Stuckarts Tirade

First, you must remember that this is a dramatic version of the actual event. Stuckart's vehemence was staged by the producers to give the plot rhetorical value. His point (in VERY rough paraphrase) that the world would applaud the German efforts to purify--and thereby preserve--their race was thrust at Klopfer out of his frustration at the 1935 Nuremburg laws (which, he claimed, he co-authored) being swept aside at the behest of the SS and at Klopfer's overt, belligerent antagonism. Ultimately, the world DID see their decision and its product as criminal, for the very reasons Firth's character expressed.
Look at the eugenics experiments conducted in the United States in the 1920s and how our scientists in 1936 applauded Germany's adaptation of America's "involuntary sterilization" and selective breeding processes that were also based on subjective decisions by lawyers and bureaucrats. Check out the Buck v. Bell (1927) lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court, where involuntary sterilization was approved by an 8-1 vote of that esteemed panel because "An Act of Virginia, approved March 20, 1924 recites that the health of the patient and the welfare of society may be promoted in certain cases by the sterilization of mental defectives . . . ."
We "predicated" our acts on law, too. The Nazis picked up where we left off. This begs the question: were we going in the same direction as the Nazis for "the welfare of society"? Stuckart, as played by Colin Firth, may have been closer to the mark than we are willing to accept.

Branagh (as Heydrich) stated that everything done at the Wannsee Conference "must be predicated upon law." The comment is also recorded in the Wannsee Protocol as translated from Luther's original transcript. Rhetorically, his declaration meant that the Nuremburg laws of 1935 served as a foundation for the 1939 euthanasia program, and ultimately, the "evacuation" of the European Jews as a whole. It was Heydrich's way of estabishing Stuckart's laws as a smoke screen for the mass murders. It would serve two purposes: first, to get the Interior Ministry on board and "in line" with Goering's directive, and second, to spread the blame around, should the truth be made known--which, indeed, it was.

Here is the tirade (forgive me if there are a few exceptions, as this is from memory. But I think it is mostly accurate.) This is one of the best written, and best acted scenes I have ever seen, in any movie.

Stuckardt – “If I may have one word more. Any obligation, in a lawful society . . .”

Klopher – “Another lecture. Another lecture!”

Stuckardt – “ . . .lawful society, any obligation, a new law will have to be written . . .”

Klopher – “Write it! Why don’t you write it?”

Stuckardt - " . . . to address all these marriages to be terminated! Consider. The Jews are taken away. The German spouses will no doubt wish to inherit the property of the Jewish spouses, go to court, a death certificate will be applied for, and what happens to your secret killings then?"

-cut to Eichmann shaking his head at the stenographer, telling him not to continue recording this part of the meeting.

Stuckardt - "The secret is out, dear friends. Perhaps not inheritence, perhaps, perhaps divorce. Freedom to remarry. So, a requisite divorce mechanism, dealing with all these marriages to be terminated becomes the Reich's responsibility to its German citizens".

Klopher - "F@#$"

Stuckardt - "I AM SPEAKING!! Now, before the spouse is deported the civil courts will be so busy with divorces that the lower courts will be on 24-hour shifts and the litigation wait will be weighed in months.”

Mueller - "Or longer"

Luther - "Well I for one have no sympathy for Germans who crawl into bed with members of the tribe.”

Klopher – “ Nor do I. I ask myself, what is his concern? When the ruling principal of our government, and of our party, is to make Germany Jew-free. You are arguing to let these Yids stay? To influence, to operate freely? With the exception that you neuter them?”

Stuckardt – “They’re, they’re not free. They are not free. The law restricts them, it isolates them. I am merely asking . . .”.

Mueller – “Perhaps the judge has a special love for them.”

Klopher – “Yes, yes, a special love.”

Stuckardt – “For who?” (Klopher shrugs) “Oh, for Jews? Wonderful, you don’t have my credentials. Forgive me, from your uniform I can infer that you are shallow, ignorant, and naïve about the Jews. Your line, what the party rants on about, is how inferior they are, some, some subspecies. And I keep . . . saying how wrong that is! They are sublimely clever. And they are intelligent as well. My indictments of that race are stronger and heavier because they are based on fact, not your uneducated ideologies. They are arrogant, and self-obsessed, and calculating, and reject the Christ, and I will not let them pollute German blood.”

Heydrich – “Please, doctor . . .”

Stuckardt – “He, he doesn’t understand. And neither do his people. Deal with the reality of the Jew and the world will applaud us. Treat them as imaginary phantoms, evil, inhuman fantasies and the world will have justified contempt for us. To kill them casually without regard for the law martyrs them, which will be their victory! Sterilization recognizes them as a part of our species, but prevents them from being part of our race. They’ll disappear soon enough. And we will have acted in defense of our race, and of our species, and BY THE LAW. This fellow (Eichman) mentioned the lawful protection of German blood. I WROTE THAT LAW! And when you have my credentials we can talk about who loves the Jews and who hates them. Pigs don’t know how to hate. I note too, that, when it comes to the half-mixed, that to kill them abandons that part of their blood that is German.”

Klopher – “I’ll remember you.”

Stuckardt – “You should. I’m very well known.”


Wow. Just amazing.

Great scene, it showed there were some Germans in authority who really wanted no part in the Holocaust as it was carried out. The Stuckart and Kritzinger characters were paramount to the telling of this story in that respect, and the tirade Stuckard went on was both intelligent and humane.

This film was riveting and devastatingly compelling. To think of the lack of humanity displayed at this conference makes one truly ashamed of our species. This film should be shown regularly on tv and in schools to help us remember how easily it is to turn on our fellow man in the name of nationalism or religion or any number of things.

Colin Firth's portrayal of Stuckart blew me away. Both he and Stanley Tucci were nominated for Emmies for this film and I believe Tucci won. When you watch both performances knowing this and look to see which performance deserved recognition above the other, it is a no brainer that Firth's perfomance exceeds everyone else's in the film. That one scene was one of the fiercest bits of acting I've ever seen. But he wasn't known much by the Emmy voters while Tucci, an American, was. Awards are so often popularity contests with the voters voting without having seen most, if not all, of the performances on the ballot. What a shame.

One more thing to consider is that the Nuremberg law was Stuckart's life work. It's his most proud achievement. The fact that Heydrich and Eichmann is bypassing it is not acceptable. It's his pride talking.

Alot of the germans high society and buraucracy wanted nothing to be tied to annihalation of jews aot of them had jewish friends or family. But during Wansee and other meetings they were coerced into finally accepting the total "solution" of the jewish question. Everyone can put the blame on others but the blame always falls on some anyway. Not all party members of the 2rd reich supported this but they all "supported" this.

What makes Stuckart interesting is that though he comes off as sympathetic towards Jews he is an anti Semite who uses his knowledge of the law, reason and logic to support his points. This is what makes him so abhorrent and the type of racism we should all fear the most.