Katharina Abendroth (Melanya Dakar, Daniel Garcia, Pamela Yung,)

• Born in 1907

• Protestant, not particularly religious, you don’t regularly

attend church

• You live in Essen, a big industrial town dominated by the

Krupp iron and steel factories. Your father was killed in

active duty in the First World War, and your mother lives

nearby. She is supported by a meager widow’s pension,

and she also counts on support from you.

• Married to Johannes, a skilled industrial worker in a big

iron works, employed only intermittently from 1929-33,

now back in work.

• Employed as a domestic worker (maid) before 1933 in

the home of a middle-class Jewish family, good

employment relationship, former employer still keeps in

touch and was generous to Katharina and Johannes

during Johannes’s extended period of unemployment.

When you and Johannes married in 1930, they gave you

your most important wedding gift—a bed. This essential

object was typically part of the dowry, provided by

working class parents to their daughter, but your parents

wouldn’t have been able to afford it.

• Currently not employed, pregnant, an applicant for a

marriage loan. You have waited to have children until

the economy improved, and now the marriage loan

program offers you an additional bonus.

• Not particularly interested in politics before 1933 but

voted for the Social Democratic party, because this was

your husband’s party. He had a role as a minor

functionary in the Essen branch of the party, and you

were in the women’s auxiliary of the Social Democratic

party local.

• Before 1933, Johannes was organized in a trade union

and also active in the Social Democratic party, but these

activities have ended abruptly in the course of 1933. You

had major responsibility for organizing a citywidecelebration

on May 1—the International Day of the

Working Class movement—but this holiday under the

Nazis has become a celebration of labor which is

completely orchestrated by the state.

• Although your husband still harbors resentment against

the Nazis, you are relieved that he is in regular work, and

you are looking forward enthusiastically to becoming a

mother.

Dorothea Feldbusch (Kevin Wu, Rosie Davidson, Mya Delgadillo)

• Age 25, born in 1908, Protestant.

• Your father owns a mid-size clothing store in a rural area

in Southern Germany. You finish elementary school and

then you help out in the family store

• Your father is conservative voting for the DNVP and

longing for the return of the Kaiser. But in May 1933, he

joins the NSDAP because he thinks it is good for

business.

• You are married to Bruno, a lawyer, whom you met in

1927, and who is born in 1900. You have three children,

(Hans born in 1928, Emma born in 1931, and Hermann

born in 1933).

• Bruno is Protestant too. His sympathies were with the

left-liberal party in Weimar, the DDP, in part because his

parents were committed liberals. They were both born to

Jewish parents but had converted to Christianity before

Bruno was born.

• You were never interested in the “new woman” and were

actually quite happy to be a mother and housewife,

occasionally helping out a bit in the family business. You

are quite intrigued by the Nazi’s validation of “German

women” and you join the Nazi Women’s League in

1934.

•

Daniel Feldman (Davis Willis, Sophia Daluraya, Adrian Guzman)

• 23 years of age.

• You are single, and you live in Hamburg.

• You are Jewish. You are not particularly observant and

you do not attend services regularly, but you always

celebrate the high holy days and passover

• Until April 1933, you attended the University

of Göttingen, where you were a student of political

economy. You have left the university, and you are now

living at home with your parents in Stuttgart. Your father

is a high official in a local bank, and your mother is a

homemaker. You have a brother, 17, who is about to

finish completion of the college preparatory course at his

high school, and a sister who is just starting the

equivalent of high school

• Your parents supported the German Democratic Party

(DDP) during the 1920s, but you have deep sympathies

for the Social Democratic party, and you joined in 1930.

• Since the Nazis have come to power, you are

increasingly attracted to the local Zionist organization, a

group that consists of other young Jews who advocate a

return of all Jews to Palestine and the creation of a

Jewish state. Zionism has always had some appeal to

you, but since January 30, 1933, you are considering it

far more seriously than ever. (For a good introduction to

Zionism, try the

Britannica, http://search.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=80503&sct

n=1#s_top.) You have decided to learn Hebrew and

study agricultural methods, because you believe this will

be particularly important to make possible a move to

Palestine. You parents are horrified by this turn of

events and encourage you to seek vocational training that

will allow you to work as an accountant. They counsel

you that after the first rush of Nazi enthusiasm, things

will calm down, and they point to their experience of

other waves of antisemitism in the past. Your father is a

veteran of the First World War, highly decorated for his

service, and a completely devoted German. He believes

that the German nation will come to its senses and rid

itself of Hitler before too long. Your mother dreads the

prospect of uprooting your younger siblings.

• Although you have functioned largely in a Jewish social

circle, at the university and through your affiliation with

the Social Democratic party, you have had associations

with many non-Jews. With few exceptions, they have

continued to pledge their support and sympathy during

these difficult times.

Marianne Hirsch (John Anthony Sousa, David Dalicandro)

• Born in 1911

• You grow up in Berlin in a an educated household. Your

father is a well-known Professor at the Humboldt

University in Berlin

• You finish your Abitur (High School Degree) in 1930

and then you enroll at the Humboldt University in

Philosophy. You are especially interested in the lectures

of one Professor Schönborn, an expert in Kantian

philosophy, and he eventually becomes your PhD advisor

.

• While you enjoy life in the big city, you are also

increasingly frustrated with the superficiality and

commercialism of modern mass culture and you yearn

for a spiritual rebirth of the German nation.

• In one of your classes, you meet Albert, who is a

member of the Nazi Student League. Partly due to his

influence, you become interested in National Socialism

and see in Hitler the promise of a national rebirth. You

get engaged in 1932.

• While you are interested in some Nazi ideas, you are also

put off by National Socialist gender ideals that want to

relegate women to the role of mother and housewife.

Also, the Nazis force Professor Schönborn, your advisor,

out of his job in 1934 because his parents were Jewish.

He is being replaced by a much less interesting Nazi

loyalist who shows no interest in working with a female

student.

• You and Albert get married in 1934 and you plan to have

a family.

Paul Koch (Kov Rastogi, Aaron Choi)

• 39 years of age

• You live in Berlin, the capital of Germany.

• You are Protestant and you regularly attend church.

• You are a rising star of the Siemens company, a

manufacturer of electronic products. You are in charge of

overseeing exports to English-speaking countries,

particularly Britain and the United States, and you have

traveled extensively in both places.

• Married, your wife, Gunda, is not employed outside the

home, and you have two children, a boy, 13 and a girl, 15

• Siemens was plagued in the late 1920s by labor conflicts,

and you consistently argued that the company should

take a hard-line position against trade unionists. Since

mid-1932, the company has begun to emerge from the

depression. You are aware that Hitler hopes to increase

the rate of German rearmament, and you see great

possibilities for Siemens to expand. Your children have

Jewish friends from school, and they are frequent visitors

in your home. Your wife is on the board of directors of

the Berlin opera, and this group also includes Jewish

members.

• The Siemens board of directors includes two prominent

Jewish businessmen, and you have come to know them

fairly well over the last five years. You share an interest

in classical music and opera with them

• Before 1932, you supported the German People’s party

(DVP), a liberal party and the party of Gustav Streseman,

because, as an international businessman, you favored

the free trade policies, advocated by this

party. However, the political chaos of 1932 led you to

believe that only Nazis could restore order. You joined

the party and contributed to the Nazis’ political campaign

fund.

• You are concerned that an aggressive, nationalistic

foreign policy could create problems with world trade,

but you also believe that there are untapped possibilities

to expand the markets for your firm into eastern and

southeastern Europe. You believe that the fact that Hitler

is surrounded by conservative Weimar politicians will

ensure that he negotiates a sober course that will allow

German business to prosper.

Adelheid Kohler (Justin Powell, Jack Chefin)

• Born in 1912.

• You grew up in Cologne, your father was a Catholic

businessmen and always voted for the Center Party. His

parents, your grandparents, were Jewish but had

converted to Christianity after 1870

• You graduate from Middle School and then train to

become a social worker at a school in Berlin. You are

committed to helping the poor and also want to show

them the way back to God.

• In Berlin, you meet Dirk, an engineering and architecture

student. Even though he is a Protestant, you become

attracted to him and you get engaged in 1934

• You are appalled by the immorality of Weimar culture

and you see homosexuality and abortion as terrible sins.

While you believe that a woman’s place should be in the

home, you also join the Nazi League of German Girls

and the the Nazi Women’s League

• As part of your job, you are sent to a sanatorium outside

of Berlin to take care of mentally ill children.

Johannes Maier (Isabelle Pasia, Ante Buzov)

• Born in 1905

• Married to Katharina Abendroth

• You worked in the Krupp Factory in Essen as a skilled

worker until 1929 but was laid off repeatedly during the

economic crisis

• In 1933, you are rehired by Krupp to your old position

and you rise to the position of a foreman during the

economic boom of the 1930s

• Your father was a committed Social Democrat and the

head of the Social Democratic hiking association in

Essen. When you were a child, you went on hikes with

other comrades every Sunday. This is where you initially

met Katharina as well

• You follow your father’s example and eventually take on

the position as secretary-treasurer of the local branch of

the Social Democratic party in Essen. In 1930, you also

join the Reichbanner Schwarz Rot Gold, the paramilitary

organization of the Social Democrats, and you are

engaged in some violent clashes both with the

Communist and the Nazi paramilitary organization.

• At one of the national Social Democratic Party meetings,

you also met Daniel Feldman (see above) with whom

you became friends.

• After the dissolution of the trade unions and the Social

Democratic party, you stay in loose contact with your

former comrades and you occasionally report on the

situation in Germany to the party leadership in exile in

Germany

• You are very much looking forward to starting a family

with Katharina, and your stable employment as well as

the marriage loan program now seems to make this

possible.

Susanne Mayer (Daniel Park, Klara Bianco)

• Born in 1909

• You are Protestant but not very religious

• You grow up in an upper-middle class household in

Berlin-Charlottenburg. Your father is a professor of

Literature at the University of Berlin, your mother is a

medical doctor. They both voted for the liberal parties

supporting the Weimar Republic (DDP). They are also

enthusiastic collectors of modernist art, particularly

German expressionism.

• You decide to become a student of industrial design,

largely because you are very much influenced by the

ideas of the Bauhaus. During the late 1920s, you are also

very excited about the new freedoms associated with the

“new woman.” You cut your hair short, you like to hang

out in cafes with your circle of friends, and you also go

out at night to clubs. You are generally very fascinated

with all things American: music, films, and dance,

especially the “Charleston”

• In 1932, you fall in love with Daniel Feldman, a student

of political economy at the University of Berlin. You are

planning on marrying him once you finished your studies

in 1934.

• You have never been interested in politics all that much,

and you were too busy with other things in order to

follow closely the chaotic politics of the early 1930s. But

when the Nazis come to power, you realize that they hate

most of the things that you like: the Bauhaus,

modernism, and American popular culture.

Gerlinde Müller (Jett Ngo, Paige Beater)

• Born in 1895, Catholic, and you live in a rural part of

Bavaria. You have two small children, Peter, born in

1916 and Paul, born in 1918. Peter is born with some

mental disability

• You own a small farm, but your husband, Horst, was

killed in World War I

• After the war, you live off a small pension and try to

manage the farm on your own. Luckily, you meet Walter,

another World War I veteran, who helps you with the

farm, and you get married in 1923.

• You are not very interested in politics. Walter is from the

Ruhr area and grew up in a Social Democratic family. He

continues to vote for the SPD and is worried that the

Nazis might lead Germany into another war.

• Your younger son Paul keeps a photo of his father on his

night desk. He idealizes his father’s death for the

fatherland, and he becomes interested in the National

Socialist youth organization, the Hitler-Youth, where he

spends an increasing amount of his time.

• Your new husband Walter and Paul increasingly fight

over politics. You somehow try to mediate, while still

trying to take care of your older son Peter, whose mental

disability increases with age. Because it becomes too

difficult for you to take care of him, you decide to send

him to a sanatorium in Franconia in 1935.

Dagmar Osterhagen (Oscar Morales, Fernando Bazan)

• 23 years of age.

• Protestant, but not observant.

• You live in Berlin.

• The fourth of four children (2 older sisters, one brother),

your parents are loyal Communists, both children of the

working-class, both industrial workers for their entire

lives. The work for Siemens in Berlin, producing radios

and other electronic equipment for export. The Nazis

great emphasis on using the radio—the “people’s

receiver” as he calls it—for his weekly broadcasts, has

already meant increased concentration on production for

the domestic market, and tons of overtime. Your father

was a member of the Communist party, but your mother

was not active in the party. Your brother has

already emigrated to the United States, and your sisters

are considering self-imposed exile in the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union has promised that any German

comrade will be greeted with open arms in Moscow.

• You have little education, and you pay little attention to

current events. Your father has consistently encouraged

you to become active in the Communist party, but you

are bored by the endless speeches of well-meaning

comrades and disillusioned by a party that asserts that it

will “Fight Like a Man”—and a man, you are not.

• You have worked in the textile industry since you were

sixteen, making your way up to the position of

foreman. The work is incredibly difficult and your

parents’ promises of a rosy Communist future have long

since ceased to hold any credibility for you. In

particular, you wonder how it would ever be possible to

juggle the “double burden” of wage work and the work

of raising a family. You want desperately to marry and

have children, and you have met another worker in the

plant—Fritz, a skilled worker who keeps the looms

running—with whom you are deeply in love. He is a

member of the Nazi party, and he has convinced you that

your parents utopian belief in the promise of

Communism is nothing more than that—utopia. The

Nazi party values you not as an industrial worker and

does not want you to do the same work as a man, rather,

it promises you the possibility of being acknowledge as a

worker of a different sort, a worker who produces the

next generation. In fact, under the new Marriage Law

program, the Nazi state will pay her to do mother’s

work. She is pregnant and preparing to quit her job and

get married. She is also dreading the confrontation with

her self-righteous father who will completely disapprove

of her decision.

• You know no Jews personally, though your boyfriend

has told you that the owner of the textile factory is a rich

Jew. You were a member of the textile workers’ union

before 1933, but you saw no clear benefits from your

membership except for a monthly pay deduction to cover

your union dues. You believe that now that Hitler is in

power, he should have four years to show what he can

do, and you are optimistic that the Nazis will be a

marked improvement over the chaos of the last years of

the Weimar Republic.

Anneliese Schulz (Songyang Li, Eric Jung)

• Born in 1908

• Catholic. You grew up in a Cologne, but then moved to

Berlin in 1925 when your father, a civil servant, received

a job in the state administration of Prussia

• You are married to Albert, a teacher in the local Catholic

high school. Both of you are very devout and attend

service every Sunday. You live in a small house in

Berlin-Spandau, a suburb of Berlin.

• You went to Catholic school in Cologne, and you then

trained to work as a social worker

• In Berlin, you begin to work for the Caritas, a Catholic

welfare organization, that helps homeless people and also

runs an asylum for handicapped and mentally ill people

• You have an older brother Hermann. Their son Walter,

your nephew, was born in 1928 and has down-syndrome.

Since you have some experience with taking care of

disabled people, you spend a lot of time with Walter

• Although you live on the outskirts of Berlin, you remain

very skeptical regarding many aspects of city life. You

see the “new woman” as dangerous and immoral, you

abhor the materialism of some of the new modern mass

culture, and you also oppose the public campaigns for

reproductive and homosexual rights.

• You and Albert always vote for the Catholic Center Party

before 1933. You initially do not like the Nazis, who

seem too rowdy and violent to you. But when the

Vatican concludes a concordat with the newly

established Nazi government, some of your fears are put

to rest for the time being.

Rosa Schwarz (Shook Kätsuyama, Elisabeth Lopez,)

• Born in 1900

• You grow up in a middle class household in Berlin

• Your parents are school teachers and fairly progressive,

they vote for the Social Democrats.

• You become a big fan of Weimar culture and you enjoy

going to cabaret, the theater and the movies

• You graduate from High School and want to become an

actress in the German film industry. You only succeed in

getting smaller roles, but you hope that the increasing

popularity of cinema will eventually get you a big role.

• Already in High School, you were attracted to girls, and

at a dance event in Berlin in 1930, you meet Hannah, a

Jewish student of Philosophy at the Humboldt

University. You fall in love with her, and the two of you

frequently hang out at the gay clubs in Berlin.

• After 1933, you secretly meet with a group of young

people (Jewish and non-Jewish) to discuss the

increasingly difficult political situation.

Karl von Bruchhagen (Robert Irvine, Abhay Anand)

• You are born in 1895, and you live in Alleinstein in East

Prussia on a large farm estate

• You are Protestant and the descendant of an old

Aristocratic family owning a large estate in Eastern

Prussia

• You served in the First World War

• You are an admirer of Bismarck’s historic

accomplishment and a supporter of Reichspresident Paul

von Hindenburg, who comes from your social milieu.

You served as junior officer in World War I and

continued to serve in the much-reduced military during

the Weimar Republic, rising to the rank of a Lieutenant

General

• You are very skeptical of the Weimar Republic and in

favor of replacing it with a more authoritarian form of

government that gives more power to

the Reichspresident. You usually vote for the DNVP.

You also share Hindenburg’s skepticism of Hitler as a

crude social upstart. You’re no friend of the Jews and

you definitely believe that there is a “Jewish question” in

Germany. But you also reject the coarse racism of the

Nazis.

• When Hitler comes to power, you hope that conservative

elite will keep him in check. But when this does not

happen, you are increasingly concerned about the

totalitarian nature of the Nazi dictatorship, and you

worry that Hitler will misuse the military for his crazy

goals.

• During World War II; you are the commander of an

infantry regiment that serves in Poland and in the Soviet

Union