THE SURVIVING PERPETRATOR: THE NAZI DOCTOR ON SCREEN

Authors

  • OLIVER LUBRICH Universität Bern
  • NINA PETER Universität Bern

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1344/AFLC2018.8.11

Abstract

This first comprehensive account of 30 movies that feature Nazi doctors (frequently based on Josef Mengele, doctor at Auschwitz) explores this figure’s popular fascination and commemorative functions. The films are analysed in four thematic and generic groups: (1.) The perpetrator at the scene of the crime: Holocaust films show the Nazi doctor ‚at work‘ in the concentration camp. (2.) The perpetrator as a survivor: Many films deal with his escape and survival in exile as well as his persecution and legal reprobation. (3.) Descendants: These films focus on the generation of sons and daughters and their relation to the Nazi perpetrator. (4.) Action, Horror, Trash: Representations in popular genres isolate the Nazi doctor from his historical context, turning him into an arbitrary symbol of ‚evil‘.

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Published

2018-12-31

How to Cite

LUBRICH, O., & PETER, N. (2018). THE SURVIVING PERPETRATOR: THE NAZI DOCTOR ON SCREEN. Anuari De Filologia. Literatures Contemporànies, (8), 181–215. https://doi.org/10.1344/AFLC2018.8.11

Issue

No. 8 (2018): Anuari de Filologia. Literatures Contemporànies

Section

MONOGRAFIE: ERINNERUNG AN EXIL, NATIONALSOZIALISMUS UND ZWEITEN WELTKRIEG (Elcio Cornelsen, Volker Jaeckel ed.)

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