Mehr als Unterhaltung: Warum und inwieweit wurden die Filme der Nazizeit von den Nazis und von den Alliierten zensiert? (More than entertainment: why and to what extent were Films of the Nazi era censored by the Nazis and by the Allies?) by Samantha Petroski

Mehr als Unterhaltung: Warum und inwieweit wurden die Filme der Nazizeit von den Nazis und von den Alliierten zensiert? (More than entertainment: why and to what extent were Films of the Nazi era censored by the Nazis and by the Allies?) by Samantha Petroski

German

From the time Hitler came to power until the Second World War ended, there was an active film industry in Germany. The Nazis had complete control over which movies were allowed to be viewed and which were censored or banned. The Nazis also inserted their ideologies into films in order to influence the public. National Socialist ideology consisted of three main concepts that they injected into their movies: nationalism, authoritarianism, and militarism. One would expect the Nazis to attempt to manipulate the public through media such as film, but after Germany was defeated, the Allied Forces censored German films to sway the masses as well. Instead of infusing Nazi ideology, the philosophy was taken out. In other words, the films were denazified. This paper explores the censorship of both the Nazis and the Allies and compares the two. The culmination of this work prompts the following question: is censorship of either party ethical? While that question remains debatable, there is now a section in the German constitution that outlines what is allowed to be shown in films and the circumstances under which such content is acceptable.

Petroski, Samantha

Senior Showcase Poster presentation

Ripon College

April 23, 2015

The author reserves all rights.

pdf

Majors: Biology, German
Minor: Chemistry

Green Bay, Wisconsin