Media Mingle: "Zwei Leben" / "Two Lives"

Two Lives (Zwei Leben) is a German-Norwegian film drama from 2012 that alludes to various true events. Director Georg Maas stages the adaptation of the novel manuscript "Eiszeiten" (Ice Ages) by Hannelore Hippe.
Katrine has been living happily with her family in Norway for 20 years, until she suddenly finds herself forced to return to her old life as an East German agent in order to prevent her secret from being exposed and her happiness from being destroyed.
As the web of lies and secrets in which the agent has become entangled slowly becomes visible, the film also tells how Nazi rule, the division of Germany, and the Cold War continue to affect the present-day life of a family reopening old wounds. At its core is the question of what truth is. Can there be true happiness in a false life?
German/English/Norwegian w. Engl. subtitles.

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Historical background: Between 1940 and 1945, numerous Norwegian women had romantic relationships with German soldiers, resulting in an estimated 11,000 to 12,000 children, known as "Tyskerbarna" (German children). Welcomed by the Nazis, the Schutzstaffel (SS) set up children's homes to "promote" the "Germanic heritage." Between 1943 and 1945, 250 of these children were taken from these homes to Germany and placed in local children's homes, most of them in Saxony. Norwegian mothers were often stigmatized as so-called "Tyskertøser", or "German sluts", after the war. The screenwriters visited numerous people who had been taken to Germany as children. Very few of them knew their biological parents, as most were raised by foster parents or in children's homes in the GDR. Many of those affected had at some point learned that they had parents in Norway and wanted to travel to Norway when they were 18 years of age. However, the GDR authorities hindered their departure. The Ministry for State Security only allowed some of them to travel to the West on the condition that they would work there as spies for the GDR.
Sources: Wikipedia, Filmportal.de

The film is shown in the context of the poster exhibition "Niños Robados. Gestohlene Kinder. Stolen children.", which can be seen at the Goethe-Institut from 3 - 28 November, 2025. Following the screening, the audience are invited to share their thoughts and impressions on both the movie and the exhibition in English and German.

Photo credit: ©Zinnober Film

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