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Film talk
I'm watching a documentary about Veit Harlan, the director of "The Jew Suss", one of the most virulently anti-semitic films made by the Goebbels propaganda machine. Everyone is at pains to make sure we understand that Harlan wasn't a Nazi, as if that matters.
That his films, like those of Leni Reifenstahl, gave material aid and credibility to national socialism and their vicious racism doesn't matter; they were '"artists" and that somehow excuses everything. Harlan was merely "acting under duress". The counter to this argument is just two words - just a name- that makes a lie of the specious excuse of duress, not just for Harlan, but for all those who chose not to oppose Naziism. That name is Sophie Scholl.
That his films, like those of Leni Reifenstahl, gave material aid and credibility to national socialism and their vicious racism doesn't matter; they were '"artists" and that somehow excuses everything. Harlan was merely "acting under duress". The counter to this argument is just two words - just a name- that makes a lie of the specious excuse of duress, not just for Harlan, but for all those who chose not to oppose Naziism. That name is Sophie Scholl.