The wounded German soldier
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Mrs. Miniver
Smush Master — 14 years ago(September 28, 2011 04:53 AM)
My mom is German, and grew up during that time, and she said, there is no way that the German soldier would have just stood there and waited for Mrs. Miniver to just give him the food. He would have shot her first, then took what he wanted. He wouldn't have cared that she had children up stairs. Hitler didn't train them to have a kind heart. He trained them to kill first.
This coming from a full bred German. -
hobnob53 — 13 years ago(March 11, 2013 10:55 PM)
In the first place, your history is totally false. Roosevelt opposed German aggression at every turn (though it was up to the Europeans to take the lead), even in the face of militant American isolationists and defeatists like Taft, Lindbergh and millions of others. He limited American trade with Germany until it was virtually non-existent, incurring the wrath of conservative business leaders who wanted to conduct "business as usual" with the Nazi regime. By 1941 he was pushing American "neutrality" in the Atlantic to the breaking point to try to force German action against America, and actively arming Germany's enemies, Britain and, later, the USSR. While maintaining limited diplomatic relations, the US had withdrawn its ambassador from Berlin in 1939 and both countries' embassies were run by a low-level charge d'affairs. For its part, Hitler and the Nazi hierarchy claimed that FDR was Jewish and suffered from syphillis and other mental disorders they attributed to his polio. Roosevelt repeatedly confronted, acted against and angered Hitler and the German government. To say otherwise is factually inaccurate.
Second, FDR didn't make
Mrs. Miniver
. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer did. In fact, Louis B. Mayer repeatedly argued with director William Wyler, who resisted Mayer's demand to "go easy" on how the German flyer was depicted. Like most Hollywood moguls, Mayer was Jewish and along with those other studio chiefs didn't want to become a target of anti-Semites who would blame them for stirring up war fever against Germany. Also, Mayer was petrified of offending the Germans, for fear of losing the German market. Of course, by the time the film was in production in the fall of 1941, MGM's Berlin office had been closed for over a year and most American films were already banned in Germany as the furious Wyler well knew, when he threw that specious argument back in Mayer's face. Only after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war by Germany four days later did Mayer change his mind and agree to let Wyler show the German as a ruthless fanatic.
It was Mayer's concerns about maintaining a business relationship of any kind with Germany that led to the argument about how to depict the German flyer. Roosevelt had no such worries about the Germans, and had nothing to do with this movie. -
SteamtownBuff — 14 years ago(February 05, 2012 09:27 AM)
The German had to know he would eventually be caught, especially being wounded. He was stuck on an island. If he kills a civilian, he would be tried for murder and executed. If he is simply caught, he goes to a POW camp, and eventually home to Germany.
Not too hard to figure out the right choice here. -
alistla — 13 years ago(March 11, 2013 06:00 PM)
That may have been true if the pilot were located in German-held territory (such as Vichy France). But in this case, he was stuck in the middle of England, surrounded by his enemy. His only chance of avoiding capture or execution was to hide and hope to find a way to return to mainland Europe, or to neutral territory such as Ireland. Firing a gun would have been sure to draw the authorities. That would have been his last resort, not first.
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CindyH — 12 years ago(February 18, 2014 01:21 PM)
Firing a gun would have been sure to draw the authorities.
Disagree. In today's world people fire guns and no one even knows about it. Why would it have been different then, when houses were even further apart?
Random Thoughts:
http://goo.gl/eXk3O -
Charlot47 — 11 years ago(July 25, 2014 05:10 AM)
What CindyH says may be true of her neighbourhood ("today's world", God help us) but does not apply to semi-rural Kent, where the natives do not go in for shooting each other very often.
The fact that the airman asked for food and for a coat to cover his German uniform suggests that he planned to live rough. In such a populated and cultivated area, he would not have lasted long. Was he thinking of stealing a boat to slip across to German-held France? Or was he hoping to survive until German troops landed in Britain? -
HarvSoul — 1 month ago(January 31, 2026 08:39 AM)
That’s a powerful perspective from someone who lived through that reality. Your mom’s take highlights the massive gap between Hollywood’s portrayal of war and the brutal survivalism of the era.
From a historical and cinematic standpoint, that scene is often criticized for being "unrealistic" for exactly the reasons your mom mentioned. Here’s why the movie likely chose that path:
Propaganda vs. Reality
The film was designed to show "British decency" winning out over "German savagery." By having Mrs. Miniver feed him before the slap, the filmmakers were trying to contrast civilized behavior against Nazi fanaticism.
The Pilot’s Condition
In the film, the soldier is portrayed as exhausted and wounded after being on the run for days. While your mom is right that training would dictate a "kill first" mentality, the movie uses his momentary weakness to give Mrs. Miniver the upper hand in the kitchen.
A "Polite" War Film
Because it was made in 1942, censorship and wartime morale often prevented movies from showing the full, terrifying extent of what a soldier like that would actually do to a civilian family.
Your mom’s insight reminds us that for those on the ground, there was no "polite" interaction; it was a matter of pure, ruthless training.