Und wenn sie nicht storben sind… Die Kinder von Golzow – Das Ende der unendlichen Geschichte (2006)

Directed by: Winfried Junge, Barbara Junge | 278 minutes | documentary, history

Jurgen, Petra, Christian and Ilona. But also Winfried, Elke, Karin and Gudrun. And don’t forget Bernhard and Eckhard. They are the children of Golzow, an East German provincial town where a special documentary was started in the early 1960s. Eighteen classmates (all born between 1953 and 1955) from the local primary school were chosen by Karl Gass – one of the most important documentary makers of the GDR and initiator of the propagandistic DEFA film studios. They would be followed for decades by filmmaker Winfried Junge and his wife Barbara. This resulted in eighteen portraits of people who grew up in the ‘socialist utopia’. You can see how they build a social career, but also what personal problems they encounter. Shooting was not completed until 2006. The four-part documentary ‘Und wenn Sie nicht gestorben sind’ has been made of the more than fifty hours of film. In 2006 ‘Und wenn Sie nicht gestorben sind… – Die Kinder von Golzow, Das Ende der unendlichen Geschichte’ (parts 1 and 2) was published and in 2007 ‘Und wenn sie nicht storben sind – dann leben sie noch heute…’ (part 3 and 4).

Not all eighteen children have their say in this four-part series. Some children, who have a special story to tell, have previously appeared in separate documentaries. For example, about the tragic Brigitte, a high-spirited woman who became a mother at seventeen but died of cardiac arrest at the age of only 29. Or the wanderlust Dieter, who has remained positive under all circumstances. We see them briefly in the archive footage from the earliest years of this class, when the children are only seven years old, until their senior year when they are sixteen or seventeen. Separate chronological portraits have been made of the children we do get to know in detail in this four-part documentary series. Not all the children portrayed have experienced the same amount. Those who became politically active in particular have an impressive story to tell. They therefore receive much more airtime than others. Among them Winfried, who got himself into trouble when he – as a party member – did not fully complete his education and only announced this later. Gudrun, daughter of a prominent local party member, was full of political ambitions. The girl who once wanted to be a cook even made it to mayor in a small town near Golzow.

An important part of the portraits is the period around the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the German unification eleven months later. The lives of the East Germans changed drastically at that time and not always for the better. The high unemployment rate, also among the former children of Golzow, is striking. Gudrun’s mayoral post was threatened when the Socialist Party (SED) lost massive votes in 1990. When Winfried Junge revisits her in the early 1990s, she lives on benefits. Her education is suddenly worth little more. Junge doubts whether the Golzowers (who by no means all live in their hometown anymore) are really happy. Also noteworthy is the large number of divorces, which is probably due to the fact that almost all interviewees married at a young age (around their twenties). Gudrun, who for a long time was only concerned with her career, has always remained alone; something she clearly regrets but does not admit openly. However, the observant viewer has heard her say before that she longed for a family. In a way, the Golzower long for the good old days in the GDR. Maybe it wasn’t ideal, but at least you knew where you stood. For the inhabitants of the GDR, a base fell away with the fall of the wall, after which they needed time to find balance in their lives again. During the last recordings, in 2005-2006, most have found peace again. It took them fifteen years to do that.

‘Und wenn Sie nicht gestorben sind’ is an in-depth, fascinating documentary that unfortunately is terribly long. It is precisely because of that length that Winfried and Barabara Junge have been able to work in such detail, but a film that lasts 278 minutes is not something you just look away. Those who take the time and let the images sink in will be rewarded. This is an important and intriguing nostalgic document that provides insight into the lives of a group of seemingly ordinary people, who, however, all have their own personal story to tell. Interviewer Winfried Junge often asks direct, sometimes confrontational questions that seem very provocative to the generally closed-minded East Germans. It is of course not nothing to allow a camera into life for such a long time, but for those who grew up in the GDR and couldn’t just say or do everything, it is quite a victory. Junge dares to lure these people out of their tent and gets revealing answers as a result. The result is a series of honest and fascinating portraits.