Who's in It: Hannes Heer, Dieter Pohl, Myriam Arani, Dirk Rupnow, Rudolf Moessner
The Basics: According to this documentary, it would seem that up until just a few years ago, most Germans didn't speak about what went down during World War II at all. But then came the Wehrmacht Exhibition. It was shown in 11 German cities between 1999 and 2004, and over half a million people went to see it. Not simply a museum archive of Nazi war crimes, this was an exhibit that showed run-of-the-mill, drafted soldiers in the German Army abusing and murdering innocent civilians. As you might imagine, there were protests.
What's the Deal? It doesn't matter if you're not German. The exhibition — and by extension, this film about it — is fascinating because it peels back layers of mass self-deception. And because people learn a lot about life from movies and TV, it also shows that if there were more fictional war films that really showed how any person can be ordered to do just about anything during wartime, then people might not be so wildly shocked when they discover that regular soldiers, people you might normally think of as decent human beings, can sometimes feel license to commit abuse, torture or murder outside of a battlefield context.
Not My Grandfather: Historians in the film discuss how family stories, sometimes factually altered, tend to hold more weight than official historical research. This helps explain how so many modern Germans can say, "Well, my grandfather was part of the Resistance," or "He never saw anything bad happen," and then be offended when an exhibit like this shows photos of young smiling soldiers dragging naked Jewish women around by their hair.
Most Interesting Interviewee: Moessner, a now-very-old former German soldier, talks bluntly about his experiences at the time, including his reading of Mein Kampf and how it shaped his political opinions.
Most Confusing Protesters: All the neo-Nazi skinheads shown on camera who show up to the exhibit try to knock the cameras out of the filmmaker's hands and then refuse to speak when interviewed. If they do speak, it's to say that the exhibit is a lie. If they're such Nazis, wouldn't they be happy to see more war crimes? Isn't that what they want more of anyway? If any neo-Nazis are reading this, then please explain it to me. Just don't come to my house to do it.