Sieg im Westen (Victory in the West) is a 1941 Nazi propaganda film.
It was produced by the Oberkommando des Heeres, the German Army High Command, rather than the Propaganda Ministry of Joseph Goebbels.Robert Edwin Hertzstein, The War That Hitler Won p281 Goebbels indeed sabotaged its release in minor ways, delaying its premiere and telling propagandists not to promote it. Erwin Rommel has been described as "enthusiastically" helping to direct it.Exit Rommel: The Tunisian Campaign, 1942-43, page 166 Bruce Allen Watson 2007 French prisoners of war were used during its making.
The prologue consists of the Nazi version of European history and the origins of World War II, and the rest deals with the Battle of France, a Blitzkrieg in the Low Countries and France (10 May – 22 June 1940). The movie was made largely from newsreel footage recut into a documentary.Erwin Leiser (1975), Nazi Cinema p57 The programme provided states that it is to show the audacity of the German offensive and the superiority of German arms, required because they will not be permitted to live in peace.Erwin Leiser, Nazi Cinema p57-8 It did not give Hitler or the Nazi party a central role, thus ensuring its disfavor with Goebbels.Robert Edwin Hertzstein (1978), The War That Hitler Won p282
The Nazi journal "Der deutsche Film" called Sieg im Westen "the greatest of all German newsreels."Hoffman 220 Unlike many other German propaganda films, Sieg im Westen does not belittle the enemy, instead admitting that the French soldiers fought gallantly.Hoffman 222
The war is presented "from above"; the battles are depicted as smooth forward advances on the map, with results from reports at the front.Erwin Leiser, Nazi Cinema p59 The "encirclement" of Germany is depicted by showing prisoners of war from far-off countries.Erwin Leiser, Nazi Cinema p58
During the shooting of the movie Black French soldiers who were prisoners of war were forced to take part in its making; at the end of the movie Germans forced them to carry out "exotic dance", most likely to underline their exotic "otherness" and as an act of humiliation.Hitler's African Victims: The German Army Massacres of Black French Soldiers in 1940, page 45, Raffael ScheckFrench Colonial Soldiers in German Captivity during World War II, page 42, Raffael Scheck
On 14 August 1940, more than a dozen German Generals who had (three weeks prior) been appointed Field Marshal after the successful WestfeldzugWalther von Brauchitsch, Wilhelm Keitel, Gerd von Rundstedt, Fedor von Bock, Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb, Wilhelm List, Günther von Kluge, Erwin von Witzleben, Walter von Reichenau; Albert Kesselring, Erhard Milch, Hugo Sperrle. were in Berlin to be presented with their ceremonial batons. While in Berlin, they were shown 'Sieg im Westen'.An American journalist watched it, too, and made that public. Charles Messenger (1991/ reprint 2012), The Last Prussian: A Biography of Field Marshal Gerd Von Rundstedt, p. 127
See also List of German films 1933–1945 Die Deutsche Wochenschau (English: The German Weekly Review)
References
Further reading Hoffman, Hilmar. The Triumph of Propaganda: Film and National Socialism, 1933-45.
External links
Information at International Historic Films Picture of a program Free access to the film at the Internet Archive