Der ewige Jude (1940)

Under the guise of a brutally honest documentary, this malevolent propaganda film aims to be an "indispensable tool in the hands of the Aryan race", designed to depict the "true" Jew when the masks of western civilisation fall off.

Director:

Fritz Hippler

Writer:

Eberhard Taubert

Stars:

Curt Bois, Charles Chaplin, Albert Einstein

Cast

Credited cast:
Curt Bois	...	Self (archive footage)
Charles Chaplin	...	Self (1931) (archive footage)
Albert Einstein	...	Einstein (archive footage)
Adolf Hitler	...	Self - Speaking at Reichstagssitzung (archive footage)
Fritz Kortner	...	Dimitri Karamasoff (archive footage)
Peter Lorre	...	Hans Beckert (archive footage)
Ernst Lubitsch	...	Self (archive footage)
Rosa Luxemburg	...	Self (archive footage)
Mona Maris	...	Self (archive footage)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Léon Blum	...	Self (archive footage)
Kurt Gerron	...	(archive footage)
Leslie Hore-Belisha	...	Self (archive footage)
Emil Ludwig	...	Self (archive footage)
Richard Oswald	...	Self (archive footage)
Walther Rathenau	...	Self (archive footage)

Storyline

The Jews of Poland (invaded by Germany in 1939) are depicted as filthy, evil, corrupt, and intent on world domination. Street scenes are shown prejudicially, along with clips from Jewish cinema of the day and photos of Jewish celebrities, while the narrator "explains" the Jewish problem. The climax and resolution of the film is Hitler's 1939 announcement that the Jewish race will meet its "annihilation" (Vernichtung).

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Plot Keywords:

nazi propaganda | ethnic hatred | racism | propaganda | nazi | 

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Taglines:

You too should see this movie [from the Dutch translation]

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Certificate:

(Banned)

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene at the end of M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (1931) in which Peter Lorre, as a child murderer, is judged by a jury of other criminals was added to this film because Lorre is Jewish and Adolf Hitler felt that this "proved" the criminal mind of the Jew.

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Goofs

The film refers to rats as spreaders of leprosy, which is incorrect. Leprosy is transmitted by droplets exhaled from the nose, and the only known animal vectors are armadillos and primates.

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Quotes

Narrator: Where rats turn up, they spread diseases and carry extermination into the land. They are cunning, cowardly and cruel, they travel in large packs, exactly the way the Jews infect the races of the world.

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Connections

Featured in Kriegerin (2011)

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Soundtracks

Toccata und Fuge in D-Moll
BWV 565
by Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

An interesting view into nazi-propaganda

People might argue that this movie is full of lies, and thus have no value because its untruthfulness. I find the film very interesting because it is a opportunity for us to learn how things not always is how they seem to be. We must have in mind that the common people of that time didn't have the same horizon as people have now a day. Therefore it was easier to convince them.

I see the film as a reminder to not always trust what we are told.

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

28 November 1940 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Az örök zsidó

Filming Locations:

Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Deutsche Filmherstellungs- und -Verwertungs- GmbH, Berlin (DFG)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1