Die Klasse - Berlin '61

The high school class 13e of the Kepler School in Berlin-Neukölln is a motley mix. Some students legally moved from East to West Berlin. Others live as refugees. Another group lives in East Berlin and commutes to the West to attend school on a daily basis. The students are united in the will not to allow the East German dictatorship to thwart their life chances. It was a common practice in communist East Germany to deny access to further education to students who were considered unwilling to conform to the regime's political demands. To circumvent the exclusion, West Germany and particularly West Berlin provided high school education to East German pupil who were affected by this policy. Until 1960, the practice was tolerated by East Germany. But things were to change radically in the summer of 1961. On the last day of school in July 1961, the students at the Kepler School had completed their written exam just like the pupils in the years before them. But they didn't have their high school diploma yet - as at the time, the oral exams took place in September, after the summer break. But on the night of the second Sunday in August 1961, armed border police and combat groups take up posts in the city center. The border roads are torn up, barbed wire is rolled out, and S-Bahn traffic is interrupted. Berlin is divided and torn apart - and so is Class 13e. The high school graduates from the eastern part had to decide immediately: Should they try to cross the border, leaving their parents and friends behind? Or should they give up their dreams for the future? This docufictional account follows the life stories of some members of the real class 13e of the Kepler School in Berlin-Neukölln.