Nazi propaganda's most problematic child-soldier fantasy: 100 kids vs. the Russian horde.
The year is 1760: it is the time of the Seven Years' War and the advancing Russian army has taken captive 100 underage Prussian cadets. The kids are mishandled by the raping and pillaging Russians, but with the help of a Rittmeister now in the service of the Tsar, they succeed in getting away. They hole up in a deserted fort and eventually sally forward to take back their military academy from the bloodthirsty, pillaging Cossacks.
Production
Massive child cast in elaborate period battle scenes—impressive, if morally queasy.
Direction
Karl Ritter's propaganda efficiency: relentless momentum over coherence.
Director
Karl Ritter
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Commissioned by Goebbels' Ministry to demonize Russia months before Operation Barbarossa—the 'bloodthirsty Cossack' stereotype was deliberate wartime prep.
Ritter filmed during actual military exercises, using real Wehrmacht equipment—the 'authenticity' was itself propaganda.
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