“The Decent One”
“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”-Kierkegaard
This past Saturday, I went with a friend to see Vanessa Lapa’s stunning new documentary, “The Decent One.” A documentary about Heinrich Himmler in the words, letters and photos of his family, friends and fellow Nazis. Before you roll your eyes and feel bad about my inability to enjoy life: oh, relax. We also drank a lot of wine and engaged in gossip spirited discussion about many other people and things, over delicious Italian food. As far as the film, it’s not an easy film, but it is damn worthwhile. If you, like me, are one of those people who want to understand why things happen, instead of one of those people who like to throw up their hands and say, “Oh well, nothing I can do,” then you should watch The Decent One
The film is based entirely on personal diary entries, photos, letters of Himmler, his wife, his mistress, his adored daughter, and various Nazi colleagues. The footage is all real, much of which was hidden for decades.(So yes, the audience was silent throughout the film, except for repeated sighs and intakes of breaths, as we repeatedly steeled ourselves. Maybe, you know, bring a small handy tumbler of scotch. “Maybe.”)
Because what the filmmaker, Vanessa Lapa, brilliantly did, was to craft a film demonstrating the inexorable arc and progression of Himmler’s life, and by extension, Germany’s fate. Ms. Lapa allowed Himmler and company to describe the depths to which his sketchy (at best) “ideas,” and “philosophies,” took him, and his country. Himmler didn’t just fall under Hitler’s personal charisma and um “charm…” he was desperately seeking a man like Adolf to bequeath all of his energies and passions. Yipes.
I also found it fascinating to learn that Himmler’s daughter, Gudrun, living today in Munich, has founded a secret trust, Silent Aid(…that name alone would make Dr. Freud chuckle bitterly.), an illegal group that gives financial aid and support to Nazi war criminals, i.e. her close, personal friends. (Silent Aid)
That news fascinated me, but did not exactly shock me. Oh, you mean, when your father is Heinrich Himmler, you don’t spend the rest of your life meditating, and seeking to learn from and understand history, and the world, and thus fashioning an existence of mindful personal responsibility?? Hmm. Not to self…
One minute she’s the blonde Nazi princess, being flattered by SS Officers, sitting on Uncle Hitler’s lap, as her father zooms up the ladder; one minute she’s living this fantastical life of privilege and power…and the next, she’s the despised spawn of a war criminal, a coward who took his own life, as well as the lives of millions… a coward who brought shame on the Fatherland, as his country lies in ruins and ashes. Whoops.
I couldn’t help it. I found myself thinking of what it would be like to go through life as the daughter of Heinrich Himmler; his very name a living slur of profanity and horror. It would have taken a tremendously brave and emotionally-advanced young woman to admit the atrocities of her father, and to have empathy for the victims, not to mention empathy for her country. And she wasn’t raised by brave, emotionally honest people. Those kind of people didn’t join the Nazis. Those people were killed by the Nazis. The man whom she called “Uncle Hitler,” killed himself as Germany fell, cursing his country, blaming the Germans–never himself, come on, now–for die Volk’s ignominious defeat.
Her father killed himself when she was 13, and I suppose once could argue that her emotional development stopped at that age. She’s forever 13; forever yearning for a world wherein she would be loved and admired, not despised. On the other hand, unlike many other children of her generation, she was allowed to grow up. Her journey, unlike that of millions of others, did not end in a mass grave, or an oven.
“Who would ever think that so much went on in the soul of young girl?”-Anne Frank