quick check
“Police call 110” from Frankfurt/Oder
Exorcism, Immaculate Conception and other mumbo-jumbo
Scene from “Polizeiruf 110”: The inspectors Olga Lenski (Maria Simon) and Adam Raczek (Lucas Gregorowicz) are dealing with a religious fanatic.
© rbb/Arnim Thomass / ARD
This “police call 110” from Frankfurt/Oder leaves the solid ground of reason and goes into regions of religious madness. A dangerous undertaking. The ARD repeats the case on Friday evening.
- 2 out of 5 points
- Much incense about (almost) nothing: This “police call 110” is a nebulous matter
What’s the matter?
16-year-old Larissa got pregnant unintentionally – and also immaculate, as she claims. When the doctors diagnose trisomy 18, the girl wants to jump off a bridge – and is rescued by a strange young man. He calls himself Elijah because he considers himself God’s prophet and the child his mission. He will intervene once more: he sneaks into the hospital and prevents the late termination of the pregnancy by cutting the child out of the mother’s womb – which then surprisingly turns out to be healthy. But Larissa does not survive the operation – so the inspectors Olga Lenski (Maria Simon) and Adam Raczek (Lucas Gregorowicz) start investigations.
Why is this “police call 110” worthwhile?
The episode “Holy Shall You Be” reminds us that there are things between heaven and earth that we cannot (yet) explain. And that there is a country just a few kilometers east of Frankfurt/Oder where godliness is very high.
What bothers?
This “police call 110” deliberately plays with the limits of what can be scientifically explained – and tries to justify religious fantasies as legitimate explanations. Stories are told several times that are intended to testify to the workings of divine forces. A boy turns out to be a miracle healer, a girl becomes immaculately pregnant, an apparently sick child is born healthy: In the accumulation of these phenomena, “Holy Shall You Be” tries to undermine the scientific world view. What is already a problematic undertaking in normal times is proving to be extremely dangerous in the context of the rampant pandemic. Because not God will defeat Corona, but medicine and research. Anyone who sows doubts about this is endangering human lives.
The commissioners?
The religious mania does not stop at Adam Raczek’s private life either: After five years, his mother suddenly shows up at his door. The old woman suffers from colon cancer and wants to see her son again. The deeply religious woman does not want to be treated by a doctor: “If God wants to save me, he will find a way,” she says – and tells her son that he suffered from a bad intestinal inflammation at the age of three, which was only caused by a Pilgrimage to Lourdes could be cured.
Turn on or off?
Far too many people prefer perceived truths to facts. There is no need for a thriller about religious madness. Better turn it off.
The “police call” episode “Holy you should be!” was first broadcast on May 3, 2020. ARD repeats the case on Friday, August 26 at 10:15 p.m.
Olga Lenski and Adam Raczek also determined in these cases: