Deutschstunde

Siggi Jepsen is in an institution for difficult-to-educate youth. There, he has to write a punishment essay on the topic "The Joys of Duty." Immediately, his father Ole Jepsen comes to mind. His father is a police officer in a remote village in northern Germany. With his unwavering obedience, the village policeman supports the Nazi regime. Without regard for family, friends, or neighbors, he carries out all orders from above. Gradually, he also loses his son because of this. "My father burned the painter's sketchbook!" I look at him in shock. He looks satisfied, standing calmly and smoking. He is content, as if after completing a task. In that moment, I fear my father for the first time. Siegfried Lenz tells a piece of German history in his gripping novel "Deutschstunde." The focus is on how individual people supported political injustice in their daily lives or fought against it with resistance.