Rosen für den Staatsanwalt

In 2014 "Im Labyrinth des Schweigens" (Giulio Ricciarelli) was released and in 2015 "Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer" (Lars Kraume). Both films had the same theme. They were about ex nazi's building a new career in West Germany of the 50s under cover of a wall of silence.

Was the wall of silence in Germany complete? Was there no film director at that time who puts his finger on the sore spot? Yes there was, and his name was Wolfgang Staudte. His most successful period was 1945 - 1955 when he worked in East Germany. His films were also a personal redemption, because in the Second World War he has been an actor in Nazi propaganda films. In 1956 he moved to West Germany, where he made films and later cooperated in TV series such as "Der Kommissar" and "Tatort".

"Rosen fur den Staatsanwalt" is not from his most successful period and may not have the quality of his earlier movie "Die Mörder sind unter uns" (1946). It is nevertheless a courageous film, made in West Germany against the prevailing sentiment. On a certain point in the film Staudte not only criticizes the concealment of the Nazi past but also the way "das Wirtschaftswunder" works. A person learns about the Nazi activities of "der Staatsanwalt". In stead of making this public he tries to extort him with his information. It made me think of "Das mädchen Rosemarie" (1958, Rolf Thiele), a film I saw recently.