The Disney series “Deutsches Haus” tells of the great Frankfurt trial against SS murderers, which showed the Germans the horror of the Shoah 60 years ago. Screenwriter Annette Hess on the attempt to portray horror with a lot of tenderness.
Why is the German innkeeper family Bruhns the focus of your series about the Auschwitztrial – shouldn’t you have focused on the Jewish victims?
Fortunately, there are no obligations to a particular narrative perspective. I come from a German family and am the granddaughter of the perpetrator – that’s the only thing I can tell you authentically. The main character, Eva Bruhns, an interpreter in the trial, is modeled somewhat on my mother, born in 1942, who in the 1960s was exclusively concerned with finding a man who would, if possible, become a doctor or professor. The Auschwitz trial completely bypassed her for the time being. I then witnessed my mother’s awareness of the… crime the Germans have grown.
How did this show up?
For example, we once visited the Bergen-Belsen memorial. I was twelve and my… Mother only walked ten meters and then had to turn back because she was crying so much. She was also very affected by the series “Holocaust”. This has been a development for her over the years, which is more compressed for Eva Bruhns, the film character.
In the series there is a scene from the kitchen of the Bruhns family’s restaurant in which the kitchen help says: ‘I want to hear about the trial against the SS.Men don’t hear anything, my husband fell in the east and that’s the worst.’ Is this the attitude the series is against?
Exactly. Such phrases express the suppression of these incomprehensible crimes. It is put into perspective and downplayed. Then they say: ‘Some people just had bad luck.’ Or: ‘We had a hard time too.’ ‘It was war.’ This attitude is what the series is about.
Can indifference be an expression of anti-Semitism?
In any case, simply staying out of it and remaining silent plays into the hand of anti-Semitism. I believe: You cannot live apolitically. If you don’t say or do anything against racism and injustice, that’s also a statement; it has the effect of silent consent. Followers and accomplices – they are much closer together than you think.
Can you understand the behavior of those who remained silent and repressed?
Most people would rather duck away than show moral courage. That’s human. And the Federal Republic could only be rebuilt after the war through repression. I’ve thought a lot about why all but one of the defendants have pleaded not guilty. Perhaps it is impossible to admit that one is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. How should one live with this guilt?
The trial 60 years ago did not look at the Shoah as a whole, but rather individual perpetrators had to be proven to have committed individual acts. Of course, this individualization makes it very emotional – but isn’t there a risk that the dimension of the crime will be lost sight of?
Pure numbers remain abstract, millions of deaths – you can’t imagine that. That’s why you have to say names that highlight individual fates. I worked for a long time on the reading of the indictment: I assembled a text from the original 800 pages that names the enormous number of crimes, but also repeatedly highlights individual names and fates. Only that creates emotions, empathy and perhaps a sense of this hell.
But it was not discussed in court whether the Auschwitz concentration camp was run by a gang of murderers who killed together – regardless of who directly made what contribution.
The process could only be carried out using the legal means of those years. As you have already said: the defendants had to be convicted of specific crimes. You had to have the name of the victim, the name of the perpetrator, and a witness who saw it. Preferably two. The criminal investigation was therefore completely inadequate. But the trial still managed to tell the Germans what happened in this concentration camp. At the start of the trial, 70 percent of Germans were against the procedure. In the end, the population demanded death sentences. After that, no one could say they had never heard of Auschwitz.
Now in these weeks we are all looking at Israel and Gaza, at the terror of Hamas and at Israel’s response. Can your film contribute to this? conflict to understand?
I do think that visualizing the Holocaust can create understanding that Germany has a special role in this conflict. I am the granddaughter of a perpetrator; my grandfather was a police officer in Poland. And I can’t help but, first and foremost, to massively oppose any form of anti-Semitism. That’s what I’m doing with this series too. It terrifies me to no end that Jews in Germany are afraid again. That’s what touches me first and foremost.
Do you agree with the argument that the grandchildren of the perpetrators do not have to tell the grandchildren of the survivors what they can and cannot do to ensure their safety?
Of course, we cannot tell the victims’ grandchildren what means of defense are appropriate. At the same time, I think we can all agree that violence against civilians in general is a crime. Violence in all forms terrifies me. I am a convinced pacifist. However, I am aware that I feel this from a comfortable, privileged position.
Signs could be seen at demonstrations calling for a free Palestine from the Jordan to the Mediterranean – and with it the destruction of Israel. Does your film seem like a commentary on the news?
This news shocked us at first. Of course the series comes at a special time. But I think it would be downright obscene to advertise it now. Our first heading when we started working on the series was always: tenderness. We talk about the horror with caution and tenderness. This arises exclusively from the descriptions of the witnesses – in the minds of those watching. In the series we talk about where racism, exclusion and anti-Semitism can lead in just twelve years.
They filmed in Poland, not far from Auschwitz.
In Krakow and Katowice. The memorial is a good hour away, the cast and crew all drove there. A large part of the crew was Polish. Among them were the grandchildren of victims. We had some very touching conversations and I am grateful that we were able to film the series together.
In the Bruhns family, whose “German House” gave the series its name, you condense a variety of German fates. Even the little boy has to play war all the time. This seemed a bit intentional to me.
If you look closely at any family, you will find all of this. Of course it’s condensed, but it’s also about five hours of narrative time. And it’s also entertainment, you have to dramatize – otherwise you’ll fall asleep. The train also has to have a good amount of traction so that you can get on and enjoy the ride.