Anti-Jewish propaganda film: culturally prominent Jews; Purim celebration

Identifier
irn1002478
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2001.359.1
  • RG-60.3291
Dates
1 Jan 1940 - 31 Dec 1940
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Creator(s)

Scope and Content

A propaganda film declared as a "documentary film contribution about the problem of world Judaism," in which antisemitic stereotypes are disseminated by the Nazis, including scenes showing: Poland as a nesting place for Judaism; the comparison of Jews with rats; the difference between Jews and Aryans; "international crime"; "financial Judaism"; "assimilated Jews"; the Jewish influence on economics, culture, and politics; and Jewish religious practice with a portrayal of haggling and misused sacred Jewish texts. REEL 6 Extract from "Dimitri Karamazov - Murderer", starring "the Jew [Fritz] Kortner-Kohn." Narrator: "The Jew is interested instinctively in all that is abnormal and depraved." Extracts from "M" with the commentary, "The Jew [Peter] Lorre in the role of a child murderer. Not the murderer but the victim is guilty, according to this film." This section continues with images of culturally prominent Jews, who according to the narration, are portrayed as distinguished representatives of German art and culture - the singer Richard Tauber, the film producer Ernst Lubitsch and the writer Emil Ludwig Cohn, all of whom are shown mentioning their pride in their German heritage. Film of the jubilant reception of Charlie Chaplin in Berlin in 1927 with the commentary: "The German public unsuspectingly applauded the foreign Jew, the deadly enemy of their race. How was this possible? A misguided dogma of equality among men had dulled the healthy instinct of the people." Short montage of religious paintings and drawings of Biblical figures. The narrator notes that "Hebrews of Biblical history could not have looked like this. We must correct our historical picture." Scenes from a Jewish cultural film [?], showing a Warsaw family feast for the celebration of Purim: "This is how real Hebrews look!" The Jews are gathered around a large table, celebrating Purim. They speak in Yiddish. Narrator: "We should know that the seemingly harmless family celebration marks the remembrance of the slaughter of 75,000 antisemitic Persians." Excerpt of Purim celebration continues as guests arrive, while the narrator continues with his sinister interpretation of the significance of the holiday. He concludes by noting that "the Israelites of today hide their Oriental essence under western European clothing."

Note(s)

  • Censor date: November 1, 1940. Other credits: Script: based on an idea by Eberhard Taubert; Music: Franz R. Friedl; Editing: Hans Dieter Schiller, Albert Baumeister; Narration: Harry Giese; Tricks and maps: Svend Noldan. Note: The film contains newsreel scenes from Ufa-Tonwoche 471/1939 (Poles fleeing German troops), Ufa-Tonwoche 472/1939 and Ufa-Tonwoche 474/1939 (ghetto scenes, forced labor by Jews), and Ufa-Tonwoche 439/1939 (Reichstag speech of Hitler). It also contains scenes from "The House of Rothchild" (USA, 1934) by Alfred L. Werker, the Zionist movie "Land der Verheissung" (Germany, 1934) by Juda Leman (Jews in Palestine), and of "Triumph des Willens. Das Dokument vom Reichsparteitag 1934" (Germany 1935) by Leni Riefenstahl (Germanic Aryan faces, Nazi flags, Germans marching). See Film and Video departmental files for extensive documentation and a summary of the film. See Stories 3286 to 3293, Film ID 2503 for entire film "Der Ewige Jude." See also Stories 898 and 899 on Film ID 31 and Story 2768 on Film ID 2459.

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Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.