Before the Fall

Before the Fall (, literally "Napola – Elite for the Führer") is a 2004 German drama film written and directed by Dennis Gansel. It is set in a National Political Institutes of Education or "NaPolA" school developed by the Nazi Germany government. The military academies were designed as preparatory schools for the future Nazi elite. Plot In 1942, the boxing skills of Friedrich Weimer earn him a place at a National Political Academy (NaPolA), a boarding school that serves as an entry into the Nazi elite. His father, an anti-Nazi factory worker, refuses to allow Friedrich to enroll. Friedrich, who sees the school as his ticket to a better life, forges his father's signature on the permission slip and leaves. He makes his way to the town of Allenstein, where the institute is located. He is introduced to his roommates Christoph, Hefe, Tjaden and Siggi. That evening, they gain another new roommate, Albrecht Stein, with whom Friedrich becomes fast friends. The two boys help each other in class and through the school's harsh culture, which includes rigid discipline and older students bullying younger students, with teachers turning a blind eye or encouraging this behavior. In particular, Siggi is mocked and humiliated for his bedwetting. The school teaches the Nazi Party doctrine, with sections of Hitler's speeches and works being analyzed in classes. "Survival of the fittest" is advocated as a natural way of life, and Jews and enemies of the state are presented as treacherous and inferior. The boxing trainer who helped to admit Friedrich teaches him to be ruthless in fights, dismissing compassion for opponents as "bullshit". Later, Friedrich receives a letter from his mother, informing him that his father was paid a visit by the Gestapo.