Truth presented as Falsehood is taken as such

Münchhausen is framed as the telling of the diary of the baron, by the baron. Even moreso, he acknowledges the existence of a storybook telling the tale of the baron. By presenting the story as a storybook, it is somewhat less threatening to see the film as a story than as a truth. This is not to say that it is not the truth, but instead, it is a truth no one believes. By framing the truth as a farce, it is not presented as threat to the party itself and so the issues that can be alluded to (death marches, pro-jewish plays) and can be seen without threat.

October 9, 1933

For this blog I chose the announcement from Joseph Goebbels on 9 October 1933 in which the head propagandist said, “We National Socialists have no great desire to watch Storm Troopers march on stages or cinema screens. They belong on the street.” I found this to be very interesting because less than two years later in March of 1935, Leni Riefenstahl released “Triumph of the Will” where Storm Troopers marched on cinema screens to propagate the glory and honor of Germany’s soldiers. After doing some research on the matter, I discovered that there were many disputes between Riefenstahl and her work with the Propaganda Ministry. Riefenstahl was reluctant to do “Triumph of the Will” after infighting with Joseph Goebbels and other Nazi officials following her 1933 film “Victory of Faith” on the Fifth Party Rally at Nuremberg. Less than one month before the release of “Victory of Faith” on December 1, Goebbels made the statement concerning Storm Troopers on film. Clearly this was the start of the disagreements between Riefenstahl and Goebbels. In the film, Ernst Rohm, the second most powerful man within the Nazi Party in 1933, was followed closely along with his lieutenants. Political struggles mounted between Rohm and Joseph Goebbels, as well as other powerful Nazi leaders, which may have added to Goebbel’s issues with Riefenstahl. Additionally, Riefenstahl discussed in her memoir how Goebbels was angered by him not accepting his advances and also saw her as an internal threat due to her influence on Hitler. In June of 1934, Hitler ordered Rohm and other official’s execution after continued issues with Himmler and Goebbels. Goebbels then banned the film and destroyed all copies due to fear of the Nazi’s embarrassment over the entire situation. This caused Riefenstahl to be reluctant to make “Triumph of the Will.” Hitler insisted she make the movie and guaranteed his personal support as well as the promise of keeping the Propaganda Ministry from interfering with her film. Therefore, I’ve concluded that Goebbels statement was over personal issues with Riefenstahl and that her released of “Triumph of the Will” superceded his statement due to her close relationship with Hitler.

1943: Is goebels losing control?

Carithershosch's post discusses the peculiarity of correlation between the release of romance in a minor key and the war's turning point. Well it's also worth noting that this was not the only film released that year with slightly anti-propaganda tendencies or at the very least a lack of adherence to general Nazi Propaganda guidelines. Munchhausen was also released this year and Goebbels allows a banned screenwriter to write the script, a relatively peculiar judgement call especially considering the film's status as a 25th anniversary edition. The release of two questionable works in the same year and a banned screenwriter to boot. It sounds a little bit like Goebbels might be loosening his chokehold on the film industry. How did these films make it, especially considering the fact that by this point, the entire film industry was basically owned by the government? With the turning tide of the war did distraction surpass propaganda as goebbels priority? or is there something else going on here that we aren't privy to 66 years later. Regardless of its cause its clear that the climate of german cinema took a drastic change this year and this forces one to consider whether or not the regime has already begun to fall apart by this point.

Romanze in Moll and the Turn of the War

When analyzing the appendix in Rentschler’s book, I found it interesting that Romance in a Minor Key was produced in 1943, the year in which the tide of the war began to turn in favor of the Allies. As the appendix mentions, there was the surrender of German forces in Stalingrad in the beginning of the year, forcing Goebbels to make his “total war” speech that encouraged a complete dedication and sacrifice on behalf of the German population for the war effort. The film Romance in a Minor Key is clearly marked by ambiguous claims, and is difficult to interpret as a purely propaganda-inspired piece of art. The Ministry of Propaganda must have noticed this as well, considering the film was banned before it went on to win numerous awards. The film seems to blatantly reject basic Nazi principles through techniques such as the presentation of the husband as a dupe despite his presentation as a stereotypical “Nazi” figure. On the contrast, Michael is also not a Nazi hero: the film presents no strong images of a patriotic and ideal Nazi hero. Generally speaking, the film in no way exalts Nazi values at a time in which the party really needed the support and morale of the people. However, despite the film’s apparent lack of Nazi glorification, the film obviously resonated with the populace, perhaps proving the growing disenchantment with National Socialism that began to emerge around 1943.

1940: Auschwitz and "der Ewige Jude"

Going through the appendix of the year 1940, the thing that stroke me most was that Himmler ordered the establishment of a Concentration Camp in Auschwitz on April 27th and only 5 months later “Jud Süß” and very shortly after “Der Ewige Jude” came to the German cinemas. Thinking of Auschwitz as the Concentration camp were most Jews were systematically killed and both movies as hitherto the most overt anti-Semitic pieces of propaganda, we can see how the German regime was working towards the final solution which was decided one and a half years later at the conference of Wannsee on January 20th in Berlin. Even though “Der ewige Jude” failed completely as a piece of propaganda, the attempt still shows how the German regime tried to prepare the German public for the idea of the final solution by depicting the Jews as the eternal evil for mankind.

Munchausen

It is astounding that Goebbel's allowed this film to be shown, and even more fascinating of his allowance of a banned screenwriter to produce this piece under a false name. It is evident that the state of Germany's morale was relatively low. Despite the propaganda pieces in the media pushing German pride, and positive statements at the public, it was clear that no one was buying it. The realization that they had all been 'duped' by the man they called Fuhrer was a devastating conclusion and Goebbel's must have been so distracted that he allowed any piece of film to enter the media to distract the general public. The multiple anti-Nazi themes hiding in the undertones of the film are craftily woven beneath the immediate observance of the film, however it does not take a rocket scientist to understand the message that is clearly being portrayed. It seems as if Germany was in a mess they could not figure out how to clean up as they caused an unecessary war that was soon to be shut down. This makes the strong push of multiple films and various propaganda in Germany between 1940 and 1945 understandable as they were using all different kinds of methods to keep the public distracted.

Number of Films Produced 1940-1945

When looking at the list of films and events, it is striking the number of films that came out during the years 1940-1945. It is also surprising in which years the most films were produced. In 1940, Germany was at the height of power. With attacks on Denmark, Normandy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France, the release of 86 films demonstrated the freedom and power of Germany to do as it pleased. In 1941 only 71 movies premiere. As Hitler concentrated increasingly hard on the eradication of the Jews it is possible movies became slightly less important. Also, at the end of 1941 Germany officially declared war on the United States, a huge preoccupation for the German war machine. In 1942 the number of films produced in Germany dropped to 52, indicative of the fact that at this point all German film distribution comes under the central authority of the Deutsche Filmvertriebs GmbH. The jump in the number of German films in 1943 and 1944 is intriguing, as Germany no longer appeared the obvious victor during these years. It seems there was a push by Goebbels for films to be put out, perhaps as a distraction from the looming Allied invasion of Germany. Goebbels declared the need for films of “soldierly and national import” reflecting Hitler’s cry that all men from age 16 to 60 serve in the militia.

Joachim Gottschalk

When looking through this chronology this event caught my eye almost immediately. Frankly, I was not quite sure how to react to it. On November 7, 1941 Joachim Gottschalk who was a well known actor, and apparently a pretty big star among German women, committed mutual suicide with his wife and son. His wife was Jewish and the Gestapo were on the way. Most of his work had come under the Nazi regime, and he was a popular actor. Goebbels made sure that this event was kept very quiet, and while some Germans found out about it most were unaware until after the war.

Interestingly, if the story is true, Goebbels met Mrs. Gottschalk at an industry dinner shortly before and thought highly of her until he found out she was a Jew. He instructed Joachim to divorce his wife so she could be rounded up, and he could continue acting. He clearly refused, leading to the ultimate suicide.

This demonstrated two things to me. First, that it really did not matter who you were, public figure or not, you were not beyond the grasp of the regime. However, what is more interesting is the rift that this created between Goebbels and the cinema community. Certainly Goebbels could have played this differently, bending the story to fit his needs as he always did. I think he used this instance to send a message to those in the film industry who sought to disobey or disagree with him. This is indicative of his power and reach.

Blog post for December 1-3

This week, review the chronology of films and events from 1940-1945 in Rentschler's Appendix. Find one event, film, industry event, or political happening to explore however you like. If you respond to a film, please post on the film blog; otherwise, please post on the reading blog.