Antisemitism in Film Comedy in Nazi Germany

<p>Today many Germans remain nostalgic about classic film comedies created during the 1930s viewing them as a part of the Nazi era that was not tainted with antisemitism. In <em>Antisemitism in Film Comedy in Nazi Germany</em> Valerie Weinstein scrutinizes these comic productions and demonstrates that film comedy despite its innocent appearance was a critical component in the effort to separate Jews from Germans physically economically and artistically. Weinstein highlights how the German propaganda ministry used directives pre- and post-production censorship financial incentives and influence over film critics and their judgments to replace Jewish wit with a slower simpler and more direct German humor that affirmed values that the Nazis associated with the Aryan race. Through contextualized analyses of historical documents and individual films Weinstein reveals how humor coded hints and traces absences and substitutes in Third Reich film comedy helped spectators imagine an abstract Jewishness and a German identity and community free from the former. As resurgent populist nationalism and overt racism continue to grow around the world today Weinstein's study helps us rethink racism and prejudice in popular culture and reconceptualize the relationships between film humor national identity and race.</p>