Wednesday, October 2, 2024 is Fat Bear Week Begins.
Labyrinth of Lies is a 2015 German film with English subtitles. It is a based on true story about a legal drama, which involved German prosecutors investigating the German people involved at Auschwitz. The higher-level people had protection and no one was allowed to speak about the subject or particular people involved. As the prosecutors continued to fight for justice to arrest the people involved as well as others who were complicit, many lies were revealed. But the movie focuses on the main character, Johann Radmann, a young prosecutor determined to find the truth in 1958.
A 2015 German movie, Labyrinth of Lies is based on a true story
He starts by pursuing the Charles Schulz case. Then, he learns about Josef Mengele, who was involved in conducting experiments torturing children. He soon realizes that many Nazis have infiltrated the government and they work together. While working on his research, he gains access to more files. He wants to arrest Mengele but the authorities block him because Mengele is protected.
He helps his girlfriend, Marlene, start her own business as a dress designer. As he continues his research, he finds out that his father as well as Marlene’s father were Nazis. When he tells Marlene, she denies it because she doesn’t want to deal with the truth, which leads her to break up with Johann. He starts to struggle with the case, which leads him to resign. He calls up a businessman who had offered him a job, couple months before, and takes that job offer.
As a prosecutor, he keeps thinking about doing the right thing, which might entail going against the corrupt system. When he realizes one of his close colleagues had defended a Nazi, he realizes many people around him were complicit with the Nazis. He talks to his Jewish friend, who appears to be dying, and he agrees to say kaddish for the man’s two daughters who were killed in Auschwitz. His colleague drives him to the cemetery.
Then, he returns to his old job, fighting for justice and arresting Nazis involved at Auschwitz. The movie ends with a summary of the Frankfurt-Auschwitz trials, which took place from December 20, 1963 to August 19, 1965. 22 defendants were charged for their involvement in the Holocaust at Auschwitz-Birkenau and concentration camp. Only 789 people of 8,200 were actually tried, and 750 people of 789 got sentenced. The Frankfurt trials were based on the state laws of the Federal Republic.
Moreover, many of the senior camp leaders, such as Rudolf Hoss, were sent to Polish authorities in 1947. They were tried in Krakow and received a death sentence for their crimes and torture of prisoners at the concentration camps. Only Hans Munch was set free.
Fritz Bauer led the German prosecution, and only 22 people of 8000 were charged in their involvement with the administration and operation of the concentration camp. The men at the Frankfurt trials were charged only for the crimes that they had committed at Auschwitz on their own initiative. They weren’t tried for crimes committed when following orders from their superiors, which is considered an accomplice to murder and a lesser crime.
As I watched this movie, or actually read the subtitles while watching the movie, I noticed the information is similar to the movies, Zone of Interest, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Labyrinth of Lies is similar to a sequel movie to these two other movies because all three movies seem to go together. It is a good German drama movie, filled with German actors, as well as an Austrian actor and an American actor.
