Downfall Review

The movie Downfall gave a very unique look into Hitler’s last few days of power.  I believe that we were shown this movie in order to show us what led up to the rebuilding of Germany and what mental state Germany was in during the end of WWII.  Everybody knows the turmoil and destruction that wrapped up Germany during 1945, but many people do not know how Hitler treated his loyal German people.

The shots of the streets of Berlin burning and civilians continuing to be killed gave me a real disgust with how Hitler handled his own people.  He was so blind to the fact that to save any ounce of his country, he would need to surrender, which he was not willing to do.  The ultimate suicide of Hitler only sped up the process of rebuilding Germany and its’ people.  From the looks of the movie, if Hitler continued to stay alive, he would have ended up continuing to kill many more thousands of Germans than when he killed himself.

But even though he had no regard for his peoples’ lives, they still remained faithful to him and believed what he did was right.  They were willing to lay down their lives for a tyrant just based off his words.  It was extremely beneficial to the German people and economy that Hitler committed suicide because if he continued to stay alive, Germany would have been a barren wasteland that would have taken hundreds of years to do what they did in 50.  

Ben Huger

GR 332X

Denazification

HR: Lectures, Articles

Denazification was the stripping of Germany’s beliefs and symbols that the 3^rd Reich had instilled in them. This denazification process was handled very differently by the two states of Germany-East and West. Denazification proved very difficult at first due to the large number of people who had said to be apart or supporters of the Nazi party. This attempt to interview and track down every single Nazi supporter proved impossible at the end of the day because it alone caused denazification to grind to a halt. After this, denazification in both West and East Germany focused more towards higher ups and large supporters of the Nazi regime, instead of your small time supporter and flag-waver.

The Soviet controlled East Germany used a more brutal tactic in the process of denazification than their American and British counterparts that used more diplomatic ways to change the minds of Germans. In the short documentary we viewed from the United States propaganda during this time, it is very obvious that we were trying to instill the beliefs and culture of the western world into these Germans. This video portrayed Germans as almost a “sick people” who needed to be cured, and the only cure was democracy and American music. The destroying of the Nazi swastika throughout Germany became normal and Berlin was rid of all Nazi symbols very quickly. In schools, children began learning about democracy and western ways, which were possible due to the western occupation and control over newspapers, textbooks, and curriculums. The denazification process in West Germany did not only include physical signs of the regime falling, but the people of Germany were becoming “un-brainwashed” to their long time as listening to Hitler speeches over loud speakers and Nazi propaganda at every corner. The western allies claimed that Germans were taking well and writing favorably on the idea of democracy and western views, but one must keep in mind that the U.S. Army regulated the newspaper in the occupied zone.

The Soviets regulated their denazification in a different way. Their idea of denazification included the introduction of prison camps along with stripping believed to be Nazi party members of their belongings and land they owned. The East Germany politicians also criticized West Germany for being merely an extension of the Nazi party. This was ironic because the socialist Soviet East Germany was comprised of primarily former Nazi members.

Denazification proved to be a great success in West Germany, while it was a minor success in East Germany. I say this because in West Germany, the people were able to grow mentally out of Nazi beliefs due to their immersion in western culture and the idea of democracy, while East Germany used scare tactics to try and force the Nazi beliefs out of their inhabitants.

Ben Huger
Matt Meadows

Reasons for German rearmament:
1. The Germans are regarded as the best soldiers in the world. They desperately need manpower in Europe to combat the Soviet Union.

2. The Soviets are building an army in East Germany and the West needs to be able to match this increase in military power from the Soviets in East Germany.

3. If the East Germans decide to invade the western part of Germany like North Korea did in the Korean War as a liberating act, it will be much easier for the West Germans to defend their country with their own military.

Reasons against:

1. It will take a while for Germany to remilitarize because of all the demilitarization they have been imposing on the Germans and probably not enough time to properly defend their country against any attacks.

2. West German soldiers would probably provoke border conflict with the Russians.

3. If they were forced to serve in a new German military, most male Germans do not wish to serve at all and would probably be a sorry excuse for a fighting force.

We believe that the Germans need to defend themselves. The Allies long term goal was to help them stand on their own two feet again and defend themselves. With such an immediate threat with the Soviets right next-door, it would benefit the Germans to remilitarize to defend their country, if needed.

08/15 movie review

08/15 gives a different view of the German military that we are not used to seeing as westerners. German military history is normally associated with the Nazi party and their brutality along with the Prussian stigma of being a conquering and dominating military.
The men of 08/15 were portrayed as normal everyday guys who were put into military uniforms and into boot camp for the German military. These men were harassed by their superiors and NCO’s such as Platzek and Schulz for being incompetent and unfocused. This part of the movie was very interesting to me because I have always viewed the German military, especially during the Nazi party domination, as having the strictest form of discipline and focus. This movie gave me a sobering view of the Nazi party from the way the average German saw them. They were just normal men drafted into the military that either wanted to be there or wanted out, they were not all tall, blonde, war machine type people as they are portrayed in western culture.

The men in boot camp just wanted to have a good time and did not feel like listening to superiors who tried to abuse their power. Some wanted to be musicians, some wanted to be soldiers, and some wanted out of the military all together.

08/15 gave me a different view of the German party that we do not see as a western culture, normally. This film was very educating for me even though it was not too serious of a movie because it gave the view through the eyes of the German people into the war.

HR: Internet for name spellings

Germany as we know it today, was warped and molded starting with the fall of the Wehrmacht until the blossoming of the Bundeswehr. Germany charged into the 20^th century as a military power rooted in conquering and overpowering lesser-fit nations. While their brutality and overpowering seemed to work during the beginning of both World Wars, they ended up losing both wars. After the Second World War, Germany’s unified armed forces also known as the “Wehrmacht” was disbanded while the allied forces took control of Germany after their unconditional surrender in 1945. In years following 1945, the allied forces began the denazification process in Germany that included everything from showing American films to German people to instilling the idea of democracy to their children in school. The western allies were in control of West Germany and West Berlin while a strong fisted Russia controlled East Germany and East Berlin. These two different occupying powers would prove to have very different views on how to bring Germany back from economic devastation after the war along with how or if they would re-arm Germany in the future. Germany went from a military powerhouse in the 1930’s and 1940’s to being a country barely holding its head above water, and the denazification and occupation from the allies has shaped Germany into where it stands today.

When the Wehrmacht fell in Berlin in 1945, Adolf Hitler took the sheepish way out by committing suicide and letting his German people clean up his mess. This fall of the Nazi Empire led to the dividing of Germany into four occupation zones that included: United States, Soviet Union, France, and Great Britain. The U.S., British, and French occupied the western part of Germany while the eastern side was occupied by the Soviets. West Germany would ultimately be thrust into the ideas of western democracy while the eastern side was forced to live under rules of Soviet socialism. While Germany was originally supposed to be governed all together by the Allies, there was increased tension between the Soviets and other allies, which caused the separation of Germany. Although the Allies seemed to not be able to get along, they did agree on the idea of denazification. Denazification is the stripping of all ideas, teachings, symbols, and beliefs that Hitler and the 3^rd Reich had instilled into the people of Germany. While all of Germany was under Hitler’s rule, only 10% of the population was active members of the Nazi party (DENAZ).

To me, denazification was the most important part of the transition from the Wehrmacht to the Bundeswehr. The overall feeling of denazification was met greatly by the people of the United States, where propaganda and media referred to the Germans as “coming around to thinking as we do” and “ridding their minds of the terrible Nazism.” The initial investigations that the Allies performed on different known Nazi members proved a lot more difficult that first thought. This is because there was such a mass number of people who could have potentially been Nazis at one time or another; the investigation process took very long which slowed process of the denazification. In West Germany, symbols of the Nazi party were blown up along with documents and literature that contained the idealism of the 3^rd Reich. The short documentaries viewed in class show West Germans attending western movies along with putting democracy into the grade schools and the teaching curriculum. The western side, especially the U.S., handled the denazification process with dignity for the German people, not disgust and hatred.

The Soviet form of denazification proved very different from the territories that were occupied in western Germany. Many large landowners who were Nazi party members were stripped of their lands and their estates were given to small, poor farmers (DENAZ). The Soviets were also known for setting up prison camps for Nazi party members, where some of them got fair and just trials, while over 43,000 died in these camps before they were able to hold court (DENAZ). The Soviets did a horrible job of regulating and actively enforcing the denazification process in East Germany, and this stubbornness as a country led to the Soviet Union harsh rule over East Germany for many decades.

While the Soviets ruled East Germany with an iron fist, the West Germany Allies began to rebuild Germany. Konrad Adenauer, who was elected as the first chancellor of Germany in 1949 along with Ludwig Erhard who was a politician from the Christian Democratic Union of Germany began rebuilding and growing Germany. The most impressive thing was their ability to rebuild their economy in such a short amount of time, which they call Wirtschaftswunder; which means “economic miracle” (WEST). Careful planning and great leadership caused this “economic miracle” from Ludwig Erhard who reinstated the Reichsmark and Deutche Mark as legal tender in West Germany, which led to a stoppage of rapid inflation (WEST). As West Germany was gained leadership and confidence back through Konrad Adenauer and the economic upturn, they became more willing and eager to take back over their country to run it as they chose.

The early 1950’s led to another debate within West Germany, the idea of rearmament for Germany. The two leading political parties at the time were the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Germany; both of who desired their country be put back into the hands of Germans- not allied nations. The two priorities that drove these two political parties were continued success of the economy in West Germany only fueled their fire for full control of their country along with the increasing tensions with the Soviets. In the early 1950s, the Soviets still held a large amount of German POWs that showed their maintained hostility towards the German people and Western Allies. The need for rearmament for West Germany was believed vital incase of an attack from the Soviets from East Germany because they would be defenseless.

This idea of rearmament for Germany seemed like a beneficial idea to some, but not to me. The movie 08/15 made me realize that there was no need for rearmament in West Germany at the time. 08/15 gives a view of the German military during the Wehrmacht era and follows around a young private who wants no part of the military, at all. The idea of a draft and rearmament for the German people is not what they need in the 1950’s; their focus should be rebuilding the economy while allowing the Allied powers to provide protection. My main takeaway from 08/15 was- if there was a hatred for the draft and military by some during the Wehrmacht, then the feeling for the draft and military power would be absolutely hated while trying to rebuild Germany and its tarnished name. The people of Germany must not even utter the word “military” due to their past 10 years of torment they inflicted on Europe. The continued support of NATO will suffice as protection for West Germany as they continue to build their political and economic reputation.

Germany emerged from WWII as the most hated country on planet Earth while living in absolute turmoil due to destroyed economic and military prowess. GR 332X has taught me the rebuilding and resiliency of the German people after the Second World War along with the economic and cultural factors that led to rearmament debates and denazification in the German state. This class has allowed me a different view into the lives of Germans that is not shown in the western world too often. It showed me the ordinary lives these people lived and the struggles they went through to rebuild Germany and her name.

Works Cited

DENAZ. “Denazification.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.

WEST. “West Germany.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.

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