I recently finished am reading Animation under the Swastika: A History of Trickfilm in Nazi Germany, 1933–1945. This compelling book delves into the history of how Hitler and Joseph Goebbels sought to rival Hollywood, particularly the works of Walt Disney. It provides a fascinating and often chilling account of how animation was weaponized as a propaganda tool under the Nazi regime.
One chapter focuses extensively on Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which premiered in 1937 and became the first full-length animated feature film in history. Surprisingly, it was Adolf Hitler’s favorite movie, even though the Nazis never succeeded in releasing it to the public in Germany. Instead, access to the film was tightly restricted. Only a handful of people, including Hitler and Goebbels, ever saw it during the Nazi era, as the regime had obtained private copies.
During the 1930s, the Nazi regime systematically dubbed or censored foreign media to ensure that any content viewed by the German public adhered to Nazi ideology. Snow White was no exception. By the late 1930s, the film had been dubbed into German using voice actors under the strict supervision of the state. However, due to World War II, the dubbed version was never publicly released in Germany during Hitler’s reign. It wasn’t until February 1950, years after the war had ended that the dubbed version of Snow White was finally released nationwide.
Tragically, many of the voice actors who worked on the German dub of the film were Jewish and did not survive the Holocaust. The grim fates of several cast members underscore the dark backdrop against which this production was completed. According to a 1938 news report, only a few cast members were mentioned by name, with Hortense Raky credited as the voice of Snow White. Additionally, Dora Gerson and an unnamed “New Lady Star” were identified. Based on her age and career, Dora Gerson was likely the voice actor for the Evil Queen and possibly the Witch as well, while the “New Lady Star” likely provided Snow White’s singing voice.
The toll of the Holocaust on this cast was devastating. Dora Gerson, a talented actress and singer, was murdered alongside her family in Auschwitz on February 14, 1943. Otto Wallburg, a well-known actor, also perished in Auschwitz on October 30, 1944. Kurt Lilien, another actor, was murdered in Sobibor Extermination Camp on May 28, 1943.
Perhaps the most harrowing story is that of Kurt Gerron, the dubbing director for Snow White. Gerron was coerced by the Nazis into directing a propaganda documentary about Theresienstadt, a concentration camp presented as a “model” ghetto to deceive the international community. Once the film was completed, Gerron, his wife, and the film’s crew were sent on the camp’s final transport to Auschwitz, where they were murdered on October 28, 1944.
This deeply unsettling history illustrates the juxtaposition between art and atrocity. While Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs remains a beloved and timeless masterpiece, its German adaptation carries the weight of a tragic legacy, a stark reminder of the lives lost to Nazi persecution.
Sources:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/42943087
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029583/releaseinfo/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-fairest-of-them-all-review-grimm-and-grimmer-11588370202
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