DISCUSSION TOPIC:  HUMANIZING HITLER?

INTRODUCTION

"Should a monster be portrayed as a human being?"  The headline screams out from the German tabloid Bild in response to the 2004 release of the movie "Downfall," a big-budget production set in Adolf Hitler's bunker in the final days of World War II.  That question provides the central focus for this set of readings.  Mao Zedong and Josef Stalin may have been responsible for as many deaths.  But it is Hitler who remains the villain par excellence of the twentieth century.  Certainly any attempt to empathize with the man, if not even to understand him or to portray him as anything less than the embodiment of evil, can lead to criticism.

The exercise is divided into two segments.  The first section highlights several news stories about Hitler and contemporary popular culture.   The second group of articles describes the rediscovery of Hitler's bunker in the No Man's Land where the Berlin Wall once stood, and the resulting controversy over whether to bury, destroy, or commemorate the site.

THE PRIMARY QUESTION:  Should Hitler be "humanized?"  What are the risks involved in doing so and what, if any, are the problems in failing to do so?

SECONDARY QUESTIONS:   What should be done with Hitler's bunker?  Why?  What is most interesting about the portrayal of Hitler in popular culture in recent years?  Are comedies about Hitler appropriate?

READING ASSIGNMENT

SECTION 1.  HITLER AND POPULAR CULTURE

Browse carefully in several of the web-sites listed below.

•   Helen Pidd, "Hitler Top Trumps-Style Game May Face Legal Action," Guardian, February 7, 2011.

•   "Nazi Fury At Hitler The Paw-Raising Dog," Guardian, January 7, 2011.

• Judy Dempsey, "Last Laugh Is On German Far Right In Court Case," New York Times, August 11, 2010.

•   Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar, "Bollywood Takes On Adolf Hitler," Christian Science Monitor, July 8, 2010.

• Ben Child, "Bollywood To Make Hitler Film," Guardian, June 8, 2010.

•   Finlo Rohrer, "The Rise, Rise And Rise Of The Downfall Hitler Parody," BBC News Magazine, April 13, 2010.

• Timothy W. Ryback and Florian M. Beierl, "Op-Ed Contributor: A Damnation Of Memory," New York Times, February 12, 2010.

• Nicholas Kulish, "Rebuffing Scholars, Germany Vows To Keep Hitler Out Of Print," New York Times, February 4, 2010.

•   Luke Harding, "Adolf Hitler's Mercedes, The Ultimate War Trophy For A Russian Collector," Guardian, November 27, 2009.

•   Manohla Dargis, "Movie Review: Inglourious Basterds (2009)," New York Times, August 21, 2009.

•   Stephen Holden, "Some Unexpected Behavior Therapy For The Not-So-Great Dictator," New York Times, August 14, 2009.

•   Kate Connolly, "Springtime For Hitler In Germany As Berlin Stages The Producers," Guardian, April 27, 2009.

• Tanya Gold, "Nazi Cows, Nazi Cats, Actors Playing Depressed Nazis: It's All Just Hitler Porn And It Disgusts Me," Guardian, April 23, 2009.

•   Philip French, "Valkyrie," Observer, January 25, 2009.

• Steven Wells, "The Secret To Shock-Rock Glory?: Name Your Band After Hitler," Guardian, January 23, 2009.

•   Manohla Dargis, "Mission Imperative: Assassinate The Fuhrer," New York Times, December 25, 2008.

•   Marina Hyde, "Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall, By Tom Cruise," Guardian, December 19, 2008.

• Mark Harris, "The Simple Job That Morphed Into 'Valkyrie,'" New York Times, December 12, 2008.

•   Virginia Heffernan, "The Medium: The Hitler Meme," New York Times, October 24, 2008.

•   Gwladys Fouche, "Springtime For Hitler And Russia," Guardian, October 1, 2008.

•   David Smith and Rowan Walker, "Meet The New Face Of Satire As Hitler Web Craze Goes Viral," Observer, September 28, 2008.

• Haroon Siddique, "Hitler Waxwork Decapitated In Berlin Will Be Repaired, Says Tussauds," Guardian, July 7, 2008.

• Allan Hall, "Hitler Swiftly Loses His Head In The Dictator's Last Downfall," Observer, July 6, 2008.

•   "Waxwork Hitler Beheaded In Berlin," BBC News, July 5, 2008.

•   Haroon Siddique, "Hitler Waxwork Loses Its Head," Guardian, July 5, 2008.

• Kate Connolly, "Hitler Returns To Berlin . . . In Wax At Madame Tussaud's," Guardian, July 4, 2008.

•   Louis Charbonneau, "Germany Bans Cruise Film," Guardian, June 26, 2007.

•   Michael Cieply, "Scientology Cited In Ban Of Cruise Film In Germany," New York Times, June 26, 2007.

• Luke Harding, "Moscow Foreign Students Told To Stay In As Racist Attacks Rise Over Hitler's Birthday," Guardian, April 20, 2007.

• Steve Rosenberg, "Germans Learn To Laugh At Hitler," BBC News, January 11, 2007.

•   Mark Landler, "In Germany, A Hitler Comedy Goes Over With A Thud," New York Times, January 11, 2007.

• "Adolf On The Couch," Sign And Sight, January 10, 2007.

•   "Hitler Film Breaks Comedy Taboo," BBC News, January 2, 2007.

• Martin Patience, "Hitler Musical Big Hit In Israel," BBC News, April 7, 2006.

• Ray Furlong, "Made In Germany: A Hitler Comedy," BBC News, January 2, 2006.

• "Downfall Wins BBC World Film Gong," BBC News, January 26, 2006.

• "Hitler Film To Be Shown In Israel," BBC News, April 14, 2005.

• "Downfall Is A Hit In Israel," Guardian Unlimited, April 14, 2005.

• David Cesarani and Peter Longerich, "The Massaging Of History," Guardian, April 7, 2005.

• Charlotte Higgins, "Bunker Film 'Is Too Kind To Nazis,'" Guardian, April 5, 2005.

• Phillip French, "Inside Hell's Bunker," Observer, April 3, 2005.

•   Neil Smith, "Director's Look at 'Human' Hitler," BBC News, April 1, 2005.

•   Peter Bradshaw, "Downfall," Guardian, April 1, 2005.

• Stephen Moss, "Stormtrooper Superstars," Guardian, April 1, 2005.

• "Desperately Seeking Adolf," Guardian, March 25, 2005.

• Sue Summers, "Now The Germans Have Their Say," Observer, March 20, 2005.

• "Adolf Hitler, Man Or Monster?," Telegraph, March 15, 2005.

• "Hitler Movie Leads German Cinemas," BBC News, September 21, 2004.

•   "Germans Flock To See Hitler Film," BBC News, September 17, 2004.

• Ray Furlong, "'Human' Hitler Disturbs Germans," BBC News, September 16, 2004.

• Sandra Smith, "What To Say About . . . The Hitler Film," Guardian, August 31, 2004.

• Gina Thomas, "Bunker Mentality," Guardian, August 27, 2004.

•   "German Film Breaks Hitler Taboo," BBC News, August 24, 2004.

• Luke Harding, "New Films Flout Hitler Taboo," Guardian, July 5, 2004.

•   "'Downfall' From Ganz and Hirschbiegel," Fresh Air, February 28, 2005: An audio feature with the director and lead actor of "Downfall."

•   "German Film 'Downfall' Mulls Hitler's Last Days," Morning Edition, February 25, 2005.  A radio review of the movie.

•   Uki Goni, "Tests On Skull Fragment Cast Doubt On Adolf Hitler Suicide Story," Observer, September 27, 2009.

• Steven Rosenberg, "I Was In Hitler's Suicide Bunker," BBC News, September 3, 2009.

• Victor Homolo, "Germany: Hitler's Bunker Put On The Tourist Map," New York Times, June 9, 2006.

• "Hitler's Bunker Location Marked," BBC News, June 8, 2006.

•   "'Hitler's Nurse' Breaks Silence," BBC News, May 2, 2005.

• Luke Harding, "'His Authority Was Extraordinary.  He Was Charming' -- Hitler's Nurse On His Final Hours," Guardian, May 2, 2005.

• "Berlin Hands Over Hitler's Bunker To Nazi Victims Group," ClariNews, November 19, 2003.

• Scott Shuger and Donald Berger, "Hitler Slept Here: The Too-Secret History Of The Third Reich's Most Famous Place," Slate, April 13, 2001.

• Mark Franchetti, "Hitler's Burnt Bones Tipped Into Sewer," Sunday Times, October 31, 1999.

•   "Berliners Debate What To Do With Hitler's Bunker," CNN, October 15, 1999.

•   "Hitler's 'Suicide Bunker' Unearthed," BBC News, October 15, 1999.

• Steven Erlanger, "Historian Asserts Soviet Soldiers Found Hitler's Charred Remains," New York Times, September 18, 1992.

• "Hitler's Bunker Demolished As East Berlin Park Is Built," New York Times, June 2, 1988.

• "Only The Sound Of Rain At Hitler's Bunker," New York Times, May 1, 1985.

• HITLER'S BUNKER, Discovery Channel.

• HITLER'S BUNKER IN BERLIN: The companion web-site for a book that offers a history of Hitler's war-time headquarters.

• HITLER'S DEATH, Wikipedia:  An entry from the on-line encyclopedia.

• HITLER'S SKULL, National Geographic Channel.