Wolfgang Staudte was the German cinema's most notorious critic of the complacency of the Adenauer era, exposing the cowardice and moral compromise of Germans who continued to live their lives after the war as though the Nazi era had never happened. In Staudte's Kirmes, a young soldier deserts from the front in 1945 and returns to his village, but the village authorities, the church, and even his father all refuse to offer him refuge out of fear of the Nazis. Cut to fifteen years later: the soldier's skeleton is discovered amid the gaiety of a village fair, and once again nobody wants to assume responsibility; the old times are gone and should not be remembered. The film sparked protests throughout the country and was called a slander against the German people. Götz George, who played the young deserter, is today one of the most popular actors on German television.