Disney+ Series: The Interpreter of Silence  The Silence of the Followers

How can we help young people understand the horrors of the Holocaust? Award-winning series creator Annette Hess demonstrates this in her bestselling adaptation “The Interpreter of Silence”, which focuses on Nazi crimes and the start of the Auschwitz trials in 1963. A story that is more relevant than ever in times of growing antisemitism and a political shift to the right.

Shortly before Christmas 1963, when the phone rings at the Bruhns family home, no one suspects this call to shatter their bourgeois post-war life. “That was my work”, says the young Eva (newcomer Katharina Stark) to her parents. “They called me in.” The business translator is asked to assist with her knowledge of Polish in a court case. She only learns shortly before the start that it is the first Frankfurt Auschwitz trial – and is confronted for the first time with the Nazi atrocities in the Polish concentration camps.  With her naivety and her initially stammered translations, she incurs the wrath of Jewish US attorney David Miller (Aaron Altaras), who considers Eva to be “just one of millions of dumb Fräuleins” and tells her: “Should you accept the position, I’d start learning the relevant vocabulary. Any words you can conceive of for how people get killed.” The young interpreter learns quickly, not just the horrific vocabulary but also harrowing family secrets.

Against Suppression

Holocaust, war crimes, post-war sins: US streaming provider Disney+ has chosen heavy stuff for its third series production “Made in Germany”. The Interpreter of Silence deals with the beginnings of the German culture of remembrance after the Second World War and sheds light on the beginning of the Auschwitz trials in Frankfurt am Main, which lasted from December 20, 1963, to August 20, 1965.

On the defendants' bench: 22 former SS members, 211 concentration camp survivors testified. One of the largest criminal trials in German post-war history was to systematically investigate the murder of at least 1.2 million people in the Polish concentration camp Auschwitz and the genocide of the European Jews as an overall crime. The trials forced post-war German society to finally face up to its past, to no longer keep the atrocities of National Socialism in silence – and prompted many young Germans to ask uncomfortable questions in their families. The screenplay and idea come from the successful author Annette Hess, who has already been responsible for hit series such as Weissensee and the Ku'damm series. With The Interpreter of Silence, the Grimme Award winner adapted her own novel, a 2018 bestseller of the same title, for the first time. Over 130,000 books and around 35,000 audiobooks have been sold in Germany alone to date, and her debut novel has been translated into 26 languages and published in 33 countries. The scriptwriter and her team worked through 400 hours of tape material, consisting of 319 witness statements, for the adaptation

In five episodes, The Interpreter of Silence tells the story of the beginning of the first Frankfurt Auschwitz trial from the perspective of interpreter Eva, who learns about the incredible atrocities in the extermination camp and the full extent of the Nazi extermination machinery through the testimony of the survivors and the accused SS men. Little by little, she sees through the hypocritical facade of  the peachy pretend world of her parents, Edith (Anke Engelke) and Ludwig (Hans-Jochen Wagner), who were deeply complicit during the Nazi era." Against much resistance, she investigates and begins to ask questions - and in doing so gives a voice to the victims. Her possessive fiancé Jürgen (Thomas Prenn), heir to a mail-order company, is less than enthusiastic.

A Timely History Lesson

Once again, series creator Annette Hess proves with The Interpreter of Silence that periods of upheaval in German history are her specialty. "We are taking on the great challenge of telling the story of a century-long process, sensitively but unflinchingly", the writer said during the series premiere. The audacity has paid off. The Interpreter of Silence captivates with rich period details and brings to light shocking truths that have been swept under the rug in far too many stuffy, cozy post-war households. Although the five-part series could have cut even deeper into the wounds, it is nevertheless an important, timely history lesson. That Hess' works have received positive international acclaim is only fitting. At the 2024 Seriencamp in Cologne, the showrunner was awarded the inaugural “German TV Disruptor Award” by the U.S. industry magazine Deadline.