The November Revolution of 1918 and the political upheaval that followed in Germany were brought to the screen by DEFA in a range of different ways. DIE TOTEN BLEIBEN JUNG (Joachim Kunert, East Germany 1968), an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Anna Seghers, tells the story of the fates of a workers’ family as well as one from the nobility from 1918 to 1945. SCHWARZER ZWIEBACK (Herbert M. Rappaport, East Germany 1971) was made in collaboration with the USSR and is based on the experiences of Soviet revolutionary Yelisaveta Drabkina. In Moscow, the celebration for the first anniversary of the October revolution is linked to joy at news of the November revolution in Germany. The citizens of Moscow decided to send their starving class comrades a train full of bread and grains. A former prisoner-of-war and a Komosomol member accompany the train on its difficult journey. (jh) (5.11.)
