This controversial, nearly forgotten East German film was pulled from screens only weeks into its release and suppressed for over thirty years by Communist authorities, who deemed it too sympathetic to Albert's character. Today it's clear that director Harnack (who was in the anti-Nazi resistance) only creates a measure of understanding for his pathetic butcher protagonist to convey an ugly truth: that in the midst of privation and oppression, ordinary people can become sufficiently desperate to do the unthinkable. Viewed in its proper context, this disturbing, often chilling drama seems ripe for re-discovery.