Cross Of Iron (1977) Sam Peckinpah complete

[Stef]

Hi,
I've watched "Europa Europa" yesterday night
Very interesting movie, thanks LogDayFreshHots & Housil !

As in "Cross of Iron" the German soldiers take a young boy as a "platoon mascot", was it a tradition?

[housil]

"Europa Europa" is based on the true story of Salomon "Solly" Perel

As in "Cross of Iron" the German soldiers take a young boy as a "platoon mascot", was it a tradition?

No, the German Wehrmacht used "Russians" in their line as "HiWi´s". Thats short for "Hilfswillige" means like "guy that want´s to help". As the Russians also used kids and woman in their troops, HiWis could also be kids and belive it or not, even some Germans had qualm to shoot them so they take them with their platoon. As long as you said you "need" them and their work/duty - they didn´t got shot (like in Schindlers list). The word "Hiwi" is sil in used in German language for a guy, doing "minor jobs"

[Stef]

Oh, very nice

BTW, Europa Europa seems to tell the same story but that's not the movie I saw a few years ago. The kid looked much younger, it was a doctor in a medical office who measured his head, etc.

[LogDayFreshHots]

Hi Stef -

Hmmmm... you have me stumped Right now the only other HJ-related movie I can recall, though the title escapes me, has a scene where one of the young HJ members has been given the task of delivering little cigar-sized boxes to various houses where Jewish families live. These are houses where the jewish head of the house has been arrested already. The kid delivers these small boxes and I think the first one or two houses nobody answers so he leaves them at the door. Later he goes to a house and the wife answers the door. He hands her the box and walks away while in the background the women opens the box and suddenly lets out a horrific scream that shocks the kid. He doesn't know what to make of it. He finds a park bench and eventually his curiosity gets the better of him. I think he unwraps the box and the cover has the HJ symbol on the cover, but it's locked so he uses his HJ knife to pry it open. He lifts the lid and is confused at what he sees. I think he reaches in and touches the contents but still cannot figure it out. Then while he's looking at the contents between his fingers a gust of wind blows past and the contents start to blow away revealing a ring or piece of jewelry at the bottom. Thats when he realizes the contents of the boxes he has been delivering contained the ashes of the jewish men who were arrested.

Another movie you might like that is based on captured historical documents, but Im guessing you have seen it, is "Conspiracy" starring Kenneth Brannah as Reinhard Heydrich and Stanley Tucci as Adolph Eichmann. I believe it was filmed on location at the actual estate where the meeting took place and is known as the Wansee Conference. Very, very interesting and eye opening.

Sorry Stef. Wish I was more helpful.

[Stef]

Please don't be sorry, you helped a lot
In fact I'm not sure the movie was a real movie, maybe iy was a documentary with actors... (BBC?)