By every definition of the word propaganda, this is a propaganda film. At first, this might surprise a lot of viewers who are used to the idea that america can do no wrong and is an exception to history, but things like this show how the allies were guilty of slander as well. This short film details how in the wake of the second world war's conclusion in europe, germany is not only to be punished, but turned into a shadow of its former self. The country is split in half, occupied by four other nations, and obviously, no buildings or monuments honoring nazis are to exist anymore. Just like after the previous world war, germany was paying the price, but this time, rules would actually be enforced. The film is only 17 minutes, so you can't expect much, but the condescending tone of the narrator and cheesy script are what kill it for me. They go on to say how despite nazi germany being no more, ideas of racism still exist in america and elsewhere. Many americans after the war (believe it or not) felt the world would have been better off with an axis victory. A nazi dominated europe strictly controlling everything that happens on the continent and america cowering on the other side of the atlantic. Hitler Lives also makes use of footage taken from Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, the tried and true, time honored way to make a nazi movie. It just seems to me like this short was produced with the most casual of people in mind. People that want to be fed very entry level history and learn about how everyone from a certain country is automatically evil because they're from there. I remember reading about this short in a book I own on Frank Capra and other directors on their activities during the war, and the book says Dr. Seuss was actually the scriptwriter for this. Surprisingly, it doesn't mention the one event that was so unrelenting in its violence and scale that it formed an entirely new and horrific chapter in the book of human crime (the holocaust), and instead shows some crematoriums. There's no mention of how the nazis singled out certain races for extinction. Finally, the film talks about the possible rise of fascism in the US and how people back home have to be ready to combat it. Before america's entry into world war 2, there was actually an organization of german americans who followed nazi ideology. Led by Fritz Kuhn, a former world war 1 veteran, they held a rally for nazi supporters in Madison Square Garden in 1939. Kuhn was an outspoken critic of president Roosevelt and called him president "Rosenfeld", so the rise of fascism was definitely a possibility in america. However, the type of snarky attitude this film has doesn't get anything accomplished, since it says how germans are not to be trusted, even with the war over. Hitler Lives was also awarded an Oscar for best documentary, which is just kind of baffling to me. It demonstrates how the crimes of Hitler's Reich had to be paid for, and it was the average person who paid.
Review of Hitler Lives
