L is for Leni Riefenstahl: Triumph of the Will

by Tammy Petry

L
Blogging From A to Z April Challenge
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
2014

For my non-American readers, I realize a lot of this stuff may be classified as "illegal" in certain countries.  After a bit of research, I discovered that a simple disclaimer might allow legal viewing of this content for citizens of most countries.

Disclaimer: The information in this blog is for historical/educational purposes only.

"Shortly after he came to power Hitler called me to see him and explained that he wanted a film about a Party Congress, and wanted me to make it. My first reaction was to say that I did not know anything about the way such a thing worked or the organization of the Party, so that I would obviously photograph all the wrong things and please nobody - even supposing that I could make a documentary, which I had never yet done. Hitler said that this was exactly why he wanted me to do it: because anyone who knew all about the relative importance of the various people and groups and so on might make a film that would be pedantically accurate, but this was not what he wanted. He wanted a film showing the Congress through a non-expert eye, selecting just what was most artistically satisfying - in terms of spectacle, I suppose you might say. He wanted a film which would move, appeal to, impress an audience which was not necessarily interested in politics."

— Leni Riefenstahl

Leni Riefenstahl

Triumph of the Will (German: Triumph des Willens) is a 1935 film made by Leni Riefenstahl. It chronicles the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, which was attended by more than 700,000 Nazi supporters. The film contains excerpts from speeches given by Nazi leaders.

The film's overriding theme is the return of Germany as a great power, with Hitler as the leader who will bring glory to the nation.

Because the film was made after the 1934 Night of the Long Knives, many prominent SA members are absent, having been murdered in that purge.

Triumph of the Will was released in 1935 and became a prominent example of propaganda in film history. 

Riefenstahl's techniques—such as moving cameras, aerial photography, the use of long focus lenses to create a distorted perspective, and the revolutionary approach to the use of music and cinematography—have earned Triumph of the Will recognition as one of the greatest films in history. 

Riefenstahl won several awards, not only in Germany but also in the United States, France, Sweden, and other countries. The film was popular in the Third Reich, and has continued to influence movies, documentaries, and commercials to this day. However, it is banned from showing in Germany owing to its support for Nazism and its numerous portrayals of the swastika.

Triumph of the Will
"Triumph des Willens"
1935 German Film Poster

The film begins with a prologue, the only commentary in the film. It consists of the following text, shown sequentially, against a grey background:

[On 5 September 1934]

[20 years after the outbreak of the World War]

[16 years after the beginning of German suffering]

[19 months after the beginning of the German rebirth]

[Adolf Hitler flew again to Nuremberg to review the columns of his faithful followers]

The film opens with shots of the clouds above the city, and then moves through the clouds to float above the assembling masses below, with the intention of portraying beauty and majesty of the scene. The cruciform shadow of Hitler's plane is visible as it passes over the tiny figures marching below, accompanied by an orchestral arrangement of the Horst-Wessel-Lied.

Upon arriving at the Nuremberg airport, Hitler and other Nazi leaders emerge from his plane to thunderous applause and a cheering crowd. He is then driven into Nuremberg, through equally enthusiastic people, to his hotel where a night rally is later held.

1934 Night Rally
Albert Speers' "Cathedral of Light"

Riefenstahl had the difficult task of condensing an estimated 61 hours of film into two hours. She labored to complete the film as fast as she could, going so far as to sleep in the editing room filled with hundreds of thousands of feet of film footage.

"The Party is Hitler - and Hitler is Germany just as Germany is Hitler!

— Rudolf Hess

In the closing speech of Triumph of the Will, Hitler enters the room from the back, appearing to emerge from the people. After a one sentence introduction, he tells his faithful Nazis how the German nation has subordinated itself to the Nazi Party because its leaders are mostly of Germans. He promises that the new state that the Nazis have created will endure for thousands of years. Hitler says that the youth will carry on after the old have weakened.

They close with a chant, "Hitler is the Party, Hitler." The camera focuses on the large Swastika above Hitler and the film ends with the images of this Swastika imposed on Nazis marching in a few columns.

H is for Schicklgruber?

Blogging From A to Z April 2014 Challenge
H
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
H is for  Schicklgruber Hitler

Adolph's father, Alois, was not born with the last name Hitler.
He actually changed it to Hitler in 1877, many years before Adolph was born.
What might the most evil man in history have been named if not for this change?
ADOLPH SCHICKLGRUBER
Heil Schicklgruber?????

Date	Event
1837	Birth of Alois Schicklgruber, Adolf's father, as the illegitimate son of Maria Anna Schicklgruber and - ?
1842	Marriage of Alois' mother to Johann Georg Hiedler.
1847	Death of Maria Anna Hiedler.
1850	Alois Schicklgruber apprenticed to a bootmaker in Vienna, Austria.
1855	Alois Schicklgruber given employment by Board of Inland Revenue.
1857	Johann George Heidler, Alois' stepfather, dies.
1873	Alois Schicklgruber marries Anna Glassl (no children).
1876	Alois Schicklgruber's name changed to Hitler.
1880	Alois divorced by his wife on grounds of adultery with Franziska Matzelsberger.
1882	Franziska Matzelsberger bears Alois a son, also given the name of Alois.
1883	Death of Alois' first wife, Alois marries Franziska Matzelsberger, Angela Hitler born.
1884	Death of Alois' second wife.
1885	Alois' third marriage with Klara Pölzl, granddaughter of Johann Nepomuk Hiedler, brother of Alois' deceased stepfather.
1889	Adolf Hitler born, the fourth child of his father's third wife, at Braunau, Austria,

Hitler.  Six letters of the alphabet, when combined, initiates a response from nearly every person in the world today.  I'm sure some people may be upset with me for blogging about about him, saying things like,

• "Hitler does not deserve any further discussion" or
• "Hitler is evil incarnate so why on earth would you want to write about him?" 
• And my personal favorite, "You're a racist, antisemitic Nazi bitch!"

I've heard all of these and many more. Comments like these are born in:

• Blind acceptance of values instilled by parents and grandparents.
• Lack of exposure to belief systems different from their own/Isolation
• Fear of learning new ideals that makes them "different" from their friends and family.

In light of these statements, I want to begin this post with a personal disclaimer.

1. I am an avid historian, not a Nazi.
2. I enjoy discovering little-known facts about historical people without regard to their actions and beliefs. 
3. I find a wide variety of people fascinating, again, without regard to their politics or actions.
4. I have a sense of humor.  Highly inappropriate most days but damn, lighten up.  Yes, Hitler was a rotten bastard but I still laugh at the memes.
5. My blog, my rules.

If you are unable to view things from a perspective other than your own, this may not be the blog for you.  

Strange Facts about Hitler:

1. He only had one testicle.
There are two schools of thought on this subject.  At first it was believed that he lost a testicle in WWI.  Now, according to this article in the Guardian, it seems that Hitler's right testicle never fully descended during puberty. That is a condition called Cryptorchidism.

2. He was obsessed with his young niece.
Geli Raubal, Hitler's teenaged niece, was the daughter of his half-sister Angela. Hitler had invited Angela to come live with him and be his housekeeper. She brought her young daughter "Geli" with her. No one can prove for sure that it was a sexual relationship, but many people have insinuated that it was very intimate.

Geli has been called "the love of his life" by many Hitler biographers throughout the years. He was so obsessed with her that he kept her a virtual prisoner in one of his apartments during the six years of their relationship. It ended abruptly with Geli's death at the age of 23. Some say she committed suicide out of depression and a desperate attempt to escape Hitler's control. She wanted to go to Vienna and become an actress but allegedly, he forbid her to leave his side. Others say she was murdered because Hitler refused to let her go and if he couldn't have her, no one else could either. To this day, no one knows the truth behind their mysterious and tragic relationship. To read more about them and to see some amazing historical photos, check out this link.

3. He was the first European leader to ban the operation of human zoos.
Okay folks, I had to do some research into this one. First of all, I had no idea what a "human zoo" was.  I am horrified to say the least. Second, I'm amazed that Hitler was the first to BAN such a gross display of humanity, but what can I say, horrible people aren't always ALL bad. That being said, for those of you who may not know, a human zoo is exactly what it sounds like: A group of unique and unusual people on display for the viewing pleasure and oft times mockery of others. Not quite as bizarre as a circus freak show, but still as unkind, human zoos were popular in the US and Europe from the 18th to 20th centuries, particularly at places like The World's Fair and Coney Island.

For more photos and details about the history of human zoos, click HERE.

Well folks, that's a wrap on this one. There are more strange facts out there about Hitler but I don't feel like devoting any more of this beautiful day to him.

~TP

A is for Auschwitz: Blogging A to Z April 2014 Challenge

Blogging From A to Z April Challenge

As you (should) know, my theme for this year's blog-fest is WWII. I'm jumping right in with a weighted topic for my premiere post in this year's challenge.  It mirrors my motto of, "Go big or go home" and overall life philosophy.  I'm no wallflower.  You will know I'm at the party.  I'll be the crazy one with the wine laughing a little too loud but not really caring all that much.

Moving on...

I like to include links in my posts.  I have an inquisitive mind and if something interests me, I always like to know more about it. On that note, let's get down to business...

A is for Auschwitz

I think we all know enough about the actual camp and the heinous activities perpetrated by the Nazis. 

We are not going through the gates of Auschwitz today.  

I want to tell you a story about a man who, luckily, never arrived at those hellish gates. 

Leo Bretholz
He and a friend jumped from a train en route to Auschwitz and avoided certain death.

Leo Bretholz and a friend were on the train to Auschwitz, having been deported from the Drancy concentration camp outside of Paris, France.  This was not his first escape, but it was probably the one that saved his life.  Below is a transcript of Mr. Bretholz's oral testimony about his escape from the death train. What an amazing person.  

Watch Leo Bretholz tell his story.  CLICK HERE (this will open a new window)

TRANSCRIPT OF LEO BRETHOLZ

But as soon as the train started in the morning, and we were out of Paris for, about half an hour or so out of Paris, we decided our task to, to pry these bars apart. And we know that when you make a cloth wet, a towel wet, it has tensile strength in wringing it, you can wring it, and when you twist it it becomes like a tourniquet. So we took off our sweaters, pullovers, v-necks, and dipped them into that human waste in the bucket, and didn't even have to use the bucket because the floor of the, we were squatting in it, and walking in it, and inhaling it, and it's still up there in my nostrils right now even when I talk about it. And, uh, we used these sweaters to twist around the bars--if these are the bars, twisted around--and twist, and twist, and twist until all the liquid had poured out and had been twisted out, by that time, it had developed that strength, and we did that often enough, alternating between him and myself, until the bars started to somewhat move in the frame. We saw them move. Why? Because the rust in the frame started falling down in dust. Rusty dust. And when we saw these bars moving, that was the light at the end of the tunnel, to use a cliche, or, uh, what do you call it, a metaphor. That was it. We knew that if we would continue that often enough, that eventually these bars will be giving enough for us to be able to bend them. Up and down, up and down, until finally they had moved enough where we could bend them into a, into a position where the opening was wide enough for us to be able to squeeze through, and we did, at a given moment we did, and after we escaped, that, uh, we lay there in the, in the, in the ravine for a while that almost seemed like an eternity, made our way into a village, went to a bakeshop, the apprentice came to the door and told us there was no bread now, not until the morning, and we said we're not interested in bread, we would like to know where the village priest lives, and he said he was going to take us to his house or home which was right adjoining a sacristy, uh, joining the church, and we got to him, we had torn off our Jewish stars. I feel now that if we had them on it would have been more reassuring for him because he would have known who we were, although we could have been a, it could have been a trap, but, uh, he recog--and we told him that we had escaped from a train, we were very frank with him, and we didn't know, he could have been a collaborator too, you know, but we felt we were in good hands as we saw the face of the man. And he said, "Yeah, they come through here several times a week," and, uh, we know, we know that, but you know, he says, "I can let you stay here for the night. But in the morning, very early, I'd have to get you out of your warm bed, because between five and six, a patrol can come by here almost regularly." So he, he gave us milk, and bread, and cheese, warm milk, put us into a feather bed, into a crisp white sheet, and that after being in Drancy with a straw on a cement floor and vermin and, uh, putrid stench, and it was like you were on a cloud. And when he woke us with that soft voice in the morning: "Hey, fellows, Leg...il faut que vous levez. You have to get up. Il faut que vous partez. Il faut partir. You have to get away because you know...." Gave us a, uh, a letter to another colleague of his, also a priest in a village, not too far, and we spent the next day in his place, an adjoining stable, not a barn, a stable, and we spending that night lying between cows.

End of transcript.

This story, and many others, can be accessed for free at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's website at www.USHMM.org