Every time i wanna rate TdW as a documentary i think about 6 million Poles this very sick man killed. And I this is just propaganda material that created more brainwash in german minds in 30's. brainwash that was pushing them to fight "for their lives" and kill everyone who hitler pin-pointed. how do americans see it?
kamil, Poland.
Indeed, this is what happens with (White) racism. We must censor this movie and replace it with more orthodox films such as White Chicks.
shareI don't know how Americans see it, but when I see it I think about how nice they could use a camera back then.
Btw, I live in Belgium(The country Hitler went to war with because it's between France and Germany)
I'm an American and I hold a double major in Early Modern European History and Political Science. I viewed this film in a seminar type class that was entitled "Historiography." In that class, I wrote a thesis on the historiography of Nazi Germany, that is, the analysis of the way history was used by the Nazis as propaganda.
That being said, most serious historians view the film as an excellent piece of propaganda. I never saw it as having any particular truth or merit. It is an excellent political film, which by its very nature makes it an advertisement for Nazism.
I would be remiss to interject any subjectivity insofar as my feelings about Nazism and Hitler are concerned. Suffice to say that the Nazis used propaganda very efficiently. They had to, since the history they tried to advance was largely invalid, the science they tried to advance was not so much science as pseudoscience, and the politics they practiced were essentially fascism packaged and sold as socialism.
I don't want to justify WWII, which was clearly started by Germany by attacking Poland, but just to do put it right:
The German high command asked Belgium to let the German troups pass through to France peacefully (after France had declared war on Germany, not the other way round), which Belgium denied.
Then rothoehler Germany declared war on Belguim because Belguim wouldn't let their army pass through there peacefully to attact France? Seems like Belgium had the right to say no or am I missing something?
shareOf course they had the right to say no or yes. It was their country, they had jurisdiction. And in fact they did say no. They just hadn't the means to enforce their right.
But that's not the point. The point is that they just as well could have said yes. They could have stayed neutral and avoid occupation and any losses the war had cost them. After all, their resitance didn't help France very much. Germany did have the means to enforce their will, but they would rather have had it the other way. They asked for allowance to pass through peacefully, because they hoped for a "yes" - otherwise, they wouldn't have asked.
[deleted]
Actually thetruthishere, I think the Nazi's didnt believe so much that they were fighting for their lives, they believed that they were superior to any other race and they were merely taking back what was theirs. They wouldnt see the need to fight for their lives because they believed that god was giving them the oppurtunity to take back everything that had been robbed from them by the poles, jews, and gypsies. So far I have identified 2 idiocies. The first being, any prejudices belief in general, the second, believing "god" had willed such a crusade.
The sad fact is, young americans dont have much of an opinion, because this is barely mentioned in history courses in public schools. That in itself should be a crime. The last REAL tragedy is seemingly being forgotten in a world too concerned with themselves. I would like to think something like this would never happen again, however, it seems as if we are slowly getting back to that state of mind. (at least here in america)
[deleted]
no, no i meant the regulat german soldiers, they were mostly fighting for their lives, and they were overwhelmed by the nazi propaganda so they didn't have much of their free will it's been taken away. some of course were nazis to the bones, but not the most of them.
thanks for reply.
k
[deleted]
:) thanks man.
i don't jugde Americans, i don't know how you feel it.
i know your opinion now and i'm glad that it is the way it is, thanks again.
p.s. you really don't have something like history subject in school? we have history in 4th grade, and then next 4 years, and 4 years high school.
[deleted]
Well as someone who went to public school his entire life, I can tell you that we studied the 2nd World War. Mostly once we were in Junior High, which starts around the age 12 or 13. Once we entered High School, we were allowed to pursue other types of historical study, such as Ancient Greece, European, etc.
I took a course specifically centered on World War 2.
Just a quick aside to CTS, is your quote at the bottom from Twin Peaks?
Take care all!
It's your life, rise up and live it.
[deleted]
Eh... it doesn't bother me. I think it's fascinating to see how they worshipped Hitler and made him out to be some infallible leader.
I especially liked the part where Hitler was screaming about how the Reich will last for thousands of years. I thought it was an awakening to Americas own patriotism and superiority complex.
Rate it whatever you want, even if you can't separate the movie from the Holocaust. I think that's why people consider it controversial.
We kill too often because we've made it too easy...
It's a fantastic movie. If you forget history altogether, it is easy to see how he got so many followers. You also have to keep in mind that this film was made before Hitler became sole dictator. This was only during his rise to power and during the time where Germany was in the process of re-arming. There was no talk of concentration camps and gas chambers yet.
shareYep, America will fall because of our "superiority complex"
And not because we are surrounded from all sides by the combined armies of all other countries of the world, and being carpet-bombed daily with a rapidly-collapsing economy due to said bombing and also ground invasion.
like those Poles who were so eager to start a war with Germany and "march to Berlin" ... the Poles that robbed and killed thousands of German civilians on "Polish soil" during peace times?
Those darling Poles?
As an American, I see it as both a historical document and a warning. The film is a sly fusion of documentary and propaganda that presents a very palatable form of fascism. Hitler is presented as an almost God-like figure with everyone around him looking so proud and healthy. It is what is NOT seen that is so horrific! The rampant racism and anti-Semitism that the Nazi regime was built upon is never even implied in this film, save for Julius Streicher's comment, "A people that does not protect its racial purity will perish!" This film best serves as a contrast between what the Nazis presented to their followers, and what they did to their conquered. Just be thankful that today's propaganda isn't this good.
share[deleted]
[deleted]