Generation War (Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter)

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 17?

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 Miller.

Incitement of the people, Ms. Muller.

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. - 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 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. Muller...

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 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 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.