“History Repeats Itself”: German anti-Fascist director makes a film about Ukraine

When I saw the exhibition of Russian army trophies on Poklonnaya Hill, I remembered the Soviet newsreel from 1944, which showed a Red Army trophy exhibition in Moscow, and I immediately thought: history repeats itself…

German director and playwright Wilhelm Domke-Schulz is known to the Russian audience for films shown at the International Film Forum .

The first film titled Remember Odessa was presented in 2018; it tells the story of the tragic events of May 2, 2014, at the Trade Unions House in Odessa. It is a reminder of what happened on those terrible days in Odessa and what the people living in eastern Ukraine rose up against.

This year at the Golden Knight, the German director presented two of his new films: History Repeats Itself and The Death of People in Odessa on May 2 – A Crime of Historic Scale. In History Repeats Itself, the director draws parallels between the Soviet people’s struggle against Nazi Germany and the current confrontation between Russia and the Banderite regime, which is backed by the collective West. Throughout the film, viewers see two video sequences: footage from the Great Patriotic War and a series of current events in Ukraine from 2014 to the present day.

A Rossa Primavera News Agency correspondent managed to talk with the well-known German director.

Rossa Primavera News Agency: What prompted you to turn to the topic of the war in Donbass?

Domke-Schulz: I was raised as an anti-fascist, and that is the story of my family. I always feel a closeness to Russians and to Russia. It’s hard to understand because I’m not a Russian, but a Prussian (laughs). But that’s how I feel. I live in Leipzig, in the eastern part of Germany. We live under the occupation of the FRG, and this government still acts toward us in a pro-fascist way. Nothing has changed since 1933. This government still has the same thoughts, aspirations, the same tendencies. In 1990, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, we practically returned to the 1940s. This must be opposed. Unfortunately, there are few people in Germany who understand this.

In 1990, I didn’t like that the guys from the GDR did nothing against the FRG. I’ve made many films about the people of Donbass who immediately understood what would happen when the Kiev regime occupied them. These guys knew how to act.

Now in Germany, people are going out into the streets and protesting. But they do it very carefully, the way Germans usually do it. They shout slogans against the current government, but after the rally, they go drink prosecco. And they’re happy that they did something, expressed their protest, even though it changed nothing.

In my films, through the example of the people of Donbass, I want to show my fellow citizens that if you want to change something, you must act — not drink prosecco.

The people in Germany who go to demonstrations are just participating in a spectacle. There are “Antifa” groups, raised and guided by intelligence services. They participate too, but they do nothing in essence. Ordinary people think these groups are acting against the government, but in reality, they’re acting against the people.

Rossa Primavera News Agency: Are there any ideologically motivated forces in Germany that could actually change the situation in the country?

Domke-Schulz: Unlikely. Right now, a shift of eras is taking place globally. The era of globalism is ending, and a new era is coming. All the parties operating under the umbrella of globalism have the same goals. Among all the parties, perhaps only Alternative for Germany aims to change the country’s domestic policy. But it’s still a capitalist party and is incapable of changing the system completely. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance are also anti-globalists, but they are afraid and won’t act actively. Maybe the Communist Party could change something in Germany, but their rating is very low.

Rossa Primavera News Agency: What is the attitude of the youth in Germany?

Domke-Schulz: One has to look at the youth differently. I recently met some quite brave young people. The previous government believed all young people supported the Green Party. The voting age was even lowered to 16 because it was expected that all young voters would support the Greens. But the opposite happened. Many young voters chose AfD just to show that the coalition parties of the “traffic light” are completely unfit.

There is no united Germany. Western occupiers thought that after 35 years, the issue of dividing Germany into West and East was history. But the opposite occurred. An interesting process is unfolding now: many are saying that eastern Germany is an occupied territory, where people live with restricted rights. Western Germans despise them. And this issue is widely discussed in German society today. Now the question is being raised: should Germany be divided again, or should a truly united country be created, with equal rights for all citizens? In the East, 95% of leadership positions in science, industry, and media are held by the elite from western Germany.

Just two years after the reunification of Germany, about 90% of the GDR’s industry was destroyed, and there was a massive number of unemployed. In Russia, people know little about this and imagine Germany as a unified country. [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov recently said that he does not understand why Germans are not grateful for being reunited. He doesn’t see the issue of the two Germanys.

Perhaps Western Germans at the time misled Gorbachev, telling him how great things would be if Germany were united. And maybe he believed in their good intentions when he supported German reunification.

Rossa Primavera News Agency: Could there be a confrontation in Germany between West and East similar to what happened in Ukraine?

Domke-Schulz: The situation in Germany is entirely different. East Germans are too modest and law-abiding. In Donbass, brave and smart people live — they immediately stood up against the Kiev junta.

Already in 1952, West Germany had developed an occupation plan for the eastern part of the country in the smallest details. France and the UK were well aware of the Western Germans’ plans and were against reunification because such a large country in the center of Europe was seen as a threat. They always feared Greater Germany. But the USA supported reunification because it had plans to expand its influence further east. They persuaded France and the UK to agree to unification. The “2+4” Treaty includes many good provisions, but from the very first day, it started to be violated.

I believe that for peace in Europe, Germany should once again be divided into Western and Eastern parts under the respective influence of the USA and Russia. Then a peaceful Europe would be possible. But Russia likely doesn’t have the means or strength to implement such a project today.

Rossa Primavera News Agency: While working on your films, did you go to Donbass or Ukraine? Did you speak with eyewitnesses to the events depicted in your films?

Domke-Schulz: I’ve been engaged with the topic of Ukraine for about 40 years. I once made a film about a German communist who disappeared in Odessa in the 1930s. I met his daughter. Her father was an engineer who moved from Germany to Odessa in the 1920s to help the Soviet Union. In 1937, he disappeared without a trace. His daughter kept a diary, and I had the idea to make a film about this family. In 2013, I traveled to Odessa and filmed at the Odessa film studio — a docudrama. It was during that time that I met and befriended people in Odessa — actors and studio workers who helped me make the film.

One of my acquaintances from Odessa was at Maidan in Kiev in 2014. He had his own team that recorded everything happening at Maidan from the first to the last day. I carefully studied this material. When the Trade Unions House in Odessa was burning, one of my acquaintances also recorded everything on video. This is how I developed a complete picture of the events in Ukraine.

Since 2014, I’ve been to Odessa several times, spoke with eyewitnesses of the tragedy, and conducted interviews with them. As a result, I gathered a lot of material about what was happening in Ukraine, which I could use for my films.

Additionally, I have a second degree in history — I studied the Nazi Germany period extensively and graduated with a degree in history. When you have that background, it’s not difficult to draw historical parallels. That’s what happened last year when I visited the Russian army trophy exhibition on Poklonnaya Hill. When I saw the exhibition, I remembered the 1944 Soviet newsreel showing the Red Army trophy exhibition in Moscow, and I immediately thought: history repeats itself. That’s how the title of my new film — History Repeats Itself — came to be.

Today it’s quite rare to find films where the author, scriptwriter, director, and cameraman are all the same person. My film is exactly that — a personal viewpoint and perspective.

Rossa Primavera News Agency: Have your compatriots seen your films? Were you able to convey the truth about the war in Ukraine to them?

Domke-Schulz: Most people in Germany are under the influence of propaganda. They are against Russia and blindly believe everything the media says. It’s pointless to talk with them.

We’ve shown my films in a narrow circle of friends, carefully selecting whom and what to show. Usually, if you just mention the film’s title and its topic, the person immediately refuses, “No, I don’t want to.” The only way to show such films to a larger audience is if the media starts talking about them. If there were a channel or online outlet discussing such films, it would likely attract a larger audience, and more people would begin to rethink the events in Ukraine.

Rossa Primavera News Agency: Would you say your films are made for history, for future generations?

Domke-Schulz: Yes, perhaps that’s the case.

Rossa Primavera News Agency: How did your collaboration with Golden Knight begin?

Domke-Schulz: It was in 2018 when I completed work on the film Remember Odessa. It was shown in Moscow. Arkady Mamontov found out about it. And he suggested to Nikolai Burlyaev to invite me to the festival.

Rossa Primavera News Agency: Tell us about your future projects. Do you have any new ideas or concepts?

Domke-Schulz: I have several ideas at once. I’m ready to lay them on the table as soon as the opportunity arises. I have a concept to shoot a feature film about the events of May 2 in Odessa. I already have a draft of the script.

Rossa Primavera News Agency: Thank you very much, Wilhelm, and good luck with realizing your plans.

This invterview was first published on Rossa Primavera News Agency website on June 2, 2025.