Im Sonderauftrag (English-language title: Special Mission)[1] is an East German black-and-white film directed by Heinz Thiel.
Fischer recalls how, in 1943, his superior Captain Lieutenant Wegner planned to defect to the Danish resistance and join the communists, but was arrested and sentenced to death.
Of the 500 feature films created by DEFA from 1956, the year in which the National People's Army was founded, until its dismantlement during 1990, only five had their plot dealing explicitly with the East German armed forces - although many pictures were set in historical military formations, like the Wehrmacht, and DEFA produced many documentaries and news bulletins about the NVA.
[3] The East German Cinema and Television Review defined Im Sonderauftrag as a "weak, fable-based" film that "used the anti-fascist theme in a schematic manner.
[5] The German Film Lexicon cited Im Sonderauftrag as "thrilling and with good acting, although highly simplistic and committed to the political narrative of the Cold War.