Because of the possible unfavorable reaction abroad on the propaganda contained in the Nazi film which commemorates the Nazi hero, Horst Wessel, reports from Berlin first indicated that the motion picture had been scrapped by the order of the Minister of Propaganda, Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels. The reason said to have been given by him, however, was that the film was “unworthy of its heroic subject.”
The latest news is that the picture will be shown, but all reference to Wessel by name has been deleted from the film which depicts his life and death. It has been released under the title “Hans Wesmar, One of the Multitude,” with the subtitle, “A German Life Tragedy of the Year 1929.”
The scene picturing the origin of the Horst Wessel song, rejoicing in the spilling of Jewish blood, which has become the battle cry of the Nazis, has been eliminated. The words of this song were written by Wessel, with the exception of the last two stanzas which were added after his death.
Horst Wessel, who was shot in a street brawl in Berlin in 1929, has been martyrized by the Nazis and become one of their patron saints
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
