Overcoming and The Ninth Day: The Sacramental Life and Resistance in Nazi Germany

Abstract

Volker Schlöndorff’s film The Ninth Day (2004) presents for cultural remembrance a story loosely based on Father Jean Bernard’s short furlough from the Dachau concentration camp during the Second World War, as told in his memoir Priestblock 25487. The film functions as a distinctive site of memory that reveals the demands of faith from the National Socialist and the Christian perspectives. The filmmakers portray the faith and courage of Kremer as he confronts the Nazi temptations to undermine his faith and the church. But more importantly, they reveal the importance of his sacramental imagination in cultivating an eternal perspective of the ordinary that enables him to be an agent of God’s grace and to acknowledge the dignity of all. This sacramental imagination enables Kremer to perceive the evils of National Socialism in ways many Christians in the film do not. The article examines how Kremer confronted the absurdity of the Nazi system, engaged with Nazi temptations of betrayal, cultivated the sacramental imagination to strengthen his resolve, and finally confronted his tempter in a sacramental move. Father Kremer prepared his soul to say “no” to the Nazi temptation, cultivating truly saintly character and courage—a model of Christian faith for modern audiences.