Seventeen Instants of Spring - Historical Accuracy

Historical Accuracy

Walter Lacquer criticized Semyonov's presentation of the events surrounding the Wolff-Dulles negotiations, claiming the author chose a "sinister interpretation of history" because a more correct depiction would "have hardly served" him. Although the talks were described as an "imperialist intrigue... What happened was much simpler": Vyacheslav Molotov was informed on the channel beforehand, and Dulles did not even object to the inclusion of the Soviets in the talks; it was Averell Harriman who convinced Roosevelt not to allow them to participate.

While holding the opinion that Germany, as presented in Seventeen Moments of Spring, resembled the Soviet Union more than its real countepart, Russian historian Konstantin Zalesski also noted numerous inaccuracies, errors and inconsistencies in the series. In his 2006 book, Seventeen Moments of Spring: A Distorting Mirror of the Third Reich, Zalesski pointed out many such. For example, while Pastor Schlag is supposedly a Catholic priest, he possesses all the characteristics of a Lutheran one, including the title 'pastor'; Müller is decorated with the Honour Chevron for the Old Guard, although he only joined the NSDAP in 1939; Stierlitz listens to Édith Piaf's Non, je ne regrette rien, released in 1956; all members of the SS are seen to wear black uniform - which were replaced by gray ones already in 1938 - and frequently smoke, in spite of the campaign to ban this habit. In addition, Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler all had university, rather than merely secondary education, as claimed in the series: Goebbels also became the Gauleiter of Berlin already in 1926, and not in 1944. At one point, footage of Julius Streicher is presented as if he were Robert Ley. Another incorrect detail was Friedrich Krüger's portrayal as the SS and Police Leader in Poland in early 1945, while he was relieved from this position in November 1943.