‘Our Hitler’: New Representations of Hitler in European Films

Adolf Hitler is one of the most famous of historical figures, if not the best-known historical figure of all time. Practically every child in Europe knows his name and is able to associate it with the Second World War and the Holocaust. For many Europeans, even after half a century, he remains the ‘face of Germany’, despite the fact that postwar Germany can count numerous economic and cultural achievements. Paradoxically, Hitler is also regarded as one of the most mysterious historical personas. The details of his real life, the workings of his mind, as well as the significance of his personal views and actions for the course of the history of the twentieth century are the subject of controversies filling hundreds of books and articles.