Last night my wife and I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark on the big screen in an actual movie theater, probably for the first time since its initial release. Essentially historical fiction, as questions remain unanswered about Nazis and the occult, it’s still a great movie.
Alternative World War histories abound – especially where Germany wins the war – such as The Man in the High Castle, SS-GB, Fatherland, and others. So what about an alternative history within a historical fiction?
Assuming you’ve seen the movie, the final scenes revolve around the opening of the Ark. The German commander is uncomfortable doing so, but Belloq argues otherwise:
Let me ask you this — Would you be more comfortable opening the Ark in Berlin — for the Fuhrer — and finding out only then if the sacred pieces of the Covenant are inside? Knowing, only then, whether you have accomplished your mission and obtained the one, true Ark?
Bad decision, René, really bad decision. Not only did everyone but Indy and Marion die, you missed an opportunity of preventing World War II by doing the initial opening in front of Hitler and killing him in 1936, before the Anschluss, before annexing Sudentenland, before invading Poland and starting the war.
Now there’s an alternative history wrapped in a historical fiction!
