Based on the novel "Jeder stirbt für sich allein" (Every Man Dies Alone) by Hans Fallada. The novel was allegedly based on Gestapo files to which Fallada was given access.
Writer and Director Vincent Perez's family lived through the horrors of World War II. His grandfather was shot by fascists in Spain. His great uncle was murdered by the Nazis in a gas chamber. Another uncle died fighting on the Russian front.