3 real historical locations · Germany
Based on the true story of Willi Herold, a German deserter who found an abandoned captain's uniform in 1945 and used it to impersonate an officer — executing prisoners and commandeering a POW camp. A darkly comic film about authority, obedience, and the collapse of a murderous state.
CinemaMapped has mapped 3 real historical locations where the story takes place, spanning Germany.
Army deserter Willi Herold finds a dead officer's uniform in the final weeks of the war — impersonating a captain and executing prisoners at a penal camp wit...
Willi Herold was a 19-year-old Luftwaffe corporal who found a captain's uniform in April 1945. Exploiting the chaos of Germany's collapse, he gathered followers and arrived at the Aschendorfermoor penal camp, ordering...
View location →Willy Herold, a deserter masquerading as a Luftwaffe captain, seizes command of the Emsland camp for Wehrmacht miscreants and personally orders mass executio...
Willy Herold (1925–1946) was a real 19-year-old Luftwaffe corporal who found a captain's uniform and impersonated an officer for weeks. He was responsible for approximately 100 murders. He was executed for war crimes ...
View location →Herold's improvised 'unit' of stragglers and deserters moves through the collapsing Reich, executing military prisoners and terrorising civilians — a microco...
The film's black-and-white aesthetic deliberately echoes WWII documentary footage. It raises the question: what makes authority legitimate? A uniform can turn a deserter into an executioner.
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