Page - 67 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 04/01

Intercultural Perspectives | 67www.jrfm.eu 2018, 4/1, 63–77 the same or ten times worse to their women and children”. Nonetheless they were deeply relieved when they learned that such killing was no longer required of them as it had become possible to gas Jews in large numbers. The Act of Killing is about Indonesia, where in 1965 a coup d’état took place that according to propaganda had been initiated by the communists. In reality it was the work of discontented officers. Aidit, secretary of the Indonesian Com- munist Party, was also involved, but the party executive probably knew noth- ing, and the common party members were entirely in the dark. Nonetheless a campaign of mass murder was launched, not against foreigners, but against fellow Indonesians. A similar story circulated: if the Communist revolt had been successful, the murderers would have been murdered. After the death of at least 1 million people – estimations differ and the figure may have been higher – the frenzy died down. But unlike the German perpetrators, the Indonesian killers were proud of what they had done, and they remain proud. More than that, they reap benefits from their killing. For example, Herman Koto became a leader of the Pancasila youth movement. Such pride is absent among the Ger- mans, but this could have been different if Hitler had won the war. There are more differences, but before I discuss them, I wish to draw atten- tion to two turning points, as I term them, in the films. TURNING POINTS First we note two sequences in Das radikal Böse. The first sequence is about the moment the soldiers receive the order to kill women and children. We see a small group of soldiers walking along the open doors of a large empty stable. One of them says: “With the first train cars my hand was trembling as I shot. But you get used to it. With the tenth car I aimed calmly and shot confidently at all the women, children and infants.” Now the screen shows images of young blond German girls with flowers in their hair. The soldier continues: “When I think of my two infants at home. I know these hordes would do the same, probably ten times as cruel.” We see the soldiers again, sitting. One of them lights a cigarette. Another sol- dier writes to his family: “My dearest Mommy, Traudy and Hans-Peter, Daddy is waiting for a letter since 22 September. But unfortunately, no one arrived. So Blobel ordered me to shoot the children. I asked him who was supposed to perform this. He said: ‘The Waffen-SS.’ I objected: ‘Those are all young men.’”