The event left a trauma in the post-war period, when raping and pillaging of the Soviet Union were forbidden subjects in East Germany.
[2][3][4] Since the 1990s, Syberberg has made attempts to reestablish the communal role of Demmin's central market square.
[3] Syberberg had emerged as part of the New German Cinema and made an impact with often divisive films about subject such as Adolf Hitler, Winifred Wagner and Ludwig II of Bavaria.
[4] Jan Brachmann of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote that Demminer Chants combines deliberately amateurish "Internet diary" footage with photos, spoken commentary and music that works as "a polyphonic collage".
[3] He connected the non-professional form to Syberberg's stated goal to avoid turning the town into a commodity.