Europa Europa

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Europa Europa
Europa Europa DVD cover
Directed by	Agnieszka Holland
Produced by	Artur Brauner Margaret Ménégoz
Written by	Agnieszka Holland Paul Hengge (additional material)
Starring	Solomon Perel Marco Hofschneider Julie Delpy
Release date(s)	November 14, 1990 28 June 1991 28 June 1991 (limited) 7 February 1992 16 April 1992
Running time	112 min.
Language	German Russian Polish Hebrew
IMDb profile

Europa Europa is a 1990 German language film directed by Agnieszka Holland. Its original German title is Hitlerjunge Salomon, which means Hitler Youth Salomon. It is based on the 1989 autobiography by Solomon Perel, a Jew who escaped persecution by the Nazis by masquerading as an Aryan. The movie stars Marco Hofschneider and Julie Delpy, along with the real-life Perel as himself. The film is an international co-production between companies in Germany, France and Poland.

The film should not be confused with the 1991 Lars von Trier film Europa, which was initially released as Zentropa in the United States to avoid such a confusion.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Solek (a nickname for Solomon Perel, who is also called Solly) and his family live in Germany. On the eve of Solek's bar mitzvah, Kristallnacht occurs. His sister is killed and he and his parents and two brothers go to Poland thinking that it will be safer. When the Germans attack Poland during the September Campaign, Solek and his brother are sent East to the Soviet Union. The brothers are separated, and Solek is placed in a Soviet orphanage in Grodno.

Solek lives in the orphanage for two years, where he rises to become a Komsomol. When the Germans attack the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa, they flee the orphanage and Solek is separated from the others. He is picked up by Germans, convinces them he is Volkdeutsch (a pure-bred German) and is able to make himself useful as a translator with his knowledge of German and Russian. For instance he identifies Stalin's son who was captured at the same time by the Germans. He pretends to be a German named Josef "Jupp" Peters, and says that his parents came from Latvia and he grew up in a German community in Poland. A fellow soldier, a homosexual actor named Robert, finds out the truth but promises not to tell anyone. The two become friends. After Robert and two other friends are killed in combat, Solek attemps to desert to the Soviets. However, as he is attempting to surrender, a company of Soviets surrenders to him and he is celebrated as a German war hero. This allows him to leave the front and go to a Hitler Youth school after his captain, a nobleman from Pomerania, offers to adopt him. On the train, the woman escorting him begins making physical and sometimes sexual advances at Solek. Finally, after a ticket check, they begin having sex, with the woman moaning and yelling "Mein Führer!!"

Solly passing a Nazi racial purity test. Screenshot of Marco Hofschneider as Solomon Perel.

At the school he falls in love with a German girl Leni, a fervent Nazi but must accept that their love has no future as he is circumcised, and thus can't become intimate with Leni without revealing the secret of his identity. After several months without seeing her, he visits her mother, who tells him she is pregnant and intends to "give the child to the Führer". He realizes that, since the two of them were not intimate, the father of the child must be his best friend Gerd, an Aryan, also in love with Leni, since she wanted the baby to be racially pure. When Leni's mother realizes that he is not who he claims to be, he breaks down and confesses that he is a Jew; Leni never finds out. Solek and Gerd agree to fight.

Solek is called to headquarters to clear up an issue with his papers. He produces everything except the Certificate of Racial Purity, which he says is in Grodno; the commander says he will send for it at once to stop it falling into Russian hands should the city be taken. As Solek leaves the building, it is bombed; Gerd, who was waiting for him outside, is killed by falling rubble.

The Hitler Youth are sent to the front, to defend Berlin. There he manages to surrender to the Red Army. His captors refuse to believe that he was not a German and are about to have him shot by a Communist political prisoner (note the red triangle on the shooter's camp uniform). Solek's brother, Isaac, who has just been released from a concentration camp identifies Solek and saves him from being shot. He is released shortly after and emigrates to the British Mandate of Palestine (the future State of Israel), where he proudly embraces his Jewish heritage.