Das zweite Gleis (1962)

During the night shift on Track 2, dispatcher Walter Brock catches two men breaking into a railway car. At the lineup, he thinks he recognizes one of them, but shortly afterward he pretends he was mistaken. The suspect, Erwin Runge, also has a feeling that he knows Brock from before, though the name means nothing to him. He asks his accomplice Frank Reisner, who had gone unnoticed, to investigate the family’s background by approaching Brock’s daughter Vera. Vera works as a technical draftsman at the RAW and conducts the works orchestra. Frank introduces himself as a new violinist, but proves to be unmusical. Frank and Vera grow close, and Vera tells him that her family is from Küstrin. Her mother was killed when the small town was bombed, and Vera was taken to the local orphanage, where her father eventually came to collect her in 1946. Erwin himself is from Küstrin and knows that the town was never bombed. He had known a man resembling Walter Brock only by the name “Merkel.” Meanwhile, Walter Brock is trying to get transferred to Rostock as quickly as possible, which makes his superior suspicious. When Frank tells Vera that Küstrin was never bombed and that Walter Brock is supposedly called “Merkel,” she sets out with him to find the truth. They travel to Arnstadt, where the Küstrin orphanage was supposedly relocated. Vera wants to see her file there. She had been brought to the orphanage as “Vera Merkel” by a woman named Gertrud Runge from Arnstadt. Vera and Frank seek out Gertrud Runge, who now works as a teacher and is overjoyed to see Vera again. She tells them the truth: In 1944, Anneliese Merkel, Vera’s mother, came into her grocery shop and wanted to trade a necklace for food. When Gertrud hesitated, Anneliese used up all her ration coupons. A few minutes later, Walter unexpectedly came home on leave from the front for a day. At the time, Gertrud was married to Erwin Runge, who planned to go looking that evening for an escaped Jew—with Walter, who refused. But when Walter found the Jew in his workshop, he betrayed him to Erwin, who shot him. Because Anneliese had hidden the Jew in the workshop for some time and provided him with food and clothing, the Gestapo arrested her and executed her later in 1944. Gertrud separated from Erwin and took Vera in because Walter had to return to the front. When Gertrud was hospitalized, she took Vera to the orphanage. By the time she wanted to take her back, Walter had already collected her from the orphanage and taken her home, adopting the name “Brock” and wiping out all traces. That evening, Frank goes to Erwin and confronts him with what he knows. He threatens to expose Erwin’s identity. Frank also tries to persuade Walter to speak openly, especially since Vera already knows all the details. When Erwin reports a broken rail to Walter, Frank, the only welder on duty during the night shift, is assigned to repair it. Erwin secretly switches a track point and sends a train onto the track that is supposed to be closed, where Frank is working. Walter sees what Erwin does and tries to warn Frank, but Frank is run over and killed by the train. Vera has heard what happened and hurries to the freight yard. Meanwhile, Walter states that Frank was not involved in an accident: Erwin deliberately switched the track. He intends to testify against Erwin and himself. When Vera arrives, she rushes past him to the scene of the accident. She walks on, and he follows at some distance, which gradually grows smaller.