According to the article "Hollywood's friends and foes" by Colin Shindler in the film history tome 'The Movie', this film " . . . though set largely inside a concentration camp . . . managed to avoid the mention of the words 'German' or 'Nazi' " throughout the whole movie.
Adolf Hitler banned the film in Germany for its critical depiction of the country. After MGM continued making anti-Nazi films, Hitler eventually banned all MGM films.
At the beginning of the film there is a shelf of books., all having been made into successful films by MGM - except for "The Yearling". MGM had purchased the film rights to the novel and began shooting the picture in 1941, but due to many difficulties the project was canceled and put on the shelf. It would eventually be made and released - The Yearling (1946). This lineup of books that had been made into major motion pictures by MGM is a device used by the studio to give the same weight to this story.
Author Grace Zaring Stone used a pen name when her book was published to protect relatives living in Europe from Nazi retribution. Similarly, no composer credit was given in the film for the same reason, and some of the actors used fictional names. He forgot to mention that in this particular film there was the swastika, some people saying "Heil Hitler," fear, arrogant soldiers and a woman executed just because she said what was on her mind. This film was very anti-Nazi.