Anti-fascist and anti-racist educational film made by US Army Signal Corps
Creator(s)
- United States. Army. Signal Corps. (Producer)
- United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Motion Picture Reference
Scope and Content
An American film dramatizing the destructive effects of racial and religious prejudice. The film was made to make the case for the desegregation of the US Armed Forces. Reel 1: shows a fake wrestling match and crooked gambling games with narration: "There's a good old-fashioned word for people like this. We call them suckers." An agitator addresses a street crowd; he almost convinces an American man in the audience until he begins to talk to a Hungarian refugee from Germany. A Nazi speaker harangues a crowd in Germany denouncing Jews, Catholics, and Freemasons. Reel 2: A German unemployed worker joins Hitler's Storm Troops. SS men attack Jewish and Catholic headquarters in Germany, and beat up a Jewish storekeeper. A German teacher explains Nazi racial theories; the teacher is dragged away by German soldiers. Reel 3: Summary of Reels 1 and 2. The naturalized Hungarian immigrant explains to the racist American how bigoted demagogy allowed the Nazis to rise to power in Germany and warns him not to fall for it. Narrator: "We must not allow the freedom or dignity of any man to be threatened by any act or word."
Subjects
- RACE
- GERMANY
- GERMANS
- PROPAGANDA
- ANTISEMITISM
- SS (SCHUTZSTAFFEL)
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY
- FREEMASONS
- JEWS
- CROWDS
- RACIAL SCIENCE
Places
- , Germany
- , United States
Genre
- Film
- Instructional.