The part depicting Adolf Hitler in white trench coat in a the terrace having cake is taken from some extremely rare color footage taken by Eva Braun herself, Hitler's mistress and later wife, in the Berghof, Hitler's private residence in Bavaria, during his birthday. The scenes were painstakingly reconstructed not only to include postures, scenery and uniforms, but also the guests: head of SS Heinrich Himmler and Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, Eva Braun herself, Hitler's German shepherd dog Blondi and the two young boys, who were Goebbels' eldest children. There is even a part when Hitler scolds Eva from smoking and then a general looks warily to the camera when pointed at him. All of this is genuine and can be seen in the complete footage.
A number of the characters in the film are based on real people, on whose testimonies the screenplay was based; and, as mentioned in the opening credits, every event occurring in the film, no matter how extreme, actually happened.
Rose Bosch auditioned 200 children for the role of Jo Weismann and approximately 100 for the other child roles.
Producer Alain Goldman's intention was to make a French Schindler's List (1993) as he felt no French film had yet truly approached the subject.
The Vélodrome d'Hiver was recreated at the Mafilm studios in Budapest, Hungary.