Excavating the Nazi past in Austrian contemporary film: Murer: Anatomy of a Trial (2018) and The Testament (2017)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although the Holocaust undoubtedly belongs to the Austrian cultural memory, the memory of the genocide appears to be limited to the crimes perpetuated on Austrian territory or in the concentration camps. Two films produced recently – Anatomy of a Trial and The Testament, shift the focus onto the exoneration of Nazi perpetrators and the case of the crimes perpetrated on Austrian soil. Plots of both films are predicated upon a search for evidence leading to the truth about Austrian Nazi crimes. Their message takes the impact of the Holocaust beyond the boundaries of Austrian territory and the sphere of concentration camps.