Fallen Sparrow

Cast & Crew

  • Herbert Schroeter
  • Himself
  • Casey G. Williams
  • Ian S. Williams
  • Director
  • Director
  • Ian S. Williams
  • Casey G. Williams
  • Writer
  • Writer
  • Casey G. Williams
  • Ian S. Williams
  • Paul Ferguson
  • Producer
  • Producer
  • Producer
Cast and Crew

Production Notes:

Principle Photography is almost completed on Paradigm’s latest venture into the Military History genre FALLEN SPARROW. The documentary film and companion book captures the incredible true story of how Lt. Herbert Schroeter defied Hitler and survived WWII.

Herbert Schroeter first came to our attention at a breakfast where Schroeter was the keynote speaker. As he spoke of his experiences and as a German soldier a reoccurring theme emerged within his story that was so compelling. As he described his encounters with “the worst of humanity and the best of humanity” he declared “evil cannot triumph over good, as long as decent men are willing to stand against it.” With disdain, he took the Iron Cross that he coveted and finally won, the Iron Cross that Hitler himself has pinned on him, and threw it as far as he could.

Paradigm was intrigued by the challenge of creating a treatise of war that explores the seldom viewed perspective from the enemy’s point of view. We seldom stop to realize that not all individuals who fought against the Allies in WWII were “bad” people. The goals, motivations, and experiences of Herbert Schroeter were not dissimilar to those who fought for the Allies. His experience allows us the opportunity to view the war from the “other” perspective. Though ideologies may separate those who fight in war, all share the same fears and the same love for home. Does one’s birthplace in time of war make him less deserving for a miracle from God to preserve his life? Perhaps not. A mid-air collision with a British Spitfire over the English Channel abruptly ended his flying career. Herbert is demoted to the Army infantry and transferred to the Russian front. (What appears to be a disgrace at the time may have in fact saved his life. By mid 1944 the Luftwaffe had virtually disappeared from the skies.) The current production schedule includes additional research, final photography in Germany, Poland, & Siberia, and post production activities over the next 12 months.

Production Notes
Run Time: 2 hrs.
Release Date: TBA

Synopsis:

After a mid-air collision with a British Spitfire during a dogfight over the English Channel, Lieutenant Herbert Schroeter was busted from the ranks of Hitler’s Luftwaffe for alleged cowardice and sent to die on the Russian Front in WWII.

Instead, he rose through the ranks of the infantry for undaunted valor on the battlefield and won the coveted Iron Cross for courage under fire.

Though wounded on four separate occasions, Lt. Schroeter continued through the fiercest conflicts of the Eastern Campaign. What now are regarded as the bloodiest Battles of WW II had once been meant to be his death sentence. Yet he had survived to see the German Army reduced to tatters and any chance of a German Victory a hopeless cause. Fueled by pointless battles and rumors of Jewish genocide, Lt. Schroeter’s disdain for Hitler and the Nazi cause grew. As the once great Army began to retreat before the Russian onslaught, Lt. Schroeter finally crossed the line and began the long march home. In the city of Posnau, while trying to board a train that would carry him back to Germany, he was taken prisoner of war.

By 1949, four years after the war had ended; Lt. Schroeter had spent five years in captivity in various camps in the Soviet Union. The last three in Siberia in a forced-labor-camp cutting trees for the Trans-Siberian Railroad - Trees that lay and rotted where they fell. –Just as Lt. Schroeter was expected to do. – Just as 4000 German POW’s has already done.

On the Coldest day of the year, too cold for the guards to accompany them, Lt. Schroeter and the handful of surviving POW’s were sent out to cut down trees on their own. Starving, close to dying, the men decided to risk everything and go over the hill to a frozen Siberian village to scavenge for food.

  • Something happened over that hill…
  • Something that saved Lt. Schroeter’s life…
  • and changed it forever.

Now 60 years later, Herbert Schroeter returns to Siberia to retrace his incredible story.

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