The Gleiwitz Case is a 1961 film, directed by Gerhard Klein, following the story of Operation Himmler and the Gleiwitz incident. Operation Himmler was a German operation at the eve of WWII to basically invade Poland and start a war. The Gleiwitz incident was one move within the whole operation. On the night of August 31st, 1939, Germans dressed as Poles attacked a radio station. They played an anti-German message over the radio, to justify Germany's subsequent invasion of Poland. Later, Alfred Naujoks confessed and gave evidence to the whole thing during the Nuremberg Trials. Heinrick Muller was the chief of the Gestapo at the time, and headed the operation. Honiok was a German catholic who served as a scapegoat for the whole thing. This documentary includes all of these characters, in a chilling black and white distanced and de-humanized portrayal of the German Reich. It banned upon release but then brought back.
The film has a documentary style with an objective lens, simultaneously intense but distance and dehumanized in its portrayal of the German Reich and its violence. Stylistically, it is punctuated by lingering shots of the European countryside and is set to operatic music that underscores its use of religious motifs.
The film has a documentary style with an objective lens, simultaneously intense but distance and dehumanized in its portrayal of the German Reich and its violence. Stylistically, it is punctuated by lingering shots of the European countryside and is set to operatic music that underscores its use of religious motifs.
The Gleiwitz Case can be purchased from Amazon or viewed online on YouTube. Kenyon students can also watch it on Kanopy Streaming.
|