They say that everything around you goes quiet...
at the moment of death.
Take cover!
- Hold your fire until my command. - They're too close.
Hold your fire until my command.
That's Friedhelm, my brother.
He's not going to be much help anymore.
Generation War Part 1: A Different Time
Six months ago we said goodbye to our parents.
A lifetime.
I expect you to do us proud.
This is about nothing less than the future of Germany.
You've already proved yourself...
and you...
stay close to your brother.
Maybe you'll become a real man after all.
- Are you really taking all those? - Yes, of course.
Hurry up, the girls are waiting.
Take care of yourself.
Wilhelm...
Bring him back to me. Promise.
- Promise me. - I promise.
Greta, bring the sergeant a schnapps on the house and his bill,
and then close the bar.
Doesn't a soldier get a kiss?
If I fall tomorrow, it will break your heart.
If you fall, Sergeant, then it'll be in the gutter. Good night.
Good night.
Greta.
Well?
I did it.
- I knew it. Come on. - It's time to celebrate.
- Full marks, of course. - And they tried to trick me.
They asked me what comes after the Third Reich.
Nothing.
The 1,000-year Reich will last forever.
Just a couple more days and I'll be off to the front.
- Did you tell him you love him? - Stop it.
God, Charly, you have to tell Wilhelm.
We're at war. Life can be brutally short.
How long will you wait? Until final victory?
A couple more months.
- There they are. - All right, I'll tell him today.
- You can use my bedroom. - Greta...
What?
Ladies...
- You look enchanting. - Don't you have any luggage?
Luggage? He's a lieutenant. It's collected for him.
- Oh, I see. - Where's Viktor?
- Shalom. - Shalom to you.
Where's your luggage?
We were five friends.
- Where did you get that bike? - I nicked it.
We wanted to say a last proper goodbye before our paths separated.
To us.
We all grew up in the same neighborhood,
and knew each other since childhood.
We couldn't have been more different,
and yet we'd all stuck together.
Charly, the baby of the family,
has wanted to serve since war broke out.
She'll work as a nurse in a field hospital
just behind the front.
Viktor Goldstein.
His father fought in the First World War
and later became a tailor. Viktor was to take over the shop,
but it was destroyed during Kristallnacht.
That's his girlfriend, Greta. They're inseparable.
She doesn't care that her love for Viktor is seen as racial shame.
We all think that she's going to be a star,
the new Marlene Dietrich.
My little brother, Friedhelm,
the bookworm who loves Rimbaud and Jünger.
I admire him for his intellect and sharp humor.
For him, it is the first time.
And this is me, Wilhelm Winter,
lieutenant of Windhund Company,
served in Poland and France.
Tomorrow we're off to Russia.
Wilhelm, give that back.
The war will make a man out of him, eh?
The war will bring out only the worst in us.
I'd have liked to see my dad in 1914. If you lose, it'll be our fault.
- This is no country for wimps. - We all have to make sacrifices.
Wilhelm...
- Hide. - No.
What did I tell you?
If you get caught defying the curfew for Jews, you'll end up in a camp.
Equal rights for all. As Charly said, egotism is betrayal of Germany.
- Right? - Yes.
- Heil Hitler. - Heil Hitler. How can I help you?
May I?
It's a going-away party. We're leaving for the Eastern Front.
Wilhelm Winter.
- That's my brother... - Good evening.
..and Charlotte is off to serve as front-line nurse.
Are you staying on the home front?
I got a report of swing music with Jews.
With Jews? We wouldn't stand for that.
Teddy Stauffer?
I didn't know that swing was prohibited.
- Your name? - Greta Müller.
Incitement of the people, Ms. Müller.
Report to number eight, Prinz Albrechtstrasse.
- To the final victory. - Heil Hitler.
- Schnapps? - Yes.
- What's the matter? - You flirted with him.
I saved you, you schmendrick.
- Greta, we've got to go. - Now?
Charly was going to...
- That can wait. - The war will be over by Christmas.
Yes, let's swear that we'll all be back here by Christmas.
- Right here in this room. - All right.
- Alive. - Christmas in Berlin.
- Christmas in Berlin.
Wait, I'll take a photograph. Come on, get ready.
- Over there, by the shelves. - Over here?
Yes, that's good.
Sit down on a stool or something.
Friedhelm, come to the front beside Greta.
We were five friends.
We were young and we knew that the future would be ours.
The world lay before us,
we just had to take it.
We were immortal.
We would soon know better.
JULY 1941
July 10th, 1941.
This is going to be a war unlike any war before it.
It is a thrill to advance.
The euphoria of speed,
further and further and further.
The endlessness of space.
Landscapes like we'd never seen. Fields to the horizon.
BORISOV... RUSSIA MOSCOW: 680 KM
Skies so big and blue,
as if God was dazzling us with his creative might.
Isn't it splendid?
Next year, all this will be German farmland.
My men fight like heroes.
They are at the front in each battle.
All except Friedhelm,
whom everyone considers a coward,
who provokes me daily,
and for whom I am ashamed.
- So, how far is it to Moscow? - About 700 kilometers.
Let's drive on, we're the Windhunde.
Breakfast on Red Square, with vodka and caviar.
But how would you become a hero?
He's not killed a single Russian and already the war is won.
- Exactly. - If the Russians keep surrendering,
- I'll just have to shoot prisoners. - Winter wants to read them poetry.
- How many have you shot, Cook? - I bet at least ten.
It's not going to be all that bad.
Are you coming?
He's only going to give you a piece of his mind.
Why do I have to see him in person anyway?
I already gave a statement last week.
I'd join you, but my train won't wait.
- It's all right, I'll be fine. - I have no doubt about that.
Charly, how do I look?
Like a film star.
Ms. Müller...
please.
How are your friends? Any news from the front?
Just victories.
So you like swing?
I like modern music.
You do know that Minister Goebbels
calls it degenerate nigger music?
We all...
make mistakes.
I agree.
Would you like a cigarette?
Thank you.
I had your statement brought to me.
- You used to sing yourself? - Yes.
I have good connections at the Reichs Broadcasting Service.
Perhaps something can be arranged.
That would be wonderful.
Marlene Dietrich...
Perhaps you shouldn't mention her...
but maybe you could sing something for me?
MARTYUKHOVA... RUSSIA MOSCOW: 580 KM
- Captain Feigl. - Wilhelm.
Resistance in a factory 6.5 km to the northwest.
We should waste no time.
The company will go around them and push on.
Take your best men, root them out and then rejoin us.
- Got that? - Yes, Captain.
Good luck.
We're to clear out a factory to the northwest.
Döring, Fleck, Pokrovka, we'll meet you there. Understood?
- Yes, sir. - Right, let's go.
- Let's have their guts for garters. - Yes, sir.
Let's give Ivan a beating, shall we?
FRONT-LINE HOSPITAL... SMOLENSK MOSCOW: 500 KM
- Welcome, I'm Head Nurse Brigitte. - Hildegard.
- Charlotte, pleased to meet you. - Come in, I'll show you around.
Minor injuries are dealt with here. The severely injured are in Ward A.
The infectious cases are in Ward C.
- What was this before? - A maternity ward.
You know why we're here, right?
To serve our German men.
These are the new nurses. This is Field Surgeon Dr. Jahn.
- I need you in the operating room. - Right away, Dr. Jahn.
No unprofessional contact with the soldiers.
And certainly none with the doctors. If I hear of any, I'll move you.
We represent the German woman.
Serve the German men. Sounds promising.
Hildegard.
Four or five. In the factory, up there.
A heavy machine gun.
We've ordered them to surrender.
Two on the right flank. I need two men.
Yes, sir.
Well, any volunteers?
Bartel, Schmidt, go with the lieutenant.
Wait, the LMG can provide cover.
Give your rifle to Schmidt, you fool.
Freitag, Cook and Verbinsky, come with me.
It's time to prove what you're made of. I can't hear you.
- Sweat for blood! - March!
Go, go, go, go, go!
Maybe we got them all.
Or they're on the phone to their...
We need cover.
Hang in there, Schmidt.
Go, Bartel.
Go, go, go, go, go!
Should I shoot them...
Lieutenant?
- Damn Jewish, Bolshevist pig. - Schneider.
- Schmidt should still be alive. - Pull yourself together.
- But he... - Shut up. Fetch that machine gun.
Yes, Lieutenant.
- Where's Freitag? - The medic is taking care of him.
- Take these men to the truck. - But they're communist...
He's to be interrogated, understood?
Take them away.
You heard the man.
Verbinsky.
Look, this is for the cook.
I have my grandmother's recipe for meat soup.
Come on, schnitzel. Come along.
This seam isn't straight. You'll have to redo it.
Yes, and this cuff, too.
It that all? The cuff?
Good work will always remain good work.
They won't treat us as human beings.
Don't exaggerate.
Why would they want rid of us?
When we've won the war against Stalin,
everything will calm down again.
Since when is this our war?
I've always served Germany faithfully.
People won't forget that.
Are you still seeing that girl?
Why do you ask?
You know that it's prohibited. Do you trust her?
There's a letter from Charly.
She says that the war is splendid. We're getting stronger.
She also says we'll celebrate Christmas together.
And guess what? Her hospital is very close to Wilhelm's unit.
I'm going to the American Embassy tomorrow.
What? Why?
When I'm famous, I'll make sure that you're safe.
Heinz Rühmann has a Jewish wife, too.
He divorced his Jewish wife.
What did he want?
Trust me.
Clamp.
Tell my wife... Please...
Compress. Compress, quickly, or else he'll bleed to death.
Scalpel.
Get out. Get out. Go on, get out of here!
You... You, come here.
POKROVKA - RUSSIA COMPANY QUARTERS
Hartmann,
your communist comrades seem quick
to understand Aryan supremacy.
It's a gift from the Führer.
This is just the soup. The cook has schnitzel for us afterwards,
and the rest of the calf is for sandwiches.
- There's soup, Cook. - Yes, Lieutenant.
Friedhelm.
What is the meaning of this?
Did I forget to salute you, Lieutenant?
You know exactly what I mean.
You're the only person never to volunteer.
In the fight against international financial Judaism, eh?
- One hero in the family is enough. - Here, I'm not your brother...
but your superior.
Friedhelm, you know what they think of you.
I could protect you from Dad, but...
I never asked you to do that.
You know what? If you want me in the squad, then put me in it.
Men, let's pay a final tribute to Schmidt.
To Schmidt.
Hey, Winter, you can cut a notch in your butt now, too.
When you need another shot, borrow one of our rifles.
Anyone heard anything about Freitag?
He's in hospital.
- Good operation, Lieutenant. - Thank you, Captain.
If you want me to inform Schmidt's parents...
I'm just doing that.
The Russian commissioner has been interrogated.
He's a fanatic.
He says that we'll never win.
He can be shot now.
- But the man is a prisoner of war. - You know the orders.
The Soviets didn't sign the Geneva Convention.
Political commissars are to be executed forthwith.
This isn't a normal war, this is a philosophy.
Do it somewhere out of the way, so the troops don't get too callous.
Here you are.
It happens to the best of us.
I got the scissors and the clamp mixed up during my first operation.
Did he make it?
Two centimeters less might be better.
Hold still.
- And that cleavage should... - Reach to your belly button.
I know. Now stand still.
How long will it take?
All right, I'm standing still.
We can't carry on like this. There are rumors.
Rumors?
The Jews are being sent east.
Did you go to the American Embassy?
There are no new figures. Nobody's coming out anymore.
Turn around.
Is it true that the Lieutenant had to execute the prisoner?
Yes.
I hope Stalin hangs on a while.
Imagine he surrenders tomorrow,
we'd never get to Moscow.
You'd all go home in good uniforms and medals.
The girls would be all over you.
Me, I'd just be an ordinary civilian.
It's true, isn't it?
My old man never strayed more than 10 km from his farm all his life,
and here I am, 1000 km away, and do you know why?
The Führer said that there will be land here for us all,
and I'm staying here. I'll find me a wife and stay.
It will be well nourished
with our blood.
Not with yours, Winter.
You're clever enough to duck as soon as Ivan fires a shot.
I'm just letting you go first.
I know how much you want that Iron Cross.
What?
What did you say?
Attention.
It's time to call it a night. We set off at 0600 hours.
It's going to be a tough day tomorrow.
Good night.
Let's hit the sack, men. We start at six.
The poor lieutenant...
Christ, Cook, he did it for us.
Not for me.
But someone else would have had...
No, they wouldn't have.
Would the Russians be any different?
Perhaps they're just in the process of learning from us.
- What did you learn? - I don't know...
You don't know? Do you think swearing an oath...
- ..is enough to be a nurse? - No, I...
Dr. Jahn doesn't want you in the OT.
- It will never happen again. - Change bedpans and bandages.
Choose yourself a Ukrainian helper.
Maybe that's something you can do.
Who has experience with sick and wounded?
Who speaks German?
What's a syringe?
For injections.
In the hat?
Yes.
But if the hat is ill, it will not make him healthy again.
You have experience with ill people?
Yes.
Are you Jewish?
No.
Good.
Come with me. You lot, get out of here.
Where were you all night? Were you with that girl again?
- What are you doing there? - Dr. Goebbels' latest idea.
We have to wear one. For protection.
It's law. Even if it's wrong,
a good German doesn't break the law.
Here, thread number three.
We're not Germans anymore. Not to them.
- Your pride will cost you dearly. - Viktor.
Viktor, what are you doing?
How can you talk to your father like that?
There's so much he no longer understands.
It's all right.
- Did you go to the embassy? - Yes.
As soon as they have new quotas, we'll be able to go.
September 19th, 1941.
We take hundreds of thousands of Russians prisoners,
but still they don't give up. They fight for each house,
but these are the final spasms of a giant about to fall.
I'm still optimistic we'll be home by Christmas,
and yet this isn't the war I was expecting.
SMOLENSK... RUSSIA MOSCOW: 500 KM
The Intelligence Service
is in the middle of a cleansing operation.
Nobody is to go in, nobody is to come out.
What do we do if someone wants to get through?
Shoot them.
I like to shoot. Don't you?
My dad became unemployed when I was seven.
We used to go hunting in the forest.
He was out of work until the Führer came to power.
There they are, finally.
Auxiliary police.
There are children among them, too.
They can't kill civilians.
Hey!
Stoj. Let her go. How do you say "right now"?
What's going on?
Let her go.
- Major. - Lieutenant.
The girl belongs to the Intelligence Service.
She's under the army's jurisdiction, as are all civilians.
She's not a civilian, she's a Jew.
Orders are orders.
And yours are to kill civilians?
How honorable for a German officer.
The girl is your responsibility until I've sorted this out.
- As you wish, Lieutenant. - Major.
I need documents...
for a friend who has to leave Germany.
For a friend?
Can you help him?
A Jew?
Believe me, that problem will soon disappear.
What do you mean?
You worry about the things you're good at.
The problem will soon...
I said, worry about the things you're good at.
How's your program coming along?
Very well.
Good.
Believe me...
I'm going to make you a star.
Leningrad is surrounded since September 7th,
Kiev is about to fall, Moscow is just 500 km away.
Command says the Russians will make a final, futile attempt to stop us.
Use the time to get materials and weapons ready.
You're dismissed, gentlemen.
Lieutenant Winter, I'd like a word.
Have you gone mad?
A major of the Intelligence Service?
- He executed a child. - Where the Jew is, is the partisan.
- We're fighting a war. - That's not war.
Yes, it is. A new type, in the name of the Führer.
If we lose it, then God won't be able to save us, let alone the Führer.
In that case, we must under no circumstances lose.
You're my best man.
You've got quite a career ahead of you. Don't ruin it.
Wilhelm...
we have to say farewell to the world as we know it.
- She was eleven at the most. - It's about the purity of our race.
- Jews are spoiling German blood. - Shut up, Schneider.
- It says so in "Mein Kampf." - You can read, can you?
We're defending our homeland.
And what do you think they're doing? Exactly the same thing.
- Major. - Lieutenant.
I'm sorry about the mess earlier on. It was unnecessary.
But Jewish blood is so malicious,
it squirts all over the place, unpredictably.
And that's why the Jews are so dangerous.
Attention.
Lilija, no.
- Let Dr. Jahn do it. - Hold it.
It's a broken arm. We have to wait.
It's not broken. Hold it, here.
Here.
It's not broken.
What have we got here?
A dislocated shoulder.
We've taken care of it.
Very good, Nurse Charlotte.
You're slowly getting there.
Thank you.
All's quiet, Ivan is scared shitless.
Even so, I don't think you can sleep, Winter.
That's right.
It's a damn Russian sewing machine.
They've switched off their lights.
Winter, put that cigarette out.
Are you mad, Winter? Put that cigarette out.
Winter, you idiot, you're going to pay for this!
You did that deliberately, Winter!
An artillery lieutenant has been brought into Ward A.
He's dashing.
What?
They haven't seen a woman for weeks. We're strengthening their resolve.
If they catch you...
She's so much better than we are.
There's morphine missing again.
Maybe she's working for the partisans.
What if they come in at night and kill our defenseless soldiers?
And I selected her, too.
Bastard, you're not just a shame to the company,
but to your brother, too.
Tell me, Schneider,
has anyone ever told you that you look rather Jewish?
Stop it. Schneider, that's enough.
Take him to the sick bay.
- Did you see her legs? - Yes.
- Well? - Well?
- Yours are better. - That's right...
and I'm a better singer than Marika Rükk.
The circle was already sold out.
Darling, are you coming?
Otherwise we'll miss the weekly news.
They say that the Russian southwest line has been broken.
You were lucky.
We can discharge you again soon.
Nurse Charlotte, five Russian armies have surrendered.
We're moving east towards the front.
When the 60th Infantry Regiment arrives, we're leaving.
Get everything ready.
The 60th?
That's Wilhelm's unit, isn't it?
Does he ever talk about me?
Yes.
Out you go, men.
Lieutenant Winter. My orders are to...
I know, we're getting an escort.
The partisans have gained strength.
Thanks to our far-sighted policy
of treating the population as inferior.
Friedhelm.
- How are you? - Fine.
That's good to hear.
I bet a good-looking lieutenant like you has a big lighter.
Wilhelm.
Charly.
- How are you? - Fine.
- You look great. - Thank you.
A proper front-line nurse.
Have you found the right one yet, with so many men around?
Yes.
Take care, Charly.
Bye then.
Christmas in Berlin.
I have an hour.
There are rumors that Hitler will soon decree
that the emigration of Jews is prohibited without exception.
Tell him the noose is tightening.
And I'm warning you,
racial shame is a crime.
A Jewish boyfriend is dangerous if you want to achieve anything.
What is it?
You think it's more dangerous than having an affair with a German girl?
When you have a wife and daughter?
Do you have the documents?
I need a passport photograph.
- Did you forget... - Surprised?
Have you finally finished my dress?
Why bother? You'll just take it off again.
Since when have I been accountable to you?
- A greedy, crooked-nosed Jew? - We're not engaged.
You ought to be more grateful.
October 7th, 1941.
The rainy season has started.
It's a flood, bringing everything to a halt.
The end of the blitzkrieg.
It's as if God has turned his back on us for all the horror we bring.
Maybe it's just the final test.
MOSCHAISK... RUSSIA MOSCOW: 100 KM
What?
He says we should stay on the left and that it will take about 12 hours.
So you mean that way?
And partisans?
I don't trust him.
- All right, let's go. - We're moving out.
Dorgerloch, Schneider, Bartel, you're with me.
Winter, you lead the rest.
Go a bit faster, Winter. I want to get out of this damn...
What?
Take it very easy, Cook, very easy.
Don't move, Cook.
Friedhelm.
Friedhelm, come on.
Mines!
- Mines! Retreat, men! - Easy, Cook.
Come on, Friedhelm.
- Say hello to my sister for me. - Come on!
Get out of here.
- Where is Nurse Hildegard? - Hildegard?
- Where have you been all this time? - Emptying bedpans.
Another two boxes of morphine are missing.
If you notice anything,
theft is punishable by death.
And turn up the music.
The entire swamp is mined.
We have to let the sappers go first.
But that means we're stuck here.
My men are exhausted already and we're unprepared for winter.
We'll freeze to death out here.
We'd lose too many men to mines.
Not necessarily ours, though.
Damn, Winter, that's good.
Those damn farmers are all partisans anyway.
After all, that guy sent us in here.
Better them than us.
Move, move! Move, you dirty bastard!
Anyone who stands still or tries to escape will be shot.
Did you hear that, Ivan? Did you hear that?
Move it, move it, move it!
Follow me in single file.
Remember our last evening in Berlin?
The five of us?
I was right.
This war would bring out only the worst in us.
Move it, move it, move it! Keep going!
You're so quiet. Are you all right?
Bad news?
You lied to me.
You're a doctor.
Yes.
And Jewish.
Yes.
Head Nurse...
His name is Hans Müller.
He's traveling to Paris for IG Farben.
The inspectorate has declared him indispensable.
He should hurry.
From Paris he needs to get to un-occupied territory, Marseille.
After that, he's on his own.
- Thank you. - If I ever see him again...
You won't.
December 1941.
Three meters of snow,
40 degrees below zero,
water freezes in seconds.
The push for Moscow has failed
and we're unprepared for winter.
We're dug into the rock-hard ground, as deep as we can,
like animals in holes, afraid of freezing to death.
Nothing is what we thought it would be.
GOLIZYNO... RUSSIA MOSCOW: 40KM
What have you got there, Winter?
Continue your duties, Bertok.
Are you insane?
I was about to burn it to warm myself.
We don't even have snow vests.
They can knock us off from a mile away.
Dorgerloch is trying to get some bed linen from the locals.
Why are you helping us?
The enemy?
I help people. It's what you do, too, isn't it?
- Why didn't you say anything? - What?
The handsome young man...
why didn't you say anything?
It's not easy.
Have you loved him for a long time?
Yes.
And you've always remained silent? Does he know?
I've no idea.
I don't think so.
Men never know.
All they ever do is fight.
And you?
I haven't heard from him since July.
Maybe you should leave here.
Why?
Nothing. It's all right.
Hitler has declared war on America.
When he starts a war, he does it properly.
This is going to finish him once and for all.
We shouldn't have read the Torah, but their bible.
You never read the Torah,
you always wanted to be a schmuck.
Lie down, I'll make you some tea.
Viktor...
you were right.
Your German girlfriend was here.
She left this for you.
She also said, Friedrich-strasse Station, tomorrow at 09:56.
Merry Christmas.
Tell me, at the hospital, did Charly...
did she ever say anything?
About you, you mean?
Ah, forget it.
Wilhelm...
she never stops talking about you.
Why don't you simply tell her, eh?
I get it. You don't want to give her hope,
because you don't know whether you'll get home alive.
Do you still have your photograph?
- Of course. - Do you remember?
The war would be over by Christmas, you said.
And the five of us would be together in Berlin.
- Lilija, you have to leave. - He needs clean bandages.
No, you have to leave now.
A nurse Charlotte reported a Jew hiding here.
Thank you.
I'm sorry.
When do you think it's going to start up again?
I don't know.
Maybe when the snow melts.
My little boy...
my little boy, my little boy...
No, he's asleep. It would only break his heart.
You have to go now, my little boy.
My little boy.
You have to think of yourself. Do that for me, please.
Now go, go.
When I get to New York, I'll send for you.
Yes.
Write to us. Write when you get there.
Good morning, ladies.
We need a food bearer.
I'll do it.
Fine. Winter.
Please take care of my parents, Viktor.
Lieutenant.
- Isn't my brother back yet? - No.
How long has he been gone?
More than three hours.
Miss Müller?
Del Torres.
Miss Del Torres, are you ready?
Greta?
Yes, of course. I'm ready.
Then it's all yours.
We're recording.
My small little small
Beats only for you
Counts the hours till you return
Then you'll embrace me
My little small
Is dreaming of happiness
It's waiting for you at home
And knows you'll return soon
Filled with love
You'll look at me
Our lips will softly part
And I'll know you're my man
My little small
Never rests
It keeps me awake all through the night
And keeps beating you-you
My little small
Is longing for you
It knows the answer when you finally ask
Yes, I belong to you
Yes, I belong to you.
Have a good trip.
Attack!
Go, go, go, go, go!
It's... it's your brother.
Artillery, fire!
Take cover!
Hold your fire until my command!
Fire at will!
We were five, five friends.
The whole world lay before us.
All we had to do was take it.
That was six months ago.
A lifetime.