Hitler assassination attempt at the

   Bürgerbräukeller on November 9, 1939 re-

created in the Karl Ritter film Über alles in der

Welt  cut by Dr. Goebbels

In our collection is the original film script for the Karl Ritter WWII film Über alles in der Welt, which is dated 22 March 1940 on the title page.

In the script, a rather surprising series of scenes is depicted, in which the attempt [by George Elser] to assassinate the Führer in the beer hall in Munich during the annual November 9th Putsch ceremonies failed, due to Hitler's uncanny decision to depart the cellar very shortly after he delivered his speech.  The 2021 Elser feature film telling of this plot's story is titled 13 Minutes.... the short time span after Hitler's departure at which  the bomb blew up.

Karl Ritter's idea as the film script co-author, was to depict this event as an intrigue of the British Secret Service, which was the commonly held belief at the time by both the Gestapo and the German general public.  The scene was to be followed by one in which the foreign broadcasting station funded by Great Britain, located in Paris;  and manned by Austrian exiles, was to report on the assassination attempt. In this way, the film was setting the stage for a strong anti-British, anti-French propaganda message.

Our script has the assassination scenes in it, and the scenes were in fact filmed, but they do not exist in the cinema release print shown in the Third Reich cinema print, and do not appear in the restored print for sale by International Historic Films as a DVD.  

Dr. Goebbel's diaries hold five separate entries on the film but the early ones talk about the script when it was first read by the Minister, and the last ones speak about the film as a propaganda film, but there are no entries about the assassination scenes.

The most recent discovery and publishing of the heretofore lost Alfred Rosenberg diaries fill in the blanks. On May 8, 1940 Rosenberg's diaries mention a visit by Karl Ritter's wife, Erika, to his offices, distraught about her husband's film.  Rosenberg remarks that she is Richard Wagner's grand-daughter, wheres Erika was in fact his grand-niece. The diary reads:

"Frau Ritter,Richard Wagner's granddaughter, has been distressed for years. Today she was in my office, fairly distraught. Her husband has a new film, Über alles in der Welt, where the assassination attempt on November 9, 1939, is woven into the plot. The question: should it be shown on screen or not. It could be decided this way or that. But Dr. G[oebbels] says to R[itter]: Shoot the film, but in such a way that this whole assassination business could also be left out.—"

Dr. Goebbels obviously, then, decided it safer to have those scenes removed. We reproduce below some of the relevant pages from the script, with English translation.

Translation:

Script page -122-
86th Scene

Above the ceiling of the Minchener Bürgerbräukeller hall. Day.
Camera shot 248. A hand tears the page from a wall calendar: 7 November. Large the sheet: November 8th page. Fade.
Camera shot 249. The "black-haired man" kneels on the ground next to the boards that have been lifted away. He takes out the clockwork and it's still ticking. Then he sinks it back into the opening and covers the boards over it. - Loud threatening ticking! -

Translation:

Script pg -127-
[90th Scene, cont’d.]

Camera shot 259: Large: The clockwork of the infernal machine (like Camera Shot 244) in hand of the "black-haired man" More and more threatening music - - Wild ticking -
Camera Shot 260- The "black-haired man" gets up quickly, leaves his beer and food on the table and leaves the empty restaurant as if rushed. He slams the door shut. - door slamming - (21m) Crossfade.
Scene 91. Image: Hall in the Munich Bürgerbräu Night
Camera shot 261. A clap of thunder shakes the hall. Smoke. Screams. The ceiling has fallen down, right in the middle of the people running in the hall. Panic. - thunderclap - -Music stops! - （3m）

Translation:

Script pg. - 130 -
Scene 96.  Image: Common room in the female labor service camp.  Night
Camera shot 266. Erika Moebius with her girls around the loudspeaker. They listen in horror Eyes. Announcer's voice: "After the first cursory investigation, it can be said that the assassin's tracks lead abroad and that the English Secret Service has a hand in it!" (4m)
Scene 97• Image:  Paris broadcasting room. Night.
Camera shot  267. Samek on the microphone: "This is the Austrian freedom station! Dear listeners! What we always predicted has happened. In Germany the opposition has struck its first blow…" (5m.)

The "black-haired" assassin is so named to signify that he is possibly a Jew, as in the script he is also described as "swarthy" and these are code words for non-Aryans. The character Leo Samek, who is the Austrian exile broadcaster of the anti-Nazi radio station, is depicted with a Jewish accent  in the film, played by an overweight, unattractive, boisterous Oscar Sima.

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