Fritz Friedlander(Jurgen Prochnow)was a German Jew who thought of himself as a German first and a Jew second. Unfortunately, the Nazi regime didn't see it that way, and he was constantly in danger of being exposed as a Jew, with all the prohibitions and punishments that entailed. His ticket to surviving the Nazi regime was his non-Jewish girlfriend, Nina (Jacqueline Bisset): a young countess, who had walked out of a brief marriage and been disowned by her family because of her liberal views. She was going to school to become a veterinarian. After falling in love with unemployed poet Fritz, she found a new avocation in helping an underground operation run by a Swedish clergyman. Sometimes , this didn't go well. One group of Jews she transferred to a new hiding place were found by the Gestapo and all shot. Nina barely survived. Another group were nailed in wooden crates and somehow placed on a train going to Switzerland. No word on whether they survived this ordeal, which Fritz almost joined.
By chance, while sitting on a park bench, Fritz encountered a Jew employed by the Gestapo to catch Jews in hiding. They were commonly called 'catchers', and were safe from punishment as long as they caught their quota. Fortunately, he didn't suspect Fritz of being a Jew. Fritz eventually went underground, hiding in Nina's apartment. She tried hiding an acquaintance of Fritz, as well, but found they made too much noise together, so kicked him out. Fritz's mother was invited to join the underground, but she refused, and didn't survive the war. Perhaps it was well she didn't hide in Nina's apartment, as the Gestapo eventually searched it.
Nina got pregnant, but couldn't claim Fritz as the father. So, she talked the Swedish clergyman into masquerading as such. As it turned out, the premature infant didn't survive.
Ironically, Fritz's Jewishness would eventually serve to save his life at the end of the war, and he would eventually marry Nina.
The film was loosely based on the non-fictional book "The Last Jews in Berlin", by Leonard Gross, still in print. The film was coproduced by Britain, West Germany, and the US, broadcast on TV in the US, and released into cinemas in other countries. It was filmed entirely in the greater Berlin area. You can see it on YouTube. Do not confuse it with a film of the same title released in 1953. The present film is not a remake of that film.
By chance, while sitting on a park bench, Fritz encountered a Jew employed by the Gestapo to catch Jews in hiding. They were commonly called 'catchers', and were safe from punishment as long as they caught their quota. Fortunately, he didn't suspect Fritz of being a Jew. Fritz eventually went underground, hiding in Nina's apartment. She tried hiding an acquaintance of Fritz, as well, but found they made too much noise together, so kicked him out. Fritz's mother was invited to join the underground, but she refused, and didn't survive the war. Perhaps it was well she didn't hide in Nina's apartment, as the Gestapo eventually searched it.
Nina got pregnant, but couldn't claim Fritz as the father. So, she talked the Swedish clergyman into masquerading as such. As it turned out, the premature infant didn't survive.
Ironically, Fritz's Jewishness would eventually serve to save his life at the end of the war, and he would eventually marry Nina.
The film was loosely based on the non-fictional book "The Last Jews in Berlin", by Leonard Gross, still in print. The film was coproduced by Britain, West Germany, and the US, broadcast on TV in the US, and released into cinemas in other countries. It was filmed entirely in the greater Berlin area. You can see it on YouTube. Do not confuse it with a film of the same title released in 1953. The present film is not a remake of that film.