One criticism of the film is about how it avoids acknowledging the suffering of German Jews. The character Susanne became Germany’s first film depiction of a concentration camp survivor. As a model character, an innocent victim of the Nazis, Susanne’s character embodies optimism and forgiveness. Yet, the reason for her imprisonment remains uncertain throughout the film, except that it was related to her father, who might have been Jewish or Communist. Additionally, the film closes by acknowledging the war victims through the Christian imagery of crosses, rows and rows of crosses, essentially denying the fate of the Jews through the imagery of the dominant religion.

If we view Susanne as a victim of the holocaust, Mertens and Buckner represent the perpetrators. Mertens character responds to his participation in the holocaust through feelings of guilt and horror and a need to clear away his responsibility by making amends. Where Susanne’s character is optimistic, Mertens’ is skeptical and in need of forgiveness.

It is interesting to note that the actress who played Susanne, Hildegard Knef, was the only “star” to appear on the promotional posters. Apparently, Ernst Wilhelm Borchert a.k.a. Mertens was arrested by the American occupying forces for falsifying official papers before the film was released, but was able to attend the premiere.

People were reminded of the film’s importance as its reviews appeared in the newspaper alongside articles about the Nuremburg trials in 1946. After its immediate release, Die Mörder sind unter uns was screened in over twenty-three countries and quickly gained recognition as one of the most important German films ever made.

See also

Brockmann, Stephen and Frank Trommler, eds. Revisiting Zero Hour 1945, Vol. 1. American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (1996).
Byg, Barton. "The Anti-Fascist Tradition and GDR Film." Proceedings, Purdue University Fifth Annual Conference on Film. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue UP (1980): 81-87. Text available from the DEFA Film Library.
Byg, Barton. "Nazism as Femme Fatale: Recuperations of Cinematic Masculinity in Post War Berlin." In Gender and Germanness: Cultural Productions of Nation. Patricia Herminghouse and Magda Müller, eds. Berghahn (1997): 176-188.
Shandley, Robert R. “Coming Home through the Rubble Canyons: The Murderers Are among Us and Generic Convention.” In Rubble Films: German Cinema in the Shadow of the Third Reich. Temple UP (2001): 25-46.
Shandley, Robert R. “Rubble Canyons: Die Mörder sind unter uns and the Western.” German Quarterly 74.2 (Spring 2001): 132-147.
Ziewer, Christian. "Last Words for Wolfgang Staudte (1984)." In West German Filmmakers on Film: Visions and Voices. Ed. Eric Rentschler. New York (1988): 118-20.