| Genre: | Historical drama |
| Creator: | Annette Hess |
| Music: | Dascha Dauenhauer |
| Country: | Germany Poland |
| Language: | German Polish Yiddish |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 5 |
| Executive Producer: | Sabine de Mardt |
| Runtime: | 56-63 minutes |
| Company: | Gaumont GmbH |
| Network: | Disney+ |
The Interpreter of Silence is a 2023 German historical drama television limited series based on the 2018 novel Deutsches Haus (The German House) by Annette Hess.[1] The world premiere took place on November 8, 2023, at the Zoo Palast in Berlin.[2] The five-episode series was released on Disney+ on November 15, 2023, as Star Original. The series has received critical acclaim, praising directing, writing as well as the lead performances. It received a nomination at the 29th Critics' Choice Awards for "Best Foreign Language Series".[3]
In the backdrop of Frankfurt am Main in 1963, Eva Bruhns, a young woman working as an interpreter for Polish language, lives with her family above the "Deutsches Haus", a renowned pub that is run by her parents Edith and Ludwig. Eva is unexpectedly summoned to the court for a criminal trial, necessitating her services as an interpreter. Initially assuming it's a routine commercial or contract law case, she unwittingly translates witness statements using business terms, only to discover, when corrected by the prosecutor, that it is the first Auschwitz trial in Frankfurt – prosecuting former SS members for crimes at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Despite facing opposition from her parents and well-to-do fiancé Jürgen and having never heard of Auschwitz before, Eva feels an internal obligation to persist as an interpreter. As the trial unfolds, she comprehends the staggering extent of the Nazi extermination machinery, realizing a personal connection to this harrowing place. Amid the prevailing hypocritical normality of post-war Germany, Eva proceeds in her role in court, unveiling a concealed chapter of history marked by atrocities, suffering, and guilt. Undeterred by generational suppression, she tenaciously advances the criminal case while confronting the secrets of her very own family entwined with a brutal truth.
The reviews of the limited series were very positive. The online magazine Neues Deutschland described The Interpreter of Silence as the best real-life fiction the genre has ever produced.[4] The Neue Zürcher Zeitung also praised the series as an "outstanding mini-series" that captures the "mendacious silence in post-war Germany".[5] According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the strengths of the miniseries lie above all in the dramaturgy, "which attempts to do justice to the subject matter with as many facets as possible, without being overly didactic".[6] BR24 reviewed it as "the best German series of the year".[7]