I didn't particularly like Request Concert when I saw it, and I gave it short shrift when I wrote my review of the Ministry of Illusion series. In 1995, I just wasn't ready for it. I was still very American in 1995, more than I knew. There was too much culture shock. Besides, some of the scenes reminded me of my parents, who were about the same age as the main characters. They were married in 1943, and I was born in 1946. Even worse, the scene where Inge goes back to her home town reminded me of my grandparents. I have deeply mixed feelings about all this. I have discussed this on the Why I am not a Nazi page.

However, looking back after almost eight years, I think it was the most revealing movie in the whole series. I wish I had said more about it.

When I wrote Ministry of Illusion, I wanted to make two main points. One was that Nazism failed because of a failure of imagination on Hitler's part. Request Concert seemed to me, at the time, to be a perfect illustration of the triviality of the German imagination in that era. Hence my sarcastic and dismissive comments.

My other main point was that our idea of Nazism is an illusion. But I really had no idea how much of an illusion it is. When I wrote Ministry, I was just beginning to get the subject in focus. I was still pretty naive. In the winter of 1995, I still believed in gas chambers.

I should have thought more about Request Concert, and used it as the linchpin of my argument. The striking fact about Request Concert is that it wasn't laughed out of the theater. The Germans didn't say "This is absurd! Who do think you're kidding?" On the contrary, they loved it. It was the most popular movie of its time.

The Germans recognized themselves in these characters. Watching this movie tells us who the Germans were, or who they thought they were, or who they wanted to be. This movie shows us what kind of society they were trying to create.

Please note, I'm not saying the society depicted in Request Concert is the kind of society I want to create. Far from it. Remember, I didn't like the movie. But I don't like being lied to, either.

Request Concert, or Wunschkonzert, to give it its original title, has been banned, not only in Germany but everywhere. If you go to web sites that carry German films, you will find that it is no longer available. For example, on the IHF site (International Historic Films), if you do a search for Wunschkonzert, a page comes up which says, in capital letters,

"THIS TITLE IS ON MORATORIUM (PERMANENTLY UNAVAILABLE)."

This is the film they don't want you to see. This is the film that absolutely blows away their lie about what kind of place the Third Reich was.

Any serious student of history should see this film. There is really no other way to know what Nazi Germany was like. It is banned for a very good reason.

Permanently unavailable? No. Not permanently. I'm going to make it available. It's still out there, somewhere, and I'm going to find it and put it on the internet.

As of February 27, 2008, a reader has informed me that Wunschkonzert is available from ZeitReisen Verlag.