Fog in August

Ernst is denied discharge because his father Christian Lossa has no permanent address after being released from a concentration camp. The authorities consider Ernst homeless and therefore unable to be released to his father's care, trapping him in the institution where he becomes subject to the euthanasia program.

From the beginning, Ernst clings to the hope that his father will bring him to America, but this hope is crushed by the bureaucratic requirement for a stable address.

Dr. Veithausen implements a slow starvation method by feeding patients boiled vegetable soup that has been stripped of its nutrients. This method allows him to quietly kill patients over time while maintaining the appearance of providing food, satisfying his Nazi superiors who expect results without direct violence.

The film establishes early that central authorities have shifted euthanasia decisions to individual doctors, giving Veithausen the authority to devise his own methods.

Ernst plans to escape during an air raid, using the chaos and bombardment as cover. However, a nearby bomb explodes and sends debris flying, striking and injuring Nandl. The escape fails, and in the aftermath, Sister Sophia dies after attending a funeral, leaving Ernst devastated.

Ernst and Nandl had been discussing escape plans for some time, viewing the air raid as their best opportunity.

The film deliberately leaves the killer ambiguous. After Veithausen orders Ernst's death, both Sister Kiefer and orderly Paul Hechtle deny being the one who carried it out. Neither confesses to the killing, reflecting the culture of complicity and cowardice among the staff.

Ernst's open accusation of Veithausen as a murderer directly challenges the doctor, setting the stage for retaliation.

After Ernst is killed, Nandl informs the other patients that he finally made it to America. This false hope serves as a coping mechanism for the ward, allowing the children to maintain some sense of optimism in their hopeless situation. It becomes a comforting myth rather than truth.

Ernst repeatedly mentions his father's plan to take him to America throughout the film, making this false report resonate with the other patients.

Sister Kiefer is transferred from Hadamar, another institution known for its role in the Nazi euthanasia program. She arrives willing to kill child patients using barbiturates, bringing direct experience in extermination methods. Her presence represents the systematic spread of the euthanasia program across German institutions.

Hadamar was one of the most notorious killing centers, making Kiefer's transfer a significant escalation.

The film depicts the Aktion T4 program, Hitler's secret initiative to eliminate mentally and physically disabled people deemed unworthy of living. Over 5,000 children perished through methods including lethal injection, starvation, and later gassing. The program was presented as mercy but was actually mass murder based on theories of racial hygiene.

The opening establishes the institutional setting and foreshadows the systematic killing that will unfold.

Ernst directly accuses Veithausen of murder after Sister Sophia dies following the air raid tragedy. He sees through the doctor's method of slow starvation as a deliberate killing method and holds him responsible for the deaths occurring in the institution, confronting the moral rot at the heart of the system.

Ernst and Nandl had already become aware of Veithausen's plans to murder patients before the air raid incident.