The American People as (Pseudo) Victims

I think it is possible to identify more than one victim in Hangmen Also Die. However, one must take into consideration the aims and context that the film was made in, in order to understand who the audience is supposed to consider the victim. From a different point of view, one could say that the Nazi's, who are tricked by swarms of wily Czechs, or even the Hangmen himself, who is, after all, assassinated, are the victims of the film. However, the film was not made to appease Germans or Nazis, it was made to emotionally engineer the American audience into sympathizing, if not identifying , with the victims. I think that the victims who are most instrumental in achieving this are the Czechs who willingly die for other Czechs. The hostages who are taken as ransom for the assassin come in two distinct varieties: those who proudly die for the principles and ideals of their country and countrymen (even though they are not really involved in the primary situation), and those who do not. The latter is group that the audience is not made to feel sympathetic with. These men are taken to their deaths, whimpering, whining, and trying to negotiate with the enemy in order to save their own skin. The true victims of the situation are heroes – they stand up for what they believe in, freedom, without it being required of them. I think that is what the movie is trying to tell the American people. They have just entered a war, not because it was their war, but because it was the right thing to do, and their principles and ideals against “evil” demand it of them.