July 7, 2024

Even given that this was made right at the end of the second world war when feelings were running high, this is still something of an unpleasant and aggressively jingoistic rant from Saul Ekins' writing of Knox Manning's commentary. With the Führer now ashes, this railroads a view that every German since Bismarck in the 1870s was a potential child rapist or murderer, racial and religious discrimination was embedded in the national psyche and that… read the rest.

Even given that this was made right at the end of the second world war when feelings were running high, this is still something of an unpleasant and aggressively jingoistic rant from Saul Ekins' writing of Knox Manning's commentary. With the Führer now ashes, this railroads a view that every German since Bismarck in the 1870s was a potential child rapist or murderer, racial and religious discrimination was embedded in the national psyche and that their society inherently consisted of a barely hidden desire for global conquest and ruthless occupation. The archive use is effective at illustrating the cruel and devastating effects of war and there's a valid point about the dangers of indoctrination and dogma emerging from ruins and hopelessness, but the gutter vituperation used here is far too generalising to make any real inroads into what led to the rise of the fascists in Europe, nor to the increased enthusiasm for extremism in the US. It's worth a watch, but almost as rabble rousing as that which it purports to detest.

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