Teacher Ron Jones talks to students about the Third Reich in a history class at Palo Alto Cubberley High School in California, April 1967. A student asked the question: Why do the Germans claim to have no knowledge of the slaughter of Jews? Why do farmers, bank employees, teachers, and doctors all claim that they didn't know about the tragedies that took place in the concentration camps? Ron Jones decided to make a bold experiment. He wants to rebuild a miniature Nazi Germany, and let his students experience fascism first-hand, not only in its horror but also in its charm. On Monday, he stood at the podium and, unlike usual, began giving orders to his class.
He instructed his students to sit upright, with their heads upright and their chests straight, their feet flat and their hands behind their backs. Next is speed work: stand up, sit down, repeat over and over. He had students read the article and then start the discussion, but he had to follow strict rules: Those who wanted to speak had to stand up, stand at the table, and say "Mr. Jones" before they were allowed to speak. When speaking, you must be concise and articulate. Anyone who responds absent-mindedly and casually must answer it again, or even repeat it.
Jones was gradually surprised by the results. Troopers become role models, their voices, their unique perspectives, and their clear answers. It is no longer just the old faces who answered the question, and the level of both the question and the answer has been surprisingly improved. Students are more attentive and more attentive in listening to lectures.
On Tuesday, he stepped into the classroom and was greeted by silence. All sat up straight behind the desks, although no one asked. Ron Jones wrote on the chalkboard: "Discipline builds strength" - "Unity builds strength", and started lecturing. The students listened carefully. At the end of the class, he made a brief movement with his hands: his arms stretched forward, his palms were first up, and then he slid down in a curve. a wave. Jones made the gesture a class greeting. Use this gesture in school and on the street to identify yourself as part of the movement.
Over the next few days, Jones watched every move on campus. In cafes, libraries, and gymnasiums, students greet each other with the "wave" gesture. The experiment has expanded from the classroom to the entire campus.
On Wednesday, Jones handed out membership cards, three of which had a red cross on them. Those who got the three cards were given a special mission: to report people who didn't follow the rules of the "wave". Subsequently, Jones began to "preach" again, from action, to the collective, all the way to self-degeneration. Infected by his own words, he oscillates between the dual roles of leader and teacher. He was proud of his motivated students, proud of their achievements, proud of their unity, and proud of himself.
Then, the trend of whistleblowing came. He only assigned three students to report critics and opponents. As a result, 20 people came. They unreservedly denounced their friends who joked about "Tide" and betrayed their parents who doubted "Tide". All for the collective good. Within three days, the campaign had become their whole life.
On Thursday, the class had grown from 30 to 80. The newcomers all skipped the class they were supposed to go to. Jones declared that the "third wave" was part of a national youth movement aimed at promoting change in the domestic political system. At 12 noon on Friday, the organization will be officially announced by the presidential candidate.
Friday noon, the school auditorium. More than 200 students sat there upright, the ceiling covered with large banners of "Third Wave". Jones made a brief speech, with 200 arms raised towards him in a "wave" greeting. This experiment was only carried out for five days, but it was a long five days.
Inside the auditorium, Ron Jones turned on a TV. Only snowflakes appeared. The students waited. They are used to discipline and obedience. After a few minutes, someone finally asked: "There is no leader, right?" The auditorium exploded. Jones began to speak, with remorse: "Yes, but we came close to being good Nazis." Jones showed the students a film about the Third Reich: Reich Party Congress, Collectives, Discipline, Obedience , and what this collective has done: terror, violence, gas chambers. Ron Jones looked at the bewildered faces. He said: "Like the Germans, it is difficult for you to admit that you have done so much. You will not be willing to admit to being manipulated, you will not be willing to admit that you participated in this farce."
This is a real event in American history, and this year, Germany made it into a movie - "The Wave". Why Germany? It's understandable, I think, because of the deep German fear of the return of totalitarianism.
The film faithfully restores this historical event, but transfers it to contemporary Germany. Still the same way: emphasis on discipline, raising hands and standing up when speaking, wavy gestures, uniform clothing, except for the whistleblower - probably a reluctance to embarrass the children, which the Germans shy away from.
But the German version goes a lot further than the American version, the kids are fully engaged in the movement, they crowd out all opponents and then develop to crowd out the disloyal; they fanatically promote their logo, their group, despite the fact that What "meaningful things" the group was doing was not clear to them; fanatics emerged among them, ditching everything they had, from clothing to family to way of life, to follow only the leader - teacher Wengel . At the end of the film, teacher Wengel's sermon brings the movement to a climax. When he shouts "Bring the traitor up", the children in a frenzy prepare for violence until the teacher stops it. , they finally start waking up to their behavior.
Unlike the actual version, the wave in Germany was not peacefully terminated, and the movement developed to that extent, which was beyond the control of the leader Wengel. He took the lead in reflecting on it all, declaring the end of the movement, but could not get the same approval from the students. The fanatic was disillusioned, he couldn't accept all this, he took out the robber that was originally used to protect the organization, shot his classmates, and killed himself. The teacher Wenger was jailed for this.
It is hard for outsiders to imagine the impact such a simple action can bring to people. Wengel asked everyone to write about their feelings about the movement to explain the mystery: Tim is a loser, he is always bullied in his life, and no one in his family pays attention to it. He, no one in the school looked down on him. The wave gave him the strength, gave him the opportunity to be in the center of the limelight with his positivity for sports—making a web page, climbing up a building to paint signs—gives him a sense of belonging, and fills all the vacancies in his heart. place, and thus made him a fanatic; Lisa, a fat girl who was not smart and not beautiful, was always a foil to beautiful girls, and the wave erased individual differences so that she no longer felt the pain of comparison; Dennis He is a Turkish immigrant and has always experienced discrimination in his life. The wave made him and others a group, which made him feel the sense of equality; Marko grew up without parents and a happy family, and the wave gave him to exist in a group , a feeling of being cared for...
Including the teacher and leader Wengel himself, he also has a sense of failure in his heart. He has a diploma in self-examination, but he married a wife with a master's degree. Although the wife never said anything, he I have always been ashamed of myself. This movement gave him a sense of accomplishment and made him feel extraordinary, so it made him unable to extricate himself for a time, and even unwilling to stop it, and finally made it develop out of control.
What exactly is fascism, the film vividly expounds it through this small experiment - it is not some advanced, cruel, inhuman theory, it hides around us at any time, in our body, it uses Our weakness, exploiting our expectations of the sublime and powerful, is ready to seize us, to open the floodgates of our humanity to evil, and to push us down the path of violence in the name of the sublime. How hard it is to be awake, how easily people can be provoked!
From 1967 to 2007 (the filming time of the film), times have changed, but the elements of human nature are still the same, the shadow of fascism is no less than in the 1930s, and the same trick can still call out the same devil. This is what this film tells us, and we can't be too vigilant.
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