On Monday, January 27, 2025, at 7 p.m., the city of Idar-Oberstein and Schalom e. V. are hosting an event in the municipal theater to commemorate the victims of National Socialism. This year's focus will be on the anti-Semitic smear film "Jud Süß", which is considered one of the worst propaganda films in film history. The event is supported by the Crime Prevention Office at the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of the Interior and Sport. Admission is free.
Since 2005, the city and the Shalom Association have jointly organized a commemorative event on January 27. Each event focuses on a different aspect of National Socialist tyranny. After welcoming speeches by Lord Mayor Frank Frühauf and Daniel Stich, State Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior and Sport, this year's event will focus on the propagandistic feature films of National Socialism. The Nazi regime used the suggestive power of moving images in its propaganda at a very early stage. Films were deliberately used to systematically influence the population and to indoctrinate the "people's comrades" according to Nazi ideology, including in the cinema.
Today, a number of these films belong to the so-called "reserved films". After the Second World War, they were banned by the Allied military governments for glorifying war, being anti-Semitic, racist or inciting the people. Today they are in the collection of the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung Wiesbaden and may only be shown with the consent of the foundation as part of a seminar accompanied by a lecturer and with the offer of a film discussion. The Institute for Cinema and Film Culture (IKF) organizes this on behalf of the foundation.
The film "Jud Süß" will be shown during the commemorative event. It is based on the life story of Joseph Süß Oppenheimer, who worked as a financial advisor to Duke Karl Alexander of Württemberg in the 18th century. Oppenheimer was soon regarded by the population as the perpetrator of all the abuses in the country. Arndt Klingelhöfer from the IKF will give an introductory lecture on film propaganda and the historical background before the screening, followed by a film analysis and a film discussion. The commemorative event, for which visitors should plan a duration of three hours, will end with the closing remarks by Deputy Shalom Chairwoman Roswitha Klee-Emmerich.