Jew Suss and Eternal Jew

The most obvious distinction between “Jew Suss” and “Eternal Jew” from a historical perspective is the anti-Semitism that moves with the story of Suss Oppenheimer as opposed to the “documentary” style of “Eternal Jew” which makes claims supported by alleged “facts.” The message of “Jew Suss” is clear about the state’s issues and death of a woman due to the inherent qualities of a Jewish person, and the solution being the expulsion of Jewish people from the society for good. This clearly shows the Nazi perspective on Jewish people and what they believe needs to happen to cleanse the society they had been promoting for almost a decade at its release. Promoting their anti-Semitic and extermination ideas differed in “Eternal Jew” which does not hide any of the Nazi sentiments behind a story line, but rather outright describes Jewish people as parasitic and a threat to society. This approach turned away viewers who enjoyed “Jew Suss” clearly due to an uncomfortable feeling about the statements made comparing the spread of Jewish people to the spread of rats, the idea of dehumanization, and the mission of convincing the viewer that Jewish people are the largest threat to the Nazi society. Anti-Semitic viewers could potentially relate and enjoy “Jew Suss” but being told what to think through outrageous claims in “Eternal Jew” push the limit for those that do not fall under “politically active segments.” As historical documents, “Jew Suss” does a much better job at portraying the sentiments of the majority of Germany (based on its popularity), whereas “Eternal Jew” works historically as failed propaganda of those on the more extreme end of the spectrum. One can gain insights into Nazi perspectives through the success and failure of the two movies. German citizens at the time were ready to oust the Jewish and potentially see the similarities between Suss Oppenheimer and his counterparts, however the dehumanization and extermination propaganda was far too extreme and disturbing. The Nazi’s clearly tried to push the limit with “Eternal Jew” to gage the feelings over how German citizens would react to news of extermination.