“Der Untergang” or in English “The downfall” by Oliver Hirschbiegel

A German movie about Hitler and the end of the second world war that raises very interesting questions:
What can we do as individuals to prevent the destruction of other human beings and the destruction of a civilization?
What is our role as individuals in the history of our country?
How did we all let this happen?

When I lived in Germany a small number of discussions ended talking about the war. All my friends were born after it, and they talked more about the Americans and the division of Germany (I lived in the west side of Germany), and how families got separated, than about the reasons that led to the war, or the war it self. Some of my friends didn’t feel at all responsible for what had happened and they didn’t think that their family was responsible, because they didn’t know what National Socialism was, and they were just defending their country. On the other hand I also had friends that thought that not knowing is no excuse, they should have known and as a nation they should have prevented the war. And I remember that the uncomfortable question was how did we let this happen? And if it happens one time could it happen again?

I remember once ending a conversation telling my friend: if you are responsible because you belong, you are a part of the German people then I‘m also responsible, because I belong to a nation and to a people that do nothing to prevent it from happening.

With this movie I got the impression that finally Germans are looking in to and thinking about their history. And it’s not through the eyes of the American occupation force that for years showed Germans as being Nazis or evil and Hitler as a monster.
They are looking at each other not with a guilty or victimized feeling but with an open heart, and this is a victory for all of us.





this photo was taken from:
http://www.ulay.net/ULAY_AFTERIMAGES/sieges_7.html