Ernst Thälmann – Leader of the Working Class (1955)

• 62%
• 1955
• Drama
• History
• Kurt Maetzig
• Günther Simon
• Hans-Peter Minetti
• Karla Runkehl

The second part of the Ernst Thaelmann films encompasses the time period between 1930 and Thaelmann's murder in 1944. It shows Thaelmann's battle to achieve a united front with all German workers against the National Socialists, his arrest following Hitler's seizure of power and the eleven years of his incarceration, in which he unwaveringly clings to his beliefs until his death. An attempt to free him on the part of his comrades ends disastrously, and a corrupt offer of freedom from Goering himself receives Thaelmann's refusal. He must also witness how his brave fellow socialist Aenne Jansen in the women's prison across from his tragically loses her life during a bombing raid. The second primary character of the film is Aenne's husband Fiete Jansen, who already proved his loyalty to Thaelmann's side as a friend and fighter in the first part. As the commander of the Thaelmann Batallion, he fights in Spain on the side of the people and later in the ranks of the Red Army toward a speedy end to the war against fascism.