157ff., 1 8 0 , 1 8 6 , 1 9 8
Leo III, Pope, 2 Noldan, Svend, 119,126f., 155,161f., Rikli, Martin, 117
Jäckel, Eberhard, 141 176, 221
Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, 155 Rilke, Rainer Maria, 99
Jahn, Friedrich Ludwig, 15 Nolte, Ernst, 61ff., 173
Ley, Robert, 201 Ritter, Karl, 4 3 , 1 5 5
Jannings, Emil, 1 3 6 , 1 3 9 , 201
Leyda, Jay, 167 Norkus, Herbert, viii, 34, 50f. Röck, Marika, 181
Jünger, Ernst, 67f., 148, 235
Lichtwark, E. W. M., 117 Northcliffe, Alfred, 77 Röhm, Emst, 154
Junghans, Carl, 1 2 6 , 1 5 5 , 1 6 6 , 1 9 1
Liebeneiner, Wolfgang, viii, 34, 4 3 , 5 8 Roellenbleg, Heinrich, 211
Junghans, Wolfram, 121 Oertel, Rudolf, 1 1 5 , 1 5 5 , 1 6 0 , 213
Jutzi, Fiel, 56f., 155 Liebermann, Max, 136 Rogosin, Lionel, 191
Ophüls, Marcel, 191
Liliencron, Detlev von, 20 Romm, Michail, 163,181ff., 191
Opitz, Reinhard, 64
Käutner, Helmut, 109 List, Guido von, 15 Roosevelt, Franklin D., 170,183f.,
Ortega y Gasset, ]os6,84 •!
Kaibus, Oskar, 119 Litvak, Anatole, 185,191 189,199, 237
Ossietzky Carl von, 96 '
Kant, Immanuel, 158 Lloyd George, David, 77, 80 Rosenberg, Alfred, 9 1 , 1 0 4 , 1 7 2 , 2 2 3
Ozep, Fedoiv 175 !
Karmen, Roland, 183 Loiperdinger, Martin, 150 Rossif, md6nc, 169,191
Kataev, Vladimir, 5 Lorre, Peter, 175 Rötha, Paul, 149,191
Pabst, Georg Wilhelm, 5 6 , 9 6 , <
Kaufmann, Boris, 148 Ludendorff, Erich, 76, 78f., 82, 9 6 , 2 3 1 122ff., 155 Rühmann, Heinz, 109
Kaufmann, Nicholas, 116, llSf., Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, 9 Rapen, Franz von, 197f. Rundstedt, Gerd von, 106, 226
156,164 Lukäcs, Georg, 127 Path6, Charles, 196 Rust, Bernhard, 90,110
Kaweczynski, Hugo von, 161 Luther, Martin, 75 Paulsen, Harald, viii Ruttmann, Walter, 123,147f., 155,191
Kazmierczak, Vaclav, 180 Potain, Phillipe, 227
Keitel, Wilhelm, 204, 227 Mann, Golo, 8 Sachsze, Hans Joachim, 109
Pfeiffer, M., 120
Kellogg, Frank, 167 Mann, Heinrich, 5 6 , 1 2 4 , 1 3 7 , 1 9 9 Saint-Exup^ry, Antoine de, 178
Piscator, Erwin, 56f., 124
Kerr, Alfred, 131 Mann, Thomas, 84f., 129,148, 199 Sandrock, Adele, 136
Pius XI, Pope, 200
Killinger, Manfred von, 16 Maraun, Frank, 218f. Schamoni, Peter, 191
Planck, Max, 119
Klimsch, Fritz, 223 Marker, Chris, 191 Schenckendorff, Leopold von, 33
Poincar^, Raymond, 80
Klitzsch, Ludwig, 78f. Marshall, George C , 185 Schenzinger, Alois, 50
Polianskij, Valerian, 56
Kluge, Alexander, 4 3 , 1 6 3 , 1 9 1 Marx, Karl, 75 Schinkel, Friedrich, 9
Porten, Jenny, 136
Koch, Heinrich, 132 Mayakovski, V, 145 Schirach, Baidur von, 25,49,52f.,
Porter, Edwin S., 191
Koch, Erich, 1 7 2 , 2 3 9 Memmi, Albert, 176 Prager, Wilhelm, 116 98, 201
Koenig, Otto, 30 Messter, Oskar, 46,135ff. Prävert, Jacques, 191 Schlageter, Leo, 163
Kollwitz, Käthe, 126 Metzner, Ernö, 125 Proust, Marcel, 151 Schübel, Rolf, 34
Kopalin, Ilya, 183 Meyer, Johannes, 59 Pudovkin, Vsevolod, 1 3 9 , 1 4 6 , 1 5 1 , Schultzte, Norbert, 179, 218
Kopp, Martin, 138 Michelangelo Buonarotti, 115 Schulz, Ulrich K. T , 117
165,190
Kortner, Fritz, 175 Michels, Robert, 28 Schumann, Gerhard, 33
Kracauer, Siegfried, 66,123,142f., Milestone, Lewis, 96 Rabenalt, Arthur Maria, 4 3 , 1 0 9 Schumann, Robert, 7
150,196,217 Mitscherlich, Alexander, 8 7 , 1 7 2 Raddatz, Carl, 180 Seeber, Guido, 123
Krausiück, Helmut, 172 Mitscherlich, Margarete, 8 7 , 1 2 9 , 1 7 2 Ray Sayajit, 191 Seghers, Anna, 57
 Index of Names
254 j
Seitz, Franz, 53 Ucicky Gustav, 25, 4 6 , 1 5 5 , 1 7 4
Shaw, George Bernard, 48 Utshitel, Yefim, 183 INDEX OF FILM TITLES
Shklovsky, Victor, 1 4 7 , 1 6 6
Varlamov, Leonid, 183
Shub, Esther, 164f., 212
V^drte, Nicole, 168 A Thousand Shall Fall, 189 Bismarck, 9 , 3 4 , 1 0 4 , 1 0 9
Shushinskij, Vladimir, 212
Vertov, Dziga, 133,146ff., 165f. Die Abenteuer eines Zehn­ Das blaue Licht, 128
Simmel, Georg, 3 0 , 8 6
Viertel, Berthold, 123 markscheins, 123 Blutendes Deutschland, 162
Skorzeny, Otto, 237
Vigo,Jean, 148 80,000 Bilder in einer Sekunde, 132 Die Brücke, 107
Slavinskaya, Maria, 212
Virilio, Paul, 4,166,177f., Aerograd, 166 Brüder, 27
Slevogt, Max, 136
Visconti, Luchino, 191 All Quiet on the Western Front, 96 Brutalität in Stein, 191
Söderbaum, Kristina, 47
Alpenkorps im Angriff, 130 Bunte Kriechwelt, 118,134
Sormino, Sidney, 80 Wagner, Richard, 2, 25,150, 206 Der alte und der junge König, ix Bunte Tierwelt, 124
Sontag, Susan, 133,150 Wahl, Karl, 239 Altgermanische Bauemkultur,
Sorel, Georges, 84 Waschnek, E., 121 The Camera Eye, 146
148,155
Speelmans, Hermann, 5 0 , 1 0 0 Weber, Max, 131 Der Ameisenstaat, 117 Camera sous la botte, 189
Speer, Albert, 207,230, 324 Wegener, Alfred, 104 America's Ansv^rer to the Hun, 166 Les Carabiniers, 4 , 1 6 9 , 1 9 1
Spoerl, Heinrich, 109 Weidemann, Alfred, I I I , 155,192 Amerika sieht sich selbst, 170 Civilization, 77
Stalin, Josef, 7 6 , 1 4 5 , 1 4 7 , 1 7 3 , 2 1 5 Weigel, Helene, 126 Andreas Schlüter, 1 0 4 , 1 0 9 The Cross of Lorraine, 189
Stapel, Wilhelm, 95 Weiß, Helmut, 109 Apropos de Nice, 148
Stark, Georg, 192 Weizmarm, Chaim, 62 Arbeitsdienst, 154 Dämmerung über dem Teufelsmoor,
Stauß, Emil Georg von, 81 Weizsäcker, Cari Friedrich von, 238 Arbeitslos, 159 134
Steinhoff, Hans, ix, 50f., 1 0 0 , 1 5 5 Wendel, Friedrich, 29 Armer Hansi, 134 Daily Fascism, 1 6 3 , 1 8 1 , 1 9 1
Sternberger, Dolf, 63 Wendt, Emst, 9 Arno Breker, 154 Danzig, 155
Wentzcke, Paul, 9 Atlantikv^all, 155 Days of Glory, 191
Stoeppler, Wilhelm, 134,179, 218
Wenzler, Franz, 53 Au Coeur de l'orage, 190 Dead End, 170
Storck, Henri, 167
Werder, Peter von, 133 Auf dem Felde der Ehre, 137 Description d'un combat, 191
Streicher, Julius, 1 5 9 , 1 7 5
Werner, Ilse, 180 Der Aufstand der Fischer von St. Deulig-Ton-Woche, 137,197ff.
Stresemann, Gustav, 82
Wernicke, Otto, 48 Barbara, 57
Strienz, Wilhelm, 181 Deutsche Arbeitsstätten, 155
Wessel, Horst, viii, 2 0 , 2 4 , 5 3 f . , 9 4 , 9 7 , Der Aufstieg aus der Tiefe empor, 131
Stürmer, Michael, 61 Deutsche Panzer, 148,155
102,240 Aus der Geschichte des Florian
Stuhlfelt, Willy 121 Deutsche Wochenschau, 210ff.
Wessel, Josef, 215 Geyer, 130
Syberberg, Hans-Jürgen, 234 Das deutsche Wort, 134
Wiemann, Matthias, viii
Szczypiorsky, Andrzej, 189 Dem deutschen Volke, 125
Wilhelm I, German Kaiser, 9 Balkanfeldzug, 156
Deutschland—mein Deutschland, 161
Wilhelm II, German Kaiser, 7 7 , 7 9 , 82, La Bataille de France, 191
Taviani, Paolo, 4 Diesel, 104,109
116,120,135f. The Battie Cry of Peace, 77
Taviani, Vittorio, 4 Divide and Conquer, 184
William the Conqueror, 2 The Battle of Britain, 184
Tejessy, Fritz, 120 Dom über der Stadt, 122
Wilson, Woodrow, 77 The Battle of China, 185
Thalheimer, August, 64 Windt, Herbert, 217, 227 The Battle of Russia, 184 Die Dreigroschenoper, 56
Theweleit, Klaus, 6 4 , 6 7 , 7 0 , 1 2 9 Witte, Karsten, 52 The Battle of San Pietro, 186f., 191 Drifters, 124
Thomalla, Curt, 119 Wyler, William, 170 Battleship Potemkin, 32f., 123,145ff.
Earth, 166
Tiomkin, Dimitri, 186 Bau am Staat, 125
Yorck, Eugen, 155 Eclair r^vue, 137
Tiso, Josef, 206f. Berg des Schicksals, 128
Yutkevich, Sergei, 191 Eger—eine alte deutsche Stadt, 16
Todt, Fritz, 226 Berge in Flammen, 128
Eiko-Woche, 136f.
Toepler, A., 117 Bergbauem, 130
Zdanov, Andrei, 146 Einer für alle, 126
Toland, John, 64 Bergsommer, 130
Zglinicki, Friedrich von, 136 Berlin—Die Symphonie einer Groß­
Der eiserne Hindenburg in Krieg und
Tolstoy, Leo, 95
Zielke, 159f. stadt, 1 2 3 , 1 4 8 Frieden, 162
Traub, Hans, 121,144,192f., 223 Zirmemann, Fred, xi Emelka-Tonwoche, 199
Besatzung Dora, 155
Trenker, Luis, 55,128f. Zille, Heinrich, 57, 136 Endkampf um Berlin, 156
Die Biene Maja und ihre Abenteuer,
Tucholsky Kurt, 5 7 , 1 2 2 Die Entlassung, 104,109
121
TyreU, Albrecht, 152 Der ewige Jude, 105,134,173ff., 215
Der Bienenstaat, 118
 256 i
Fäuste an dem Fahnenschaft, 160
The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty, 164
Fatherland and Death, 191
Feinde, 108
Feldzug in Polen, 104,176f., 214ff.
Fest der Jugend, 104
Fest der Schönheit, 104
Fest der Völker, 104
Feuertaufe, 154ff., 176f., 183,216ff.
Die Feuerzangenbowle, 109
Das Flötenkonzert von Sanssoucis, 46
Flüchtlinge, 46
Freiwillige vor, 126
Die freudlose Gasse, 160
Fridericus Rex, 104
Fridericus Rex beim Flötenspiel, 46
Friedrich Schiller, 104,109
From Here to Eternity, xi
Front am Himmel, 156
Frontovoi Kinooperator, 212
Früh übt sich, 154
Die Funker mit dem Edelweiss, 130
Gaumont actuality, 137
Geheimnis der Seele, 122,160
Der geheimnisvolle Spiegel, 117
Der Geisbub, 118
Geist der Gotik, 122
Germanen gegen Pharaonen, 119
Die Geschlechtskrankheiten und ihre
Folgen, 119
Gestern und heute, 155
Gewehr über, 155
Gläserne Wundertiere, 124
Good Times, Wonderful Times, 191
GPU, 155
Grabmal des unbekannten Soldaten,
155
The Grapes of Wrath, 171
Die Grazilen, 122
The Great Patriotic War, 183
The Great Road, 164
Das grosse Eis, 104
Der grosse König, ix, 46f., 104,109
Hände hoch, 155
Hangmen also Die, 240
Hans Weshnar, vii, 5 3 , 5 5 , 6 7 , 1 0 0
Der heilige Berg, 128,130
Heimkehr, 46, 1 0 9 , 1 7 4
Index of Film Titles
Herr Roosevelt plaudert, 170
Heuzug im Allgäu, 130
Der Hirschkäfer, 117
Histoire du Soldat Inconnu, 167
History of the Civil War, 165
Hitler—ein Film aus Deutschland,
234
Hitler—eine Karriere, 70,191
Hitler über Deutschland, 125
Hitlerjugend in den Bergen, 130
Hitlerjunge Quex, vii, 50ff., 58, 67,
100,155
Hitlers 50. Geburtstag, 104
Hito Hata—Raise the Banner, 35
Hochland HJ, 130
Hochzeit im Korallenmeer, 134
Hochzeiten im Tierreich, 118
100,000 unter roten Fahnen, 27
Ich klage an, viii, 58
Im Anfang war das Wort, 125
Im Kampf gegen den Weltfeind, 155
Im Reich der Wichtelmänner, 134
Im Tal der hundert Mühlen, 134
Im Wald von Katyn, 171f.
In der Obedska Bara, 118
In Fels und Firn, 130
Ins Dritte Reich, 125
Insel der Seligen, 122
Intolerance, 77
Jagd unter Wasser, 118
Jahre der Entscheidung, 155
Josef Thorak, 155
Jud Süss, 1 0 5 , 1 0 9 , 1 7 3
Jugend der Welt, 126,155
Jugend im Tanz, 118
Junges Europa II, III
Junker der Waffen-SS, 156
Kadetten, 109
Kagamusha—der Schatten des
Krieges, 37
The Kaiser—The Beast of Berlin, 77
Kameradschaft, 56
Der Kampf um den Himalaja, 130f.
Kampf imi die Scholle, 121
Der Kampf ums Matterhom, 128
Kampfgeschwader Lützow, 105,
108f., 155
Kleider machen Leute, 109
Index of Film Titles
Können Tiere denken?, 118
Kolberg, 58f., 69, 9 7 , 1 0 5
Kopemikus, 134
Kopf hoch, Johannes, 108
Krafrteistung der Pflanzen, 118
Kraniche ziehen gen Süden, 134
Kriegsspiele um HJ-Banner (Deulig
Ton-Woche No. 275), 99f.
Krüppelnot und Krüppelhilfe, 119
Künstier bei der Arbeit, 134
Kuhle Wampe oder: Wem gehört die
Welt, 31, 56,125f.
Das Leben Adolf Hitlers, 191
Leinen aus Irland, 105
Der letzte Einbaum, 134
Liberated France, 191
La Liberation de Paris, 190
Licht, Luft, Leben, 122
Das Liebesglück einer Blinden, 136
The Life of an American Fireman, 191
Lights of New York, 124
Lohnbuchhalter Kremke, 125
Madrid ' 3 6 , 1 6 8 , 1 9 1
Das Mädchen Johanna, 46
Männerwirtschaft, 59
M, 175
Majestät der Berge, 130
The Man with the Camera, 146
The March of Time, 201
Meerestiere in der Adria, 118
Mein Kampf, 191
Die Melodie der Welt, 191
The Memory of Justice, 191
Messter-Woche, 137ff.
Metall des Himmels, 148
Michelangelo, 160
Mit den Zugvögeln nach Afrika, 121
Moana, 124
Der Mörder Dimitri Karamasoff, 175
Morgenrot, 25, 46
Moscow Strikes Back, 183
Mourir ä Madrid, 169
Movietone News, 137
Mutter Krausens Fahrt ins Glück, 27,
56f.
Mysterium des Lebens, 118
Nanga Parbat, 104
Natur und Techiük, 118
257
The Nazi Strike, 186
Netz aus Seide, 134
Die Nibelungen, 9 6 , 1 2 3
Night and Fog, 191
Nuit et brouillard, 191
Obyknovermij fasizm, 1 6 3 , 1 8 1 , 1 9 1
Ohm Krüger, 109
Olympia, 78,154,157ff., 180
Opfergang, 58f.
Padre Padrone, 4
Paracelsus, 155
Paris la belle, 191
Paris 1900,168f.
Pathä-Joumal, 137
Die Pocken, ihre Gefahren und deren
Bekämpfung, 119
Prelude to War, 184ff.
The Purim Player, 175
Quax, der Bruchpilot, 109
Rabindranat Tagore, 191
Radium, 118
Ran, 36
Der Rebell, 5 5 , 1 2 8
Reitet für Deutschland, 109
Requiem for 500,000,191
Reseau X, 189
Le Retour, 191
Reunion de France, 189
Rien que les heures, 123,148
Robert Koch, 104
Röntgenstrahlen, 118
Romantisches Burgenland, 134
Die rote Fahne, 126
Rote Fahnen sieht man besser, 34
Die Rothschilds, 105,173
Rüstungsarbeiter, 155
Die Russen kommen, 69
The Russia of Nicolas II and Leo
Tolstoy 164
Säuglingspflege, 119
SA-Maim Brand, vii, 24, 53, 55, 58,
67,100
Schaffende Hände, 136
Die Schuldigen des Weltkrieges, 79f.
September 1939,180
Shoulder Arms, 77
258 Index of Film Titles

Sieg des Glaubens, ix, 18, 2 4 , 1 4 9 , Unter der Fahne der Jugend, 156
153,198 Unter der Kriegsflagge, 156
Sieg im Osten, 148 Unter der schwarzen Sturmfahne, 160
Sieg im Westen, 78,104,155f., 176f., Untemhmen Michael, 155
219ff., 235
Siegfrieds Tod, 123 Velikaya ochesvenaya voina, 183
Das Siimesleben der Pflar^en, 118 Vendetta, 136
So ist das Leben, 126 Die verborgenen Wunder unserer
Der Sohn der weissen Berge, 128 Gewässer, 121
Soldaten von morgen, 155 Verräter, 155
Song of the Streams, 191 Verwitterte Melodie, 134
Sophienlund, 109 Victory against the German Armies
S.O.S. Eisberg, 128 before Moscow, 183
Das Sowjet-Paradies, 171 Victory on the Right Bank of the
Sprung in den Feind, 134 Dnieper, 191
Der Stahlhelm marschiert, 126
Der Wagenlenker, 120
Das Stahlgetier, 160
War Comes to America, 185
Stalingrad, 183
Was ist die Welt?, 119,126
Die Steinemen Wunder von Naum­ Was wählst Du?, 125
burg, 155,160 Was wollen die Kommunisten?, 126
Strike, 163 Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit,
The Struggle for Leningrad, 183 116,122
Stukas, 105,108f., 155 Die weisse Hölle von Piz Palu, 128
Sud Naradov, 183 Die weisse Seuche, 119
Weisser Flieder, 109
Der Tag im Fihn, 136
Welt im Kleinsten, 134
Takovy ye zivot, 126
Der Weltkrieg, 157
Les Temps du Ghetto, 191
Weltwende, 1 2 6 , 1 6 6 , 1 9 1
Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, 96
Westfront, 56, 96
Thüringen, 134
What Price Glory, 124
Tiergarten des Meeres, 118
Why We Fight, 168,184f., 191
Tiergarten Südamerikas, 118
Wie Max das Eiseme Kreuz
The Titan: The Story of Michelangelo,
erwarb, 137
160
Wiener Blut, 109
Tobis, 210
Wir machen Musik, 109
Triumph des Willens, 18, 24, 9 5 , 1 0 4 , Wir tragen die Fahne gen Süden, 157
148f., 153,185 Wohin wir treiben, 125
The True Glory, 191 World in Action, 188
20th Century Fox, 210 The World's Greatest Story 166f.
Wort und Tat, 155
U-Boote westwärts, 105,108
Wunder des Schneeschuhs, 128
Ufa-Tonwoche, 139, 201ff.
Wunschkonzert, 58,108f., 180f.
Under Four Flags, 166
Unendlicher Weltrairai, 118 Yidl Mitn Fidl, 175
The Unforgiven, 187 York, 46
Uns zieht es zu höherem hinauf, 131
Unser Hindenburg, 125 Zeitprobleme: Wie der Arbeiter
Unsere Fahne ist die Treue, 38 wohnt, 125
Unsere Infanterie, 156 Der Zirkus kommt, 118
Unsichtbare Wolken, 117f.