Hitler's use of fear and propaganda in Nazi Germany and "The Pianist"

Pianist

The streets of our country are in turmoil. The universities are filled with students rebelling and rioting. Communists are seeking to destroy our country. Russia is threatening us with her might and the Republic is in danger. Yes - danger from within and without. We need law and order! Without it our nation cannot survive.

Adolph Hitler, 1932 (Delwiche, 2011).

Nazi Germany

Adolf Hitler took power in Germany in 1933 and used his position to launch a campaign against Jews that culminated in the Holocaust. Hitler blamed the Jews for all the misfortunes that had befallen Germany including the loss of World War I, and the hyper inflation of 1923. His claims were aided by the Great Depression, a time when people were looking for a scapegoat to blame their troubles. This campaign reached a peak in 1938 with Krystalnacht, the night of broken glass. In November 1938, a Nazi diplomat was shot dead by a Jew in Paris. Hitler ordered a seven day campaign of terror against the Jews in Germany. On November 10th ten thousand shops owned by Jews were destroyed and their contents stolen. Homes and synagogues were set on fire and left to burn (Trueman, 2000).

World War II allowed Hitler even more freedom to bring death and destruction to Jewish communities throughout Europe. Historians disagree over whether the Germans supported these Nazi actions or whether fear made them turn a blind eye. In the immediate aftermath of Krystalnacht, an anonymous German wrote to the British Consul in Cologne stating that the German people had nothing to do with the riots and burnings. Christopher Isherwood, a British writer living in Germany, witnessed the arrest of a Jew in a cafe and noted everybody simply looked away. On the other hand, to create a scene would have provoked a violent response from those doing the arresting. The fear of the concentration camps was such that most felt compelled to remain silent even if they did not approve of what was going on.

The Anti-hero

The film also demonstrates the better qualities of the human spirit. In the end Szpilman is aided by a German officer, Wilhelm Hosenfeld, who gives him food during the last months of the war. Hosenfeld is a true anti-hero. While he serves the Nazis, he is aware of what is right and what is wrong, and unlike the people who Christopher Isherwood observed looking the other way at the atrocity before them, he did something at great risk to his own safety. Hosenfeld's actions in the midst of all this violent senseless chaos gives one hope that people are better than mere animals struggling to get by.

In the movie Hosenfeld is moved by the beauty of Szpilman's piano playing. Szpilman's artistic talent connects them in a manner that transcends the reality of their situation. When Hosenfeld looks at Szpilman he does not see a Jew, he sees a human being. It is ironic that this German officer would help Szpilman while his own countrymen and woman would turn their back. It is also ironic that Hosenfeld would die in a Soviet prison camp, presumably the type of place he saved Szpilman from going.