The Unknown Soldier

The Lives of Nazi Soldiers

In this astonishing, searing and vitally important documentary, Oscar-nominated director Michael Verhoeven unearths the long-buried truth - while simultaneously showing modern Germany in the throes of an identity crisis.

THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER documents Germany's controversial Wehrmacht Exhibition, which for the first time ever revealed the personal letters, photographs and film footage implicating the common foot soldier in horrific acts. While nationalist and far right groups led street protests against it, saying the 'evidence' damning their fathers and grandfathers had been falsified, Verhoeven interviewed historians and experts, soldiers and eyewitnesses, and traveled to the killing fields of the Eastern Front. The result is both an invaluable document and a revealing look at an insecure nation, still reconciling its proud history with a unique and horrible wartime legacy.

"Both chilling and fascinating. Impressive." - The New York Times