Directed and co-written by Ashley Eakin, “Forgive Us Our Intrusions” is a short film that illustrates the horrific way people with disabilities were hunted down in Nazi Germany. Set in 1939, it follows a young boy – Peter Weber (Knox Gibson) – with a limb difference as he finds himself on the run trying to save his life, only to realize he would have to fight to change. things. So this Netflix original drama is incredibly dark, but it also tugs at the heart for more than one reason. So now let’s find out if it’s based on a true story or not, shall we?
Is forgive us our trespasses based on a true story?
“Forgive Us Our Trespasses” could probably be partially based on a true story. After all, there may be no record of someone named Peter Weber in such a situation, but there were countless others as the character to be targeted by German authorities. It made no difference whether they were children or adults; they were all subjected to this brutality from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s because of Adolf Hitler’s dream of changing the genetic make-up of the world. He viewed disabilities, or rather anything unfamiliar to him, as a negative and chose to erase it from the face of the earth.
As the short film details, Hitler created the Aktion T4 program for this very purpose, ordering people with disabilities to be involuntarily euthanized after being taken into police custody. Mental hospitals and church-run asylums were the two central locations where these mass murders were believed to have first taken place, before the Holocaust began about two years ago. His exact reasoning behind this request is unclear, but there is speculation that, in addition to restoring the country’s “integrity”, saving money was also an important factor.
The film tackled the latter by highlighting the reality of how caring for “a person with an inherited disease” costs more through a math lesson. Yet he even made it clear that killing them was neither “productive” nor “humane”. Ultimately, however, in 1945 nearly 300,000 disabled people were heinously murdered as part of the secret Aktion T4 program, and another 400,000 were positively sterilized. As if that were not enough, its implementation is also what led to the development of gas chamber technology used in concentration camps during World War II.
There’s a reason the title of this short film is “Forgive Us Our Trespasses” – a line straight from a biblical prayer; it is to emphasize that forgiveness is what matters above all, even in times of necessary resistance. The inclusion of the belief that the value of a life cannot be calculated in any way, shape or form through Peter’s eyes brings out real concepts that have been particularly discussed over the past two years.
So when that’s combined with the image of Nazi Germany, it’s obvious that while this Netflix Original might not be someone’s word-for-word retelling of history, it’s very probably inspired by real events. It represents a part of history that many often forget, one that forces us to reconsider what really matters in life.
Read more: Adolf Hitler’s best movies
