German actor and one-time Nazi collaborator, Johannes
Heesters, has won Germany's top media
award, along with
Tom Cruise …
Frankfurter Rundschau, Germany
Cruise and Nazi-Collaborator
Awarded Top Media Award ...
"Where did organizers get such an
insane idea - on one hand honouring an actor who portrayed one of the leading figures
of the resistance against National Socialism, and then presenting the same
trophy to one of Hitler's personal favorites?"
By
Bettina Ohnesorge
Translated
By Ulf Behncke
December
3, 2006
Germany
- Frankfurter Rundschau - Original Article (German)
How tolerant the Burda jury
is! They are handing out Bambis with such abandon
[the Bambi is Germany's most prestigious media award 
] and aren't failing to skimp on adulation. First they honoured Tom
Cruise with the oddly named "Courage" award for his portrayal of
Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg , who was executed for attempting to assassinate Hitler. (Heiner Lauterbach rightly asked what was
so courageous about taking the role for a fee of $50 million.) Then they honoured
Johannes Heesters with the so-called "Surprise
Bambi." Rather an "Embarrassment-Bambi." [Heesters,
who is said to be the world's oldest entertainer at 104, appeared in a number
of Nazi propaganda films during Hitler's reign ].
Where did organizers get such an insane idea - on one hand
honouring an actor who portrayed one of the leading figures of the resistance
against National Socialism, and then presenting the same trophy to one of
Hitler's personal favorites - a man who liked to sit
in the Führerloge [special theatre seats reserved for
Hitler] and who appeared as the saucy lover in numerous Nazi propaganda films,
so as to boost the morale of the German people. Here is a man who, accompanied
by an orchestra of Polish prisoners, at one time even performed at the Dachau concentration camp to entertain SS members.
If being of biblical age alone is sufficent
to wipe out someone's past as a Nazi collaborator, then we mustn't be surprised
if the image of Germans abroad remains an ugly one.
Click for German
Version
