As the first documentary filmmaker, Reiner Holzemer has produced a film about the most famous German photographer, which shows both, the work and his biography. It introduces Sanders heritage from a poor minors family in the „Westerwald“, a region located in the midwest of Germany, as well as his early career as a studio photographer in Trier and Linz, and his most productive period between the Twenties and Thirties in Cologne, where he developed his big project „People of the 20th century“.
“Death is my Trade” centers on the life of Rudolph Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz II-Birkenau for the majority of its existence. The main character's name in the film is Franz Lang. This name change was deliberate to ensure that the character is not automatically viewed as being some sort of villain or demon. Franz is an average German kid growing up during World War I. The film follows Franz as he grows up and becomes a hard, efficient, organized worker who eventually joins the National Socialist party in Germany. Impressionable young Franz takes orders as one of the utmost points of honor and duty, so when he is eventually asked by Heinrich Himmler to become commandant of the largest extermination camp built during WWII he barely hesitates to consider how heavy such a burden will be.
In July 1945, US troops are leaving Saxony and Thuringia while the Red Army takes control of the territories. In a small village near Leipzig, the inhabitants try to adjust to the new authority.
