''Spring of Life'' () is a 2000 Czech film directed by

Milan Cieslar Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Plot

The film depicts a little-known operation of the Nazi SS, started just before the outbreak of World War II. Grétka (

Monika Hilmerová Monika Hilmerová (; born October 7, 1974, in Czechoslovakia) is a Slovak actress. She is a winner of the Silver Dolphin award received in 2001 at the annual Festroia International Film Festival in Setúbal, Portugal as the Best Actress for he ...

) has been selected by the Nazis for the

Lebensborn ''Lebensborn e.V.'' (literally: "Fount of Life") was a secret, SS-initiated, state-registered association in Nazi Germany with the stated goal of increasing the number of children born who met the Nazi standards of "racially pure" and "heal ...

. She falls in love with a Jew, Leo ( Michał Sieczkowski), who has been hiding there. A short summary of the lebensborn program follows as such: Germany encouraged young women who were racially pure and "Aryan" to have a baby with a racially fit and aryan man. It was a breeding program, 60% of the women who entered this program were unmarried.In addition Germany kidnapped children from other countries who fit their Aryan standards, to become foster children for pure German couples.

Cast

: Grétka * Michał Sieczkowski: Leo * Johana Tesarová : Klára *

Vilma Cibulková Vilma Cibulková (born 26 March 1963) is a Czech Republic, Czech film and stage actress. She won a Czech Lion for Best Supporting Actress at the 2003 Czech Lion Awards, for her role in the film ''Pupendo''. At the 2006 Thalia Awards she won the ca ...

: Waage *

Karel Dobrý Karel Dobrý (born 2 May 1969) is a Czechs, Czech film, television and stage actor. He is known for playing Liet-Kynes in the ''Frank Herbert's Dune, Dune'' 2000 miniseries, and Korba (Dune), Korba in the 2003 sequel ''Frank Herbert's Children of ...

: Odillo *

Bronislav Poloczek Bronislav Poloczek (; 7 August 1939 – 16 March 2012) was a Polish-Czech theatre and television actor. Poloczek was born in Horní Suchá (Sucha Górna). He was best known for his appearances with the Prague National Theatre. He also appeare ...

: Kasuba *

Josef Somr Josef Somr (14 April 1934 – 16 October 2022) was a Czech actor. He was noted for starring in the Oscar-winning 1966 film '' Closely Watched Trains'', as well as in '' The Joke''. Early life Somr was born in Vracov, Czechoslovakia, on 14 Ap ...

: Teacher

External links

* 2000 films 2000 drama films Czech drama films Films about race and ethnicity Nazi eugenics Films about Nazi Germany Czech war drama films Czech World War II films 2000s Czech films {{2000s-CzechRepublic-film-stub