Hogan's Heroes

One in Every Crowd - S3-E10

Stupidity: A prisoner, Jack Williams, rats out Hogan and his team to the Germans, so they fake his death and smuggle him back to London for court-martial. What a stupid thing to do. They should just shoot him and be done with it. First, what if he escaped from captivity on the way through occupied Europe? Second, he has done nothing wrong. Being a grass isn't a crime. Third, Hogan and his men are the war criminals - they often engage in combat activities out of uniform. Williams is going to be acquitted.

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Suggested correction: Not true. The crime he committed was treason, a capital offence under both civil and military law at the time. Being a partisan is not an offence under the Geneva Convention, as these were mainly captured flyers, led by a small team of specialists. To execute a prisoner, as you suggest Hogan's men should do, is murder, also a capital offence at the time.

stiiggy

Nobody from Stalag 13 accompanies Williams back to London - so where is the evidence of his "crime"? Hogan and his men often take part in combat activities both out of uniform and even wearing German uniforms, which is itself a one way ticket to a firing squad.

The evidence is the information he gave to the Germans (actually, the spy disguised as a German major) and signed it.

How to Win Friends and Influence Nazis - S3-E7

Stupidity: As Burkhalter tries to straighten the picture of the Führer, he stands right in front of it, looking directly at it. A moment later, Klink walks over and fiddles with the thing. It would be absolutely ridiculous to claim they wouldn't instantly notice the difference between a photograph of a microphone and an actual microphone inset into the picture at this distance.

Doc

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Trivia: A sinister aspect of an otherwise lightheated comedy, but the fact is that Hogan and his men are war criminals. They engage in combat activities behind enemy lines when not in uniform, and worse, while wearing enemy uniforms. The Germans tried that during the Battle of the Bulge and those arrested were shot.

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The Antique - S5-E12

Question: When Hogan gives Klink $100 for the cuckoo clock, the bill handed over was a crisp American $100 note. How did Hogan get an American $100 note? At best, in this time period, he should only have Reich Marks. And how would he have 333 Marks, 33 pfennigs? Unless he had a side businesses going, this seems unlikely.

Movie Nut

Answer: It's a comedy, not a documentary.

stiiggy

Perhaps it was counterfeit. There are numerous episodes where they deal in counterfeit monies.

Answer: Werner Klemperer fled Nazi Germany as a teenager. His two conditions for taking the role of Colonel Klink were that he had to be a bumbling idiot and he always had to lose. It would then be a character mistake that if Hogan offers him a fresh American hundred-dollar bill, he's not going to ask questions, he's going to take the deal. The fact that he's Commandant and could just confiscate the money from Hogan would never occur to him because, again, he's a bumbling idiot who, by the actor's contract, always has to lose.

Captain Defenestrator

Chosen answer: Hogan and his men are running a spy ring out of the camp, they have access to supplies from outside. (In another episode, they have to convince a defecting German officer that they're legitimately working for the Allies by arranging a specific personal ad to run in the next day's London Times, so a new $100 bill is not beyond their capabilities).

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: Rightfully, Hogan should not have any money at all. POW were stripped of all cash they carried. The intention was to make escape more difficult. The fact that Hogan has what is the equivalent of a third of the price of a KdF-Wagen (You'd probably know it as a Volkswagen Beetle) in cash should rightfully make Klink more than a litle suspicious.

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