In 1934, the US government suppressed a film warning of Hitler's rise

In 1934, reporter Cornelius Vanderbilt IV returned from Germany with footage warning about the dangers of Hitler.  It included footage of Jewish refugees fleeing for their lives.  Fearful that the footage would offend Hitler, progressive era officials across the US censored or stopped the screening of the film.  The New Yorker reviews how this happened:

Roy Norr, a representative of the Motion Picture Association of America, was sent to the Mayfair to deliver judgment. Norr acknowledged the negative depiction of Germany, but approved of the film in all, stating that “a government cannot be insulted by the depiction of its own acts.”

However, George Canty, the Berlin-based trade commissioner for the U.S. Department of Commerce, got wind of protests against the film by the German Ambassador in Washington, and concluded that “the film serves no good purpose.” Across the country, censors took Canty’s view, and the film was denied a license, banned, and cut by New York City and State censor boards. In Chicago, the film passed the censors but was stopped when the city’s Nazi consul insisted that the footage was fake.

Obama's affections for Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, and Putin are in the long tradition of liberal inability to distinguish friends from enemies.

Below is an excerpt from the film. Note that several of the scenes are obviously reenactments.


Hat tip: Instapundit and OpenCulture.

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