World War II · Series · 2013
Generation War
Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter
Five young friends say goodbye in a Berlin bar in 1941: two brothers leave for the Eastern Front, a nurse follows them, a singer chases fame and their Jewish friend is left to face the Reich alone.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 4 places.
Stop 1: Berlin
On the eve of the invasion of the Soviet Union, the five friends celebrate together and promise to meet again by Christmas.
Stop 2: Kursk salient
Key location
Worn down by two years in Russia, the brothers' platoon is thrown into the great summer offensive as the war turns against Germany.
Stop 3: Gestapo prison, Berlin
Arrested for defeatist remarks, Greta waits in a cell while her former protector in the SS decides her fate.
Stop 4: Ruins of Berlin
When the war is over, whoever is left comes back to the ruined bar where it all began.
What really happened
The three-part ZDF drama follows the arc of the German war in the East, from the confident invasion of June 1941 to the failed Kursk offensive of July 1943, Operation Citadel, and the collapse of 1945. It was praised in Germany for showing ordinary soldiers taking part in the murder of Jews and civilians, a subject long kept out of popular war stories.
It was also sharply criticised, above all in Poland, for portraying the Home Army partisans as antisemitic almost to a man, and by historians who felt its likeable heroes let an entire generation off too lightly. Viktor's escape from a deportation train and the execution of dissenters like Greta reflect real cases, but the characters are fictional.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter
- Created by
- Stefan Kolditz
- Countries
- Germany
- Languages
- German, Russian, Polish
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Released
- 2013
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Eastern Front
- Themes
- Combat
- Holocaust
- Home front
