Indiana Jones, Captain America, and Other Pop Culture Icons Who Fought Nazis

Last week, a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, erupted in violence and left one counter-protester dead. In the wake of the attacks, numerous politicians, celebrities, and activists around the country denounced the neo Nazis and white supremacists responsible for the unrest. But not everyone acted in a similar fashion: President Donald Trump first blamed violent actions on “many sides,” before calling the hate groups out by name two days later. On Tuesday, however, the president once again blamed “both sides” for the violence. “I will tell you something. I watched those very closely, much more closely than you people watched it, and you have — you had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent,” Trump said. “And nobody wants to say that, but I’ll say it right now. You had a group, you had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit and they were very, very violent.”

Trump’s comments were slammed by Republicans, Democrats, and celebrities — with many pointing to his “permit” reference as particularly problematic. “Liberal arts college professor brutalizes Nazi, who has a permit. More alt-left indoctrination,” wrote Patton Oswalt alongside a photo of Indiana Jones punching a Nazi. The tweet went viral along with other missives that used imagery from The Sound of Music and Casablanca to underscore that there’s really only one side to be on when it comes to Nazis.

This Looney Tunes episode featured Daffy Duck going behind enemy lines to wreak havoc on a German general and then later bopping Hitler himself on the head with a mallet during one of the mad man’s lengthy speeches. That’s all, folks. — Christopher Rosen

No one will ever accuse the Three Stooges of being subtle political parodists, but they did team up for a surprisingly early display of anti-Nazi satire. In this barrage of broad slapstick, a trio of wallpaper hangers (Larry, Curly, and Moe) get swept up into a revolution in the fictional country of Moronica, where Moe is installed as the cardboard dictator. His stubby, black-tape mustache and his signature bowl haircut make him the spitting image of Adolf Hitler. It’s hardly high-IQ stuff, but the jokes sting. Especially since this short came at a time when the United States (and Hollywood, especially) was still sitting on the sidelines as a neutral observer of WWII. Nine months later, Charlie Chaplin would release The Great Dictator. — Chris Nashawaty

Through a fluke of mistaken identity, a simple Jewish barber played by Charlie Chaplin is confused with a monstrous dictator named Adenoid Hynkel. There was reason to expect more nuance from a great artist like Chaplin than from the lowbrow Stooges’ “You Nazty Spy,” but The Great Dictator is more memorable for the mere fact that it existed (and that a star of Chaplin’s magnitude was willing to take a stand) than anything it really has to say about fascism. Still, American moviegoers ate it up. For two hours at least, the Nazis could be treated as a joke. — Chris Nashawaty

In theory, Humphrey Bogart’s expat club owner, Rick Blaine, was as neutral as Switzerland (“I stick my neck out for no man”). But, of course, when push came to shove, he was one of the good guys – a romantic softie whose own self-interest would end up taking a backseat to his political conscience. Blaine’s club is like a microcosm of WWII, but with champagne, gambling, and purloined letters of transit: Maj. Strasser (Conrad Veidt) and his Nazi stooges are in one corner; the scattered exiles of what was once the free world in the other. When they finally clash, it isn’t with guns or knives, but with a single song delivered with defiance and through tears — the French national anthem “La Marseillaise.” Coming just a year after Pearl Harbor, it was enough to give anyone goosebumps. It still is. — Chris Nashawaty

After Captain von Trapp is scrutinized because his home isn’t flying the Nazi flag, Nazi officials hang one up. It doesn’t stay up for long: The Captain rips it up in a display of fervent anti-fascism that has since become a go-to GIF. — Eric King

For John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd’s Jake and Elwood Blues, Henry Gibson and his bumbling band of neo-Nazis are just one more obstacle to overcome in their R&B-fueled mission from God. And these Hitler-loving rally goons are painted exactly as they should be: as boobs playing dress-up spewing toxic slogans to make them feel tough. As satire, it’s the equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel. But when Jake turns to Elwood grumbling, “I hate Illinois Nazis…,” and Elwood steps on the gas and runs them off a bridge and into a river, it’s never clearer who the heroes in the film are. — Chris Nashawaty

No “fine people” to be found here. “Nazis,” Harrison Ford’s Jones says in the 1989 blockbuster, “I hate these guys.” — Christopher Rosen

The list of things worse than Nazis is very short, but flying Nazis would definitely make the cut. Thankfully, Hitler’s plans to place his troops in flight is thwarted by young Cliff Secord (Billy Campbell), who becomes known as film’s titular hero after stumbling on a jet pack developed by Howard Hughes — and stops that technology from falling into the hands of a movie star who’s actually a German spy. — Jessica Derschowitz

Quentin Tarantino’s best picture nominee alters notorious historical events to give a motley crew of Jewish vigilantes the upper hand as they pursue and scalp Nazis before assassinating Hitler. “I think this just might be my masterpiece,” Brad Pitt’s Lt. Aldo Raine says into the camera after carving a swastika into the forehead of chief Nazi villain Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz in his breakout and Oscar-winning role). In the case of Tarantino, maybe he’s right. — Jami Ganz

The first-ever Captain America cover, in March 1941, depicted the Marvel Avenger punching Hitler right in the face. For Cap’s big movie adaptation, released in 2011, the image was changed: As part of a barnstorming tour, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) slugs an actor playing the Nazi leader. Fortunately, the image and its message is no less powerful. — Christopher Rosen