After watching “Triumph of the Will” I felt the need to write about it. I knew Hitler was supposed to be a great manipulator, but I could never really picture how great of a speaker he was. If I hadn’t known any better, I probably would have jumped on the band wagon with Hitler. He was so persuasive, so suave and clever. His words were spoken with such meaning and persuasion behind them. And in just a couple of years, he would be known as one of the world’s most destructive leaders. During the free-write in class, I described how Hitler was such a confident leader. It didn’t help that the film footage was from so long ago, and Hitler was so great back then (it makes me wonder if he would succeed as well in today’s society). He took human sacrifice (meaning throwing yourself into a war, possibly giving your life for your country or another ally of your country) and makes it seem ok, even great. He tells these young boys to be strong, yet peace-loving, both of which are close to opposites. I don’t understand how Hitler was so convincing when he talked about peace, and yet he was planning one of the largest man-slaughters in the history of mankind.

In the free write, I also noted that he was recruiting children, mostly young boys and a few girls. And not a single adult was there to represent these children. In fact, it looked like the only other adults in the rally were Hitler’s men. Thinking about that situation later, I realized that he was planning on their unquestionable support from the beginning. Who would doubt a man that the children love? And who better to brain-wash than young adults. They would believe so whole-heartedly in Hitler that their devotion would probably be the strongest of all his followers. The youths wouldn’t know any better than to follow a man that just wants a “peace-loving” country. I find this horrible and disturbing. Hitler makes the children believe that they alone are the greatness or the fault of the future of Germany.

The documenter got a great view of Hitler too. It was very direct, he only showed what Hitler was saying and the reactions he got from his crowd. And the crowd did go crazy for him. If I hadn’t known what Hitler had already done, I would have been impressed by this documentary that shows how many possibilities this man had in a government. I also like how the documenter shows that Hitler stands in the middle of the crowd, and on a lower level. It’s like a nonchalant way of Hitler telling the youths that he is below them and they are above all important. What a way to manipulate the minds of innocent children! I’m still impressed that such a documentary has escaped from the World War II era and made it into modern hands. I would have thought that such filming would have been burned along with Hitler’s notes on his experimentations, books on his thoughts, and other horrible film footage.