Little Red Riding Hood

 

Little Red Riding Hood

Another example of NAZI interpretation. In Little Red Riding Hood (Rotkäppchen) the girl symbolizes the poor German Volk, and the evil Wolf the Jews. And guess who the Hunter was?

By Jessie Willcox Smith (1863 – 1935)

https://socialistreadinggroup.wordpress.com/2018/07/08/little-red-cap-and-brier-rose/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17837440



By Gustave Doré 

http://members.tripod.com/volobuef/page_maerchen_ilustracoes_volksm.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=842221


And not so surprisingly, the NAZIs even invented new Fairy Tale!

There is so much more to say, e.g. that Hitler was a fanatic viewer of movies, in particular Fairy Tales (especially Snow White (Schneewittchen)) and Disney’s Micky Maus Comics(!).

On December 22, 1937, Goebbels wrote in his diary:

Ich schenke dem Führer 30 Klassefilme der letzten 4 Jahre und 18 Micky-Maus-Filme … zu Weihnachten. Er freut sich sehr darüber. Ist ganz glücklich über diesen Schatz, der ihm hoffentlich viel Freude und Erholung spenden wird.

I'm giving the Führer 30 great films from the last 4 years and 18 Mickey Mouse films ... for Christmas. He is very happy about it. Is very happy about this treasure, which will hopefully give him a lot of joy and relaxation (Google translation).


As I said in the beginning, both, Goebbels and Hitler, promoted (suited) Fairy Tales and their interpretations for the education of German children and families, and to encourage the youth to sacrifice their lives for the Führer. 

That both of them committed suicide is tragical, but there is no word or feeling that I know of that could represent the horror brought about so many people, and in particular all Jewish and non-Jewish captives in the KZs, where most of them were brutally murdered.


⁋ It may be relieving to know that even in the concentration camps, prisoners succeeded to write and draw Fairy Tale booklets (for themselves, but some could be smuggled out of the KZs and given to relatives for print). 

⁋ It was reported that Anne Frankl told children fairy tale during her imprisonment  (Auschwitz) and death in Bergen-Belsen.

 

Rotkäppchen 
Herkunft/Rechte: Deutsches Märchen- und Wesersagenmuseum / Hanna Dose [CC BY-NC-SA]


Note: much of my knowledge was drawn from the wonderful book: Märchen in dunklen Zeiten (Fairy Tales in Dark Times) by Oliver Geister. It is only available in German language.


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