ERASING HISTORY?

YouTube Takes Down Nazi-Era Film ‘Triumph of the Will’

The film has been used for educational purposes.

YouTube reportedly pulled the Nazi-era propaganda film Triumph of the Will off its platform as part of its purge of extremist content. According to IndieWire, Leni Riefenstahl’s 1935 film technically violates YouTube’s policy that bars “videos that promote or glorify Nazi ideology, which is inherently discriminatory[.]” However, the film—which paints Adolf Hitler and the Nuremberg Rallies in a glorious light—has reportedly been shown in university classrooms as a study in propagandistic filmmaking and of the history of that time. The Birth of a Nation, D.W. Griffith’s 1915 Civil War film that has been shown classrooms, is still up on the website despite its racist nature. YouTube reportedly did not respond to IndieWire’s request for comment.