It's definitely not a good time to be a Nazi.
Being a Black Comedy set in World War II, Jojo Rabbit has no shortage of sad moments that you can't laugh at, because it hurts so much you can only cry.- Especially if one is a parent, Jojo angrily shouting all the hateful sentiments of Nazi ideology that he's been thoroughly indoctrinated into believing at his mother, who only wants for her son to have the happy childhood any ten-year-old deserves, is very upsetting.
- The first letter Jojo writes as "Nathan," posing as Elsa's fiance, saying that he met someone else and wants to break up. While it's childish, obviously fake, and ridiculous, it still hits Elsa hard, as it's a very bitter reminder of the death of her fiance. Even Jojo feels guilty (thinking she was upset because she believed it) and hastily writes a second letter as Nathan, saying that he didn't want to be with the other girl he met after all.
- Jojo's mom clearly understands how much their family is broken, and for a second, when her son badmouths her and says his father would understand him more than her, she roleplays as him, snapping at Jojo and trying to get him to see how hurt she is in seeing her son like this and having to try to maintain his boyhood happiness all by herself. She quickly realizes that she was taking her anger out on him and tries to make amends.
- This is something she talks about with Elsa too, saying she sees the happy little boy inside, but it's smothered under all the Nazi devotion.
- The investigation by the Gestapo is tense, but it's in seeing Jojo's book when things get sad with Elsa, seeing how much Jojo hates her fiance Nathan.
- You can see the pain in Elsa's eyes, when she's forced to heil each of the Gestapo officers, one by one, in order to keep up her act.
- It even causes a small rejection of him afterwards, with her saying, "Nazis and Jews can't be friends."
- It's also a bit of Fridge Horror; there's no indication Elsa is aware of Jojo's crush on her at this stage (the reason he's so frantically doodling ways to off Nathan, his seeming rival for her affections). After their gradual thawing towards each other up to this point, to her mind this must be a sign Jojo is every bit the Nazi she feared.
- Jojo is walking through town, bent down and admiring a butterfly, not realizing he's wandered right underneath the gallows. Then he stands up, turns, and notices one of the bodies is wearing his mother's shoes...
- Then he tries to kill Elsa, rationalizing that it was her fault Rosie died, barely embedding the tip of his knife into her shoulder, only for her to gently grab it, not reacting with anything except sympathy. Jojo then quietly stumbles away, then drops the knife, collapses on the floor, and bursts into tears again.
- The worst part is this happens while he's in the process of his Heel–Face Turn; he's no longer denying Elsa is his friend, he's began to realise how idiotic and harmful his antisemitism is, and he's clearly on the path to leaving behind his Nazism. His mother, who never supported the war, was secretly part of the resistance, and was willing to risk her life to protect a Jewish girl, never got to see Jojo's transition finish. Rosie died still believing her son to be a Nazi.
- And Jojo, who learns about his mother's death by finding her body hung in the street, never got to say goodbye.
- Even worse is that he initially believes his mother died hating him for being a Nazi, though Elsa thankfully assures him this isn't true.
- You can see other townsfolk going about their business in the background, paying no mind to the distraught little boy crying over one of the bodies.
- Captain Klenzendorf saving Jojo's life by ripping the German jacket off of him and shouting "Dirty Jew!" at him, even spitting at him so that the Soviet soldiers will assume Jojo was mistaken for a Nazi and let him go. Just after Jojo is led out, he hears gunshots ring out.
- If you look closely, Klenzendorf is clutching Finkel's cape in his hands when Jojo finds him.
- Captain Klenzendorf's arc is just a cornucopia of tragedy. He's a closeted homosexual in a time when neither side of the political spectrum had any sympathy for his people. He joined the Nazis because it was the only way to show his loyalty to his country, which cost him an eye yet wasn't enough to let him retire with dignity. He also seemed genuinely saddened that Rosie was executed. By the end of the war it's almost as if he's eager to die.
- One of the boys who made fun of Jojo and called him a coward at the Hitler Youth camp is later seen in the same roundup with Captain Klenzendorf, pleading for his life with the soldiers who are about to execute him. It's implied not to work.
- Jojo struggling to tell Elsa that the Allies have won, which would mean she could go free. but also means she would leave him alone. He is clearly having a hard time lying to her so that she won’t go.
- Yorki's reaction to the whole town being devastated as the Allies roll in is simply to find his mother because "I need a cuddle," really driving home how these are two little kids thrown into the middle of the horrors of war.
