Hogan’s
Heroes aired from 1965 to 1971, beginning twenty years after World War II.
The television show received much criticism for trivializing war and Nazism.
Many mistook it for a concentration camp, which it was not. Hogan and his men
were prisoners of war in a luft stalag,
a prison camp for airmen.
The prisoners routinely made their
captors look like buffoons. They got away with atrocious schemes because of the
ineptness of the Germans.
The actors portraying the Germans
would certainly not have wished to sanction Germany’s actions during the war.
John Banner (Sgt. Schultz) was born
in Vienna, Austria, in 1910. He was performing in Switzerland at the time of
the Anschluss. As a Jew, he could not return home, and arrived in the United
States as a refugee.
Werner Klemperer (Col. Klink) was
born in Cologne, Germany, in 1920. When Hitler came to power, Werner’s father,
symphony conductor Otto Klemperer, was condemned for being Jewish. Foreseeing
the danger, Otto moved his family to Vienna in 1933, and to the United States in
1935. Werner set a condition on his role as Col. Klink. Klink could never come
out the winner in a confrontation with the prisoners. If he did, Klemperer
would quit.
Leon Askin (Gen. Burkhalter) was
born in Vienna in 1907, and had worked with John Banner on stage before either
emigrated. He had a contract with the Louise Dumont Playhouse in Germany when
Hitler became Chancellor in 1933. Askin was dismissed for being Jewish. He was
arrested and beaten by the Gestapo. After the Austrian Consul got him released,
he fled to Paris. He worked there and in Vienna until the Anschluss. For six
months, he was held in a French prison as an Austrian enemy until the American
visa he’d applied for came through and he came to the U.S. in March, 1940.
Howard Caine (Major Hochstetter)
was born in Nashville, but he too was Jewish. He took the role to portray the
Gestapo agent as a madman. He provided a contrast between the ruthless Nazi and
the bumbling fools (Klink and Schultz) who were not members of the Nazi Party.
Cast members Richard Dawson, Bob Crane, Robert Clary, John Banner, and Werner Klemperer |
Of all the cast members, it was
Robert Clary (French Corporal Louis LeBeau) who had the worst experience at the
hands of the Germans during World War II. Born in Paris in 1926, he spent three
years in concentration camps for being Jewish. He was the only survivor of
thirteen family member sent to the camps.
All of them were asked how they
could do Hogan’s Heroes. The
television show was a parody never meant to portray a real prisoner-of-war
camp. Not being based in reality, it featured absurd situations that remain
funny to this day.
This was one of my favorite shows and I enjoyed learning about the actors here. (I saw Bob Crane get off an elevator once when the show was still airing. So exciting!)
ReplyDeleteToo bad that was before iPhones, Peggy; you could have snapped his picture! Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteVery interesting!! I remember watching this when I was a kid. I don't think the my book about POW camp in Minnesota will have too many of the plot lines from the show. :)
ReplyDeleteActually, Connie, I did get an idea for spicing up a scene in one of mine!
Delete