'Das Boot' author 'deeply involved' in Nazi propaganda
dpa
MUNICH (dpa)- Lothar-Guenther Buchheim, author of the 1973 novel "Das Boot," which was famously made into a film of the same name, was much more deeply involved in Nazi propaganda than previously believed, according to research published on Friday.
In his new book, journalist Gerrit Reichert investigates Buchheim's role in a group of artists known as the SBK which was apparently set up by Adolf Hitler himself in 1942.
Reichert found that Buchheim had twice painted portraits of the head of the German navy at the time, Karl Doenitz, and that Hitler and his propaganda head, Joseph Goebbels, had been pleased with the results.
In his book, Reichert said that Buchheim had become a pacifist only after the end of World War II.
Buchheim was a war reporter during the war, describing his experiences aboard submarines in "Das Boot," which was turned into a film in 1981.
His art collection is on view in museum in Bernried in Bavaria. The museum's director, Daniel Schreiber, said the museum had backed Reichert's research.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------