Scenes From the Third Reich

Nazi Germany, 1930s. Four scenes of private life as impacted by public circumstances.

1. “The Betrayal”: A couple may have given away their neighbor to the authorities because they heard foreign radio broadcasts coming from his apartment—and reported it. Yet they are upset that the man’s coat was ripped during the arrest.

2. “The Release”: The betrayed man has been released, after torture, from a concentration camp. He returns home to greet his neighbors: unbeknownst to him, the very ones who may have betrayed him.

3. “The Sermon”: A PRIEST tries to comfort a dying man, but he cannot answer the man’s pointed questions without putting himself at risk with the authorities.

4. “The Box”: The remains of the dead man’s son are brought home in a zinc coffin. His family is told he died of pneumonia, but, despite the fact that he was a soldier, the boy may have been too outspoken—and suffered violent retribution in return. A worker friend wants to look inside the coffin but his wife advises him not to do so, warning that he might be the next victim.