General Wilhelm Mohnke - Downfall

In 1942, young Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara) lands her dream job -- secretary to Adolf Hitler (Bruno Ganz) at the peak of his power. Three years later, Hitler's empire is now his underground bunker. The real-life Traudl narrates Hitler's final days as he rages against imagined betrayers and barks orders to phantom armies, while his mistress, Eva Braun (Juliane Köhler), clucks over his emotional distance, and other infamous Nazis prepare for the end.

Johnny's War Movie Review Channel:

Link to main channel for all HD Battle and Military Movie Clips:

DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting!
All videos uploaded are the copyright material of their original owners and are to be copyright claimed automatically or at the discretion of the owner.

[thekhoifish]

Somewhat unnerving how this minister went from ‘please take care of my family’ to ‘some of them may die, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make’

[crudboy]

Downfall has some fantastic casting choices that really nail so many of these guys. Goebbels makes my skin crawl and he's instantly recognizable even out of context.

[howardmctroy]

Mohnke lived for 56 years after this, which is the length of Hitler’s entire life. Imagine living through something so insane and having decades to reflect on it?

[bbenjoe]

Wilhelm Mohnke lived until 2001, he was one of the last living generals of World War II.

[hanzfranz]

01:01 - He doesnt say "they'are paying for it", he says "now their throat is getting cut", far more sinister (even if it means more or less the same thing).

[andybub]

“Not too much nightwear, that’s no longer needed” knowing what’s going to happen later on, that sentence is frightening

[pmcmanus]

One tough SOB. He survived the entire war, spent 10 years in Russian captivity... and still made it to age 90!

[flyawaytodie]

Downfall is one of the greatest WWII films ever. The actor playing Goebbels, Ulrich Matthes, really sold the role.

[Lerequindemort]

This short scene is so powerful. Frau Junge's expression. Monkhe (in this context the "decent man" and a proper soldier doing an impossible job) and Goebbels, arrogant and smiling at the fate of the German people. He's saying "you got yourselves into this by getting us into power". Totally unhinged. But...in a horrible way...correct. It's a tragic theme the whole film rests on.

[michalsoukup]

When an SS-general is a voice of reason, you know things got out of hand.

[christopherwang]

During the Battle of Berlin, Wilhelm Mohnke presided over a military tribunal consisting of Generals Hans Krebs, Wilhelm Burgdorf, Johann Rattenhuber, and Mohnke himself to try SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein for desertion. Years later, Mohnke told author James P. O'Donnell (1978) the following:

"I was to preside over it myself... I decided the accused man [Fegelein] deserved trial by high-ranking officers... We set up the court-martial... We military judges took our seats at the table with the standard German Army Manual of Courts-Martial before us. No sooner were we seated than defendant Fegelein began acting up in such an outrageous manner that the trial could not even commence.

Roaring drunk..., Fegelein first brazenly challenged the competence of the court. He kept blubbering that he was responsible to...Himmler alone, not Hitler... He refused to defend himself. The man was in wretched shape - bawling, whining, vomiting, shaking like an aspen leaf...

I was now faced with an impossible situation. On the one hand, based on all available evidence, including his own earlier statements, this miserable excuse for an officer was guilty of flagrant desertion... Yet the German Army Manual states clearly that no German soldier can be tried unless he is clearly of sound mind and body, in a condition to hear the evidence against him... In my opinion and that of my fellow officers, Hermann Fegelein was in no condition to stand trial... I closed the proceedings... So I turned Fegelein over to [SS] General Rattenhuber and his security squad. I never saw the man again." (pp. 182-183)

Source:

O'Donnell, J. P. (1978). The Bunker. New York: Da Capo Press.

[underarmbowlingincidentof]

"The russians are shooting your men of the Volkssturm down like rabbits" is the one to one translation xD

[andrewpestotnik]

Poor Mohnke, all he wanted was minimize casualties when he knew the fight was over. Regardless of who he fought for or what flag he carried, he was a solid soldier.

[kh]

The film has so many wonderful subtleties. I love the brief, knowing glance between Mohnke and Traudl at the end. They didn't say anything, but they both knew they are in the presence of a terrible human being.

[alfredovilla]

Mohnke was especially well cast. This movie is fantastically well done!

[badmaverick]

I got to correspond with Mohnke before he passed. he was a fantastic wealth of knowledge. I asked him about his interview he did with J P O'Donnel. He said he felt good about the interview as it allowed a lot of the stories to be told that no one heard and the soviets denied. It's a fantastic book! He was always kind in his letters and open to any questions.

[mitchlovesgames]

Spoken exactly as one would expect from a person who had all of his children murdered. This can all happen again.

[paulozhan]

Mohnke is that guy, he knows his side is done, but he won't abandon it for the sake of duty.

[bcarreon]

I got to talk to Mohnke’s grandson and he said this film’s depiction of him was spot on. When he first arrived in the bunker and met with Hitler and Goebbels he didn’t like them at all. They were prepared to let Germany rot to win a war that was lost.

[mmr]

The minister of propaganda saying: we didn't convince the people to go to war; they convinced us!