When Vermes wrote the book, Trump was still a reality television star. How would contemporary Germans react to the sudden return of their nation’s most notorious native son? Would they believe that it was actually possible for Hitler to return, or would their skepticism and mockery provide the perfect cover for one of history’s greatest monsters to slip past their defenses?
But, as a horrifyingly perceptive new German comedy reminds us, one thing’s for sure: Hitler won’t come back as himself.īased on Timur Vermes’ bestselling 2012 novel of the same name, “Look Who’s Back” begins with a simple premise: What if Adolf Hitler inexplicably reappeared in present-day Berlin, arriving in a poof of smoke that dropped the (very confused) dictator into the public park where his bunker once stood? Maybe, as some have cast Donald Trump, he’ll come back as a bullying businessman who would tear the world to pieces just to secure the power that money can’t buy. Maybe, as in the episode of “ Andy Richter Controls the Universe,” he’ll come back as the coffee cart guy at a corporate office in Chicago. Today, a better question isn’t if Hitler is coming back, but if we’ll recognize him when he does. Once, the idea that a Hitler could rise to power in the 21st century seemed like the fantasy of conspiracy theorists. Spurred by Europe’s ongoing migrant crisis, and lifted by the rising tide of xenophobia that has washed ashore along with it, Hofer won 49.7% of the popular vote. The party’s failed candidate is Norbert Hofer, a 45-year-old engineer who carried a Glock on the campaign trail, suggested that immigrants didn’t have a role in Austrian identity, and was occasionally spotted wearing a blue cornflower (a clandestine symbol that Nazis wore to recognize one another when the party was banned between 19). Earlier this week, Austria’s far-right Freedom party - founded in 1956 by a coalition of Nazis who survived the war and eluded punishment - lost the country’s presidential election by a margin of 0.6%.
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