Customer Reviews

The Unknown Soldier

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The subject of this documentary is the opening of the Wehrmachtaustellung (Wehrmacht Exhibition) in 1995, the now famous collection of photographs and documents that provided graphic evidence of German atrocities throughout the Second World War. What distinguished the exhibition from past scholarship on the 3rd Reich, was its depiction of the German Army, or Wehrmacht, as one of the main perpetrators of .the Holocaust - essentially no different from the SS, SD, or other Nazi organizations commonly associated with the brutality and mass murder of Hitler's regime. Although a full rehash of the Wehrmacht Exhibit isn't appropriate here, in short, the controversy that persists to this day is whether the photographs show individual acts of barbarism committed by German troops or, as the Exhibit maintains, irrefutable evidence of the German Army's complicity in Nazi crimes. In other words, are these photos proof that ordinary, rank-and-file German soldiers willingly, even enthusiastically, participated in mass murder? Or are these merely isolated cases that should not (or cannot) be distorted to represent the behavior of the over eleven million men who passed through the army's ranks?

Now to the documentary:

Scope: The film purports to provide an objective, balanced account of the Wehrmacht Exhibition, in particular the controversies over the exhibition itself, the public attention it aroused throughout Germany, and the circumstances of its premature closing due to inaccuracies among its photographs. In addition, the documentary attempts to further investigate the complicity of the Wehrmacht in Hitler's crimes and refute the notion that German Army had been a mere spectator, or pawn, during the Holocaust. To accomplish this, commentary from leading scholars, former Wehrmacht members, and Holocaust survivors would provide critique and broach a discussion on the merits and shortcomings of the exhibition.

Focus: From the outset, the film veers off topic from the original opening of exhibition and a discussion German atrocities and digresses to crimes committed by the SS, the first use of gas vans at concentration camps, and Auschwitz. Roughly 1/3 of the film consists of tangents on the mass murder of the Jews and the 3rd Reich's genocidal policies in the USSR and Eastern Europe. This desultory format is annoying at best - one has a hard time keeping track of the producer's arguments as the interviews and footage appear cobbled together with little forethought. Moreover, no new material is introduced about Wehrmacht atrocities during WWII.

Objectivity: This is by far the biggest disappointment. My hope was to see an unbiased, objective analysis of the Wehrmacht Exhibition and the subject of German war crimes under Hitler. I was looking forward to hearing feedback from historians and scholars advocating different viewpoints and walk away with new insights or at least a better understanding of the controversies this exhibit evoked. Instead, it was immediately clear which side the documentary took: while there was indeed a panel of respected history professors, authors, and politicians present throughout the film, without exception they were either directly affiliated with the exhibition itself or proponents of its overall message (I gave 2 stars because many of their arguments were compelling). Yet for counterarguments and critique against the exhibition, the film relies exclusively on soundbytes and interviews from right-wing (neo-nazi) politicians, angry, shouting skinheads, and a handful of disgruntled veterans. One gets the impression that those who disagree with the exhibition's thesis are either poorly educated or neo-fascist hooligans. Of the 10 or so professors and professional historians that appeared, not a single one offered any substantive critique, rather they lauded the exhibit or diminished those who disagreed with their views. The controversy and questions over Wehrmacht involvement in war crimes continue to this day. There are numerous journal articles and books written that by distinguished historians in Germany and the U.S. in criticism of the exhibition, and new research continues to emerge. As such, I expected a degree of critical dialogue and some back-and-forth debates. Very disappointing.

Conclusion: Ultimately - a letdown. One-sided, entirely subjective portrayal of the exhibit and the Wehrmacht itself, "The Unknown Soldier" doesn't offer any fresh insights or new arguments. Unfortunately, it's the only English language documentary on this topic to date.

This documentary, designed for modern German and Austrian audiences, is startling, and for Germans born in the 1950s and 1960s it damns the older members of their families with a universal war guilt sometimes far beyond anything they can imagine. For some Germans, it is indeed cathartic to air the dirty laundry of the past; for others it's absolutely necessary, and for a third group, it can be a tragically horrid experience. This documentary rocked Germany's socks. I was a Fulbright Professor of History and American Studies at the University of Muenster in 1995, just when the Hamburg Exposition exploded on the scene. It did much harm as it did much good. Some old Wehrmacht soldiers, once proud of their wartime service, could hardly look their families in the eye. In a higher view of World War II, it does tell an essential and sad truth: that the wanton destruction of innocents including the premeditated wiping out of an entire people throughout Europe cannot be forgiven easily regardless of how much time has passed since 1945.

As a student of the German side re WWII for over 10 years, If there is one issue that just hits me like a sucker punch, it's the continuing ridiculous notion that the Wehrmacht was a simple bystander to the "solution to the Jewish problem". (Now known as the Holocaust) Almost everyone, officer or above on the eastern front, knew what was happening and the others heard of at least rumors.

While Hitler, Himmler, and Heydrich were cunningly secretive about the genocide- they could not (nor could the SS) carry out such killings without the participation of the military. While I understand these older men not wanting to burden their families with such details, I hope the now elderly Wehrmacht soldiers don't expect everyone to be so naïve.

The SS was the primary organization yes, but supporting roles were needed and filled by numerous organizations including the Wehrmacht and Todt Org. I hope these men come to a point that they can be proud of their legitimate military accomplishments, while standing up to and taking responsibility for their moral failures.

This DVD itself, while not perfect, does a good job at raising the main issue. Why highly intelligent, motivated, ambitious, polite, good humored men- willingly followed the command of total paranoid psychopaths? Commands written and verbal to murder, kidnap women and children, and to destroy the evidence. (Commands all semantically vague, manly, and heroic- of course) And why did they try to lie about it, knowing there are thousands of witnesses?

The Wehrmacht veterans I'm sure would love to take the accolades for victories, while pinning the moral failings and military disasters on Hitler /the SS. As with nearly everything related to this war, it is not that simple. They are only delaying the healing process of themselves, the victims, and generations of Germans that come after them.

Until the full extent of German complicity--civilians and soldiers included--in the atrocities of WWII are revealed this nation will never be free from the considerable shame wrought by this time period. We should keep in mind too, though, that there were German resistance fighters and that most attempts on Adolf Hitler's life were committed by German citizens/military.

"The Unknown Soldier" is a particularly disheartening documentary on the 1995 Wehrmacht exhibition that took place in Vienna (and opens periodically every year those who care to take a look) which reveals pretty clearly that all members of the German army were either aware of or took part in the atrocities and mass shootings of civilians usually relegated to the SS or the Gestapo.

The obvious place of the Holocaust in the German psyche is shown very clearly as people outside the exhibition shove each other around, scream, and passionately debate about the accuracy or non-accuracy of the material presented in the exhibition. At one point a group of nearly toothless skinheads and right wing nutcases show up flying the Iron Cross and insisting that the whole thing is nonsense and that "the press lies".

Not so, it seems. Four German historians, sensitive to the subject matter, uncover photographs of ordinary German soldiers standing next to executed jews (one photograph of a three year old jewish girl hanging is vomit worthy) and make it fairly clear that all German soldiers, Wehrmacht included, were given explicit instructions that they carried around on the Eastern front to shoot any of the "rabble" they encountered. An aging member of the Wehrmacht admits very frankly that Hitler's "Mein Kampf" captivated him for a time, and that he witnessed more than a few atrocities committed by the army. He also says very clearly that is ashamed of what he did and witnessed, and seems sincere.
What has long been suppressed is that German soldiers *were not* executed for refusing to participate in these atrocities; they were disciplined or were asked to work in different capacities. This has long been known by historians but has never been given as explicit treatment as in this documentary. And some Germans did just that; dropped out of the army entirely once that they saw what was going on.

This is not about all Germans being monsters. Very soon this entire generation will die off and I think Germany should be commended for being so conscientious of these things, unlike some other nations who did very similar things and have never apologized once. This is depressing and I would not watch it again, but is very important. Recommended to any student of history.

Please read the product description and then read this, as I won't repeat the basic premise of the film. As someone with ties to Bavaria and a general interest in World War Two, this one jumped out at me from the library shelf. It seeks to address the culpability of the average German foot soldier regarding the war crimes that have made the War a low point in the annals of history. After watching it, however, I am left feeling a little less than ambivalent over it, thinking that it doesn't do justice to two aspects that is should have addressed.

First, the complicated thing we all possess called human nature, if there is even a human nature that we share, has obeyed more commands to do evil out of a herd instinct to obey than it has out of anger, religion or anything else. That is something that has been demonstrated time and again, famously by Milgrim in his shock study and Zimbardo in the Stanford Prison study, among many others. Humans will do almost anything to conform to herd expectations or the expectations of authority figures, even the greatest evils. This is a point that the director should have made strongly, showing it is not something unique to a certain type of German person to do wrong. It is universal. You and I would most likely not be the heroic resister, but the acquiescing accomplice. Face it; statistically it is true. Had that point been made, and it could have been, then we could have moved beyond the emotionalism of both sides that is a main feature of the film.

Second, while I have absolutely no sympathy for those who committed such atrocities, it is simply ridiculous, and offensive, to paint with such a large brush so as to implicate all of the German soldiers. Why end there? Why not all the German people? Again, the evils done by such a large amount of Germans, and German soldiers in particular, must never be forgotten. However, assigning blame in such a swath is irresponsible, especially given the nature of the topic.

So in the end I feel that the exhibition is important and needed, but how you handle the documents, photos, testimonies needs to be more nuanced to be accurate and responsible. Give it a viewing and leave your own thoughts.

I noticed quite a contradiction during the first 5 minutes of this documentary.
One older German who got interviewed claims that the Wehrmacht had no idea what was going on in the concentration camps in 1943 when they had to move east as there were no more Jewish people left at that point (?).

How comes that in 1945 when the allied forces liberated the concentration camps there were still lots of Jewish survivors as we all know from short films like "Death Mills"
made in Buchenwald which is also shown in the movie "Judgment at Nuremberg" and which allied forces camera men filmed while liberating Buchenwald in the spring of 1945?

So it seems rather weird to me if on the one hand Wehrmacht soldiers supposedly had no clue what was going on and on the other hand allied forces did liberate people in those camps.
BTW Russian troops liberated Auschwitz in late January 1945, so it was still existing when Wehrmacht troops had to move east to Stalingrad in August of 1942.

The horrific crimes of the Waffen SS and Gestapo of Germany's Nazi regime are well known, but ordinary German soldiers are usually seen as mere pawns in the genocide. The Unknown Soldier is a DVD documentary of Germany's controversial Wehrmacht Exhibition, which reveals a contrary and gruesome truth about war crimes committed by ordinary enlisted German troops. Though nationalist and far right groups protested the Wehrmacht Exhibition, alleging it to be slander, Director Michael Verhoeven interviewed historians, experts, soldiers, and eyewitnesses as well as traveling to the killing fields of the Eastern Front to create an unflinching look at the cold truth. Bonus materials include an archival photo gallery and a World War II film trailer gallery. The result is a much-needed addition to public library collections and World War II DVD documentary shelves. 97 minutes, black-and-white and color, German with English subtitles.

This was a documentary about an exhibition that made it seem that the entire German army in WWII, without any exceptions, were guilty of war crimes and the reactions to the exhibition. It was very much in favor of the documentary and against any one who complained about it. As for me . . . Give it a rest already! Like the German old man said, How many times do we have to rehash and re-rehash the same old tripe? Do other countries do it? Do the French? The Russians? The Israelis? <snicker>

German leftists may enjoy rubbing their countrymen's noses in the feces (while simultaneously ignoring or excusing the crimes of the Communists in East Germany) but I don't see the point, especially when it's been done so many times by so many people. Enough is enough. The problem is that they are on autopilot; after all these years, it really hasn't sunk in that the Soviet Empire is through, so there is no need to continue being anti-patriotic.

Incidentally, I read somewhere that the exhibition depicted in the movie was called off after it was found that some of the pictures taken of atrocities were not by the German army but the Soviet army. <snicker>

The creators of The Unknown Soldier once again take it upon themselves to rehash information that has been well known since the Nuremberg trial's. In short there is nothing new about this documentary that you can't find by Goggling it, or accessing Wikiipedia . It is a well know historical fact that the so called "solders" that were sent to kill were mostly members of the Einsatz Grupen. A group of murderers brought together by general Erhard Galen. The same Erhard Galen who was brought over to the United States via Project Paper Clip. It was Galen who worked with the state department to develop a little idea known as the CIA. Back to the Einsatz Grupen. These men weren't fit for regular service, so they were sent in behind the real army as part of the "final solution". The same final solution formulated by members of the SS, to rape kill pillage, and otherwise mame. Along with the help of their Catholic capitulators' in Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, the Ukraine, and Russia. Yes folks lets not forget they had eager co-conspirators in this little venture. So much work, so few hands. Is the Unknown Soldier an attempt to honestly come to grips with a sorted national past? Or is it just another way for spineless surrender monkeys to bend over for the victor nations once again? Victor nations who's own sorted pasts' are far from laudable if we were to make a documentary about them. From the trail of tears in America to the atrocities committed by the British colonial army. As an ardent viewer of documentaries, and reader of histories I'm fairly sickened by the Micheal Moors' out there who take it upon themselves to bring us
"new " information about a well known subject to those who study it. It also serves to cheese off the otherwise law abiding citizens in a recently reformed Germany fractured by the victor nations,and the Russians. Some balance of view points is what is needed in The Unknown Soldier. It's time to drop the all that is German is evil attitude. In and outside of Germany.