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THE FIRST ASSET

By Arun KUMAR

TV Series - Development 2027

A German diplomat is recalled to Berlin in 1939 to find his country debased by Nazis and mired in war. In a trusted position with access to vital intelligence he knows how he can save his country, but first he must betray it. A patriot must turn traitor.

- Year of production
- 2027
- Genres
- TV Series, Thriller, True Story
- Countries
- UNITED KINGDOM, GERMANY, SWITZERLAND
- Languages
- ENGLISH, GERMAN
- Budget
- 10 - 25 M$
- Duration
- 52 mn
- Director(s)
- Arun KUMAR
- Writer(s)
- James HARRINGTON
- Producer(s)
- Arun KUMAR (SOMA ENTERTAINMENT LTD), Sutherland ELWOOD (ARS NOVA CAPITAL, LLC.), Chris JOHNSON (SOMA ENTERTAINMENT LTD)
- Synopsis
- Cape Town 1939. Fritz Kolbe, a German civil servant is recalled to Berlin’s Foreign Ministry, leaving his estranged wife Marta and 7 year-old son Peter behind. Fritz quickly earns trust and speedy promotion to private secretary of Special Ambassador Karl Ritter assisting in top-secret briefs for the Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. Fritz has regular contact with Hitler’s inner circle and is invited to his secret HQ “The Wolf’s Lair”.
  
  Fritz is deeply troubled by the high level exposure to depraved Nazi policies towards their enemies and the ‘undesirables’ including Jews. Within the Ministry resistance is almost non-existent, except for a new friend and covert Nazi opponent Peter Berg. Fritz does not join the Nazi party and this attracts suspicion from Hans Gruber, Head of SS Protocol. Fritz meets the respected Professor Sauerbruch and his assistant Maria Fritsch who invite him to the Wednesday Club where intellectuals discuss their fears over Germany’s direction. The Nazis later detain the Professor and Peter Berg, and Fritz decides to save his country by providing the Allies with intelligence; he believes they would value such a high level traitor, from Hitler’s inner circle.
  
  He secures a visa for travel to Bern under the guise of settling a divorce as by now he has fallen in love with Maria Fritsch. The trip is hair-raising but he contacts the Allies to offer them documents. The British reject these but he is welcomed by the Americans. Allen Dulles, Head of The Office of US Strategic Services becomes his handler and for three intense years Fritz has covert meetings with Dulles in Bern. During this time he provides 1600 documents direct from the foreign ministry in Berlin.
  
  Shortly after Germany is defeated Fritz is given a high risk mission by Dulles that blows his cover. He is vilified as a traitor, ostracized and targeted for assassination. He is forced into exile when Germany reinstates Nazis in powerful political roles.
  
  Fritz and Maria make a new life in America. In a bittersweet conclusion, his valiant work later gained posthumous recognition. In 2004 the German Foreign Ministry inaugurated a hall as ‘The Fritz Kolbe Room’. Allen Dulles, when Director of the CIA, said of him “George Wood” (his code name) was not only our best source on Germany but undoubtedly one of the best secret agents any intelligence service has ever had”.