It’s a propaganda film which was designed to manipulate the German people into donating the last of their savings to the war effort. Though it’s not a long piece, the filmmakers employ quite elaborate techniques to batter the viewers into ‘doing the right things’ as efficiently as possible – techniques we might call ‘guilt-tripping’ in our times.
The protagonist is a pacifist who believes that war is fundamentally evil and that the military should not be promoted for any reason. His wife, meanwhile, is deeply ashamed about her husband’s position: their neighbours have not only sacrificed most of their money and possessions, they’ve given their sons up to the Fatherland as well. The social pressure becomes unbearable, haunting the man even in his dreams. Finally, he has a terrible nightmare about ‘the enemy’ invading his country, and when he wakes up his pacifistic resolve is gone. He grabs the family silver and rushes to a collection point to hand it over. The social pressure is completely alleviated and – tadaa! – his wife is happy once again.

Karl Wratschko