DVD Review: Ascent Of Evil: The Story Of Mein Kampf

We are living in a dark and dangerous time, with a president who unabashedly praises and fawns over dictators, a president who has strong authoritarian leanings himself. This is a president who recently referred to immigrants as an infestation, which calls to mind another demented authoritarian figure, Adolf Hitler. In an interview back in 1990, Donald Trump said he owned a copy of Mein Kampf, the book Hitler wrote while in prison. More recently, he defended the Nazis who held a violent rally in Charlottesville, calling some of them “very fine people.” And we’ve just learned that another Nazi rally is planned for August in our nation’s capital. So this is exactly the right time to take a closer look at Mein Kampf, to understand just what Hitler was saying and thinking when he wrote it in the 1920s before his sudden rise to power, and the effect the book had on the course of history.

The documentary Ascent Of Evil: The Story Of Mein Kampf begins with footage from the conclusion of World War II in Germany, including some footage of the concentration camps. Though many Germans claimed to be unaware of the atrocities going on all around them, Elwyn Jones at the Nuremberg Trials argued that the plan had been scripted in Mein Kampf, that the book led to the Holocaust. This film then takes us into the pages of this infamous tome by first giving us the story of Hitler’s life leading to its publication. There is information on how Hitler drew inspiration from Mussolini and decided to take power by force, but failed and was imprisoned. The film contains interviews with several historians, one of whom mentions that Hitler became the laughing stock of all the newspapers (which might remind you again of Donald Trump). While in prison, Hitler began to write what would become Mein Kampf, at first in preparation for his defense. What is fascinating is that Hitler is the only one of the conspirators not to plead not guilty. Instead, as one historian tells us, he used the trial as a platform. “Everything that he dreamed up, people believed,” we are told. This, again, is terrifying close to our current situation.

The film includes a lot of still photographs, including some from his short time in prison. There are details on some of the visitors Hitler received while in prison, as well as on the books he read that helped shape some of his worst ideas, those of the racial struggle. Hitler was obsessed with Jews, believing them responsible for Germany’s defeat in World War I. The documentary mentions that the word “Juden” appears 373 times in Mein Kampf, an average of once every two pages. The film contains some interesting information on the choice of the book’s title. Interestingly, initially the book was not a commercial success, as its contents did not meet the public’s expectations. But when the Great Depression hit Germany, fringe parties began to gain members, and the book began to sell.

The film includes an interview with a German man who said that people didn’t take Hitler seriously. They didn’t think he would remain in power, and they made jokes about him. That too has a ring of familiarity about it, doesn’t it? There is also some fascinating material about the French translation of the book, and the resulting trial. Mein Kampf foretold Hitler’s conquest of France, and in an interview with a French reporter about those very passages, Hitler simply lied, saying that he had changed since writing the book and now sought peace. What other leader do we know who likes to change his story to suit his goals? The continuing popularity of the book is understandable, but frightening. We are at a critical juncture in our own country, when things could very easily go very wrong. In fact, they already have, with the election of Donald Trump. Let’s hope we can get back on course soon, through the power of our votes. Meanwhile, there is a lot we should learn from history.

Ascent Of Evil: The Story Of Mein Kampf was directed by Frederic Monteil and is scheduled to be released on DVD on June 26, 2018 through MVD Visual. The DVD contains the film’s trailer.