Die Verlobte (1980)

Germany, 1934: The communist Hella Lindau works with her boyfriend, Hermann Reimers, against the fascists. Although she realizes that their fellow activist Irene cannot withstand the pressure and warns the others, they do not take her concerns seriously. Hermann sends Hella to Irene with a large sum of money, but Irene has betrayed their plan. Hella is arrested, takes the blame, and is sentenced to ten years in a penitentiary. She spends the first two years in solitary confinement. Her only window onto the outside world is a small window in her cell. After two years, her prison conditions are eased somewhat. While doing laundry, she comes into contact with other women, but is punished with twelve days in a dark cell when she speaks out against the way they are treated. A first meeting with Hermann is abruptly called off because Hella has not finished the work assigned to her. At the next inspection, she has done more than required. At her first reunion with Hermann, Hella collapses. Hermann has tried in vain to obtain permission to marry Hella while she is imprisoned. He ingratiates himself with Hensch of the Gestapo, a passionate beekeeper, because Hermann’s father also keeps bees. In this way, he manages to have Hella’s prison conditions improved after three years. She is assigned to the laundry, where, as a “political prisoner,” she is put in charge of the officials’ laundry, which the other washerwomen—prostitutes and murderers—are not allowed to touch. Throughout her years in prison, Hella keeps her love for Hermann alive; he writes her letters, even as the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact plunges her into deep doubt and confusion. From time to time, the prisoners learn of political events beyond the prison walls. The few communists in the penitentiary take a wait-and-see attitude toward the invasion of Russia: the Soviet Union is vast, and the advance cannot last more than two years. The tide of war turns, and German cities are reduced to rubble. Hermann has to report regularly to the Gestapo office. Shortly before Hella’s release, Hermann is arrested in 1944, as a great deal of evidence against him and other communists has been gathered over the years. Hella is summoned and questioned again, but sticks to her earlier statement. In prison, with a guard covering for her, Hella is allowed to go secretly to Hermann and embraces him tightly as he stands shackled. Hermann is led away and deported. In a letter to Hella, he predicts his own death. When Hella is released from the penitentiary, she ends up sitting alone outside Hermann’s front door.