The Dangling Chain of Hangmen

The victim? Hangmen also Die is one big, tumbling merry-go-round of victims, each doggedly in pursuit of the next, no one safe from any other and no one breaking free of the vicious cycle. All is set in motion by the death of the original "Hangman", the very first literal victim of a crime. Contrary to their typical image as the relentless, watching predator, the Nazi party becomes the next victim. They become a victim of fear: Fear from the authorities within their ranks, and fear for their own skins, for any Nazi could just as well be the next assassination target. As a result, these fears funnel the Nazi force in Prague into a rash, desperate hunt in rder to find a new scapegoat to be the new victim as they try to remove themselves from the position. Their urgency descends upon the entire city, and it is clear that they have made the following hasty decision. If there are no victims to be found, they will create victims. To be precise, 400 first-hand victims.

The rest of the film simply continues with this attempt to hand off the victim role. Each party, whether a single individual or a collective group, is forced into such a corner that defense is no longer an option. There is only the choice to unleash offense on someone else. Even when Czaka meets his cold end and it appears that the Czechs are successful in framing him, the movie shows that the Nazis have only allowed this fake conclusion in order to break the cycle, which in spite of it still remains unbroken. In the end, they surrender just as well as victims to this struggle, having no escape themselves but to call out a fake case closing in order to cover things. The Czechs, despite their terrible struggle as well, find their efforts ultimately to be in vain. When both sides are unable to successfully stick the victim position on the other, they both turn and prosecute the man in between the two as the final resort.