Dein unbekannter Bruder (1982)

Hamburg, 1935: The anti-fascist Arnold Clasen has just been released from a concentration camp. He earns his living as a film projectionist and otherwise keeps entirely to himself. He suspects that he is under close surveillance and is surprised when Walter, whom he does not know, suddenly appears as his contact in place of Stefan, the man he usually relies on. The anti-fascists’ actions are repeatedly thwarted before they can get off the ground. When a Nazi official appears at a factory and the workers are told to bring their complaints to him, one of them actually dares to do so and is arrested. A leaflet campaign at the same factory is reported and investigated before the shift even begins. Likewise, a red flag has been raised on the factory roof, and this incident has also come to the authorities’ attention. As anti-fascists from Walter’s group are arrested more and more often, Arnold goes to Stefan, the group’s leader, and voices his suspicion that Walter might be a mole. Arnold had seen Walter some time earlier during the arrest of workers at the harbor, and although several policemen confronted Walter, he managed to escape. Stefan, however, points to Walter’s long-standing proletarian convictions, which would make it virtually impossible for him to defect to the Nazis. In reality, however, Walter is a Nazi informer and betrays Arnold to his handlers, even though he is no longer psychologically capable of continuing his work as a spy. Arnold is arrested. Walter, in turn, is taken by his comrades to a remote fisherman’s hut, where they confront him as an enemy spy. After initially denying it, Walter admits to spying when he hears that Arnold has been arrested. He is left alone in the desolate place.