MovieChat Forums > The Ruling Class (1972) Discussion > Dr. Herder -- survivor or perpetrator?

Dr. Herder -- survivor or perpetrator?


In the scene in which they convince Jack that God is not loving, but malevolent, Dr. Herder comments that he has seen the piles of gold teeth and hair. The implication is not that he saw them as museum exhibits, but when Auschwitz was in actual operation. The unresolved ambiguity: Was Dr. Herder at Auschwitz as an inmate -- or as a perpetrator?

Balok

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Given that it is almost stereotypical (thanks to Sigmund Freud, particularly) for shrinks to be Continental European Jews in films and TV in the English speaking world... I suspect Dr Herder is Jewish.

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There was a part where he was speaking what sounded like German, but I think it was Yiddish.

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