Death Is My Trade

Franz Lang, born 1900, rises from a wartime recruit to a fanatic Nazi administrator. His unwavering loyalty to orders shapes every stage of his life, from the trenches to postwar political service and the Holocaust. He embodies a chilling faith in duty that overrides compassion or conscience.

A German Army officer who mentors Lang during the war and grounds him in the logic of duty. He promotes Lang when the frontline battle ends, seeing in him a capable, steadfast soldier. He represents the civilian-military leadership that legitimizes brutal obedience.

SS leader who recognizes Lang's organizational skills and guides his rise within the Nazi machine. He assigns Lang to key posts and ultimately pressures him into roles connected to the Holocaust. Himmler embodies the bureaucratic power behind genocide.

Lang's wife, chosen for Aryan conformity and later confronted with his crimes. She questions the regime but remains complicit as the apparatus of power continues. Her presence exposes the personal costs of political allegiance.

An influential landowner who provides Lang with property and social standing, enabling his entry into the party and the SS. He serves as the patron who arms Lang with the means to climb the hierarchy.

A Freikorps officer who anchors Lang in nationalist militancy after the war, guiding his early involvement in right‑wing violence. He symbolizes the blur between veteran service and paramilitary action.

A senior SS officer who embodies the efficiency and brutality of the Nazi regime. He represents the institutional ladder that Lang climbs through obedience and loyalty.

A Nazi officer involved in the regime's higher echelons who informs Lang about the capacity and logistics of the camps, reinforcing the administrative nature of genocide.