Jeremy L. Berg

This week the film “Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.” is released in theaters.

Nearly a month ago I shared about how Bonhoeffer is a personal hero of mine and how 86 family members of Bonhoeffer’s family published a letter to Eric Metaxas saying: “We are horrified to see how the legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is…being distorted and misused…” In the weeks to the release, the film’s director and actors have been trying to distance themselves from Metaxas and those who distort and misuse Bonhoeffer for their own agendas.

I am conflicted. I love going to movies. I often go alone – an introvert hobby. I love seeing great lives adapted for the big screen. Historical biopics are my favorite. (I recently enjoyed the Reagan movie.) I bemoan cancel culture on both left and right, and so it is uncharacteristic for me to discourage people from seeing a film. Especially about one of my heroes of the faith.

But I’ve always been concerned about revisionist history… Here’s a case in point.

Back up a second to one of my first ever attempts at preaching at Bethel United Methodist Church around the year 2006. For some reason I used the occasion of Father’s Day to share a sermon entitled “Telling Lies About Grandpa” addressing what I called the problem of “Historical Amnesia in the Church Today.” I won’t bore you with the details (you can read it here if you’re a glutton for punishment), but I’ll never forgot how I shocked all the gray hairs in the pews, including several military vets, when I opened with a revisionist conspiracy-ridden account of the attack on Pearl Harbor claiming:

Many of you may be aware that nearly a year before the Pearl Harbor attack, American technicians had cracked a top-secret Japanese code allowing them to read intercepted diplomatic messages. By November 27, just a week before the attack, based on decoded messages, American military leaders knew that Japanese aircraft carriers were on the move in the Pacific. They expected attack, but they did not know where.

What you probably don’t know is that these messages were not decoding a strictly Japanese plot. Rather, invasion plans that American military leaders were so close to uncovering turns out to be the best kept military conspiracy of history—even rivaling the legendary Trojan horse! At last, the greatest cover-up of modern history is finally being unveiled.

Pearl Harbor was ruthlessly staged by FDR himself in order gain the national support needed to join the Second World War. The Japanese planes were not flown by Japanese kamikaze pilots willingly offering their lives for the Japanese cause. Rather, they were flown into their targets by specially trained American hijackers—hauntingly similar to the 911 terrorists—secretly commissioned by FDR himself. Ever since, as you might imagine, the American government has been using every resource in its power to suppress any knowledge of this true story behind Pearl Harbor.

My imaginative retelling of history was intended to capture the attention of my audience and momentarily offend the room. “How dare you tamper with our history, tarnish the reputation of our president, question the integrity of our military!” and so on.

On that Father’s Day, I went on to talk about the importance of keeping our fathers’ and Forefathers’ story and memory alive, and the danger of letting others come in and distort the memory of our forebears — whether it be our own grandparents, our nation’s heroes, or, in the case of my sermon, our Christian Story of the gospel and the reputation of our Heavenly Father. (I was confronting the distortions, lies and revisionist history being propagated in the bestselling The Da Vinci Code book at the time, and the movie that would follow).

Back to Bonhoeffer and the film hitting theaters this week. If you still insist on going, please understand some of the ways Bonhoeffer’s legacy and this film may be coopted by other narratives and agendas that distort the true Bonhoeffer. I have no doubt the film will be a powerful and emotionally riveting experience. You may shed tears and you may be on your feet clapping at the end. Just be careful you are not shedding tears and giving a standing ovation to a fictional Bonhoeffer who never existed. A film poster shows Dietrich carrying a gun; seriously?! The movie title dubs him an assassin; come on! The Bonhoeffer family has already warned us, and pleaded with us, to stop “telling lies about grandpa,” and I’m just backing them up.

Please read below how ten key members of the ensemble, including Jonas Dassler (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) and August Diehl (Martin Niemoller), have distanced themselves from possible misuses of the film. They stand behind the calls from Bonhoeffer scholars, church leaders, and extended members of the Bonhoeffer family to stop the distortion of Bonhoeffer’s life and legacy to justify Christian Nationalism and political violence. Read their statement below:

https://bonhoeffersociety.org/2024/11/04/statement-lead-actors-in-bonhoeffer-spy-pastor-assassin-speak-out-together-against-the-misuse-of-bonhoeffers-legacy/

STATEMENT OF THE ACTORS OF THE BONHOEFFER MOVIE (2024)

We, the actors of the film Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin, by Todd Kormanicki are deeply concerned about the misuse of our film and the legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Christian Nationalists.

We read the open letter and statement by the Bonhoeffer experts and descendants of the Bonhoeffer family and wholeheartedly share their concerns and condemn any dangerous appropriations.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived in a time when fascism and nationalism suppressed democracy, human rights and ultimately cost millions of people to lose their lives. He spoke out openly about the crimes committed by the Nazis, the infiltration of the church by the Nazis, and assisted victims of this state. After years of living under a dictatorship, and millions of marginalized peoples dead, Bonhoeffer participated in assassination attempts against Hitler (a drastic and final resort). This final action led to his execution in 1945, age 39.

In today’s society, populists and nationalists are not afraid of twisting history and in this case a whole man’s legacy to their inhuman worldview. This reminds us why we did this movie in the first place: the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer teaches us that it is necessary to speak up against any authoritarian, violent attempt to damage democracy and Human Rights.

In his younger days Bonhoeffer was influenced by the African American churches in Harlem, their social activism and strong community bond in the face of segregation – this was an early inspiration for his work. Through this experience he gained the confidence to take a stand against Nazism in Germany. One of Bonhoeffer’s most cherished passages from the bible speaks to the notion of compassion and togetherness in times of adversity, this was his compass until his execution. Here is a short excerpt from the Sermon on the Mount: 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Populists and nationalists all over the world are never interested in the meek, in the ones who mourn or the peacemakers. They are not asking ‘why are people fleeing and leaving everything they love behind?’; ‘How can we live together peacefully?’. Instead, they divide us, spread fear, lies and threaten their political opponents by framing themselves as victims and marginalized – a common ploy by far-right groups worldwide. These kind of people, this demagoguery and violent system was what Bonhoeffer spoke up against. Nothing else.

We believe in our movie, which to our belief tells a completely different story to what a radical few want to make out of it.

To us, the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer tells a tale about: speaking up against totalitarian regimes; and acting against systems of lies, bigotry, Nationalism, racism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia. To defend our history and culture from appropriation, historical revisionism. His legacy teaches us to always look out for the marginalized in our society; not to judge people for their race, gender, sexuality and class. Bonhoeffer would not judge how we find love, compassion, solidarity with one another. He would encourage us to find a way we can learn from each other and that our faith, whatever it may be, should never be taken away by extremist demagogues and always lead with Love.

As the actors of this film, we hope this message will resonate with you as it’s the reason we agreed to take on this project and honor Bonhoeffer’s legacy. We distance ourselves from everyone who tries to take this film for narrative to take up arms and harm one another.

Jonas Dassler (playing “Dietrich Bonhoeffer”) 

August Diehl (Playing “Martin Niemöller”)

David Jonsson (playing “Frank Fisher”)

Moritz Bleibtreu (playing “Karl Bonhoeffer”) 

Nadine Heidenreich (playing “Paula Bonhoeffer“)

James Flynn (playing “Dr. Rascher”)

Lisa Hofer (playing “Sabine Bonhoeffer“)

Felix von Bredow (playing “Rudolf-Christoph von Gersdorf”) 

Patrick Moelleken (playing “Walter Bonhoeffer”)