Project Description
The documentary relies on interviews, stock footage, photographs and Rorschach ink block images to create visual representations of the themes being presented by the following Social psychologists and historian:
(in order of appearance):
John M. Efron Ph.D., Koret Professor of Jewish History at University of California Berkeley
Ervin Staub Ph.D., Professor of Psychology Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
James Waller Ph.D. Cohen Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College, New Hampshire
Barry Ritzler Ph.D., Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York
Allan Fenigstein Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Psychology at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio
Their interviews are supported with images from:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
with the support of:
Bruce Levy, Project Coordinator at Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Caroline Waddell Koehler at the Photographic Reference Collection
Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive
Transit Film GmbH
Dachauer Str. 35 D-80335 München
From the series Why We Fight commissioned by the United States Government. (These images are in public domain in the United States)
Public Domain Photos From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository.
Wikkimedia Commons files licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share alike 3.0 Germany where users are allowed to:
Special public permission for the use of certain footage and photo files explained in the credits of the documentary
and the footage and photographs from the families:
Mark Isenberg
Marie Hammerling
Julien Bryan Archive
Peter Gessner
Andrew Plaut
Robert Tennenbaum
Frank Grunwald
Through all these stock footage and photographs, over original music created by the award winning composer Brain Zinola, this documentary shows the evolution of the social situation in Germany from 1919 to 1933, from the rise of the Nazis to power to the destruction brought to Europe and Humankind with the holocaust. Rorschach inkblot images applied on the 22 Nazi leaders during the Nuremberg trial serve as visual transitions for the photographs and the stock footage of the period. The interviews are inserted into this sequence discussing the evolution of Nazism from a small party on the fringe of society to the absolute power in Germany.
Sample of points covered in the introduction:
1. Political and sociological circumstances that allowed the Nazis to come to power.
2. The discriminatory policies of the Nazi party and psychological impact on the overall population. The growth of the Nazism towards absolute power leading to the concentration camps.
3. Why did the judges at the Nuremberg trials decide to examine the minds of the Nazis in jail? What were the perceptions about them at the time? (“mad German” theory)
The documentary then covers the IQ and Rorschach tests applied to Nazi war criminals and their brief history and bio: Leon Goldensohn, Gustav M. Gilbert and Douglas M. Kelley. It covers the Rorschach technique and what it can reveal from a person’s personality. Is it possible to use the tests to explain or understand any of the Nazis’ behavior? What were the different interpretations of the Rorschach applied to the Nazis criminals? Case studies are reviewed of some defendants that stood out because of surprising data collected.
Sample of points covered in this section:
4. Why was the Rorschach chosen as the main test for the Nazi criminals? Were other methods of psychological evaluation considered?
5. How objective are the tests? If different psychiatrists read them, would they interpret them differently?
If the tests were administered today, would we get a different interpretation?
6. Can one say that there is a Nazi personality? What did the test prove about the Nazi criminals?
This portion of the documentary covers the psychology of the perpetrators and social-economical conditions present at the time that lead to the rise of a discriminating anti Semitic ideology. This section also analyses the short comings of the theories of Adorno, Asch, Arendt, Milgram, and Zimbardo, followed by the current theories explaining the situational forces and conditions that could influence individuals to participate in a government lead mass murder. The conclusion of the documentary weighs in how awareness of these new theories can contribute to social change and help prevent the reoccurrence of future genocides.
Sample of points covered in this section:
7. According to some theories of behavior whereby the individual can be influenced by environment - can a similar tragedy evolve under similar circumstances again?
8. How do you account for this human capacity for evil? Is it something inherent in human beings or triggered by situational forces? Were the Nazis a special breed of psychopaths or ordinary beings blinded by obedience to authority and ideology?
9. What are the conditions that can allow this kind of human anomaly to happen again? How can it be prevented?
The documentary relies on interviews, stock footage, photographs and Rorschach ink block images to create visual representations of the themes being presented by the following Social psychologists and historian:
(in order of appearance):
John M. Efron Ph.D., Koret Professor of Jewish History at University of California Berkeley
Ervin Staub Ph.D., Professor of Psychology Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
James Waller Ph.D. Cohen Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College, New Hampshire
Barry Ritzler Ph.D., Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York
Allan Fenigstein Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Psychology at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio
Their interviews are supported with images from:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
with the support of:
Bruce Levy, Project Coordinator at Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Caroline Waddell Koehler at the Photographic Reference Collection
Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive
Transit Film GmbH
Dachauer Str. 35 D-80335 München
From the series Why We Fight commissioned by the United States Government. (These images are in public domain in the United States)
Public Domain Photos From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository.
Wikkimedia Commons files licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share alike 3.0 Germany where users are allowed to:
- to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
- to remix – to adapt the work
- attribution – You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
Special public permission for the use of certain footage and photo files explained in the credits of the documentary
and the footage and photographs from the families:
Mark Isenberg
Marie Hammerling
Julien Bryan Archive
Peter Gessner
Andrew Plaut
Robert Tennenbaum
Frank Grunwald
Through all these stock footage and photographs, over original music created by the award winning composer Brain Zinola, this documentary shows the evolution of the social situation in Germany from 1919 to 1933, from the rise of the Nazis to power to the destruction brought to Europe and Humankind with the holocaust. Rorschach inkblot images applied on the 22 Nazi leaders during the Nuremberg trial serve as visual transitions for the photographs and the stock footage of the period. The interviews are inserted into this sequence discussing the evolution of Nazism from a small party on the fringe of society to the absolute power in Germany.
Sample of points covered in the introduction:
1. Political and sociological circumstances that allowed the Nazis to come to power.
2. The discriminatory policies of the Nazi party and psychological impact on the overall population. The growth of the Nazism towards absolute power leading to the concentration camps.
3. Why did the judges at the Nuremberg trials decide to examine the minds of the Nazis in jail? What were the perceptions about them at the time? (“mad German” theory)
The documentary then covers the IQ and Rorschach tests applied to Nazi war criminals and their brief history and bio: Leon Goldensohn, Gustav M. Gilbert and Douglas M. Kelley. It covers the Rorschach technique and what it can reveal from a person’s personality. Is it possible to use the tests to explain or understand any of the Nazis’ behavior? What were the different interpretations of the Rorschach applied to the Nazis criminals? Case studies are reviewed of some defendants that stood out because of surprising data collected.
Sample of points covered in this section:
4. Why was the Rorschach chosen as the main test for the Nazi criminals? Were other methods of psychological evaluation considered?
5. How objective are the tests? If different psychiatrists read them, would they interpret them differently?
If the tests were administered today, would we get a different interpretation?
6. Can one say that there is a Nazi personality? What did the test prove about the Nazi criminals?
This portion of the documentary covers the psychology of the perpetrators and social-economical conditions present at the time that lead to the rise of a discriminating anti Semitic ideology. This section also analyses the short comings of the theories of Adorno, Asch, Arendt, Milgram, and Zimbardo, followed by the current theories explaining the situational forces and conditions that could influence individuals to participate in a government lead mass murder. The conclusion of the documentary weighs in how awareness of these new theories can contribute to social change and help prevent the reoccurrence of future genocides.
Sample of points covered in this section:
7. According to some theories of behavior whereby the individual can be influenced by environment - can a similar tragedy evolve under similar circumstances again?
8. How do you account for this human capacity for evil? Is it something inherent in human beings or triggered by situational forces? Were the Nazis a special breed of psychopaths or ordinary beings blinded by obedience to authority and ideology?
9. What are the conditions that can allow this kind of human anomaly to happen again? How can it be prevented?