  ermakov-am-pchelkina-ak-vestnik-2026-2.pdf |
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- The image of the Nazi storm troops (SA) in the documentary cinema of the Third Reich
- Ermakov A.M., Pchelkina A.K. The image of the Nazi storm troops (SA) in the documentary cinema of the Third Reich. Vestnik of Kostroma State University, 2026, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 46–51. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2026-32-2-46-51
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2026-32-2-46-51
- УДК: 94(430)”1933/1934”
- EDN: SBACDZ
- Publish date: 2026-03-24
- Annotation: The article is devoted to the representation of Nazi storm troops in the documentary cinema of Nazi Germany. The focus is on documenting the position of the storm troops in the Nazi movement and the Third Reich. The characteristic of the propaganda documentary cinema of the first years of the Nazi dictatorship is given. Based on the analysis of the documentaries “Bleeding Germany”, “Victory of Faith” and “Triumph of the Will”, the German periodical press and sources of personal origin, it was found that the documentary films of the Third Reich reproduced old and created new Nazi political myths, the purpose of which was not to reflect objective reality, but to introduce the official picture of the recent past and present into the minds of Germans. The peculiarities of the representation of storm troops are revealed. They appear in films both as fighters, Hitler’s political army in the period before 1933, and as defenders of the new Reich, part of the state structure. The documentary films clearly show the change in the political role of the SA after “the Night of the Long Knives” in the summer of 1934. An analysis of the visual series allows us to establish that the storm troops were part of a propaganda strategy and broadcast an ideology about youth and beauty, physical strength and racial superiority.
- Keywords: NSDAP, propaganda, cinematography, storm troops, Riefenstahl, Johannes Häussler, “Victory of Faith”, “Triumph of the Will”, “Bleeding Germany”.
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