Erne explores Napola heritage in Das Erbe der Napola
After Dennis Gansel’s film Before the Fall, the Napola schools – founded under the Third Reich with the purpose of training a Nazi elite – are now the subject of Eduard Erne’s documentary, Das Erbe der Napola.
At the Napola schools – which were impersonal, military-style academies – young Arians who embodied the values of National Socialism had to submit to strict discipline and endure ill-treatment. Erne decided to track down the former pupils of these schools and record their personal accounts (including that of well-known journalist, writer and critic Hellmuth Karasek), retracing the often outstanding careers they went on to enjoy in democratic Germany.
This major project – co-written by the director and Christian Schneider, co-author of the book on which the documentary is based – is produced by newly founded company Neue Pegasos (created two years ago by Ernst Szebedits and Elena Trifonova) in co-production with Austria. The lengthy shoot – which is taking place in various countries (Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland and Poland) – kicked off at the start of the year.
Das Erbe der Napola received financial backing from the Frankfurt (Hesse) region and, on a national level, from BKM and FFA/DFFF. Television networks ZDF/Arte and Austria’s ORF – who are both co-producing the film – have bought the broadcast rights. The title will be distributed domestically by Salzgeber.
(Translated from French)
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.
