The Innocent Perpetrators: The Portrayal of ‘German Victimhood’ in Unsere Mütter, Unsere Väter (Generation War) (2013)

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper explores how the German TV production Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter (2013) characterizes the ‘war generation’ with regard to its role in Nazi crimes and as perpetrators, both on screen and as a historical TV event. The three-part TV miniseries tells the story of five young Germans between 1941 and 1945. The narrative of the episodes follows the five friends who supposedly symbolize representative experiences of the war: four non-Jewish characters—two soldiers, a nurse, an artist—and one Jewish one. The involvement of the Gentile characters in crimes is shown, but they are never portrayed as antisemitic or ideological; rather, their deeds are explained by the overwhelming circumstances they find themselves in. They might become perpetrators, but they remain innocent in their intentions. The first screening of the TV miniseries in Germany and Austria was accompanied by educational materials, on-screen roundtable discussions, and documentaries. I argue that the TV production and its promotional campaign portrayed Germans primarily as victims of the war rather than exploring questions concerning the willing involvement of Germans in Nazi atrocities. This is done using references to and aspects of Holocaust cinema and Holocaust memory that serve as the blueprint for an apologetic story that presents Germans as a community of victims rather than perpetrators. Beyond the silver screen, Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter represents broader contemporary developments in ‘coming to terms with the past’ in German film, focusing on ‘German victimhood’ that resonate with contemporary debates in German society about its immediate past.