"Der ewige Jude" or "Ein Filmbeitrag zum Problem des Weltjudentums" or "The Eternal Jew" is a German documentary film and from the title already it becomes very obvious when this was made, namely during the early years of World War II. The film had its 75th anniversary last year and is a German black-and-white sound film that runs for slightly over an hour, so pretty short actually. Hippler and Taubert, who made this one, are known for some other propaganda stuff from this very dark era in (German) history too. So yeah, what do I mean with my title's review. I think it is fairly obvious. What you see and hear during this hour is as defamatory and despicable as it gets when Jewery as an entire religion is denounced in the worst way one could imagine. It all seems so absurd and unrealistic right now, but back then less than a century ago, people appreciated the film, supported the message.
It should be a lesson to every generation that we should not let things go so far that we just accept such a film as reality and an actual documentary. And we have to keep in mind that most Germans did not know about the genocide at this point. They weren't evil or something. They just sucked everything in that the Hitler administration handed them. And this is why I call this one a priceless film. It is a great opportunity to analyze controversial demagogic films like this one and see what we can do in order to learn from the past and improve our future. Finally, the only part where I somewhat agreed with the narration is the ending. The way Jews treat animals is really despicable and should not be justified by religion. All in all, a good watch for everybody with an interest in (20th century) history. Be prepared for the graphic and revolting content. If you can deal with these scenes, this one is certainly worth checking out. You could maybe call it the documentary equivalent to "Jud Süß".
It should be a lesson to every generation that we should not let things go so far that we just accept such a film as reality and an actual documentary. And we have to keep in mind that most Germans did not know about the genocide at this point. They weren't evil or something. They just sucked everything in that the Hitler administration handed them. And this is why I call this one a priceless film. It is a great opportunity to analyze controversial demagogic films like this one and see what we can do in order to learn from the past and improve our future. Finally, the only part where I somewhat agreed with the narration is the ending. The way Jews treat animals is really despicable and should not be justified by religion. All in all, a good watch for everybody with an interest in (20th century) history. Be prepared for the graphic and revolting content. If you can deal with these scenes, this one is certainly worth checking out. You could maybe call it the documentary equivalent to "Jud Süß".