Hände hoch!
| Hände hoch! | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Alfred Weidenmann |
| Written by | Alfred Weidenmann |
| Starring | Erich Dunskus Willy Witte Johannes Schütz |
| Cinematography | Emil Schünemann |
| Music by | Horst Hanns Sieber |
Production company | Deutsche Filmherstellungs- und Verwertungs-GmbH (DFG) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 67 minutes |
| Country | Germany |
Hände hoch! (German for "Hands up!") is a 1942 German Nazi propaganda film directed and written by Alfred Weidenmann. The film portrays life in a Kinderlandverschickung (KLV) camp for evacuated German children in Slovakia during World War II.[1] A scholarly study of cinematographer Emil Schünemann describes the film as a Hitler Youth drama shot in occupied Slovakia and commissioned for the DFG and the NSDAP’s film propaganda apparatus.[2]
Plot
Set around a KLV camp in Slovakia, the film focuses on a group of German boys and presents the camp as a safe, orderly environment removed from the war.[3]
Cast
- Erich Dunskus
- Willy Witte
- Johannes Schütz[4]
Production
Hände hoch! was produced by the DFG, and filmed in occupied Slovakia, with cinematography by Emil Schünemann.[2][4]
Release and classification
The film premiered in Berlin on 22 October 1942.[4]
In Nazi-era classification systems, it received state predicates including staatspolitisch und künstlerisch wertvoll (politically and artistically valuable), jugendwert (youth-approved), and Lehrfilm (instructional film).[5]
Reception
A contemporary press note reproduced on filmportal.de framed the film as showing parents "a peaceful, carefree life" for their children at a Hitler Youth camp in the Carpathians.[4]
A 1943 parent newsletter for the expanded KLV program (Sachsengruß) discussed the film’s circulation through party and Hitler Youth screenings, and claimed it had won the "Doktor-Goebbels-Preis" at the 1942 European youth film competition in Florence.[6]
See also
References
- ^ "Verzeichnis der Dokumentarfilme und Wochenschauen (entry for Hände hoch!)" (PDF). Bundesarchiv. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
- ^ a b Halsall, Eleanor. "Emil Schünemann: ein »früher bestbewährter Kameramann«" (PDF). University of Southampton (ePrints). Retrieved 2026-01-05.
- ^ "Verzeichnis der Dokumentarfilme und Wochenschauen (entry for Hände hoch!)" (PDF). Bundesarchiv. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
- ^ a b c d "Hände hoch!". filmportal.de. filmportal.de. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
- ^ Würmann, Carsten (2013). Zwischen Unterhaltung und Propaganda: Das Krimigenre im Dritten Reich (Inauguraldissertation (Dr. phil.)). Freie Universität Berlin. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
- ^ "Film „Hände hoch!" in KLV-Lagern aufgeführt". jugend1918-1945.de. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
External links
- Hände hoch! at IMDb