May 8, 1945 – 11:00 p.m. – the guns fall silent on German soil. The greatest war the world has ever seen comes to an end for the Germans along the Rhine and Ruhr. The Zero Hour—Liberation Day—becomes both history and myth. During this time, people like Elisabeth Wilms, a baker’s wife from Dortmund, and Friedrich Lieffertz, a restaurateur from Cologne, become chroniclers. They capture the final days of the war with their cameras. The documentary by Franziska Rempe and Lukas Hoffmann begins with this so-called “Hour Zero.” Along the Rhine and Ruhr, life is gradually returning to the cities. And across Europe, thousands are now making their way back to their homes.

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