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Nazis Film Feuchtwanger Novel; Billed As ‘first German Anti-semitic Film’

January 24, 1940
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The German film authorities have announced completion of a Nazi version of the picture “Jew Suess” and are advertising it in the German press as the “first German anti-Semitic film.”

Title of the film is taken from Lion Feuchtwanger’s famous novel of that name, called “Power” in the American version. Feuchtwanger, a Jew, is now living in exile in France.

A leading role in the picture is played by Werner Krauss, who was married to a Jewess before Hitler came to power. The title role is played by an actor who, according to the Nazi press, will receive an award from Propaganda Minister Goebbels “in special recognition for agreeing to play such a loathsome role.”

Although Jews are forbidden to see Nazi films, the authorities have ordered the Jewish Kulturbund in Berlin to show a Nazi production titled “Robert Koch” and the Juedische Nachrichtenblatt, the only Jewish publication permitted in the Reich, has been forced to advertise it. The main role in the picture is also played by Werner Krauss, who owes his artistic career to Max Reinhardt and to the support of many other Jewish friends in pre-Nazi Germany.

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