ABSTRACT
In October 1939, close behind the Wehrmacht units which occupied Lodz, a film crew arrived in the city. Under the personal supervision of Joseph Goebbels and the direction of Fritz Hippler, head of the film section in the Propaganda Ministry, the cameras started rolling in the Jewish slums for the production of the ultimate anti-Jewish film, The Eternal Jew. 1 Throughout the end of 1939 and much of 1940, Goebbels devoted constant attention to the “Judenfilm”—the “Jew film”—as he called it. On 17 October, he mentioned the film to Hitler, who “showed great interest.” 2 On the same day, he returned to the topic:
“Film tests.… Pictures from the “Ghetto” film. Such a thing never existed before. Scenes so dreadful and brutal in their details that one’s blood freezes. One pulls back in horror at so much brutality. This Jewry must be exterminated.” 3
24 October: “Further tests for our Jew film. Shots of synagogue scenes of extraordinary significance. We are now working in order to make a propaganda masterpiece of it all….” 4 28 October: “Shot tests for our Jew film. Shocking. This film will be our big hit.” 5
