“Bitter Defeat”

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with the German minister of finance, Hans Eichel, about the impossibility of keeping his own promises, the increase in tobacco tax and the budgetary crisis.

“The political situation in the Middle East has been crucially changed by the liberation of Iraq. Israel faces one less strategic threat, and feels safer. … In the case of Syria, I’m against a military option. … Removing Arafat completely from power is at the very top of the list, without that there will be no peace. Next, the Palestinians must reform their entire security apparatus from top to bottom and effectively combat extremists, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and Arafat’s Al-Aksa Brigades. … The basic concept behind the roadmap is correct. It deserves the support of everyone involved, because if the plan is successful its effects will reach far beyond Israel. That’s why Sharon will, I believe, do his share for the successful start of the roadmap by means of confidence-building measures. … No one, not even the Americans, can force us or the Palestinians to peace. Such a weighty step can only arise from the realisation that peace is in one’s own interest.”

The rapprochement between Germany and the United States is making progress: Berlin is considering sending German troops to Iraq under the umbrella of Nato.

“Doubts Cast on Heroes”

Contemporary history: For decades, Soviet soldiers have been praised for allegedly refusing to fire at German demonstrators on 17 June 1953. The basis for this story was supplied by NTS, an organisation for Russian exiles, and a deserter from the Soviet army, who reported that 18 soldiers had been liquidated in the Biederitz region near Magdeburg. Apparently, they had paid for their disobedience with their lives. When construction workers found young men’s bones in a mass grave on a former military site in the town by the Elbe river in 1994, this seemed to confirm their account. However research carried out by two Berlin historians and by DER SPIEGEL, now indicates that there are reasons for doubting the tale of heroism.

Second prosecution and trial in Germany of a suspected collaborator in the terrorist attacks of September 11.

“The Thorns of the Golden Boy”

Corporate groups: In the search for investors to take over ProSieben-Sat1 and the Kirch film archives, media billionaire Haim Saban is revealing a new side of himself. His brash manner is upsetting the banks, small shareholders and insolvency managers. Secretly, a “plan B” has long been drawn up – without Saban.

India: Like many others, Arundhati Roy built herself a weekend home in a nature reserve. Now the Indian government is ousting the inhabitants from the buildings which it regards as illegal.

Interview with Wim Wenders about his latest film “The Soul of a Man” and the Cannes Film Festival.

“Lord of the Images”

Special effects: Unprecedented special effects have been devised for the sequel to the cult film “Matrix”. The dividing line between real and virtual worlds is dissolving.

“Chunks of Cheese for the Villain”

Music: For Richard Wagner fans, the composer’s first wife, Minna Planer, has until now remained entirely in the shadow of her successor Cosima. In Richard Wagner’s life she played the part of the silly goose in the kitchen, in soaps about Wagner she is the poor little thing. In the eyes of Bayreuth’s Salvation Army, Minna quite simply wasn’t socially acceptable - a smear campaign that is still effective today. Now a new book tells the wild story of her life.

“The Baghdad Clarinettist”

Classical music: It was for people like him that the war was fought, and people like him are supposed to turn Iraq into a peaceful country with a rich culture. But Hisham Sharaf, head of the Symphonic Orchestra, doesn’t want to hear any more about freedom and democracy – or about Chopin. Over the past week Sharaf has been through more than most orchestra musicians in their entire lives. He finds it hard to leave the house. Not just because he no longer has a reason to go anywhere, without a job. It is the fear of the next disaster. “Every time I walk around town I see a new building that has been looted. Every time I meet one of my musicians, a new abyss opens up before me.” Two days after liberation, Sharaf returned to his school again for the first time, together with his brother and a friend of his youth, Madjid al-Ghasali, the leader of the second violins. He saw men crouching on the roof of the instrument workshop tearing off sheets of iron. He saw someone coming out of the ballet room carrying a ventilator on his shoulders. He felt ten years of his life crumpling up like a burning paper lantern.