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I Accuse(1941 film)

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I Accuse
Directed byWolfgang Liebeneiner
Produced byHeinrich Jonen
Starring
CinematographyFriedl Behn-Grund
Edited byWalter von Bonhorst
Music byNorbert Schultze
Production
company
Release date
  • 29 August 1941(1941-08-29)
Running time
125 min
CountryNazi Germany
LanguageGerman
Budget960,000 ℛℳ
Box office5.4 million ℛℳ

I Accuse(German:Ich klage an([ˈʔɪçˈklaːɡəʔan]) is a 1941Nazi Germanpro-euthanasiapropagandafilm directed byWolfgang Liebeneiner[1]and produced byHeinrich JonenandEwald von Demandowsky.It was developed to promote the involuntary euthanasia of disabled people conducted through theAktion T4mass murder program and to garner public support for the Nazi concept oflife unworthy of life.

Plot

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Hanna, a beautiful and talented young pianist, is diagnosed with late stagemultiple sclerosis.Unable to pursue her career as a concert pianist, losing all her motor functions, and in constant agonizing pain, she begs her doctors to end her life.[2]Hanna's husband Thomas, a successful doctor himself, reluctantly gives her a fatal overdose of barbiturates and is charged with murder. During an extended trial scene, arguments are put forth for and against euthanasia, heavily favoring the position that prolonging a disabled person’s life is sometimes contrary to nature, and that death is a patient's right as well as a doctor's moral duty.[3]In the closing scene, Thomas lashes out at the judge and prosecutor, telling them they have no right to condemn him when they weren't the ones forced to helplessly watch a loved one suffer in pain. He accuses the lawmakers of cruelty for failing to prevent patients' suffering through necessary euthanasia.[4]

Cast

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Production

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Prior propaganda short films, such asAbseit vom Wege(By the Wayside) andErbkrank(Congenitally Ill), were made in support of the Nazi's euthanasia policies, but were meant for ideological education and not a public release.[5]Victor BrackconvincedTobis Filmkunstto produce a film about euthanasia after a public backlash to the policies.Wolfgang Liebeneiner,who directed the film, stated that it was meant to test public opinion on legalizing euthanasia.[6]It cost 960,000 ℛℳ (equivalent to $4,121,339 in 2021).[7]

This film was commissioned by Nazi propaganda ministerJoseph Goebbelsat the suggestion of Dr.Karl Brandt,to make the public more supportive of theAktion T4euthanasia program.[8]Key scenes from the film were personally inserted by Brack, one of the prominent organisers of the program and later a convicted war criminal. The actual victims of T4 were in fact killed without their consent, or that of their families.[9]Indeed, one cinema goer is alleged to have compared the film to the program and naively asked how abuses could be prevented from creeping into it.[10]

Heidemarie Hatheyerwas banned from acting by the Allied occupation, but she resumed her career in 1949 and won numerous high-profile awards before her death. Liebeneiner was put on trial in 1964 as an accessory to mass murder for directing the film.[11]

Reception

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The film was approved by censors without any edits on 15 August 1941, and premiered in Berlin on 29 August.[6]Over 18 million people watched the film[12]and it earned 5.4 million ℛℳ (equivalent to $23,182,532 in 2021) for a profit of 3,641,000 ℛℳ (equivalent to $15,631,037 in 2021).[7]It was banned by Allied powers after the war.[13]

The SS reported that the churches were uniformly negative about the movie, with Catholics expressing it more strongly but Protestants being equally negative.[14]Opinions in medical circles were positive, though there were doubts, especially though not exclusively in cases where patients thought to be incurable had recovered.[15]Legal professions were anxious that it be placed on a legal footing, and in the few polls that were commissioned, the general population were said to be supportive.[16]

References

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  1. ^"The New York Times: Ich Klage An (1941)".Movies & TV Dept.The New York Times.2016. Archived fromthe originalon 9 March 2016.Retrieved30 October2010.
  2. ^Leiser,p. 70.
  3. ^Leiser,pp. 70–71.
  4. ^Hertzstein,p. 308.
  5. ^Welch 1983,pp. 100.
  6. ^abWelch 1983,pp. 102–103.
  7. ^abWelch 1983,pp. 269.
  8. ^Ayçoberry,p. 11.
  9. ^Leiser,p. 69.
  10. ^Grunberger,p. 385.
  11. ^Waldman 2008,p. 278.
  12. ^Welch 1983,pp. 107.
  13. ^Romani,p. 108.
  14. ^Leiser,pp. 146–147.
  15. ^Leiser,p. 147.
  16. ^Leiser,p. 148.

Works cited

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Bibliography

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