Explaining the torture method
a demonstration of a torture method used at Ohrdruf, filmed after liberation.
Ohrdruf, Germany, 1945.
Content note: a demonstration of a torture method used at Ohrdruf, filmed after liberation.
The camera moves from the officers to a man bent over a wooden support as the method is explained.
I find myself wondering about what it took to give that explanation. Who had asked for the demonstration? Had the men taking part been able to describe what happened in their own words first?
The archival accounts identify this as a demonstration. It is not footage of a beating being carried out by camp guards. Even with that distinction, I wonder about the experience of returning to the position in which people had been hurt.
What did those watching ask afterwards? Did the men explaining it feel that they had been understood?
If you choose to view this scene, what questions does it raise about the people being asked to explain what happened here?
