When the film
Träumerei was made in 1944, Knef shot some scenes, which would have marked her film debut, but these were left out of the final cut. She did appear in several films before the fall of
Nazi Germany, but most were released only afterward. During the
Battle of Berlin she dressed as a soldier to stay with her lover,
Ewald von Demandowsky, and joined him in the defence of
Schmargendorf. The
Soviets captured her and sent her to a prison camp. Her fellow prisoners helped her escape and return to Berlin. Von Demandowsky was executed by the Russians on 7 October 1946, but before that he secured for Knef the protection of the well-known character actor
Viktor de Kowa in Berlin. De Kowa gave her the opportunity to be a
mistress of ceremonies in the theatre that he had opened. Knef also got a part in
Marcel Pagnol's
Marius, which was directed by
Boleslaw Barlog. De Kowa also directed Knef in other plays by
Shakespeare, Pagnol, and
George Abbott. The film was also criticised by the
Catholic Church, which protested against the nude scene. Knef stated that she didn't understand the tumult that the film was creating. She wrote that it was totally absurd that people considered her nudity to be scandalous, as Germany was the country that had created
Auschwitz and had caused so much horror. She also wrote, "I had the scandal, the producers got the money." released in English as
Everyone Dies Alone in 1976, and for which she won an award for best actress at the International Film Festival in
Karlovy Vary, then
Czechoslovakia. During her career she performed in more than 50 films. Nineteen of her films were produced in countries other than Germany: the United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Austria and Spain. ==Career in the United States==