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H-NET FILM REVIEW
Published by H-German@h-net.msu.edu (April 2003)
"Hitler: The Rise of Evil." CBS, May 18 and 20, 2003. Directed by Christian
Duguay, produced by John Pielmeier and John Ryan, screenplay by John
Pielmeier and G. Ross Parker. 2002, color.
Reviewed for H-German by Gerhard Weinberg <gweinber@email.unc.edu>,
Department of History, University of North Carolina
The TV special miniseries on the rise of Adolf Hitler had a few sensible
and informative sections but suffered not merely from the sorts of
exaggerations that really make little difference but also from serious
mistakes. The presentation of the first twenty-five years of Hitler's
life, that is, the years to 1914, is so filled with errors and foolishness
to be unworthy of comment. The war years are shown with some relation to
reality bur end with one colossal mistake. Germany sued for and received
an armistice; there was no surrender. Nothing that followed -- from the
stab-in-the-back legend to the Allied demand for unconditional surrender
in World War II -- can be understood unless this is kept in mind.
Hitler's initiation into politics in the early postwar years, his taking
over what became the Nazi Party, his drawing of many Munich beer guzzlers
to his movement, and his endless reference to the alleged menace to
Germany of its Jewish population (less than 1%) are set forth in an
acceptable way. The account of the coup attempt of November 1923 is
unlikely to be understood by most viewers. It seems even more unlikely
that any who watched the second installment will realize that Bavarian
Prime Minister von Kahr, whose actitivities are central to the 1923
episode, was one of those murdered on June 30, 1934. There is no doubt
that Hitler dictated the first part of his book __Mein Kampf__ to an
associate (Max Amann) into the typewriter. As for the roles of
Hanfstaengl on Hitler's side and Gerlach in opposition -- and of their
wives -- this is enormously exaggerated but perhaps necessary for effect.
The result, however, is that there is no time available for the most
critical elements in the ostensible subject of the whole project: Hitler's
rise to power. This is the main defect of the second installment.
When Hitler was released from jail, he did indeed retake full control of
the Nazi Party and temporarily insist on a legal effort to assume power.
Missing from the film is the failure of this effort in the mid-1920's,
culminating in the Party's poor showing in the 1928 election that is never
mentioned. This defeat led him to write his second book -- of which a
reliable English translation will appear for the first time this fall --
but which he never published because he was rescued from oblivion by the
very right wing politicians he excoriates in that text. It was in
alliance with them thathe was able to appeal to masses of Germans in and
after 1929 -- amd millions of them responded not only by cheering him and
voting for his party, but also by paying to hear him speal and thereby
helping finance the Nazi movement. Missing from the film is any parallel
to the Munich beer hall crowds: the masses of ordinary people who flocked
to hear him as he travelled all over the country. Similarly absent is the
setback suffered by the Nazis in the November 1932 election; a defeat from
which he was again rescued, this time by a small coterie around President
von Hindenburg.
The filmmakers could have made something dramatic of the Nazis setting the
Reichstag building on fire as the latest research shows. More difficult
to overlook is the total confusion of the suspension of civil liberties by
the Reichstag Fire Decree -- which von Hindenburg signed -- and the
Enabling Act which was passed by the Reichstag. I cannot help wondering
how many viewers realized that on June 30, 1934, Hitler had his
predecessor as Chancellor together with his wife murdered. The beginnings
of terror on a national scale and the early and well publicized
establishment of concentration camps should recall to the audience
thatterrible things began in 1933, not with the German unleashing of
another world war. Perhaps to make up for the exaggerated portrayal of
Hitler and those around him, the deaths in World War II are reduced in the
concluding informational trailers by ten million. As an old-fashioned
though retired history professor, I would probably rate this as a C minus.
Copyright (c) 2003 by H-Net, all rights reserved. H-Net permits
the redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonprofit,
educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the
author, web location, date of publication, originating list, and
H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. For other uses
contact the Reviews editorial staff: hbooks@mail.h-net.msu.edu.
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