Overview
- Description
- Nazi propaganda film -- Aufklaerungsfilm [Instructional film] -- depicting life on earth as a permanent struggle for food, reproduction, and survival between strong and weak animals. This analogy is extended to the sphere of human beings, in which the survival of the Aryan race is threatened by 'hereditary' phenomena like mental disabilities and criminality. Allowing those considered "unworthy of living" to live in "palaces" for the disabled and congenitally ill at the expense of the healthy living in shabby conditions perpetuates this sin against the laws of nature. Shows footage of extremely disabled people, with intertitles indicating the cost of feeding and housing them. Praises the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Ill Offspring [Gesetz zur Verhuetung erbkranken Nachwuchses] of January 1, 1934, that authorized sterilization as the first solution to this struggle. An appeal is made to hereditarily healthy Germans to reproduce in order to help the nation survive.
The film draws heavily from a pseudoscientific understanding of Social Darwinism, propagated in Hitler's "Mein Kampf." The natural law of selection -- the struggle for existence and preservation of the species -- is a matter of genes. Only the fittest genetic material can survive and procreate, the imperfect must diminish. Hence, man should reinstitute the natural order of eat-or-get-eaten, so that the internally pure and strong race will survive in this worldwide and historical struggle between the races. This film is a short version of "Erbkrank" (1936). It was used as internal ideological education for Nazi party members, not for public screenings. It received the distinction "staatspolitisch und kulturell wertvoll" [state-politically and artistically valuable]. - Film Title
-
Alles Leben ist Kampf [All Life is Struggle]
- Duration
- 00:18:29
- Date
-
Production:
1937
- Locale
-
Germany
- Credit
- Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Library of Congress
- Contributor
-
Director:
Werner Huettig
Director: Herbert Gerdes
Producer: NSDAP Reichsleitung, Rassenpolitisches Amt, Berlin
Physical Details
- Language
- Silent
- Genre/Form
- Propaganda.
- B&W / Color
- Black & White
- Image Quality
- Mixed
- Time Code
- 03:01:10:00 to 03:19:39:00
- Film Format
- Master
Master 971 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
Master 971 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
Master 971 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
Master 971 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large- Preservation
Preservation 971 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
Preservation 971 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
Preservation 971 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
Preservation 971 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- You do not require further permission from the Museum to access this archival media.
- Copyright
- Federal Republic of Germany. Bundesarchiv.
- Conditions on Use
- Researchers who wish to use this footage should contact the Bundesarchiv Filmarchiv at filmbenutzung@bundesarchiv.de to sign a release, or submit the online request form at: https://www.bundesarchiv.de/EN/Content/Downloads/request-for-use-av-material.pdf?__blob=publicationFile
- Copyright Holder
- Federal Republic of Germany. Bundesarchiv.
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Film Provenance
- The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum purchased the films from the Library of Congress in October 1994.
- Note
- The film passed censorship on August 5, 1937. Length: 37 minutes
Herbert Gerdes also wrote and produced "Suenden der Vaeter" [Sins of the fathers] (1935), "Abseits vom Wege" [Away from the Path] (1935) and "Erbkrank" [Hereditary Ill] (1936).
See Film and Video departmental files for extensive documentation and a summary of the film. See Story 3303, Film ID 2505A and Story 3694, Film ID 2618 for duplicate footage of this film. See Story 3267 and 3268, Film ID 2501 for "Erbkrank" (a longer version of this film). - Copied From
- 16mm; b/w
- Film Source
- Library of Congress - Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division (MBRS)
- File Number
- Legacy Database File: 2553
Source Archive Number: FAA 0850 - Special Collection
-
Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2024-02-21 07:55:10
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn1001944
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- Terms of Use
- This record is digitized but cannot be downloaded online.
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