Europa Europa
A Jewish teenager survives the war by hiding his identity, ending up decorated and enrolled in a Hitler Youth school while concealing that he is a Jew.
Golden Globe, Best Foreign Language Film winner, 1992
Separated from his family after the German invasion, the Jewish teenager Solomon Perel survives by concealing who he is, passing at different times as a Soviet orphan and then as an ethnic German so convincing that he is sent to an elite Hitler Youth academy. Living in constant fear of exposure, he must perform an identity that would destroy him if the truth were known.
The film is a study of split identity, of the disavowal and daily vigilance survival demands, and of the trauma of having to hide oneself to stay alive. It gives a therapist a vivid account of concealment as both defence and wound. It won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 1992 and is based on the memoir by Solomon Perel.
Details
- 1990
- Germany
- German
- Film