The Collaboration

Ben Urwand

“Urwand draws on a wealth of previously uncited documents to argue that Hollywood studios, in an effort to protect the German market for their movies, not only acquiesced to Nazi censorship but also actively and enthusiastically cooperated with that regime’s global propaganda effort.”—Jennifer Schuessler, The New York Times

“Urwand’s investigation of this dark chapter in the history of the American film industry is as intriguing as it is compellingly told.”—Theis Duelund, Los Angeles Magazine

“Urwand…presents explosive new evidence about the shocking extent of the partnership between the Nazis and major Hollywood producers… [A] riveting book… As you turn its pages you realize with dismay that collaboration is the only fitting word for the relationship between Hitler and Hollywood in the 1930s. Using new archival discoveries, Urwand alleges that some of the Hollywood studio heads, nearly all of whom were Jewish, cast their lot with Hitler almost from the moment he took power, and that they did so eagerly—not reluctantly. What they wanted was access to German audiences. What Hitler wanted was the ability to shape the content of Hollywood movies—and he got it… What is shocking and new about Urwand’s account is its blow-by-blow description of Hollywood executives tailoring their product to meet the demands of the Nazi regime.”—David Mikics, Tablet Magazine

“The Collaboration expertly dismantles Hollywood’s rose-tinted view of history, proving it wasn’t standing up to fascism as it has claimed, but eagerly appeasing the Nazis so long as the money was coming in.”—Kyle Ryan, A.V. Club

“Urwand is tearing down the popular impression that the 1930s Hollywood community stood united in efforts to combat the Nazi regime. Quite the contrary, says Urwand, whose research reveals a shocking level of collaboration (or Zusammenarbeit, i.e. ‘working together’) between the German government and Tinseltown’s studios—many of which were famously headed by Jews… The Collaboration depicts a studio system in which films were submitted for approval to aggressive German propaganda officials, who demanded cuts and changes to material deemed ‘detrimental to German prestige’—not only to film versions created for the German market, but for the U.S. and countries around the world.”—Lesley M.M. Blume, Vanity Fair online

“Urwand keeps the jaw-dropping revelations coming in this damning indictment of the complicity of the major Hollywood studios—and their mostly Jewish heads—in the Nazis’ campaign to exterminate Europe’s Jews… Urwand deserves immense credit for this groundbreaking—and truly unique—take on the WWII era.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Offers a keen, unsettling look at the unholy alliance Hollywood made with the Nazis, which allowed both to keep packing movie theaters in Germany up until the outbreak of war… There was pressure on the studios to censor defense of Jews in certain films and suppress films that portrayed Nazis in an unflattering light (The Mad Dog of Europe). The result of this complicated and slippery relationship, as Urwand depicts with subtlety, was the absolute disappearance from film of Nazis and Jews until the end of the decade.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Urwand’s book details in sometimes shocking fashion how the Hollywood film industry, including studios run by legendary Jewish film moguls such as Louis B. Mayer, were willing to pre-screen their films for Nazi officials and remove content they found objectionable.”—Andy Goldberg, Military.com

“[Urwand] has revealed in terrifying detail how Hollywood was at the whim of the Nazis throughout the 1930s—censoring films and dropping others in a sinister collaboration with Hitler.”—The Daily Mail

“Full of startling and surprising revelations, presented in exemplary fashion, without any moralizing or sensationalism. The Collaboration shows how Hollywood and especially the big studios went along with German demands to censor movies not only before but especially after the Nazi seizure of power.”—Richard J. Evans

“A tremendous piece of work, fully sustained, building momentum charged by thrillingly detailed storytelling, increasing suspense, and a consistent movement from outrages to atrocities, with a stunning conclusion of heroism and tragedy—and it is as well a devastating RIP to what we’ve been told, all down these years, about ‘the genius of the system.’”—Greil Marcus

Related Links

• Read Ben Urwand’s overview of his argument in the Telegraph
• Watch Urwand discuss The Collaboration in interviews on CNN, HuffPost Live, and Lou Dobbs Tonight and with the Wall Street Journal
• Listen to interviews with Urwand on WNYC’s On The Media and KCRW’s Which Way, L.A.? (at 7:45)
• Read an interview with Urwand in Vanity Fair
• In Los Angeles Magazine, read “4 Strange Facts About Hitler’s Movie Habits”
• At The Hollywood Reporter, read an excerpt from The Collaboration and watch Urwand discuss the book
• At Harper’s, read Adolf Hitler’s notes—found in a Berlin archive by Urwand—on the Hollywood films he watched almost daily
• In a Q&A with Jewish Journal, read Inglourious Basterds director Quentin Tarantino’s response to The Collaboration
• Read more about the close Nazi–mogul relationship detailed in The Collaboration in The Australian, The Week, Daily Telegraph, Chronicle of Higher Education, New York Times, Tablet Magazine, and Jewish Journal
• In the Chronicle Review, read about the stir that Urwand’s book has caused among scholars of WWII-era Hollywood
• In the National Review, read about the current state of Hollywood’s pandering to political realities—chiefly its attempts to make films palatable to the Chinese government
• Watch Urwand discuss The Collaboration at HUP on YouTube
• Visit Ben Urwand’s website to see a complete list of press coverage of The Collaboration as well as a schedule of upcoming appearances

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