The Wake

A period of social, economic and political repression can describe Nazi Germany, where opposition was handled through swift execution. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian, became a spiritual voice in the resistance movement against Adolf Hitler’s unethical and inhumane Third Reich. Traced and examined in Martin Doblmeier’s documentary Bonhoeffer, the actions and demonstrations attempted by the young pastor/pacifist/Nazi resister put increased stress upon the role of the Catholic Church in a society controlled by a false God. To oppose the ideology of salvation from Adolf Hitler, Bonhoeffer proposed the only way to salvation was through God himself. Bonhoeffer attempted to “put the spoke in the wheel” of the Third Reich.

Submitted to the Sundance Film Festival, Bonhoeffer was one of 3,000 films that did not get the chance to be played at the festival. Being persistent, Doblmeier contacted several churches in the Park City, Utah area and asked if he could show his film there. “The response was terrific and each (congregation) invited us to show the film in their church — Lutheran, Methodist and Catholic — during festival week,” said Doblmeier in an interview with the Catholic Herald.

The story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is told through personal interviews with family members, students and friends, as well as film footage, original photographs and letters from Nazi Germany tracing back to World War I. Doblmeier creates a film that not only discusses the strugglee of a man from a minority political stance, but also an opposing viewpoint to the history of the Third Reich on the side of the resistors within the German “hot bed.”

Blended within Bonhoeffer’s story are chronological events that took place from World War I to the end of World War II. Black and white images depict the rise of the Nazi Party through public support and many speeches by Hitler, including a prayer to God for him and the German people. Other graphic scenes include Nazi persecution of Jews in such events as Kristallnacht (or “night of the broken glass”), the deportation of Jews to concentration camps, and firing squad mass killings of Jews.

“Bonhoeffer is one of the great examples of moral courage in the face of conflict,” said Doblmeier in a press release. “I believe part of the reason the film is getting attention now is because many of the issues Bonhoeffer faced – the role of the church in the modern world, national loyalty and personal conscience, what the call to being a peacemaker really means – are issues we continue to struggle with today.”

Bonhoeffer provides a clear evolution of the changing religious and political ideals of a people who were mesmerized by a charismatic, yet questionable dictator. It presents the image of a man whose religious impact against the Nazi Regime should and never will be forgotten.