The following article is extracted from "Resistance And Subversion in Animated Films of The Nazi Era: the Case of Hans Fischerkoesen," that was first published the premiere isssue of Animation Journal (Fall 1992), which in turn was based on a paper presented by Moritz at the 1991 Society for Animation Studies Conference held at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York..

The cover of Der Speigel featuring Hans Fischerkoesen. Courtesy of William Moritz

After World War II started, the trickle of cartoons produced by German studios was not enough to cover the loss of Disney and other American product. To rectify the situation, in 1941 the Nazi government called for the establishment of a strong German animation industry capable of producing both color cartoons and animated features. Thus, all able animators were commanded to step up production and focus on theatrically viable cartoons. Among the filmmakers called into action was Hans Fischerkoesen, who was among the most distinguished animators remaining in Germany between 1933 and 1945, and whose work during the war years included a trio of remarkable films: Verwitterte Melodie (Weather-beaten Melody, 1942), Der Schneemann (The Snowman, 1943) and Das dumme Gänslein (The Silly Goose, 1944).

Hans Fischer was born May 18, 1896 in Bad Koesen, near Naumburg of the famous cathedral, on the road between Leipzig and Weimar. Because "Fischer" was such a common name in the film world, he would later add on the name of his birthplace in order to distinguish himself from the others. He was a delicate child, plagued by asthma, so his parents allowed him and his sister Leni to indulge their taste for fantasy and spectacle by creating puppet shows and home entertainments. The two attended the Leipzig Art Academy together and Leni later worked with Hans on many films.

Because of his asthma, Hans could not serve as a soldier during World War I, but he did work in army hospitals near the front lines, where he experienced the grotesque inanity of trench warfare. He dreamed about making an animation film, Das Loch im Westen (The Hole in the West), which would expose the War Profiteer as the true cause of war--and the real manipulator of victory and defeat.

When the war ended, Fischerkoesen returned to his family home and spent months drawing about 1,600 sequential images that made concrete the dream (or rather nightmare) vision he had experienced in the trenches. He took the drawings to a Leipzig movie company and paid them (a borrowed) 700 marks to photograph them; but, as it turned out, the company was near bankruptcy and had never shot single-frame material before. Hans lost that money, but he persevered to build his own animation stand out of a wooden margarine crate and shot it himself. Fischerkoesen described the film as a political cartoon brought to life, and it certainly suggests something of Bertold Bartosch's L'idée (The Idea), made a decade later. Fortunately, a local distributor bought Hole in the West for 3,000 marks, so he could continue to make more films.