| Genre: | Political drama |
| Screenplay: | Klaus Jörn Hans-Joachim Kasprzik |
| Director: | Hans-Joachim Kasprzik |
| Starring: | Erwin Geschonneck |
| Theme Music Composer: | Günter Hauk |
| Country: | East Germany |
| Language: | German |
| Num Episodes: | 3 |
| Producer: | Adolf Fischer |
| Cinematography: | Lothar Gerber |
| Runtime: | 314 minutes (total) |
| Company: | DEFA |
Jeder stirbt für sich allein (1970) is a German television miniseries produced by DEFA in the former German Democratic Republic. The story was adapted from the 1947 Hans Fallada novel, Every Man Dies Alone, known in the UK as Alone in Berlin. It was directed by Hans-Joachim Kasprzik and starred Erwin Geschonneck.
The three-part miniseries was directed by Hans-Joachim Kasprzik, who also co-wrote the screenplay. It stars Erwin Geschonneck and Else Grube-Deister as Otto and Anna Quangel.[1] [2] It is based on a true story, that of Otto and Elise Hampel, a working class couple in wartime Berlin who began a postcard campaign to resist the Nazis and the Third Reich and were arrested, tried before the Volksgerichtshof and executed at Plötzensee Prison.
The story takes place in Berlin in 1940, where Otto Quangel is a toolmaker at a factory. His wife, Anna, is a homemaker. Though their son is fighting on the front, they are apolitical and Otto is not a member of any political party. Otto and Anna learn that their son has fallen "like a hero" in France and are devastated. In addition, a Jewish neighbor meets a violent death.[3] In his grief and horror, Otto becomes politicized and decides to take action against the Nazis, hoping to foment a mass rebellion against Hitler. Though nothing comes of their efforts, the Quangels remain proud of what they've done; it enabled them to retain their faith in humanity. They are arrested, separated, tried, sentenced and executed.
The kabel eins film lexicon calls the miniseries, "A star-studded, evocative, solid film that centers on the anti-fascist resistance struggle of a working class couple."