Das Himmler-Projekt

The notorious secret speech that the Reichsführer 'SS' and then Minister of the Interior Heinrich Himmler gave on 4 October 1943 in the Poznań Castle in front of 92 generals of the SS is one of the most important and shocking testimonies of National Socialist history. A remarkable paradox: the three-and-a-half-hour perseverance speech was not intended for the general public, but it has survived in two versions - as a wax record and as an edited 100-page text version approved by Himmler. Romuald Karmakar, probably the most radical young German filmmaker (see 'Der Totmacher' and 'Manila', among others), used the sound recording as a working basis and almost completely reconstructed the original wording as well as the reactions of the audience. Manfred Zapatka presents the result, one hundred and eighty minutes in front of a neutral background. The film was screened in the Forum of the Berlinale 2000 and at the documentary film festivals in Duisburg and Leipzig. The application for distribution funding was rejected twice by the 'Filmstiftung NRW'. So it will no longer be seen in the cinema for the time being.