Film Screening and Discussion with Jörg Herrmann
Disobedience as a Virtue – The Wehrmacht Prison in Anklam and Military Justice in the Third
Reich
Without the Wehrmacht’s judicial system during World War II, the Nazis’ war of conquest and extermination could hardly have lasted so long. Approximately 25,000 death sentences carried out—a toll that even outshines the record of the People’s Court and the special courts.
A stone testament to this dark chapter is the former Wehrmacht prison in Anklam. Up to 15,000 prisoners—at least 134 of whom were executed—endured terrible hardships here.
The documentary sheds light on this chapter that has long been swept under the rug. And the topic remains relevant today: It was not until September 2009 that the Bundestag overturned the convictions for “treason” as unjust, and not least in light of the Bundeswehr’s increasing overseas deployments, there are renewed efforts to establish an independent military justice system.
A collage of animated sequences, correspondence, original visual and audio documents, interviews with historians, and text projections brings to life a dense and oppressive picture of that era.
Written and directed by: Jörg Herrmann
Cinematography: Michael Donnerhak
Editing: Nico Sandhoff
Animations: Alexej Tchernyi, Robert Kriegel
Music: Christian Kuzio
An accompanying event for the exhibition at the Kröpeliner Tor, “What Was Right Back Then…”—Soldiers and Civilians Before Wehrmacht Courts
(in cooperation with the State Agency for Political Education of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
