July 1941. Five friends, three men, two women, meet in Berlin and, confident that the war is going Germany's way, promise to meet up again at Christmas. Two are soldiers, off to fight on the Eastern Front. One will be a nurse in a field hospital on the Eastern Front. One is an entertainer. One is Jewish. Their individual experiences of the war will vary somewhat but their aim is to one day be reunited.
Very gritty and engaging war drama showing WW2 from the German perspective. Not just the military point of view but also from a civilian aspect and a Jewish aspect. Quite original in this regard as it tries to capture a broad German experience.
Incredibly successful in this regard as we not only see the battles from the everyday soldier's perspective but home life and the persecution of Jews. Quite realistic and a harrowing ordeal, especially as the war goes on.
We also see how the war changes people. One soldier goes from coward to callous killer. One woman goes from fervently pro-Hitler to distinctly anti the Nazis and the war. The individual story arcs are incredibly interesting and plausible and are what holds the series together.
In between we have some good battle scenes, some great intrigue and some good human drama.
There are some scenes which do come off as being contrived, especially towards the end, but these are fairly minor blemishes in what is otherwise a superb series.
