A cinema in service of the nazi’s ideology
The cinema, because he can touch the population directly in the heart, become the Nazi regime’s preferred instrument. It’s the perfect tool to instil the ideology and contribute to the Gleichschaltung of the German society (Nazification of the society). Thanks to the control of Goebbel on the cinematographic production, the German cinema has the capacity to produce films who reach the ideologic goals of the regime. The most common themes were heroism, sacrifice of the individual for the people, glorification of the German history and its great figures, denigration of the Reich’s enemies, promotion and valorisation of the German army and of the Nazi’s organisations. These themes offered a variety of cinematographic genres: documentary, war film, melodrama, popular comedy, etc.
Two important moments of the Nazi propaganda could be identified.
- The first, at the beginning of the regime, and on the initiative of the film studios, aimed to construct the image of the ‘new man’ through films such as, Hans Westmar, Hitlerjunge Quex or SA Mann Brand. Some of these films were also staunchly anti-communist.
- The second phase, which took place between 1939 and 1942, focused on portraying the opponents of Nazism, notably external enemies such as the nations opposed to Germany (England, with France being relatively spared, then in 1941 the USSR with film as Heimkehr), as well as the Jews, who were designated as enemies from within.
The issue of antisemitic films is central to the history of Nazi cinema. For the first and only time in history, films explicitly targeting a religion and its followers were produced in direct connection with the rise of a policy of systematic persecution. Five films form part of this movement: Robert und Bertram, Leinen aus Irland, Jud Süss, Der Ewige Jude and Die Rothschild. Two other films could be added to this selection: Venus vor Gericht and Wien 1900. These films were part of the escalation of antisemitic persecution following the pogroms of 1938. It was Joseph Goebbels himself who, by asking film professionals to produce antisemitic films in which Jewish characters would play central roles, was behind this movement. At the time, cinema was the only medium that did not ‘convey’ antisemitic propaganda.
Ultimately, although they are emblematic of the history of German cinema under Nazism, Nazi propaganda films account for only a small proportion of all films produced in Germany between 1933 and 1945. Depending on the criteria used, this proportion varies between 5 and 10 percent. The Nazi authorities, and Joseph Goebbels in particular, understood cinema should not be merely a tool of propaganda. To continue to entertain and captivate the public, cinema also had to remain an enjoyable and spectacular form of leisure, beyond its ideological role.
Photo 13 : Coll. part. William Gillespie – Film poster of Hitlerjunge Quex (1933, Hans Steinhoff). The film is based on the true story of the young National Socialist activist Herbert Norkus, who was murdered in Berlin in 1932. Adapted from a novel of the same name, the Nazis decided to make this story a symbol of the spirit of sacrifice shown by German youth in the face of violence from Communist activists.
Photo 14 : Archives cinématographiques de l’est – Manfred Kömpel-Pilot and Heinz Klingenberg in SA-Mann Brand (1933, Franz Seitz Sr.), photo from the book Vom werden deutscher filmkunst : Der Tonfilm by Oskar Kalbus (1935).
Photo 15 : Deutsches Historisches Museum – Poster of the antisemitic documentary Der Ewige Jude (1940), directed by Fritz Hippler, who is Reichsfilmintendant.
Photo 16 : Archives cinématographiques de l’est – Paul Wegener and Emil Lohkamp in the film Hans Westmar (1933, Franz Wenzler), photograph taken from the book Vom Werden der deutschen Filmkunst: Der Tonfilm by Oskar Kalbus, published in 1935. This fictional film follows Hans Westmar, a member of the SA, who is tasked with recruiting for the NSDAP in the working-class district of Berlin-Friedrichshain. Westmar succeeds in strengthening the influence of the NSDAP at the expense of the Communist Party. The Communists then decide to assassinate their political opponent.