Enemy of Women

As Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, is called to inspect the devastation caused by an Allied air raid, the story of Goebbels' rise to power is recounted: In 1925, Goebbels, a struggling young playwright, is hired as a tutor and indoctrinates his young students with notions of Aryan superiority. One night, Goebbels makes sexual advances to Maria Brandt, the daughter of his landlord, Eberhardt Brandt, a former colonel in the German army. Goebbel's brutality earns him Maria's contempt and an eviction notice from her father. Soon after, Goebbels becomes mesmerized by a speech given by Adolf Hitler and joins the Nazi party. Five years later, Heinrich Wallburg, a German reporter, advises his fellow journalists to denounce publicly the Nazi party, but Wallburg's admonition is met with derision by the others, who underestimate Hitler's power. In Berlin, Maria, now an aspiring young actress, meets Goebbels again. Having become an important Nazi propagandist, Goebbels promotes her career. Once Hitler is named Chancellor of the Reich, Goebbels is appointed Minister of Propaganda in charge of German radio, press and motion pictures. As the new minister, Goebbels orders Wallburg's arrest and makes Maria a star. Soon after, Maria goes home to visit her father and there meets Dr. Hans Traeger, the new tenant. When Maria returns to Berlin, Goebbels orders the execution of Col. Brandt. After her father is shot and killed, Goebbels consoles the grieving Maria, who is unaware that Goebbels is responsible for her father's death. Preying on her vulnerability, Goebbels proposes that she become his mistress. When she rejects him again, Goebbels destroys Maria's career and she flees Germany for Austria. At a beer garden in Vienna, Maria meets Hans once more and they begin to date. When the spectre of Germany's aggression begins to loom over Austria, Maria and Hans decide to marry and move to Switzerland one day. Just before they are to leave, however, Germany attacks Austria and, although they marry, they are forced to remain in Austria. Four years later, Maria learns that her uncle Hugo is to be deported to a Polish concentration camp. Maria travels to Berlin to plead her uncle's case, but arrives too late, for the old man has just died of a heart attack. When Maria's return visa to Vienna is denied, Hans comes to Berlin to join his wife. The next morning, Maria goes to the passport office and is finally awarded her visa. Upon phoning Hans to tell him the good news, however, she learns that he has been arrested as a traitor by the Gestapo. When Maria turns to Goebbels for help, he vengefully offers her husband's release in return for becoming his mistress. Desperate, Maria agrees to his terms and Goebbels then instructs her to travel to Switzerland with Hans. Onboard their train will be two Nazi agents, who, once Hans has safely crossed the border, will escort Maria back to Berlin and into Goebbels' possession. Maria embarks upon the journey, and when their train stops outside the Swiss border, she cherishes the last minutes with her husband. Just before the train resumes its journey, a treasury agent requests that Hans accompany him to another compartment to sign some documents. After Hans leaves, Maria's guardians appear and escort her off the train and to Berlin, where she is confined in Goebbels' luxurious house. One night, as Goebbels delivers a speech over the radio, Allied planes attack Berlin and bomb Goebbels' house, killing Maria. Goebbels is summoned to inspect the devastation, but when he resumes his broadcast, he lies to the German people that no damage has been done and then reaffirms Germany's invulnerability.