Trotz alledem! (1972)

After several years, Karl Liebknecht is released from prison on October 23, 1918. The First World War is nearly over, and Liebknecht knows that unrest is brewing among the workers. Friedrich Ebert also senses that a revolution is coming and wants to force the Kaiser to abdicate in order to calm the masses. The Kaiser, however, initially refuses. Liebknecht knows about the Kiel sailors’ uprising and urges that the revolution be declared throughout the country, but the workers in Berlin believe they are not yet ready for a revolution. Liebknecht’s heated exchanges with Ebert and Scheidemann also leave the masses wavering, so Liebknecht refuses to stand alongside those who support the war. The Schreiner family is divided, too: while Father Schreiner sides with the imperial troops, Milda, Käthe, and Kulle Schreiner fight alongside Liebknecht. When the Kiel sailors’ uprising spreads across the Reich, Liebknecht takes its lead and, on November 9, 1918, proclaims the “Free Socialist Republic of Germany” in Berlin. The insurgents occupy the Berlin Palace, and the Kaiser flees. The revolution’s victory does not last long, however. With Ebert’s knowledge, preparations are made for an attack on the insurgents. On December 24, while many workers are with their families, the imperial military takes the Berlin Palace. There are public calls for Liebknecht’s murder, and he goes into hiding underground. A hunt for Communists ensues, along with public executions. In mid-January 1919, the Spartacists’ newspaper, Die Rote Fahne, announces the murder of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. In Berlin, a funeral procession gathers to pay its last respects to the two murdered people, despite the threat from the military.