Jud Süß
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Author | Wilhelm Hauff |
|---|---|
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
| Genre(s) | Novella |
| Publisher | |
| Released | 1827 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
| Jud Süß | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Veit Harlan |
| Produced by | Otto Lehmann |
| Written by | Veit Harlan and Eberhard Wolfgang Möller |
| Starring | Ferdinand Marian, Werner Krauss, Heinrich George, Kristina Söderbaum |
| Music by | Wolfgang Zeller |
| Distributed by | unknown |
| Release date(s) | 1940 |
| Running time | 98 minutes |
| Language | German |
| Budget | Unknown |
| IMDb profile | |
Jud Süß, (The Jew Süss), was the nickname of Joseph Süss Oppenheimer and is the title of an 1827 novella by Wilhelm Hauff, a 1925 historical novel by Lion Feuchtwanger, a 1934 British film and a Nazi propaganda film made in 1940 by Veit Harlan, all of which are stories with a title character modelled on Oppenheimer. The Feuchtwanger book and the 1934 film based on it were both condemnations of anti-Semitism with the 1934 film being meant as well as a satire of Nazi anti-Semitism.
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[edit] Plot summary
The original novella was about a businessman who believes he is a Jew, but whose unfair business practices result in the betrayal of an innocent girl. Consequently, he is arrested and sentenced to be hanged under 18th-century anti-Semitic laws. While he waits to be executed, he discovers that he is not Jewish, but he prefers to face his sentence rather than turning his back to the community he grew up in.
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The first film adaptation of Jud Süß was made in 1934 by Michael Balcon, head of production at Gaumont British in the 1930s. British censors would not have allowed a movie to criticize openly the persecution of Jews, since it would have appeared as an attack on German policy and led to a diplomatic incident. The movie had little success in America or most of Europe, but a great political impact in Vienna, where it was banned. Unlike the 1940 version, the 1934 version is based on Feuchtwanger's novel and is a condemnation of anti-Semitism, not a justification of it.
The infamous German movie adaptation made in 1940 by Veit Harlan under the supervision of Joseph Goebbels is a justification of anti-Semitism and is considered one of the most hateful depictions of Jews on film. The 1940 Süß, played by Ferdinand Marian, is different from the original character on the following points: He is a real Jew; he represented Nazi propaganda stereotypes of Jews having hooked noses and greasy hair.
The 1940 film achieved Nazi objectives and was a great success in Germany and abroad. Anti-Jewish violence was reported after its projection in Marseilles, for example. The impact of this movie was such that its director, Veit Harlan, received the 1943 Universum Film Archiv award (the UFA was the major commercial German film studio in the early part of the 20th century), and was put on trial after the war but Harlan defended himself by arguing that the Nazis controlled his work.
[edit] See also
- Der Ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew) on another example of anti-Semitic Nazi film propaganda
- List of films made in the Third Reich
- National socialist film policy
[edit] External links
- Free Download
- The politics of censorship: Britain's "Jew Suss" in London, New York and Vienna - 1934 Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television
- German Propaganda Archive: Jud Süss extracts from the program of the 1940 movie adaptation.
- Jud Süss (1940) at the Internet Movie Database
- Britmovie: Jew Suss (1934)
- Jew Süss, aka Power (1934) at the Internet Movie Database
