Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Shadow of ‘Jud Suss’

Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree

Most days, my students leave class in high spirits, noisily pushing back their chairs and chatting away animatedly as they head off to another class, a cup of coffee or a nap. Not this time.

After an hour and a half spent watching the infamous “Jud Suss,” one of the most popular and critically acclaimed feature films the Nazis ever produced, they left the room utterly subdued, even drained.

Under the skillful direction of Veit Harlan, the fall-from-grace of an 18th-century German Jewish financier was transformed into an electrifying movie, a modern cautionary tale. In Harlan’s hands, History became grist for the mill of Nazi propaganda and the demonizing of the latter-day Jew.

As we sat in Room 202, Rome Hall, in 2012, History cast a long shadow on us, too.

Later that day, the class gathered once again, this time to watch a documentary about Veit Harlan himself, which is succinctly and effectively titled “Harlan.” Like the subject of his 1940 film, the director also fell from grace: The Allies put him on trial for “crimes against humanity.” Although eventually acquitted of the charges, Harlan never quite regained his footing.

His family didn’t either. The documentary sensitively captures the ways in which Harlan’s children and grandchildren grapple with his legacy, raising all sorts of questions about accountability and complicity.

Taken together, these two films underscore the power of the medium and its firm grasp on the imagination. “I’m blown away,” remarked one of my students, shaking his head as he prepared his exit. “I’m completely blown away.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.