The role of Distance

Genocide is based on distance. Distance from a particular group of people either physically, emotionally, or psychologically. Distance leads to the creation of the group as a separate entity altogether, as an “other”, different and segregated from one’s own. Psychological and emotional distance creates a sense of the other group being obsolete and this feeling leads to ordinary humans committing inhumane acts. The Germans took the help of cinema as propaganda, to spread the anti-Semitic feeling in their nation and to create a huge gap between Jews and Germans.

The cinemas that were shown inculcated a feeling of total pride of being German and a sense of total commitment and surrender to the third Reich. The cinemas the Reich used portrayed Hitler as god personified, as ruler of the people and capable of only doing good for his people. This played a huge part in the genocide that soon followed, by being one of the main means of providing a ground for conformity. A viewing of such movies, mainly Triumph des Willens, and Der Sieg des Glaubens portrays the group mentality of “Germans for the Germans”. The films show the people serving for their nation as kind, caring “individuals”, incapable of doing anything that will adversely affect their nation. They show Germans fighting some other entity with great courage to rouse a sense of pride, belonging and respect. When these films were shown, especially in Hitler Yuden camps, it is obvious that they created huge emotional barriers and enlarged the distance with the Jews.