The Invisibles (film)

The Invisibles (German: Die Unsichtbaren – Wir wollen leben) is a 2017 German docudrama by Claus Räfle. The film presents the experience of four Jewish teenagers who survived the Holocaust by going into hiding in Berlin during World War II. It interweaves personal interviews, dramatic reenactment, archival footage, and narration. The main actors are Max Mauff, Alice Dwyer, Ruby O. Fee and Aaron Altaras. The film recounts the struggle of Cioma Schönhaus, Hanni Lévy, Eugen Friede and Ruth Arndt-Gumpel to survive their persecution as Jews in Berlin from 1942 to 1945. Their individual situations are re-enacted, and in interspersed interviews, they recollect and comment on their experiences. Their survival is attributed to resilience, luck, and help from others. Their saviours come from different walks of life, including ordinary German citizens, communists, Christians, and people working within the Nazi hierarchy. The helpers put themselves at great risk should their activities be known to the Gestapo, who work with a network of spies and informants. Cioma Schönhaus, aged 20, is spared from being sent to Auschwitz by pretending to be an employee at a munitions factory. Unfortunately, his parents are sent there and are killed soon after. Cioma pretends to be a German soldier in need of temporary lodging, as assigned by the accommodation office, and he moves from apartment to apartment. Some of the homeowners suspect or are aware of his Jewish heritage, but let him stay nonetheless. With his education and experience in graphic design, Cioma finds work falsifying passports and other documents for Franz Kaufmann, a lawyer, who is helping people to escape the country. He works alongside Werner Scharff, who is soon caught by the Gestapo and sent to Theresienstadt Ghetto, a hybrid concentration camp and ghetto. Cioma is spotted by a former classmate, Stella Goldschlag, who unbeknownst to him is a Jewish informant. He expresses his long-time infatuation with her and invites her to his hideout.