Naked Among Wolves (1963 film)
| Naked Among Wolves (Nackt unter Wölfen) |
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The premiere of Naked Among Wolves. Colosseum cinema, East Berlin, 10 April 1963.
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| Directed by | Frank Beyer |
| Produced by | Hans Mahlich |
| Written by | Bruno Apitz Frank Beyer Willi Schafer |
| Starring | Jürgen Strauch Erwin Geschonneck Armin Mueller-Stahl |
| Music by | Joachim Werzlau |
| Cinematography | Günter Marczinkowksy |
| Edited by | Hildegard Conrad |
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| Distributed by | PROGRESS-Film Verleih |
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116 minutes |
| Country | German Democratic Republic |
| Language | German |
| Budget | 2,500,000 East German Mark |
Naked Among Wolves (German: Nackt unter Wölfen) is a 1963 East German film directed by Frank Beyer and starring Erwin Geschonneck and Armin Mueller-Stahl. The film is based on author Bruno Apitz's 1958 novel by the same name. The film was remade in 2015 under the direction of Philipp Kadelbach.
Buchenwald concentration camp, early 1945. A Polish prisoner named Jankowski, who has been on a death march from Auschwitz, brings a suitcase to the camp. When the inmates in the storage building open it, they discover a three-year-old child. Jankowski tells them he is the son of a couple from the Warsaw Ghetto, both of whom perished. Prisoner Kropinski becomes attached to the boy, and begs Kapo André Höfel to save him. Höfel, who is a member of the camp's secret communist underground, consults with senior member Bochow. He is instructed to send the child on the next transport to Sachsenhausen. Höfel cannot bring himself to do so, and hides him. Jankowski is deported to Sachsenhausen alone.
SS man Zweiling stumbles upon Höfel and his friend, fellow communist Pippig, as they play with the child. Knowing well that the American Army is approaching, Zweiling is convinced to turn a blind eye, hoping to present himself as a humane guard to the Americans. His wife tells him to get rid of the boy to avoid punishment by his superiors. Zweiling writes a denunciation letter to the Gestapo, making it appear as if it was composed by a prisoner. Kluttig and Reineboth, two other SS officers, realize that Zweiling was the informant, but choose to ignore it; they begin to search for the child. Kluttig is keen on massacring the camp's surviving prisoners, but commandant Schwahl forbids it, fearing American retribution - although he knows of the secret resistance. Kluttig and Reineboth brutally torture Höfel and Kropinski, but they refuse to tell the boy's whereabouts. The resistance's leaders meet to discuss the crisis, that may bring about an SS crackdown before their planned uprising. They determine to save the child, who is hidden in a barrack.
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