"Napola – Elite für den Führer" on Arte: Not that good

Redundant youth and war glorification - there is hardly anything new in the documentary

The documentary "Napola – Elite für den Führer", which premiered on Arte on January 12, 2023, is a missed opportunity.

The film follows the story of seven young men in September 1942, who start their training at the National Political Education Institutes (Napolas), elite boarding schools in Nazi Germany. The goal of these institutions was to shape future leaders of the Nazi regime. The documentary shows the daily life of the boys, their training in ideology, sports and military skills, as well as their camaraderie and conflicts.

Unfortunately, the documentary offers little new material. The topic has already been extensively dealt with in other documentaries and feature films, such as "Napola – Elite für den Führer" by Dennis Gansel (2004) or "The Wave" by Dennis Gansel (2008). The film also does not provide any new insights into the lives of the Napolas students or the Nazi ideology. Instead, it is mostly a collection of old footage and interviews with former students, which are presented without critical context or analysis.

What is particularly disturbing about the documentary is its glorification of war and violence. The scenes of the boys' military training are staged in a way that makes them look heroic and exciting. The film also downplays the crimes of the Nazi regime and does not sufficiently convey the suffering of their victims. This is a serious shortcoming, as it could lead viewers, especially young people, to a distorted view of the Nazi era.

In conclusion, the documentary "Napola – Elite für den Führer" is disappointing. It offers little new material, provides no critical context and glorifies war and violence. It is a missed opportunity to shed light on a dark chapter in German history and to warn against the dangers of extremism.