Two young writers, Klaus Mann and Erich Kästner, rush from success to success. Nothing seems to be able to stop them and they still have big plans. But then 1933, with the election of Adolf Hitler as Reich Chancellor, becomes an existential turning point that forces them to make new, unforeseen decisions.
For Klaus Mann and his sister, the actress and cabaret artist Erika Mann, one thing is certain: "The air in the Third Reich is unbreathable for certain lungs. Death by suffocation threatens back home!" They emigrate and try to influence and educate people with books, lectures, radio appeals and the cabaret 'Pfeffermühle', take on American and British citizenship respectively and work for the army there.
Erich Kästner and his mother Ida Kästner remain in Germany for the entire 12 years until the end of the war. Erich wants to be a contemporary witness as a writer. Although he has to watch his books being burned in Berlin, he sees it as his professional duty to remain an eyewitness and one day provide written testimony. Otherwise, he would later be accused of cowardice.

Play: Ralf Kiekhöfer
Director: Katharina Speckmann
Figure construction: Maud Schröerlücke.
Concept: Ralf Kiekhöfer and Katharina Speckmann

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