In the trash cans of World War II

Between May and August 1945, the U.S. military detained dozens of Nazi figures at a hotel in Luxembourg. A documentary to be seen in Arte at 12:50 this evening opens the doors of this secret prison – code name: Ashkan – by meeting the eyes of actors, historians and the voice of a true witness.

The uncertain period that connects the end of World War II with the trials of Nazism has been a subject of fascination for documentary filmmakers such as the Belgian Willie Perelstez. In his picture Ashkan, He looks back on the period between May and August 1945. The day after the Allied victory, the U.S. military recruited dozens of senior Nazi figures (Corning, Denitz, Lay, Keitel, etc.), and “Added Parts” At the Palace Hotel at the Luxembourg Spa Resort in Montorf-less-Paines. Code name for this secret prison: Ashkan (“garbage”). U.S. officials are investigating. Objective: To prepare the charges of war criminals Nuremberg Tests (November 1945 – October 1946).

Drama development

In these investigations, due to the lack of records, only a few fragmentary reports remain. Hence the need for such a play Code Name: Ashkan, Created in 2017 by Todre National du Luxembourg. By incorporating the production of this play into his film, Willie Pearlstein has set up a device that is more reliable than a documentary-fiction. He finds a cross-section between the rehearsals and analyzes of historians, which was concluded by the invaluable testimony of John Dollybois, an American investigator of Luxembourg descent in Ashkan who died in 2014.