MovieChat Forums > The Witches (1990) Discussion > References to Hitler/The Holocaust

References to Hitler/The Holocaust


I don't know if it has ever been brought up before, so I apologize in advance if it has, but I've been watching this movie for years and noticing more and more of possible references to Adolf Hitler and the holocaust. I don't know if Roal Dahl had written this in purposely to his novel. (I read the novel, but it was years ago when I was like 10 so I don't remember), but the film seems to pay attention to detail with these references. The Grand High Witch seems to be of German descent or at least posing as a German woman. She has the thick accent and the name, Eva Ernst. Also, during the meeting scene, the witches of England seem to be like a group of nazis in front of hitler. Her speeches are very angry and sincere. She kills one witch for disagreeing with her, talks of needing to "wipe out" all children. All of these things can be related to Hitler. Even when the Grand High Witch is driven up to the hotel, she's being driven in a Mercedes-Benz. hitler's car of choice was a Mercedes-Benz and he was driven around in one when he was in power. Even if you look at the grandmother's past with the Grand High Witch, she has a missing finger and while she never reveals to Luke what exactly happened, you can almost sense that this story is similar to a survivor of the holocaust telling her grandson that something awful happened to her when she was young. Anyone else notice these things? Any thoughts? I might be looking too deeply with some of them, but these are just things that I noticed.

reply

I've noticed these things too, and I wouldn't be surprised if Dahl intended these parallels between the witches in his story and the Nazis. He was in the Royal Air Force during WW2 and in one of his autobiographies he wrote about serving the Allied forces in Greece when the Germans were invading, so it's likely that he might have had some prejudice towards them. I don't think that it's meant to be a serious metaphor, I think he just liked to poke fun at Germans in his darkly humorous way (e.g.- the Grand High Witch's accent). If you read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the same kind of thing comes up with the characters Augustus Gloop and his mother. The original Willy Wonka movie has lots of German stereotypes in it too! I don't think you're crazy for noticing those things. It's sort of similar to how Mel Brooks loves to play around with German stereotypes in his films.

reply

The movie might have emphasized these things more because in the book Dahl never gave her the name Eva Ernst or any name for that matter, and it never said she arrived at the hotel in a Mercedes-Benz.

She had the German accent though. She would pronounce W's as V's - Vitches, Vant, Vhere.

reply

it's an interesting theory, especially as dahl is quoted to have said that jews must have done something to deserve the holocaust. he didn't seem to be sympathetic on that level

reply

Dahl really said that?

reply

yep. he said quite a few uncomplimentary things that could be called antisemitic. can post quotes when back on the laptop tomorrow if you are still interested in knowing more

reply

Very interesting suggestion, although not true. According to the book, the grand high witch's country of origin is Norway and she spoke with a horrible accent in the book. The film makers however wanted a more recognisable accent for the screen, so Anjelica had to speak with a German accent.

Roald Dahl himself had anti-semitic views, that's why some people of the Jewish community expressed views that maybe Spielberg shouldn't do BFG.

reply

Dont forget that the witches turned the children into rodents. The Nazis likened the Jews to rats.

reply