Fritz Hippler

Fritz Hippler held a fairly high position in the Propaganda Ministry of the Third Reich, under Joseph Goebbels. He oversaw its film office, and helped to determine which foreign films would be allowed on German screens, and what parts of them would be cut. Although Hippler was an active Nazi from quite early on, like many others, he was quick to disavow his role in the party and its actions after the war. Until his death in 2002 he continued to assert that he only shot some footage for the anti-Semitic The Eternal Jew (1940), and it was Goebbels himself put together the film. Hippler claimed that at the time, he had little knowledge of the Nazi's anti-Jewish activities and was not aware of the Holocaust as it was taking place. In an interview given only months before his death, Hippler gave contradictory responses to questions regarding his life and career as a Nazi propagandist. Once he answered: "If it were possible to annul everything (about the film) I would. Terrible things happened and I had many sleepless nights because of this." Hippler is perhaps emblematic of the failure of many Germans of his generation to come to terms with their role in the Third Reich, but his contribution The Eternal Jew (1940), still shown in many history classes but banned from public screening in Germany) was much ranker than most.