But after returning from the war in Poland, he forsakes her in favor of Countess Palvner and joins Hans Frank's staff in the newly formed General Government.

When Gertrud discovers that Mala is Jewish, she finds Leßtorff and convinces him to arrange fake papers for her; he agrees, on condition that she takes in another child, Stefan.

The series' script was written by the East German author Helmut Sakowski, who was already well known for his historical novels set in Mecklenburg.

[4][5] Another significant motif of the plot was the depiction of the wartime expulsion of Germans, a sensitive subject that was rarely dealt with openly at the time.

It was highly successful: according to rating surveys, 77.7% of East Germany's television viewers watched Wege übers Land.

[8] On 3 October 1968, Sakowski, director Martin Eckermann, cinematographer Hans-Jürgen Heimlich, dramatist Helga Korff-Edel and actors Ursula Karusseit, Christa Lehmann and Manfred Krug were all awarded the National Prize, 1st degree, for their work on the series.

[9] The VI East German Writers Congress devoted a discussion to the series, during which it was met by considerable approval.

In 1983, as the Stasi adopted a policy of 'no traitors on screen', it attempted to forbid its re-screening since several of the leading actors - including Armin Mueller-Stahl, Manfred Krug and Angelica Domröse - had moved to West Germany.