Six clips from an anti-Jewish Nazi propaganda film, Jud Süß
Creator(s)
- Bundesarchiv (Germany). Filmarchiv
- Veit Harlan (Director)
- Eberhard Moeller (Producer)
- Otto Lehmann (Producer)
Scope and Content
01:08:59 to 01:09:29 Opening credits: Eight candles burn in front of a Star of David, then the title of the film and the name of the director, Veit Harlan, appears, among other credits. A man's voice singing a Hebrew prayer accompanies the credits. 01:09:32 to 01:09:44 The coach carrying the newly coronated Duke of the Duchy of Wuerttemberg, Karl Alexander, drives through the festively decorated town of Stuttgart. The Duke waves to crowds of well-wishers. The year is 1733. 01:09:47 to 01:10:04 The Jewish district in Frankfurt, where Joseph Suess Oppenheimer lives. Two Jews, an old man and a young woman, look down from a window at another man. The dialogue is not complete but the man in the street refers to the fact that Suess will loan money to the Duke so that the Jews can "take, take, take." 01:10:07 to 01:10:28 Joseph Suess Oppenheimer, in beard and caftan, closes the door behind the Duke's adviser, who has been sent to ask him for jewels for the Duchess (the adviser does not appear in this clip). Good CU on Suess as he says that he will open the door for the Jews [who are banned from entering the city of Stuttgart]. Brief shot of Suess, now with no beard and wearing courtly clothing, riding in a coach on his way to Stuttgart. 01:10:31 to 01:10:45 Incomplete clip from the first confrontation between Suess and Faber, Dorothea's fiancé. Faber recognizes immediately that Suess is a Jew and belligerently advises him to leave the city immediately, because Jews are not allowed in Stuttgart. Suess lowers his eyes and congratulates Faber on his ability to recognize his ethnicity. The dialogue in this clip is cut off. 01:10:48 to 01:11:17 Suess pours coins from a purse onto a desk and says that he would consider himself fortunate to be considered a faithful servant of the Duke. The coins fade into the next scene, where several ballet dancers perform. [The Duke has been denied funding for a ballet by the members of his council, so Suess provides the money in order to strengthen his hold over the Duke].
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright Holder: Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Stiftung
Note(s)
The excerpt from R. 1 is a total of 50 meters long. The Bundesarchiv documentation must be checked to confirm that these clips all belong to R. 1.
Plot synopsis: The newly installed Duke of the Duchy of Wuerttemberg, Karl Alexander (played by Heinrich George), needs money to buy jewels for his wife and to pay for other costly items. He sends his adviser to ask for help from Joseph Suess Oppenheimer (Ferdinand Marian), a Jew who lives in Frankfurt. Suess agrees to help the Duke only if he is allowed to deliver the jewels in person, which he cannot legally do since Jews are barred from entering the city of Stuttgart. The adviser arranges false papers for Suess and Suess shaves his beard and wears courtly clothing. On the way to Stuttgart he meets Dorothea Sturm (Kristina Soederbaum), a Christian girl who is the daughter of the head of the Duke's council and who is betrothed to the council secretary. Little by little Suess gains more power until he convinces the Duke, who is now deeply in debt to Suess, to dissolve the council and allow Suess to do whatever he likes in the name of the Duke. He arrests Dorothea's father and husband and rapes the girl, who drowns herself. The Duke dies of a heart attack, removing the last protection for Suess, who is hanged by the citizens of Stuttgart for defiling an Aryan girl. The Jews, who have been allowed to enter Stuttgart while Suess was in power, are expelled once again. The film has obvious references to Nazi policy and goals. This plot summary provides only enough information to make sense of the clips and some key points in the story may be omitted. For further information and analysis of this film see "The Demonic Effect": Veit Harlan's Use of Jewish Extras in Jud Suess (1940) in Holocaust and Genocide Studies 2000 14 (2): 215-241.
Leslie Swift, Special Advisor, Time-Based Media, in response to a German institution who claimed that we do not have permission to publicly stream the following films, requested that their access permissions be changed to On Campus only. I have applied Access statement A2. The copyright and conditions of use statements have been changed to show: Copyright Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Stiftung Conditions on Use Contact Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Stiftung at footage@murnau-stiftung.de for permission to reproduce and use this film. RG-60.1167-1172 (already on-campus only) RG-60.1175-1179 RG-60.1201-1204 RG-60.4858-4861
Subjects
- PROPAGANDA (NAZI)
- ANTISEMITISM
- PROPAGANDA
- STARS OF DAVID
- PROPAGANDA (ANTI-JEWISH)
Places
- Frankfurt, Germany
- Stuttgart, Germany
Genre
- Propaganda.
- Film
Copies
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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum holds copies of Holocaust-relevant archives from Bundesarchiv, Berlin-Lichterfelde (Abteilung Filmarchiv)