While amateur films have received a great deal of attention from history television for some time now, historical research has so far neglected films for private use. However, these visual ego documents are outstanding sources for examining practices of self-assurance that are highly informed by social and gender hierarchies. Amateurs who capture moments of their personal lives on film use the camera not only to produce memories or to document their own gaze, i.e. that they have seen someone or something with their own eyes. They also use the film technology to reassure themselves of their social roles and social status, by filming their social environment as well as by presenting themselves in front of the camera.

In my presentation, I take a look at these filmic self-portrayals from a gender-historical perspective. I am particularly interested in visual constructions of masculinity during National Socialism. By analyzing family films and amateur films produced in the context of the Wehrmacht and Nazi organizations such as the HJ, the NSKK or the RAD I ask for notions of masculinity that are presented and communicated by clothing, body language and facial expression.

Such amateur films suggest that the presence of the camera opens up a unique manner of dealing with the uniform, as the uniformed men present themselves in a way that does not correspond to the image of the venerable (soldierly) hero. They fool around, make jokes, act laissez-faire or ironize the tight and snappy step. Family films show that filmmakers appear in front of the camera dressed in uniform in order to interact with their children, wives or mothers. In the films various self-concepts and ways of embodying gender seem to overlap.

In my presentation, I explore the cultural and visual role models of such filmic self-portrayals. To what extend do they appropriate public discourses, i.e. by imitating or undermining representations of masculinity (and gender hierarchies) in official images and films? Moreover, I examine the possible function and effect of such self-portrayals. Thereby, amateur images are considered to be more than an expression of the militarization of society: They are not only evidence of the importance of comradely relationships or the intrusion of the uniformed hero into everyday family life. Rather, they provide insights into practices of normalization of both the uniform and the associated social roles of comrade and soldier that masses of men had to adopt in National Socialism.