Blut und Ehre: Jugend unter Hitler

Im Mittelpunkt steht das Leben von Jugendlichen in einer süddeutschen Stadt zwischen 1933 und 1939. Hartmut Keller (als Zehnjähriger: Gedeon Burkhard; als 15-Jähriger: Jeffrey Frank) tritt gegen den Willen seines Vaters Ernst (Rolf Becker), eines Sozialdemokraten und arbeitslosen Musikers, der Hitlerjugend bei. Während Ernst verhaftet wird, freundet sich Hartmut mit seinem Mitschüler Hans Mönkmann (mit zehn Jahren: Stephen Higgs; mit 15: Steffen Rübling) an. Dessen Vater Erwin (Karlheinz Lemken), ein Rechtsanwalt, ist Ortsgruppenleiter der NSDAP, was Hans eine Führungsrolle in der Hitlerjugend einbringt. Auch Hartmut steigt immer weiter auf. Sein früherer Freund Franz Kuhn (als Zehnjähriger: David Weidner; als 15-Jähriger: Jakob Fruchtmann), ein Jude, und seine eigene Familie müssen entsetzt miterleben, wie Hartmut mit harter Hand Verhaftungen anordnet und einen Nichtschwimmer, den er ins Wasser zwingt, in den Tod treibt,.

Blood and Honor: Youth Under Hitler, 1982 (aka Blut und Ehre: Jugend Unter Hitler) is a German/American made for TV mini-series which was a co-production between Daniel Wilson Productions and S.W.F (Sudwestfunk) and Taurus Films. The original screenplay was by Helmut Kissel and was partly based on his own experience as a member of the Hitler Youth. The scripts that were eventually shot, however, were written by Robert Muller. Helmut Kissel led as the director of the project but was replaced by Bernd Fischerauer within the first couple of weeks when shooting started. The shooting was on location in Baden-Baden, West Germany with the first 4 weeks in August 1980 and the rest of the production was completed between January through March in 1981. Each scene was shot both in English and in German and resulted in two versions of the film. The post production of the German version was completed in spring of 1982. It premiered on West German TV in July 1982 and was watched by more than 50% of the available audience. The American version premiered in November 1982 on various independent television stations in the United States (KBHK-44, WPIX-TV, etc.). Blood and Honor: Youth Under Hitler also received a Peabody Award in 1982 and was shown in 7 countries, including the Netherlands, UK, Austria, and Israel.