A Friendship in Vienna

Lise's father was a Nazi sympathizer who traveled to Germany to prepare for the Anschluss. When the Nazi regime tightened control over Austrian society, he forbade Lise from associating with Inge because the regime viewed friendships between Aryan and Jewish citizens as unacceptable. As Lise's father rose to a rank in the Nazi SA, maintaining any connection with a Jewish family became politically dangerous and shameful in his eyes.

Earlier, the film shows Lise's father traveling back and forth to Germany, preparing for the Nazi takeover.

The Yugoslav consul required proof of Christian baptism dating back to 1936 for entry visas. Since the Dournenvalds were Jewish, they had no such documentation. Without baptismal certificates, the family could not obtain the visas needed to flee. Father Bernard performed a covert baptism ceremony at Vienna Cathedral, which legally satisfied the Yugoslav requirements and allowed the family to receive their exit visas.

Oskar Reikman secured a Yugoslav visa earlier, but the family still needed proper documentation to follow.

Inge gave Lise a golden Jewish star as a tangible keepsake of their friendship and a symbol of what Inge was forced to leave behind. The star represented Inge's Jewish identity and the persecution she was fleeing. By giving it to Lise, Inge entrusted her friend with a painful reminder of the divide that separated them while also preserving a connection to her heritage and their bond.

The star had become a symbol of exclusion earlier when anti-Jewish laws forced Jewish citizens to wear them.

The film does not show Lise's fate after Inge's departure. The narrator, provided by Jean Simmons, reveals that Inge wrote letters to Lise from America but never received any replies. The film ends with the question of whether Lise ever received those letters and whether their friendship survived the separation, leaving her ultimate fate uncertain.

Father Bernard initially hesitated, questioning both the legal implications and the spiritual integrity of performing a baptism solely for bureaucratic survival. However, Inge convinced him that baptism was literally a matter of life and death, explaining that without it, the family would be trapped and likely perish under Nazi persecution. Moved by their desperation, Father Bernard performed the ceremony despite his reservations.

Gustl, a servant, threatened the Dournenvalds with false accusations of improper behavior with their Aryan maid Mitzi. He demanded a bribe of ten thousand schillings, a sum the family could not afford, to drop the claim before his meeting with the block warden. This extortion added to their desperation, as false accusations could lead to arrest or worse. Unable to pay, the family had to accelerate their escape plans.

Despite her father's explicit orders to stay away from Inge, Lise deliberately sat beside her Jewish friend in the classroom when the regime implemented segregated seating for Jewish students. This act of defiance directly challenged Nazi policy and her father's authority within the Nazi hierarchy. Her father responded by beating her, demonstrating the brutal consequences of non-conformity and the regime's reach into family life.

The film never confirms whether Lise received the letters Inge wrote after fleeing Austria to America. The narrator poses this question directly, leaving the fate of their correspondence uncertain. The lack of response could mean the letters were lost, destroyed, or never forwarded, but the film intentionally leaves this ambiguity, emphasizing how war severed countless personal connections.

Franz Dournenvald refused to accept that Hitler would actually annex Austria, dismissing the warnings from his father-in-law Oskar Reikman as overblown or outdated. This disbelief caused him to miss the window to apply for immigration visas early, leaving the family unprepared when the Anschluss suddenly occurred. His refusal to act on the warnings put the family in grave danger.

Grandfather Oskar had earlier warnings that proved prophetic as the Nazis tightened control.

Yugoslavia's strict entry requirements demanded proof of Christian baptism dating back to 1936, a policy designed to limit Jewish immigration even as persecution intensified. This bureaucratic hurdle forced Jewish families like the Dournenvalds to either convert or find another escape route. The requirement reflected how even neutral or Allied-adjacent countries imposed barriers on Jewish refugees.