‘Hunters’ revisits the anti-Semitic nature of Grimms’ stories and questions our understanding of fairy tales
This isn’t news but it’s still shocking. No matter how much you know about things in theory, unless it is unraveled dramatically, you really don’t pay attention. Let’s get to the point. In one of the episodes, we learn about two characters- Hans and his sister Gretel who go missing, one in New York and one in Florida. When FBI agent Millie Morris is on the case of the mysterious murders of the two, she has a revelation.
Remember the fairy tale of ‘Hansel and Gretel’? The two siblings get lost in the woods and meet a wicked witch in a house of candies. Eventually, they find a way to outwit the witch, burn her in a pot of boiling water and escape. Sound very inspirational for a child, doesn’t it? But this story hides in its tapestry the very foundation of what would become the ugliest chapter of modern civilization. And when you realize what it holds underneath the facades of two helpless orphans, it doesn’t remain an inspiration anymore.
Consider Hansel and Gretel to be representatives of the Nazis, who would consider the Jews to be the ‘witch’ (for lack of more sophisticated attributes) and the pot of boiling water as the gas chamber. This is not only FBI agent Morris’ assessment but research says so.
In their collection of more than 200 stories, aggregated over years, from various cultures and communities, the Grimm brothers have managed to be anti-Semitic, offending or insulting Jews, even before it became a socio-political campaign under the Hitler regime. From “dirty dogs” to “penny-pinching swindlers”, and “wolves”, the Jews had been given many names. Hansel and Gretel were one of the first that helped the Nazis use the stories of Grimm brothers as propaganda material during the Third Reich.
Yes, ‘Hunters’ is the story of Holocaust survivors and/or their descendants and justice seekers, trying to stop the rise of the Fourth Reich in 1970s New York City. But the show is not just about hunting Nazis and bringing them to light for the world to see. The narrative of the show does a lot more than just telling a story, in the most colorful, cinematic, and dramatic way. It opens your mind to information and facts that you would know but never bothered to mull over or question.
As shocking as it may seem, especially to those who are unaware of the latent truths of fairy tales, these revelations speak volumes about how far and how deep communal hatred stemmed from. And thanks to shows like ‘Hunters’, which digs way beyond the plotline and what the audience would expect, and brings forth facts that we might know but never cared for.
Catch the Nazi ‘Hunters’ in action, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.