Germany, Year Zero - Characters & Cast

To provide for his starving family and relieve their suffering by any means necessary.

Edmund devolves from a dutiful, hardworking son into a traumatized murderer. His desperate search for guidance in a fractured world leads him to commit the ultimate sin, destroying his own will to live.

Self-preservation, predatory grooming of vulnerable boys, and maintaining his fascist superiority.

Henning remains a static, unrepentant figure. He casually manipulates his young students, but cowardly recoils in horror when faced with the actual, deadly results of his own teachings.

Overwhelming guilt over his utter helplessness and inability to provide.

He degrades from what was once likely a proud man to a pathetic, bedridden invalid who openly wishes for death to spare his children further hardship.

Avoiding Allied punishment for his actions as a former Nazi soldier.

He spends almost the entire film hiding in fear, completely paralyzing his family's ability to get proper rations. He only gains the courage to turn himself in to the authorities after it is entirely too late.