Die Akte Oppenheimer is a documentary film which premiered on German television (ARD and ZDF) in 2022. It is a miniseries with five episodes.
The topic of this film is the life and times of the German Jew Joseph Süss Oppenheimer, who worked as a banker and a financial advisor for Karl Alexander, the Duke of Württemberg, from 1733 to 1737. During those years, Oppenheimer made many enemies who were jealous of his successful life.
In March 1737, when Karl Alexander suddenly died, his enemies conspired to take Oppenheimer down.
He was arrested and accused of several serious crimes. He was tried in a court of law where he was found guilty and sentenced to death. He was hanged in February 1738.
Here is some basic information about this film
** Writer and director Ina Knobloch
** Language: German
** Subtitles: German
** Run time: 5 x 29 minutes = 145 minutes
** The series is available on the websites of ARD and ZDF until April 2027
Here are the headlines of the five episodes:
# 1. Ursprung = General background
# 2. Herkunft = Personal background
# 3. Entwicklung = Development
# 4.Vernichtung = Destruction
# 5. Verarbeitung = Processing
In this film, Director Ina Knobloch covers the life and times of Joseph Süss Oppenheimer in great detail.
In the first episode, she covers the general background: the history of Jews in Württemberg and other German states since 1300 and 1400.
In the second episode, she explores the early history of Joseph Oppenheimer:
** When was he born?
** Where was he born?
We do not know when he was born. Perhaps in 1697 or 1698 or 1699? Many observers prefer the year 1698. We do not know where he was born. Perhaps in Heidelberg. Many observers accept this suggestion.
In order to have a solid foundation for her account, Ina Knobloch visits several locations in Germany where she can find some relevant information.
She visits the state archives in Stuttgart where the documents related to the trial of Oppenheimer held in 1737-1738 are stored.
She visits the Jewish Museum in Stuttgart where she interviews the director of the museum. She also visits other museums. In each case, she interviews a person who can provide some relevant information.
A long interview with the American historian Yair Mintzker is conducted online. She is in Germany, while he is in the US.
Mintzker’s book about the trial of Joseph Oppenheimer was published in 2017.
In the third episode, director Ina Knobloch explains how Oppenheimer came to work as a banker and a financial advisor for Karl Alexander, the Duke of Württemberg.
This was the high point of Oppenheimer’s career as a businessman. He was making more money than most other people around him and he was granted privileges which were normally not available to a Jewish person.
Jews were told to live in the Jewish ghetto, but since Oppenheimer was the right-hand man of the Duke, he was allowed to buy a house near the Duke’s palace and live there.
Members of the local elite were jealous of his success. They were furious, because a Jewish person was so successful.
Jews were regarded as second-class citizens. They were not supposed to have a life and a career as Oppenheimer had, but his enemies were unable to do anything about it, as long as he was protected by the Duke.
In the fourth episode, Ina Knobloch explains how Oppenheimer’s career ended in 1737 and how his life ended in 1738.
When the Duke died in March 1737, Oppenheimer’s enemies conspired to take him down. They did not waste any time. They went into action at once.
Oppenheimer was arrested and accused of several serious crimes. The charges were fraud, embezzlement, treason, accepting bribes, as well as sexual relations with several women.
The case against Oppenheimer lasted eleven months. The charges were serious, but no real evidence was presented to support these charges.
After eleven months, when the case came to an end, the court declared him guilty. He was sentenced to death. He was hanged in February 1738.
In the fifth and final episode, the director looks into what happened later: what is the legacy of Oppenheimer’s life and career?
Previous accounts of Oppenheimer’s life and career are presented and discussed.
# 1. There was a novel written by the German author Lion Feuchtwanger (1884-1958). This novel was published in 1925.
# 2. There was a British historical drama based on Lion Feuchtwanger’s novel from 1925. This drama premiered in 1934.
# 3. There was a German historical drama created by the Nazis. This drama premiered in 1940, during World War Two. For the Nazis, the story of Oppenheimer was an occasion to produce a new round of anti-Jewish propaganda.
The portrait of Oppenheimer presented in the drama created by the Nazis is highly distorted. Some details in this drama are correct, but most of what is said and done here is pure fiction. The true story of Oppenheimer is turned upside down in order to fit the format of Nazi propaganda.
According to the Nazis, Oppenheimer was a criminal who deserved to be executed, because he had committed a series of serious crimes.
According to modern scholars, the charges against Oppenheimer were never proved. No evidence was presented to support the charges.
Oppenheimer was innocent. He did not get a fair trial. The verdict was given before the trial began.
He was a victim of antisemitism. What happened to him was a miscarriage of justice. The German word for a miscarriage of justice is Justizmord.
After the execution in 1738, the punishment of Oppenheimer continued. For his enemies, it was not enough to smear his reputation and kill him.
After the execution in 1738, his dead body was placed in a human-sized birdcage which was hanged from a high pillar outside Stuttgart.
His dead body was on public display for six years after his execution in 1738, until the inauguration of Karl Eugen, the next Duke of Württemberg.
In his first act as a ruler, he ordered that this corpse should be taken down and buried below the gallows.
The story of Joseph Süss Oppenheimer who was a victim of German antisemitism is important. It deserves to be told, and in this film, it is done very well.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
REFERENCES
Jew Süss: Life, Legend, Fiction, Film
By Susan Tegel
(2011)
The Many Deaths of Jew Süss: The Notorious Trial and Execution of an Eighteenth-Century Court Jew
By Yair Mintzker
(2017 = hardcover)
(2019 = paperback)
*****
The German and Jewish businessman
Joseph Oppenheimer
(born ca. 1698)
(died 1738)
*****
This book by Yair Mintzker
about the trial of the German Jew
Joseph Oppenheimer (1737-1738)
was published in 2017
*****
