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Photo: Dmitry Astakhov / ITAR-TASS / AFP
Recently, »Der Untergang« by Oliver Hirschbiegel was shown again on television, I actually wanted to go to bed, but then I watched it to the end.
Bruno Ganz as Hitler is great, Ulrich Matthes as Goebbels, Corinna Harfouch as Magda Goebbels too, and many more could be listed.
It's a boomer film, but that can't be a flaw in these times.
On the contrary: I would rather not know how few of today's under 25-year-olds made it to Adolf Hitler's end in history class.
That's why they should all see this film, because at a number of points you involuntarily think: Is that the case with Vladimir Putin as well?
Last days, not in the »Führerbunker« in Berlin, but somewhere in the Kremlin?
Of course, Vladimir Putin is not a second Hitler, nor is he a Nazi, if the term is to have any meaning.
But that's not what it's about, and it's not about the more than 20 million deaths caused by the Second World War in the Soviet Union.
The point is that central elements of the "downfall" can be found on Putin's side.
It's about what that says about the way things are going.
About, well, Putin's downfall.
On the one hand, there is the fear of the powerful of the most powerful.
Even the head of the secret service shattered his answers when Putin asked him at the beginning of the war about the plans for the occupied territories, which are now – contrary to what was presented at the time – being annexed.
Furthermore, it was said early on that the military kept two statistics on Russian casualties: one real and one for informing Putin, who should not be provoked.
Anyone who doesn't think of the »downfall«, the silent generals and Bruno Ganz' fits of rage, hasn't seen the film.
Secondly, there are reports from the New York Times (NYT), for example, according to which Putin is issuing military orders and is interfering in the day-to-day conduct of the war.
The president is said to have ordered that the Russian army should not withdraw from Cherson, writes the NYT.
Without a tactical retreat, however, more than 20,000 men could soon be cut off there.
Once again, does a bell only ring for me when the leader's order is: "Hold at all costs!"?
A few days ago, a talented theatrical whip of the regime (nickel glasses, black gloves) delivered a 1a perseverance speech.
"Goida," he shouted repeatedly across Red Square, "Goida."
That should mean something like: holy war.
At the time in the Sportpalast, in mid-February 1943, it was "total war."
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Meanwhile, the chancellor's office assumes that the circle around Putin consists almost exclusively of bull necks from the security services.
As things stand, with the partial mobilization of the reservists you have proposed, he has missed the very last political exit for himself.
As a person, he can never again be part of any Russian or European or international normality worthy of the name.
As long as Putin is in office, there will be no easing of sanctions and no peace.
Anyone who wants both in Russia at some point has to get past Putin.
It's called the endgame.
And finally, an almost essential part of a "descension," suddenly comes the wonder weapon, this time it's called the "Sturmvogel" (Burevestnik or Skyfall) and is a nuclear-powered cruise missile.
So far, all tests have failed, it is said.
However, and this is where the two versions of "downfall" differ, Vladimir Putin actually has weapons at hand that he could believe could suddenly turn the tide of war: so-called tactical nuclear missiles.
Will he use them in eastern Ukraine if the Russian army cannot hold the areas?
And how should Germany, Europe and the US deal with the possibility that he does?
Vladimir Putin says it's all "not a bluff," but poker is a rational game.
And it would not be rational to use "tactical" nuclear weapons: it is highly doubtful whether such weapons can be used to conquer territory offensively, because which troops would then advance to this area?
And who of the "liberated" would still want to live there?
What is certain, however, is that their deployment should bring Putin straight to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Or does anyone think his (alleged) friends in China, India and Turkey will let him get away with it?
Not if Putin opened Pandora's box and made a nuclear war practicable, which would then also be wagable against them themselves.
It is said that Vladimir Putin is now particularly dangerous, he is like a battered boxer.
SPIEGEL also tried this picture, but experience teaches that ailing boxers are usually simply on the losing side and are soon knocked out.
You don't have to do much other than stay in the ring and wait.
As Karl Lauterbach wrote on Twitter, "We are at war with Putin, not his psychotherapists."