Generation War

There aren't many TV shows or movies portraying the German side of the second world war, but Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter shows their side of the story and as with most things, it's not always black and white.

The story is about a group of five friends and you'll follow their lives trough the second world war. Wilhelm and Friedhelm are two brothers who are sent to the Russian front. Greta is a singer dreaming of becoming a star. Charlotte just signed up to become an army nurse and has a very nationalistic mind. And finally there's Viktor a German Jew, trying to get out of the country before it's too late.

During the three 1.5 hour long episodes the makers take you to the eastern front of the second world war and you'll find yourself in Russia and Poland during the worst battles. The promised victory by Christmas has come and gone and after another year in battle doubt starts to set in.

If you expect hour long battles like in The Pacific you're out of luck, but there's plenty of well executed action.

The actors are excellent and production value is on par with big-budget HBO shows. If you like Band of Brothers or The pacific this is definitely a must-see!

What an epic series full of emotion and mixed feelings really enjoyed it.It was nice to see the WW2 from the "other" side.

Me ha encantado!!! Basada en hechos reales y desde el lado Nazi.

Often called the "German Band of Brothers," and it fully earns its 10/10 rating. This powerful mini-series follows five young friends ripped apart by World War II, blending raw emotion with a dreary look at love, loss, and moral struggle. Its raw take on war’s devastating impact—on both the front lines and the human spirit—is thought provoking and heart aching. With stunning cinematography and stellar performances, it’s one of the most moving shows I’ve watched in a long time. A must-see historical drama.

I almost hesitate to say it's better than Band of Brothers because that is a great show in it's own right... but it's better than Band of Brothers

Band of Brothers is pretty much the standard when it comes to war tv shows, and comparing the two is unfair to both, but Generation War is at the very least on par with Band of Brothers.

Generation War (Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter) is a gripping but controversial German miniseries that attempts to portray World War II through the eyes of five young friends—each of them swept into the brutal machinery of history. It’s a bold undertaking: humanizing German characters without excusing their complicity, and dramatizing the war in a way that’s both personal and epic in scope. The series is visually polished and emotionally charged, but it’s also flawed—particularly in how it navigates the sensitive subject matter.

Set in 1941 and following the friends through to the war’s end in 1945, the show splits its narrative across several perspectives: two brothers in the Wehrmacht, a Jewish tailor trying to escape persecution, an aspiring singer entangled with Nazi officials, and a nurse stationed on the Eastern Front. Each of them represents a different facet of wartime experience—from blind patriotism to disillusionment, survival, and moral compromise.

The production values are excellent. Visually, the series is cinematic, with intense battle sequences, period-accurate costumes, and atmospheric direction that rivals many big-budget war films. The performances are solid, particularly Volker Bruch as Wilhelm and Katharina Schüttler as Greta, who convey the personal cost of loyalty and fear in a regime that demands ideological obedience.

However, Generation War is not without its criticisms. It has been accused of softening German culpability—depicting its central characters as largely unaware of or powerless against Nazi atrocities. The representation of Polish resistance fighters also sparked backlash, especially in Poland, where the series was criticized for inaccuracies and historical insensitivity. While it tries to show the moral ambiguity of war, it occasionally slips into revisionism.

Despite its shortcomings, the series raises important questions and provides a powerful, if sanitized, portrayal of a generation caught in the moral quicksand of history.

I give Generation War a compelling but problematic 6/10.