02 Nov Hitler’s Children
(1943) Hitler’s Children is the story of an American girl and a German boy who develop a doomed friendship in pre-World War II Germany. She is in an American school located near his German school. What a difference! The film is based on a 1941 book titled Education for Death by Gregor Athalwin Ziemer about his experiences while serving in prewar Germany as headmaster of the American School. The same year Hitler’s Children came out, Walt Disney also produced an animated propaganda film based on the book. At the time, Disney had gotten a government contract to produce 32 short propaganda films at $4,500 each. This saved the company from bankruptcy and allowed them to keep their employees on payroll. (per Wikipedia.)
It all boils down to what we know. Every country used some propaganda, but Hitler went to the extreme. His “Hitler Youth” were taught from early childhood the fascist ideals of cruelty and death to the weak and to the non-Aryans.
Hitler’s Children was a huge hit in 1943. I am sure that audiences were mesmerized by the extent to which the youngsters were brainwashed. My favorite WWII era reviewer, Bosley Crowther of the New York Times thought the movie didn’t go far enough.
Edward Dmytryk went on to direct The Caine Mutiny in 1954, one of the best WWII movies ever.
Hitler’s Children [VHS] at amazon.com
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