Monday, October 29, 2012

The Nazi Titanic

From the History Channel -"To the Nazis of WWII, film was a weapon used to justify murder and even genocide. Joseph Goebbels, the head of the Nazi propaganda machine, personally commissioned The Titanic; he saw it as a potent weapon in demonizing the English. In his pursuit of creating what was to be the Third Reich's cinematic masterpiece he was ruthless. He had the first director murdered and poured in unrivaled resources even bringing troops back from the front to use as extras. The film was intended to show German valor and Allied weakness, but when it was finished it portrayed an entirely different message. It had become an allegory for Nazism itself. There was an all too apparent parallel of a country heading towards its own iceberg and sinking. The story of the Nazi Titanic had an unpleasant sting in its tail. The boat used to play the Titanic in the film, the Cap Arcona, was sunk by allied bombers with an even greater loss of life than the original ship."



From Wikipedia - "Titanic is a 1943 German propaganda film made during World War II in Berlin by Tobis Productions for UFA. The film was commissioned by Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and enjoyed a brief theatrical run in German occupied Europe starting in November 1943—but not in Germany proper by order of Goebbels himself who feared that it would weaken the German citizenry's morale instead of raising it. Goebbels later banned the playing of the film, and it did not have a second run. The film used the sinking of the RMS Titanic as a setting for an attempt to discredit British and American capitalist dealings and glorify the bravery and selflessness of German men. This was also the first film on the topic simply titled Titanic and the first to combine various fictional characters and subplots with historical personas and events of the sinking; both conventions went on to become a staple of future Titanic films."



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