Essay #3 Prompt

 

Alec Aguinaldo

Professor Couch

English 160

November 28, 2022

 

The Indoctrination of Yesterday and Today

“Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final” (Rainer Maria Rilke). Rilke’s words are displayed at the end of the film Jojo Rabbit by Taika Waititi. Jojo Rabbit is about a young boy named Johannes ‘Jojo’ Betzler growing up in Nazi Germany. Jojo is part of his local Hitler Jugend or Hitler Youth group which was mandatory for boys and girls his age. Every child in Nazi Germany was exposed to heavy propaganda from Hitler’s indoctrination campaign at an early age. Indoctrination is still used today in many countries to influence the masses with hateful ideologies and to spread misinformation. 

At the beginning of the film, Jojo takes part in his local Hitler Youth organization run by Captain Klenzendorf, or Captain ‘K’. Captain K used to be on the frontlines before he was injured, resulting in a lost eye, and was sent to Jojo’s town to be in charge of the Hitler Youth unit. Despite being a high-ranking officer in the German Army, Captain K knows that Germany is losing the war. He proceeds to lie to the children that their country is winning and will reign victorious (Jojo Rabbit 00:25-02:22). The Hitler youth members grew up with propaganda telling them that war is the way of life, they were told that they were all superior compared to other races. The youth looked up to their country’s leader Adolf Hitler. In an article reviewing the film the author writes, “The children of Germany, stand little chance against the state propaganda machine” (Larry Decuers, “Film Review: Jojo Rabbit”, The National WWII Museum, February 12, 2022).  

Indoctrination can be seen in modern-day countries years after its heavy usage in the Second World War. Russia today uses indoctrination tactics such as having schools make children play war games to influence its population and steer them away from the problems in the country. The unpopular War in Ukraine has caused the increase of propaganda to spread in Russia using the media as the main misinformation platform. The youth is the main target of indoctrination in Russia, same tactics used by Nazi Germany. “The children scrawled Z’s and V’s — symbols of support for the war, after the identifying markings on invading Russian armor — on chalkboards, desks and even the floors.” (Anton Troianovski, “Putin Aims to Shape a New Generation of Supporters, Through Schools”, The New York Times, July 16, 2022).  

Jojo Betzler heavily believed in the Nazi Party due to growing up surrounded by state propaganda. His room in the beginning of the film is decorated with Nazi decals and pictures of Hitler. Jojo is fanatical to the point that his imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler. Throughout the film Jojo helps with the Hitler Youth until one day he finds a Jewish girl, Elsa Korr, his mom is hiding in their attic. Growing up in Nazi Germany, Jojo was subjected to the anti-Semitic teachings around him and viewed her as ‘inferior’ to him. “The most tragic victims of the war, regardless of nationality, were the children” (Larry Decuers, “Film Review: Jojo Rabbit”, The National WWII Museum, February 12, 2022). Over time, Jojo and Elsa became close and helped open Jojo’s eyes away from the propaganda that he had gone through. He started having doubts about the Nazi Regime he once heavily believed in and wanted a place where Elsa would be safe. “Through Jojo’s eyes, we see Elsa turn from a monster into a human as he comes back from the brink of fanatic hatred” (Benjamin Nickl, “Jojo Rabbit: Hitler humour and a child’s eye view of war make for a dark satire”, The Conversation, December 15th, 2019).

Propaganda can influence the youth more because they are more impressionable than adults. The unpopular Russian invasion has older citizens in Russia uncertain of their situation. Many have fled the country to escape the conscription and the evil regime they used to live in. Just like Jojo slowly started questioning his beliefs in his country, many Russians can compare their situations to fictional characters. Protests have sprung up around the country and the police have detained protesters that want the unwanted war to end. Censorship has played a big role in Russia and is part of Putin’s Indoctrination campaign, very similar to Hitler’s

Jojo Betzler’s view of the world changed when he realized that just because Elsa is Jewish, doesn’t mean that she is a monster like he was taught. The Third Reich’s indoctrination methods have caused the younger generation to think the same way and fight in a war when they should be at school learning. An ex-Hitler Youth leader, Ursula Martens, watched Jojo Rabbit and reflected on her own thoughts of when she started to doubt her role in the German regime, “I went home and I didn’t tell anybody. I couldn’t sleep that night and that was my awakening. This is all a lot of bullshit. This is not the truth what we are doing here” (Rachael Cerrotti, “I Watched Jojo Rabbit With a Former Hitler Youth”, USC Shoah Foundation, date unknown). 

Indoctrination is a method that has been used in the past and in the world of today. Nazi Germany and modern-day Russia are not the only countries to have used propaganda; it is seen around the world. The misinformation that indoctrination methods bring can cause unnecessary violence between one another, especially two different religions or nationalities. The consequences of the horrific events can still be seen today and are still significant. History is known to repeat itself, and if no one learns it, they are destined to repeat it.

Works cited 

Cerrotti, Rachael. “I Watched Jojo Rabbit with a Former Hitler Youth.” USC Shoah Foundation, 21 May 2020, https://sfi.usc.edu/storytelling/i-watched-jojo-rabbit-with-former-hitler-youth. 

Decuers, Larry. “Film Review: Jojo Rabbit: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans.” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans, The National World War II Museum, 11 Feb. 2020, https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/film-review-jojo-rabbit. 

Nickl , Benjamin. “Jojo Rabbit: Hitler Humour and a Child’s Eye View of War Make for Dark Satire.” The Conversation, 5 Aug. 2022, https://theconversation.com/jojo-rabbit-hitler-humour-and-a-childs-eye-view-of-war-make-for-dark-satire-128622. 

Troianovski, Anton. “Putin Aims to Shape a New Generation of Supporters, through Schools.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 July 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/16/world/europe/russia-putin-schools-propaganda-indoctrination.html.