In the U-Boat where the the new guy who was saluting in the beginning and when the sub is sitting on the bottom, the captain notices the sailor lying in his bunk reading "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle) by Adolf Hilter (the look the captain has is hilarious), and when Henie turns back and shrugs is funny also...
shareYou know, I thought the scene where the guy was reading was a bit odd, I'm glad you mentioned it. The look of "Get this..." and the shrug ... did anyone else get the idea that the message here was that the Captain and Heinie were old salts that fight because it's what they do, where the young sailor is looking to embrace the new nationalism? Just curious.
shareYeah, I think that was their point in showing it.
You know what is really funny? That it makes no sense. The guy is reading it like it's the most absorving read ever, yet a fervent nazi would have already read it several times by that time. I mean, how many books can you bring with you in a submarine?
True believers in Nazism I am sure read it when they could to show their solidarity with "Der Furher" and to gain "inspiration" from his twisted words.
shareBelieve it or not, "Mein Kampf" was sold in great numbers in the Reich, especially after the NSDAP came to power but it was hardly read by most owners. It was more of a prop piece in the bookshelves used to demonstrate the proper mindset to visitors.
Personally, I can't believe too many people - except for the most fervent of Nazis - found themselves able to read more than the first couple of pages. I read several passages of the "book" during my studies at university (history major) - the only way you can read it legally in Germany, the book itself being prohibited from publication by law - and it is horrible in both content and writing style. I really had to struggle...
I believe that if more of the cultural, military and political elite of Weimar Germany had really read it, the 3rd Reich would not have happened. Ole Adolf made painfully clear what his plans for the future were. The problem could have been solved by good, old-fashioned assassination, IMNSHO.
Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket??
Did you know that Hitler successfully sued Alan Cranston (later to be a senator from California) in the late 1930s over his publication of Mein Kampf in the U.S. without Hitler's permission? It was an injunction by his agents against Cranston and his publisher. they had decided to translate the real book into English and show the U.S. Hitler's true colors. Hitler had authorized an English version for U.S. consumption, but it was severely edited and much of the stuff that was in his original book about the Jews, living space, etc., was excised from the U.S. version. Cranston didn't have to pay damages, but he did have to stop selling the book. Of course, this was before WWII started in Europe with Germany's invasion of Poland.
share"I read several passages of the "book" during my studies at university (history major) - the only way you can read it legally in Germany, the book itself being prohibited from publication by law -..."
You are wrong on that one. Possesion of the book is legal in Germany. It is also legal to sell old issues in book stores. The book itself is not forbidden. But there are no new printings availlable in Germany. The state of Bavaria ownes the copyright of the book and does not give the permission for new printings. The only exeption are commented issues for educational purposes.
The German boss class tried to use Hitler because they knew what he intended, not despite it.
Marlon, Claudia and Dimby the cats 1989-2005, 2007 and 2010.
There is a scene on the Destroyer that is equally amusing: during the silent period, the (presumably) high school educated crewman was reading The Rise And Fall Of The Roman Empire and the engineering officer was "reading" a Little Orphan Annie comic book with great enthusiasm.
I don't have to show you any stinking badges!
You have confused two different scenes. the one where the German is reading "Mein Kampf" is in the control room of the sub and he is standing. The other scene is in the engine room of the destroyer, where a crewman is laying down reading "The decline of the Roman Empire".
shareWith the American crewman, he was reading the Decline of the Roman Empire, but the Engineering Officer in the same scene was reading a comic book. Not sure if Little Orphan Annie or not.
shareThe Mein Kampf scene is of a type common in many WWII movies. The main German character has to show his credentials as a 'good German' for the audience. It's almost a required scene in every war movie.
share"The Mein Kampf scene is of a type common in many WWII movies. The main German character has to show his credentials as a 'good German' for the audience. It's almost a required scene in every war movie."
I've probably seen at least 95 percent of all WWII movies ever made, and this is the only one in which a character has been reading "Mein Kampf".
The scene was put in to highlight that the captain wasn't enthusiastic about the war, Nazism, or Hitler. By showing the young, enthusiastic officer reading the book and the captain shrugging it off, it just indicates that he thinks its silly. He's an old salt who's been there, done that, and has no patience for that kind of fanaticism and doesn't think it has a place on his boat.
Whores will have their trinkets.