Here Is Germany

Through narration and compiled film footage, much of which was produced in Germany, this Army orientation film tries to answer the question, "Can we really understand the German people?" The film notes that although the Germans seem to be a quiet, decent, educated, musical, clean, tidy and industrious people, their country has brought war into the world, been responsible for burning churches and imprisoning priests, operated concentration camps and practiced torture on a wide scale. Bodies of concentration camp victims are shown along with scientifically designed gas chambers, furnaces for burning corpses, clothing and children's toys recovered from victims, and objects of art made from human skin. The film next discusses the character of the German people through a historical overview of the previous 150 years. The point is made that German tradition, rather than "blood," can account for the brutal actions of the German people. As exemplified by a fictional "Everyman," named "Karl Schmidt," the German lust for conquest is examined. Led by Adolf Hitler, the Kaiser and Otto von Bismarck, the Nazis, Huns and Prussians are shown to have attempted to inflict their will by force. One hundred and fifty years earlier, Germany was a loose conglomeration of 350 states without a common history, religion or literature. Frederick the Great, the head of the most aggressive of these states, invaded Austria without a declaration of war and emerged victorious. Prussia next fought Russia, Sweden and France, as the myth of Prussian invincibility gained credence among the German peoples. After Frederick's death in 1786, his dream of conquest lived on with the Prussian militarists. Bismarck, Prime Minister of Prussia, provoked a war against Denmark, and after he was victorious over Austria and France, the strongest power in Europe, the German Empire was formed along with its myth of the master race. The German officer became the idol of the nations. After William II of Hohenzollern came to power, the German people cheered as their soldiers marched off to invade Belgium following the provocation of the assassination of the Austrian Archduke at Sarajevo. The Germans used gas warfare and submarines, violating codes of war. Germany was subdued by the combined force of the Allies, and an Armistice was granted, despite General John J. Pershing's desire to march into Germany and demand an unconditional surrender. Karl Schmidt never saw the Allied soldiers; instead, he saw the German army return triumphantly. As Germany became a republic, the men who caused the war stepped into the background as the weak opposition parties took over. The German people, looking for scapegoats, blamed the men who signed the peace treaty at Versailles. In the twenty years following the war, the occupying army withdrew at intervals, while the militarists gained power and influence. The starving people, hit hard by inflation that made financiers wealthy, blamed the democrats because they had to pay reparation. After Paul von Hindenberg was installed as president, Hitler demonstrated an ability to arouse mobs by preaching the same doctrine of the master race as his predecessors. He gathered an array of misfits around him and was backed by militarists, industrialists and nationalists. After his Nazi party received more votes in the 1933 election than any other party, Hitler was installed as chancellor. Four weeks later, the Nazis set fire to the Reichstag and, blaming the communists, declared a state of emergency and took on dictatorial powers. The nation prepared for war, as Hitler added professional gangsters, his Storm Troopers, to his retinue. Karl Schmidt was indoctrinated through newspapers, books, pamphlets, speeches, art and sculpture. The film warns that unless the love of empire deep in Karl Schmidt's soul is uprooted, a new generation will find a leader to continue their tradition. Germany is again defeated, but this time, the surrender is unconditional, and Allied armies now parade through the country, German industry is left in ruins, and war criminals are executed. The Allies will not leave until Karl Schmidt comes to realize that he himself is responsible not only for his past, but for his future, and must rid himself of Frederick, Bismarck, the Kaiser and Hitler.