The Murders Are Among Us Character Analysis

The processes in which the Germans were involved in to overcome the tragedies of World War II were vast and long. There were many complications present when the war ended; Germans found themselves questioned politically and mentally by their own compatriots, as well as outsiders. This essay will argue that the film The Murders Are Among Us depicts the complications involved in the German process of “overcoming the past,” post-World War II, through its characters. In particular, this essay will cover the development and practice of this process by discussing the three main characters of this film, Dr. Mertens, Cpt. Bruckner, and Susanne. These three characters represent all three types of people living within Germany. They all have different standpoints, and contribute as a group to the main theme of the movie and Germany as a whole. The statement by Ernst Nolte that the Holocaust is “the past that wouldn’t become the past” is a bold, but true observation. The German people, however, try to reconcile …show more content…
Merten replies, “No, Susanne, but we have the duty to accuse, to demand atonement on behalf of millions of innocent people who were murdered in cold blood!” This is a thought provoking moment because one can see how this scene could correlate with the ever-questionable Nuremburg trials. The Germans wanted to accuse and prosecute, but the allies stepped in to make sure everything was set in stone. This would lead the German population into a standstill because of the strict policies put in place by the allied powers, which in turn would delay their progress and rehabilitation for “overcoming the past.” As stated by Konrad Jarausch, in After Hitler, “Upright Christians, untainted by affiliation with the regime, along with Social Democrats, who were ‘ready to clean house’ and would thus risk a new political start, were by contrast scarce