Two things I found very interesting about this movie which was made in 1961. The first is that it shows the trail from both sides. It discusses the topic of the ‘wir haben es nicht gewust’ argument.

What I found most interesting though is that, at the end, this movie’s moral lessons aren’t really about the world war and the genocide, but about the cold war and how german nazi prisoners were released too hastily to gain support in Germany for the US side.

On the one hand I find this kinda manipulative, to use the genocide to make a point about dirty politics. On the other hand this does interests me a lot. The period after the war is a really interesting time, when lines are drawn again and people are trying to forget to move on. I found this movie an interesting view into those times.

The acting is only so-so after all this time (compared to what has followed) but in the second hour they show some really chilling footage from Dachau, which I think was worth seeing.

The closing/judgment was a lot better written than most of the dialogue.