The West German official press and information office has purchased German rights to the French documentary film “Nuit et Brouillard” (Night and Fog), which depicts the Nazi concentration camps, for showing to German officials and youth groups.
The action by the Bonn Government, reported here in Variety, show business trade newspaper, was considered particularly ironic in view of the fact that the short film had been withdrawn from the recent Cannes Film Festival by the French–in deference to German sensibilities.
The concentration camp film will be available for regular trade showings in Germany, in addition to its official use. The Bonn regime paid 25,000 marks (about $6,000) for the rights. Variety quoted New York sources as speculating that the move was inspired by West Germany’s desire to counter criticism to the effect that it wanted “to play down that macabre aspect of the Nazi era.”
The trade paper’s report also made the point that most Germans today still prefer not to discuss the camps or the millions exterminated in them. In view of that fact, Variety noted, the current move, “even if officially sponsored,” is not “likely to be popular.”
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