2 or 3 Things I Know About Him

2 or 3 Things I Know About Him (German: 2 oder 3 Dinge, die ich von ihm weiß) is a documentary film in which German director Malte Ludin examines the impact of Nazism in his family. Malte's father, Hanns Ludin, was the Third Reich's ambassador to Slovakia. As such, he signed deportation orders that sent thousands of Jews to Auschwitz. Hanns Ludin was executed for war crimes in 1947.

Production

Malte Ludin did not undertake this film until after the death of his mother, Erla. The documentary does include clips of earlier interviews he conducted with Erla, however. Malte also interviews his sisters, who recall their father with some fondness.

Plot

Malte's sister Bärbel is shown defending her father and insisting that he could not have known the full truth about Auschwitz, that he tried to resist or subvert the Nazi's most inhumane policies, and that the victims of Auschwitz should be thought of as casualties of war. Malte also includes testimony from a member of the Jewish family in Slovakia whose house was expropriated by the Ludins in the early 1940s.

Release

2 oder 3 Dinge, die ich von ihm weiß was first shown in 2005. In 2007, it was released as 2 or 3 Things I Know About Him in Manhattan by the National Center for Jewish Film. It opened at Film Forum on January 24, 2007, and was paired with Torte Bluma, an English-language short by Benjamin Ross.

References

• Scott, A.O. (2007, January 24). Our Father, the Nazi Zealot: A Family Grapples With Its Burdens and Blind Spots. The New York Times, p. B5

External links

• 2 or 3 Things I Know About Him
  (2 oder 3 Dinge, die ich von ihm weiß) at the Internet Movie Database