Anyone see the Nazi Titanic on the History Channel

[DarthTom]

I recently saw the documentary the "Nazi Titanic," on the History Channel. Did you see it? It was fascinating that they tried to spin the sinking of this famous ship into anti-British propaganda.

In the documentary the Bruce Ismay the owner of White Star bribes captain Smith to beat speed records in order to feather the nests of the British upper class by raising the stock price. The only hero as portrayed was the German first office [complete fiction twisted by Goerbels] who seems to know a lot about icebergs [before and after the fact] as well as the dangers of sailing the Atlantic too quickly.

It's a great look at how propaganda is spun by the Nazi's but also how Americans and even the British produce their own propaganda during WWII - notably the film Casablanca.

The film cost the Germans the modern equil of $180 million which is a lot of money to spend on a movie during a war.

 

[Lonemagpie]

I saw that - fascinating stuff

 

[DarthTom]

I saw that - fascinating stuff

What's equally as interesting is the film got buried after WWII by the Germans themselves branded as to controversial.

It's a piece of history IMO.

 

[Angel4576]

From memory, weren't a couple of scenes eventually used in A Night to Remember?

 

[DarthTom]

From memory, weren't a couple of scenes eventually used in A Night to Remember?

Yes. Apparently the Germans at the time were experts at making minatures and in creating special effects. So they recycled the boat sinking on the later film.

Also interesting that Goebbles who invested nearly $180 million in today's dollars on the picture in the middle of a war was also able to use real sailors as extras as well as commandeer an ocean liner for a more realistic set.

 

[Angel4576]

Ironic that the ship they used for the project, the SS Cap Arcona, was sunk by the RAF in the last few days of the war, with the loss of three times the number who went down on the Titanic.

 

[Count Zero]

I find that more tragic than ironic, especially in light of the fact that most victims (over 4000) were concentration camp inmates who had been evacuated to the ship from the approaching allies.

 

[Angel4576]

You're right, tragic is a better description.

The RAF were under the impression that the ship was carrying SS personnel to safety. They torpedoed the ship, and then strafed the survivors in the water. Those that made it to nearby German trawlers were beaten back into the water as they were only interested in saving SS and the ship's crew. Any lucky enough to make it to the shore were then shot.

Awful incident.

 

[Count Zero]

Actually, a couple of hundreds did survive, among them an actor who later became famous in the GDR. But yeah, all in all, a horrifying incident.

 

[Miss Chicken]

When I saw this thread I thought about the Wilhelm Gustloff which sunk with a death toll of 9000. I don't think many people know about it, and even fewer care because they were German. However at least 4000 of those that died were children which I think means it was terribly tragic.

 

[Count Zero]

For what it's worth, my first thought when I read the thread title was also of the Wilhelm Gustloff. I didn't even know about the Titanic movie.

 

[DarthTom]

When I saw this thread I thought about the Wilhelm Gustloff which sunk with a death toll of 9000. I don't think many people know about it, and even fewer care because they were German. However at least 4000 of those that died were children which I think means it was terribly tragic.

It's a sad but true fact in life that when rich people die in a boating accident [e.g. John Jay Astor, one of the richest men in America at the time of the Titanic sinking] it's more interesting to many than when nobody's perish.

In any case, I found the Nazi Titanic story more interesting from a historical perspective and how propoganda is used in film. In the documentary it also notes that Americans were eager to use the same tactics in films like Casablanca where all of the Germans in Africa were portrayed as villians and the Americans were the good guys - everyone eager to flee to America for "freedom." At that time being a black or Japanese immigrant to America wouldn't have been a "free," proposition.

 

[Pingfah]

When I saw this thread I thought about the Wilhelm Gustloff which sunk with a death toll of 9000. I don't think many people know about it, and even fewer care because they were German. However at least 4000 of those that died were children which I think means it was terribly tragic.

I think it's pretty tragic anyway. It's not like German children were all innocents and German adults were all Nazis. The ship was actually evacuating civilians when it sank.

 

[Hound of UIster]

From memory, weren't a couple of scenes eventually used in A Night to Remember?

Yes. Apparently the Germans at the time were experts at making minatures and in creating special effects. So they recycled the boat sinking on the later film.

Also interesting that Goebbles who invested nearly $180 million in today's dollars on the picture in the middle of a war was also able to use real sailors as extras as well as commandeer an ocean liner for a more realistic set.

This isn't really surprising. Even close to the end of the war Goebbels was wasting precious resources for his propaganda films. I remember Tom Brokaw mentioning that he had tons of salt shipped to use as snow for a propaganda film about the Napolenic Wars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolberg_(film)

 

[Miss Chicken]

When I saw this thread I thought about the Wilhelm Gustloff which sunk with a death toll of 9000. I don't think many people know about it, and even fewer care because they were German. However at least 4000 of those that died were children which I think means it was terribly tragic.

I think it's pretty tragic anyway. It's not like German children were all innocents and German adults were all Nazis. The ship was actually evacuating civilians when it sank.

I said nothing about innocence in my statement.

I find children's deaths more tragic because they have experience so much less of life. I had a friend who died when we were 11 and even today I am sorry that she missed out on so much of the things I did. If i died tomorrow I would die much younger than the average age of death but at least I would have had 43 more years of life than my friend did.

 

[Kail]

Did anybody actually see the film? The documentary I saw showed only clips of the film and pretty much bored me to death going on and on about the director, his film writer, Goebbles ect ... I just wanted to see the film!

 

[Pingfah]

I have the film, you can get it from Rapidshare or Isohunt if you use Bittorrent. It's public domain, so not illegal to download it.

It is also on Youtube in about 8 parts.

 

[Angel4576]

Plus it was released on DVD in region 1.