The Eternal Jew

Der ewige Jude (1940) shows Nazi Germany what it fights: the "international Judaism." In this harsh propaganda film, authentic footage of the Polish ghettos, feature film and archival excerpts have been edited into a highly biased message, comparing Jews to rats. This pseudo-historical documentary, directed by Fritz Hippler, was released two months after the pseudo-historical feature film Jud Süss. These productions were elements of one of the primary driving forces of national-socialism: anti-Semitism. Anything that had been levelled against the Jews over the centuries was condensed and amplified in Der ewige Jude. These and other films had to prepare, as it were, the non-Jewish part of the nation for the eventual destruction of Judaism. That was why the film was released not only in Germany, but also in the occupied territories. In the Netherlands, the censorship board only objected to the footage of ritual slaughtering, as it was supposedly disadvantageous to the "propagandistic value." (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)