The Twisted Cross

The Twisted Cross Author John Fowles, when talking about German people during World War Two and Hitler, said “…millions of Germans did betray themselves. That was the tragedy. Not that one man had the courage to be evil, but that millions had not the courage to be good.” Many Germans did not agree with Adolf Hitler’s outlandish ideas, but were not courageous enough to stand against him. In his documentary The Twisted Cross, director Donald Hyatt shows the incredible influence that Hitler had on the German Volk’s thoughts and actions. The documentary uses music and effects, Nazi propaganda film clips, and intense dramatizations in order to effectively teach viewers about interwar Germany. The film gives a very informative description of Nazi Germany. The choice of music has great effect on the viewer during the entire course of the documentary. In the beginning of the film, slow and somber music plays while the viewer is shown the images of the poor and unemployed Germans after World War Two. This music helps express the attitudes of the Germans just before the rise of Adolf Hitler. Additionally, The Nazi propaganda film clips that are used in the film give an accurate picture of what it was like during the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. In these clips, one could see the massive crowds of men and women, young and old, that would gather to hear Hitler speak. Girls would swoon and faint, while many boys would look to him with adoring eyes. Many Germans were greatly influenced by these propaganda films, and the director is trying to express the immense amount of pressure the Nazis were putting onto the German people who did not yet support the Nazi party. Furthermore, the dramatizations of actual events made the viewer feel like part of the history that was being displayed. During a dramatization, a group of Nazis broke into a Jewish household, and brutalized and killed an innocent Jewish family. These dramatizations were made to invoke emotion in the viewer,