Figure 1.--Hitler emerged from his Berlin bunker for the last time on April 20, 1945 to decorate a group of Hitler Youth boys participating in the defense of the city. This was the recreation of an actual event. The children here look a little younger than in the actual newsreel footage, but not by much.

This acclaimed German film "Downfall" is probably the most vivid depiction of the last days of the Third Reich in Hitler's Berlin bunker. The actual German title was Der Untergang. The German actor playing Hitler is brilliant in his portrayal. This was of course the depiction of an azctual event. The film includes the chilling scene on Hitler's birthday. He emerges from the bunker for the last time to decorate a group of Hitler Youth boys fighting in the defance of the city. Many like these boys continued to believe to the very end what NAZI radio broadcasts told them, that miracle weapons would make it possible for Germany to win the War. They wear the Winter Hitler Youth uniform. These boys and other Berliners are dieing to give Hitler a few more days life. It is difficult to think of a people in history that gave more devotion to a single man. Yet Hitler had no feeling whatsoever to the privations and sacrifices of the German people. Rather he told his syncophants in the Bunker that the German people had failed him and did not deserve to survive. He issued the Nero Decrees that were designed to make Germany uninhabitable after the War.

Filmology

This acclaimed German film "Downfall" is probably the most vivid depiction of the last days of the Third Reich in Hitler's Berlin bunker. The actual German title was Der Untergang.gave a very good performance and its a pity that the film came too late for the Oscars as I'm sure it could well have won the award for best foreign language film.

Cast

The German actor playing Hitler, Bruno Ganz, who played Hitler, is brilliant in his portrayal. One boy actor who played an HJ member uder very heavy fire from Russian guns also gave a good performance. The character name was Peter Kranz and he's played by Donevan Guniea. If you look at the picture you have on the Downfall page, he's the boy second from the far end, the one Bruno Ganz (Hitler) is talking to. He played a magnificient part in the film and he is also the boy seen on a bicycle toward the end of the film where one of Hitler's secretaries is fleeing Berlin.

Berlin

The film is a depiction of the last days of World War II. It is a depiction of the actual event in an around Hitler's bunker. Stalin was determined for prestige purposes to take the city. Allied armies were poised west of the city. Montgomery was especially anxious to take the city as were some american commanders. The German commanders west of the city wondered why the Allies did not come. Eisenhower decided, however, to leave the city to the Soviets. It was a decession to which Chirchill objected and is still debated by historians. As the Red Army stormed through East Prussia and Poland, Hitler retired to Berlin. The Wehrmacht after Bragation and the Bulge was a spent force. SS armour divisions earmarked for the defense of Berlin were committed by Hitler to the defense of Budapest. After Budapest fell, this left the defense of Berlin to a considerable extent in the hands of Volkstrum made up of Hitler youth boys and older men. As the Soviets closed in, Hitler's advisers urged him to withdraw to the southern Alps. He refused and decided to make his last stand in Berlin from the bunker located near the Chancellery.

Important Scenes

The film centers on Hitler's bunker, but there were also scenes of the wider defense of Berlin. The film includes the chilling scene on Hitler's birthday. He emerges from the bunker for the last time to decorate a group of Hitler Youth boys fighting in the defance of the city (figure 1). Many like these boys continued to believe to the very end what NAZI radio broadcasts told them, that miracle weapons would make it possible for Germany to win the War. They wear the Winter Hitler Youth uniform. These boys and other Berliners are dieing to give Hitler a few more days life. A particularly heartrendering scene deals with the Goebbels children. They are shown singing to some German soldiers. One of these chilren is a boy, he wears a white shirt, black short trousers held up by braces. The children wear typical middle class clothing of the Nazi period. The girls all wear wash dresses with ankle socks. The boy wears shorts (with detachable suspenders), knee socks, and a white shirt. The children later are given a sleeping draft so that their mother can adminster a capsule containing poison. Dr. and Mrs. Goebels could not conceive of the children growing up in Germany without the Führer. After poisoning the children, they committed suicide themselves as the Russian Army was closing in on the bunker. There are other boys seen in the film but very briefly.

Costuming

This is a wonderfully done film. There are quite a number of interesting depiction of children's clothing. There are several boys depicted in the film. Here we see the boys at Hitlker's birthday being decorated by Hitler (figure 1). They wear the Winter uniform. One boy seen toward the end of the film escaping out of Berlin as the Russians began taking over the city. He is seen wearing a collarless shirt, grey open cardigan and grey shorts. The Goebels children who are all poisoned in their sleep are also depicted.

Hitler and the Germans

It is difficult to think of a people in history that gave more devotion to a single man. Yet Hitler had no feeling whatsoever to the privations and sacrifices of the German people. Rather he told his syncophants in the Bunker that the German people had failed him and did not deserve to survive. He issued the Nero Decrees that were designed to make Germany uninhabitable after the War. The film vividly depicts Hitler's frame of mind.

Reader Comments

A British reader writes, "I've seen this film twice and can highly recommend it. It is fascinating to see this depiction through German eyes."

German Outlook

A question HBC finds interesting is how modern Germans view World War II. Germany today is one of the most democratic countries in the world. That is an outcome that could have scarcely been imagined by historians looking at the world in 1940. This is the result of NAZI Germany's defeat in World War II and the occupation policies of the Western Allies. Given how much life in Germany was improved by the Allied victory, I have always wondered how modern Germans when view World War II movies ("Battle of Britain", "Battle of the Bulge", "A Bridge too Far", "The Bridge", "The Longest Day", "Patton", ect.). I have asked some of our German readers this question and the answer I get is it seems to me often equivocal. This at first surprised me given how much better and more just life in Germany is today than during the Third Reich. I don't mean to suggest that the German readers with which I have discussed this issdue have latent NAZI attitudes, but rather I think it shows that no matter how evil the NAZIs were, it is still very painful to see one's country being defeated. Such I think is the strength of nationalism even in modern Europe. Here I would be interesting in any insights our German readers can offer.

Created: 4:37 PM 4/21/2005
Last updated: 1:57 AM 4/24/2005