When the world seems to have forgotten about the horror of war caused by nationalism, Fascism and Nazism, Final Account is a timely reminder of what we read in history book is inked by the blood and flesh of many innocent people.
Final Account is a documentary film recounting the horror and reality of Nazi Germany from before to after the World War II. Luke Holland, the director and producer who died shortly after the post-production was completed, conducted and filmed a lot of interviews of Germans who lived through, or participated in, the doings of the Nazi Germany. The interviews were honest, straight to the point and did not sugar coat anything.
The real impact for me was that even up to this day, some of these interviewees, a lot of them have now passed during the 10 years of making of this film, while regretted the outcome of Nazi Germany, did not regret their participation in the Nazi Germany. I still remember one of the elderly men looked into the camera and said, he regretted that people were killed but then Jews should still be driven out of Germany nonetheless, and he is proud that he was part of that history.
Some others were not involved, but nonetheless quietly approved or quietly assisted the authority by turning in Jews hiding in their villages. One of them said, while he might not agree with the killing of Jews and those who hid them, but the presence of the Nazi concentration camp in their town brought business to the local people, which in a way benefited the town. The interviewer asked, so you mean if you were benefited, it is ok? He paused and said, being benefited is a good thing after all.
It breaks my heart that people would trade human lives for material benefits, thinking that as long as their hands were not involved in the killing, it is ok. But then at the same time, aren’t a lot of us are like that in the modern times?
One of the women said she hid her fiancé for 9 months to save his life, while the other recounted her friend who survived the concentration camp in the town. From their accounts, you can still see the horrors in their eyes. They did their best, but sometimes their best was not enough under a dictatorship when most people were brained wash by different degree of nationalism.
One of the interviewees met with the new generation of nationalist at a venue, telling them not to make it a wrong so that they have to correct it in the future. He told them nothing good came out of hatred and blind loyalty. When he was challenged by one of the participants as a coward who did not own up to his past proudly, he sharply pointed out that if he was so proud of what he believes in and doing, he would not have asked for his face to be blurred out and would talk to the camera directly. He called this out as real cowardice, not someone who owned up his mistake and tries to avoid wrongs that needed to be righted later. It was a heated debate but you could see how much of an impact is when national pride and nothing else is the driving force for a movement.
The other interviewee talked about the sweet tease for them at the beginning for the Youth group, providing all the interesting activities and facilities for them to get kids to join them. Only later, when they started to grow up that the horror kicked in when absolute obedience is expected, and they were forced to learn and do things against their will. One of the participants said, they were trying to brain wash them by forcing them to wear uniforms all the time so they lose their own civilian identities in the process.
The other memorable interview was when one of them found out their father was considered a Jew both under the Jewish tradition and the Hitler’s law after they grew up in the Youth brigade. He said that is when his brother turned around and understood the consequence and what it meant to live under a nationalistic terror.
In many ways for me, Final Account is a timely warning for our society now. With governments of the free world trying to run nationalistic agendas that limit their people’s freedom in the disguise of democracy and protection. That’s not just the east but also the west. Has the world gone into a phase or cycle of nationalism that cut indiscriminately across societies? Or do we need to learn from another devastating consequence before we re-balance ourselves? Have we gone too comfortable that we cannot understand or tolerate anything that is different from us? These are all the questions that ran through my head at a hundred miles as I sit quietly in the dark watching the interviews being carried out on the big screen.
But one thing I was quite certain after I left the cinema was that, I still have a voice. Maybe nobody cares, but as long as I still have a voice, and this voice can make a difference, I should use it, so I can help to the change course of our country’s history to avoid another ship wreck. This is not just for me to be guilt free, but for the society and country that I care about too.
If you have a voice, use it. If you can spare 90 minutes, go see Final Account.
