''Everyone Dies Alone'' / ''

Alone in Berlin ''Every Man Dies Alone'' or ''Alone in Berlin'' (german: Jeder stirbt für sich allein) is a 1947 novel by German author Hans Fallada. It is based on the true story of working-class husband and wife Otto and Elise Hampel who, acting alone, beca ...

'' (Original title: ''Jeder stirbt für sich allein'') is a 1976 West German

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

adapted from the

Hans Fallada Hans Fallada (; born Rudolf Wilhelm Friedrich Ditzen; 21 July 18935 February 1947) was a German writer of the first half of the 20th century. Some of his better known novels include '' Little Man, What Now?'' (1932) and ''Every Man Dies Alone'' ...

novel '' Every Man Dies Alone''. The book was based on the story of two ordinary Germans,

Otto and Elise Hampel Otto and Elise Hampel were a working class German couple who created a simple method of protest against Nazism in Berlin during the middle years of World War II. They wrote postcards denouncing Hitler's government and left them in public pla ...

, who committed acts of civil disobedience against the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, were caught and sentenced to death.

Synopsis

The film takes place in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in 1940, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

is at the height of his power. Anna and Otto Quangel, a working class couple, live in Berlin in simple circumstances and are not particularly interested in politics. Then, their only son is killed in action during the Battle of France and as they grieve for their son, the desire to resist the Nazi regime grows within them. When a Jewish neighbor is also killed, Anna decides to join the German Resistance. She begins writing very personal flyers on postcards, which she at first alone and then with her husband, leaves in public places and slips into mailboxes. The two are discovered, arrested and eventually sentenced to

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

. Otto Quangel commits suicide in the courtroom with a

cyanide pill A suicide pill (also known as the cyanide pill, kill-pill, lethal pill, death-pill, or L-pill) is a pill, capsule, ampoule, or tablet containing a fatally poisonous substance that a person ingests deliberately in order to achieve death quickly t ...

; his wife is executed two months later.

Reception

The ''Lexikon des deutschen Films'' published in 1995 by German publisher

Reclam Reclam Verlag is a German publishing house, established in Leipzig in 1828 by Anton Philipp Reclam (1807–1896).

Other screen versions

There are two earlier screen adaptations of Fallada's book and one later. The first filmed version was

Falk Harnack Falk Harnack (2 March 1913 – 3 September 1991) was a German director and screenwriter. During Germany's Nazi era, he was also active with the German Resistance and toward the end of World War II, the partisans in Greece. Harnack was from a fam ...

's 1962 television play, '' Jeder stirbt für sich allein'' produced and broadcast in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. Anna and Otto Quangel were played by

Edith Schultze-Westrum Edith Käthe Elisabeth Schultze-Westrum (30 December 1904 – 20 March 1981) was a German film actress. She appeared in more than 60 films between 1932 and 1979. These included the role of Mrs. Hudson in the 1962 film '' Sherlock Holmes an ...

and Alfred Schieske. In 1970,

DEFA DEFA (''Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft'') was the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) throughout the country's existence. Since 2019, DEFA's film heritage has been made accessible and licensable on the PRO ...

produced a three-part miniseries, '' Jeder stirbt für sich allein'' in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, directed by Hans-Joachim Kasprzik. Elsa Grube-Deister and Erwin Geschonneck played the main roles and supported by

Wolfgang Kieling Wolfgang Kieling (16 March 1924 – 7 October 1985) was a German actor. Biography In films since childhood in his native Germany, Kieling appeared in a few American films, notably in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Torn Curtain'' (1966), where he play ...

and

Fred Delmare Werner Vorndran (24 April 1922 – 1 May 2009), known professionally as Fred Delmare, was a German actor. Life and work Werner Vorndran was the son of a carpenter and a seamstress and grew up in Hüttensteinach at Sonneberg in Thuringia, wh ...

among others. In 2004, a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

version, ''I ve smrti sami'', was produced as a television miniseries, directed by Dušan Kleina and broadcast in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. As ''Alone in Berlin'' the novel was again adapted for the big screen in 2016. It was directed by

Vincent Perez Vincent Perez (born 10 June 1964) is a Swiss actor, director and photographer. He played the title character, Ashe Corven, in '' The Crow: City of Angels'', and starred in '' Queen of the Damned'', playing Marius de Romanus. Some of his films i ...

with Emma Thompson and

Brendan Gleeson Brendan Gleeson (born 29 March 1955) is an Irish actor and film director. He is the recipient of three IFTA Awards, two British Independent Film Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award and has been nominated twice for a BAFTA Award and four times fo ...

Cast

Hildegard Knef Hildegard Frieda Albertine Knef (; 28 December 19251 February 2002) was a German actress, voice actress, singer, and writer. She was billed in some English-language films as Hildegard Neff or Hildegarde Neff. Early years Hildegard Knef was born ...

as Anna Quangel *

Carl Raddatz Carl Raddatz (13 March 1912 – 19 May 2004) was a German stage and film actor. Raddatz was a leading man of German cinema during the Nazi era appearing in a number of propaganda films and romances. Later in his career he developed a reputation f ...

as Otto QuangelBiographie Carl Raddatz
Film Museum Potsdam. Retrieved March 5, 2012 * Martin Hirthe as Escherich *

Gerd Böckmann Gerd Böckmann (born 11 January 1944 in Chemnitz, Germany) is a German television actor. Selected filmography Television * ''Derrick'' - Season 2, Episode 10: ''"Kamillas junger Freund"'' (1975, TV) * ''Derrick'' - Season 4, Episode 6: ''"Das Kuc ...

as Schröder * Sylvia Manas as Trudel Baumann * Peter Matić as Enno Kluge *

Heinz Reincke Karl-Heinz Reincke (28 May 1925 – 13 July 2011) was a German-born actor, long-based in Vienna. Selected filmography Films *'' A Heart Returns Home'' (1956) - Besselmann *'' Confessions of Felix Krull'' (1957) - Stanko *''Tolle Nacht'' (1957 ...

as Emil Borkhausen * Beate Hasenau as Karla Borkhausen * Hans Korte as Obergruppenführer Prall *

Alexander Radszun Alexander Radszun (born 6 May 1952) is a German actor. He appeared in more than ninety films since 1975. Selected filmography References External links * * 1952 births Living people German male film actors German male television ...

as Otti Quangel *

Rudolf Fernau Rudolf Fernau (7 January 1898 – 4 November 1985) was a German film actor. He appeared in 53 films between 1936 and 1982. He was born and died in Munich, Germany. Selected filmography * '' The Traitor'' (1936) - Fritz Brockau * '' In the ...

Brigitte Mira Brigitte Mira (, 20 April 1910 – 8 March 2005) was a German actress. She worked in both theater and film, later in her career with Rainer Werner Fassbinder on many occasions. Believed to have been born in Hamburg, she moved early on to Berli ...

* Heinz Ehrenfreund *

Edith Heerdegen Edith Heerdegen (2 July 1913 – 13 July 1982) was a German actress. She appeared in more than 50 films and television shows between 1949 and 1982. Filmography References External links * 1913 births 1982 deaths German film actre ...

* Wilhelm Borchert *

Pinkas Braun Pinkas Braun (7 January 1923 – 24 June 2008) was a Swiss film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1952 and 2002. He was born in Zürich, Switzerland and died in Munich, Germany. Partial filmography * '' Sky Without Stars'' (1955) - Ko ...

* Friedrich G. Beckhaus * Kurt Buecheler * Dietrich Frauboes * Jacques Breuer * Wolf Goldan * Renate Grosser *

Heinz Spitzner The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six conti ...

Klaus Miedel Klaus is a German language, German, Dutch language, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus *Billy Klau ...

Arnold Marquis Arnold Marquis (6 April 1921 – 24 November 1990) was a German actor and voice talent. He was one of the best known and most frequently used dubbing voices of Germany, known especially as the voice of "tough guys" like John Wayne, Charles Bronson ...

* Otto Czarski

References

Sources

: ''Jeder stirbt für sich allein. Roman''. Aufbau-Verlag Berlin, ungekürzte Neuauflage 2011, 704 S.,

External links

*
''Jeder stirbt für sich allein''
Filmportal.de
''Jeder stirbt für sich allein... (mit Hildegard Knef, Hans Korte)''

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