"A Love Affair in Germany" "On May 15, 1983, Iturned 49." "My son Klaus' birthday was 2 days earlier." "He turned 17." "I decided to take him to Brombach, the old margravial stomping grounds." "It's been 40 years... since the last time I was there." "I thought to myself... this might be the last chance to find something out, and I wanted Klaus to be there too." "Klaus, get up." "Look how beautiful it is here." "Gorgeous..." "But maybe you won't understand it yet." "One doesn't understand these things until one': older." "There's a poem by Hebel, on his way to Basel." "Conversation between Steinen and Brombach at night." "The title is "On Transitoriness,"" "and in it, a coachman's son... beholds this castle in the moonlight." "R6tteln." "Here's the market place." "This is the old town hall, still where it was back then." "This was the town hall?" "That was a marvelous wine tavern." "Here?" " Yes." "No one home anyway." "Closed." "Up there." "Up where?" " There." "They're repairing the old well." "I'm alone." "I've only got two hands." "That': still no reason to yell at us." "Here?" "Yes." "But not next to the potatoes, here to the right." "Give me a piece of this please." "Just a second while I get rid of the empty crates." "Ring this up please." "But I was here first!" "Frau Kropp, we'd like to pay." "I'll be right with you." "Frau Kropp, we'd like to pay." "Good morning." " Good morning, Pauline." "Karl Wyler." "I wouldn't have recognized you." "You look fine in uniform." "Fuflough?" "Yes, three days." "Maria doesn't know yet." "I onlyjust found out myself." "Maybe she': away." "No, but she'll soon be working in armaments." "What diligent women we have." "Cigarette?" "I'd rather have something to drink." " Bring our hero a beer." "Terribly hot today." "Yes, wonderful weather." "We'll have a good wine this year." "Spirits must be high among you soldiers." "Why didn't you write?" "I wasn't sure about my furlough request." "I figured if it went through, I'd be here." "And here you are." "Confidential Security Police Report:" "The rural population thinks nothing of letting POWs stay in their homes." "It's prohibited for prisoners to eat at the same table as Germans." "Don't you knowthat?" "They don't view this as an ethnic-political threat." "Ethnic-political education is hampered by the work of the church... that says that even POWs... and foreign workers are Christians and human beings." "The farmer knows best about the damage that undesirable... blood mixing can produce in his animals, and yet he doesn't seem interested in ethnic-political issues." "For me a human being is always a human being and not an animal." "What can I do for you?" "I'd like..." "I'd like a bar of soap, but I forgot my ration books." "That's alright, you can bring them next time." "Fine, anything else?" "And perhaps... some cologne?" "Very good, what else?" "And then... soap for the bedbugs." "Here you go." "Will that be all?" "And then I need... sperm..." "uh, germ disinfectant." "There you go." "Will that be all?" "Condoms." "Here you go." "Thank you." "Don't forget your soap stamps." "Stani..." "Because of you I had to be in the house next to yours... because I wanted to be near you." "Please..." "We have to be careful." "We were off the shore of Madagascar," "With the bubonic plague on board," "In the vessels our water was stagnant..." "Schulze, are you observing the marvelous view?" "Yes Sir, Second Lieutenant." "Very romantic." "Don'tjabber, Schulze." "Tryto admire." "Come on, move your lazy bones." "Come have a look here." "A little walk." "Yes, but..." "It's just the time." "They're expecting us." "Duty is duty, and schnapps is schnapps, hm?" "I like that, Schulze." "Quite correct." "Don't touch me." "They're gone." "Don't be afraid." "Nothing happened." "They'll kill you." "I don't care if I am..." "Please, once more." "Morning, Mayor." " Morning, Hilde." "A"Ything new?" "I need you to sign this receipt, Mayor." "How's Mitzi?" "Healthy, thank God." "There's something else, Mayor." "A death." "Whose?" "Hans Krtigerwas killed in battle, Elsbeth's fiancé." "Elsbeth Schnittgens who helps Pauline out sometimes." "I'd be obliged if you told her." "Why me?" " Every day she asks me... if there's a letter for her." "My weak heart..." "I can't break it to her." "OK, if that's the way it's got to be." "Send her over." "Good morning, Frau Kramer." "Do I have a letter?" "Have you got anything for me?" "You got something, but the mayor has it." "Oh?" "Why the mayor?" "Why does the mayor have it?" "How should I know?" "I don't read the letters, I only deliver them." "Go see the mayor." "Schulze, give me the file." "That man's crazy." "Scoundrel, I'll show you!" "Who was that?" " A prisoner." "A Polack." "He works for a farmer." "Foreigner scum everywhere you turn." "Someone has to do the dirty work, while we fight for the Reich." "What is it?" "Why aren't you eating?" "Make Stani go away." "But Stani isn't even here." "Eat now, come on." "A mouthful for Mama..." "What about the pretty recorder Stani carved for you?" "Oh, that." "It's not a real one, you can't play it." "Then Stani will just have to fix it." "And didn't he say he'd make you a real drum?" "One with real rabbit skin." "I don't want a drum," "Stani can't make good drums." "I see." "Eat your food." "Come on." "Eat, now." "Good morning, Herr Winkler." "Good morning, Frau Kropp." "What brings you here?" "Isn't Stani here?" "He's with the horses, should I call him?" "Stani has his hands full with the horses." "Tomorrow he has to deliver the coal." "I'd like Stani to come by the store at closing time." "Ijust got a new delivery." "I need him to put the heavy crates in the basement." "It's not easy for a woman to run a business alone." "Sacks full of potatoes, crates of apples." "And your husband, does he write often?" "He's stationed in Bavaria at the moment." "They're being sent to the eastern front soon." "Ah, the eastern front." "You will visit your husband while he's still in the Reich," "W°n't you?" "Don't know." "Of course I'd like to." "But how can I leave the store unattended?" "What about Schnittgens?" "Surely she can take over for a few days." "And even if you closed for a few days..." "People will understand that you want to visit your husband." "Every woman in your position would do the same." "Oh you needn't tell me that." "I'll send Stani over as soon as he's tended to the horses." "Thank you." "Sometimes I think your good-naturedness is really stupidity." "Are you blind?" "Can't you see what's going on here?" "That Pole is always hanging around at Pauline's." "Why is that?" "To give her a hand." "They say he gives her more than just a hand." "Her husband': only been gone 8 months." "What are you doing by the window?" "If her husband is on the front, why shouldn't the Pole help her?" "At the Melchiors they even let him eat at the table." "That's not allowed." "It's a blatant disregard of regulations." "You're not even supposed to offer them water, and Pauline gave him schnapps." "Don't you think... these days some rules just don't make sense?" "No." "And her produce store is flourishing." "Of course, you don't need ration stamps for fruit and vegetables." "You can still make money there." "She even started selling flowers, and who knows if she's got a permit to do that." "I don't know if every grocer is also authorized to sell flowers." "There's no set price for flowers like with potatoes, you can make money there." "Who's going to buy flowers in this town?" "Everyone has his own garden." "It'd never occur to you, but others buy them." "Anyway, so what?" "Come here." "Come on." "Let's try to make ourselves a little Peter." "What if it's a girl?" " No, it'll definitely be a boy." "I don't want two women." "My husband was a brave man." "He was antifascist, you know?" "How he would have liked to have a son, but... she ended up a girl." "Despite everything, she': turned into a lovely woman." "Anna, come here." "You have to understand, she's got her worries and problems." "The store has really changed." "No doubt." "When did you take over?" "It was still wartime when I got it." "After all, I was alone with a small child." "And someone had to take over the store." "Frau Schnittgens, was she another of Pauline': friends?" "She was an upstanding person." "She never wanted to harm a soul." "But then, there was that incident with the letter." "You can think whatever you want, but one thing's for sure, she did receive the letter." "And then suddenly the Gestapo had it." "But she... certainly didn't mean any harm." "Maybe she thought by doing that she could save Pauline's life." "Maybe someone else took the letters to the Gestapo." "Stop it, that's enough." "I know what you're about to say." "Our past, our stupid past..." "It's going to haunt us forever!" "I'm sick of all these phrases." "He acts like we're murders." "He has no right." "You ought to worry instead about what's going on in the world today." "Terrorism, violence..." "That's more important than the past!" "Let it be buried forever, for eternity!" "Good afternoon." "And two pounds of apples." "Over there, have a look yourself." "Nice ones, not too ripe." "The last pears I bought were rotten." "I'm sorry." "There'll be no problem with the apples, they're top quality." "We've got new potatoes too, very good ones." "Stani, go get me some." "OK." "It's not often we have such fine produce." "No, not today." "Maybe next week." "Good evening." "Gusta." "We're closed." "Come by again tomorrow." " Alright." "Did something happen?" "Make him go." "Make him go away!" "Stani, leave." "That's enough work for today." "Hans..." "I told him we should get married, but he said no." "Not until he could wear a lieutenant': uniform." "As if a promotion would have meant anything." "I would be a widow now, but instead..." "I might have had a child, but instead..." "You can't understand." "You still have your husband, you can see him." "He's going to the eastern front too." "Then you still might become a widow, hm?" "Would you like that?" "Elsbeth!" "Forgive me, please." "I don't know what I'm saying." "He always told me:" ""Don't worry about me," "I'm bulletproof."" "Bulletproof." "What does he do here?" "Who?" "That Stanislav." "He helps me with the crates, you saw." "This late?" "Pauline, I beg of you, don't see him anymore." "Avoid him." "It will turn into an illness." "A madness." "Elsbeth, I love him." "No." "How dare you say that to me!" "You have no right, you have absolutely no right!" "Stop screaming!" "What should I do?" "What should I do, oh God?" "What is it, Mama?" "Nothing at all." "I'm going to visit Papa, and you'll... stay with Grandma and Grandpa in the meantime." "You know that Papa misses us so." "Can I go visit Papa too?" "They don't allow children." "And you know Grandma and Grandpa will be so happy." "They won't recognize you." ""Is that our Herbert?" they'll say." "No, he's a regular young man now." "Recently she sold 10 crates of peaches in one day... and was too stupid to brag about it." "And who brought in the crates?" "Him of course." "I even heard them at one this morning." "And her husband is such a decent person." "That bitch, he's the reason she even has the store." "Wonder whose name it's in." "What business is that of yours?" "That's so typical of you." "What do you want with the store?" "You'd never do anything on your own." "All you want is a baby." "Babies are fine, but what if something happens to you?" "What's going to happen to him and me?" "You don't think about these things." "The kitchen': behind the store." "I could take care of business without leaving home." "And it would be ideal for the baby too." "I don't want a wife who murdered to get her shop." "If you denounce her, he'll be hanged." "Hanged, do you know what that means?" "And she'll end up in a concentration camp." "All for something her husband might be doing himself." "Like all soldiers." " You too?" "Of course not." " Do you sleep with women in France?" "Besides, you'll get widow's compensation if I die." "Whatever you earned in the store would be deducted... from your compensation." "I don't have a steadyjob, so I'll be sent to the armaments plant." "That means waking up at 5 every morning, riding there by bike and working my butt off." "I'm so sick of it all." "Come on." "Come back over here." "Let's give our Peter another go." "We wanted to go see my parents." "This time tomorrow..." "I'll be gone again." "That's no reason not to sleep with each other." "Promise me you won't denounce her." "Please, not now." " No, promise me." "Come on, honestly, do you think I'm stupid enough to go to the police?" "So my name will be on record?" "Thanks a lot, but I'm not that dumb." "All I need to do is talk to Frieda K6nig, or... that Schnittgens woman who keeps her books." "I'll go talk to Frieda K6nig." "She can't ignore a thing like this." "She's head of the NS Women's Organization... and will take responsibility." "Maybe he's just wounded." "Mix-ups like these have been known to happen." "Do you think so?" "Do you think it's possible?" "It's possible, everything': possible." "But the important thing is... that you loved each other, no one can take that away from you, that's yours forever." "I can't." "No, don't." "I came to tell you this." "We have to end it." "We're crazy." "I don't know what got into me." "We were crazy, Stani." "But we have to end this." "Tomorrow I'm going to visit my husband." "And you..." "You must forget everything, Stani." "Forget it." "We mustn't." "We must never see each other again." "You want to sleep with him, yes?" "This is madness." "Do you want to sleep with him?" "It's a crime." "Oh, the flowers." "There just won't be any flowers while I'm gone." "My God," "I'm leaving you here all alone." "Herbert, we're leaving now." "Don't worry, I'll manage." "It'll be good for me to keep busy." "I know how things work here." "People don't buy much these days anyway." "I won't forget the receipts." "Mama, I'm bringing my recorder." "Come on, Herbert." "You're my only friend, you're my best friend." "If Stani comes by, tell him..." " I'll tell him nothing." "Come on, let's go." "You'll miss your train." "Where's your cap?" "It's right here!" "Where are you going, Frau Kropp?" "To visit my husband in Bavaria." "He's a guard at a prison camp." "VETY 90°01, very good." "Your husband is a decent man, Frau Kropp." "And he has a decent wife, too." "Are you taking the boy along?" "He's staying with his grandparents in L6rrach." "Frau Kropp has a heavy suitcase, she's off to visit her husband." "Take her to the train station." "Thank you, Mayor." "And good-bye." "Why do you have such an ugly carriage?" "Maybe it's ugly, but it serves me well." "Last night I was in L6rrach." "I took that Pole to the hospital." "The poor man was unconscious." "Let go." "The Melchiors' Pole." "He was trampled by horses." "Stop here." "You gentlemen here to do some riding?" "No, I'd like to talk to Herr Stackmann." "That's me." "Arthur Stackmann." " That was my father." "Why?" "It has to do with the Pole." "Are you a reporter?" "No." "Leave the old man alone, I'm sick and tired of this story." "You were at the rock quarry that day?" "Yes, it was awful." "Did people condone hanging an adulterer?" "You weren't allowed to talk about it..." "But you did." "Many were against it." "But if you ask me, they should have hanged both ofthem." "The woman was more guilty than he was." "She was older, married." "And Father was only following orders... when he had the Pole sign that he had been informed of the consequences of fraternizing with a German woman." "He knew the score." "You Polish?" "No." "Where are you going?" "I'm looking for a Pole..." "He's in room 32, to the left." "It's me." "I found out from Alker." "Please, say something." "Why did you come?" "Go to your husband." "Nurse!" "Nurse!" "Calm down." "That's not allowed here." "Have you no shame?" "Please, come on, don't make a scene." "I'll write you." "Disgusting." "You loathsome scoundrel you." "Dirty rat." "Can't keep your pants up." "Yes, but how is he doing, Doctor?" "What's so terrible, Doctor, about visiting a prisoner of war in the hospital?" "What a mess." "A woman with a suitcase." "He says a woman with a suitcase came to visit him." "The neighbor had a suitcase with her when she left this morning." "She went to see her husband in Bavaria." "A good-bye kiss." "I'd say it's understandable to want to visit him in the hospital." "We could have done the same." "Should I go give him a kiss too?" "No, he might lash out... like the horse." "I told you to lock him in at night." "Oh be quiet." "I'm fed up." "Lock him in at night." "What if he has to see to the horses, hm?" "The doctor said you were responsible, we'll be called to account for all this." "That Pole is nothing but trouble." "So what if we're called to account?" "They won't find out... who the woman was, unless you can't hold your tongue, or that Schnittgens, or whoever else..." "Someone': bound to tell, and then we're in big trouble." "What are you looking at?" "What do you want me to do?" "Nothing has happened, and with God's help nothing will." "Of course it's no fine situation, but we're sensible people." "Should I tie someone up who toils from 5:30 in the morning until 7 at night?" "The Party can kiss my ass come nighttime." "Ijoined so they'd leave me alone... and not so I'd have to spy on my people." "Among the accused are first offenders, farmer's daughters from good families, obedient girls... who had never had intercourse before, as well as soldiers' wives who had been happily married for years, even mothers with several children." "Chief of the Security Police and SD in Berlin." "Morning, Frau Wyler." "What can I get you?" "A bunch of parsley." "How are things, Frau Schnittgens?" "A bunch of parsley, here you are." " Maybe I'll take two." "A"Ything new?" "No." "When's the boss due back?" "Soon." "16 pfennigs, please." "Enjoying the work?" "Yes, but I'm not really cut out for it." "I'm a bookkeeper." "I should never have agreed when she asked me for my help." "I have to do everything alone." "Lugging heavy sacks and crates, ordering the goods, keeping the books." "It's too much for one person." "It'll be hard for Pauline, too, without that Pole to help her." "What Pole?" "Don't play dumb." "The one who works at the Melchiors'." "Haven't you heard what people are saying?" "Letter for you, Frau Schnittgens." "Thank you." "Arwthing else?" "What did Pauline write?" "I don't know, I'll have to read the letter first." "Good-bye, Frau Wyler." "Dear Elsbeth, you're my best friend, please give St. the enclosed letter." "If he's not back yet, send it to the hospital in L6rrach." "Many kisses..." "It's not that bad." "In one or two months I'm being transferred." "Then it's important not to catch a cold to avoid any complications." "I was in Brombach just now and..." "Brombach?" "You needn't go there, the town is full of Nazis." "No one': going to tell you the truth there." "You received letters, which you passed on to Zinngruber." "I can't remember." "Frau Schnittgens, was it Zinngruber or was it Mayer?" "Mayer was a decent man." "Brombach was full of Nazis, but Mayer was a decent man." "I'm sure of it." "The letters were the beginning ofthe end, and they were addressed to you." "But the other women..." "Leave the patient alone now." "I told you she was very weak." "The other women..." "I don't want to talk to you any longer." "Letters you were to deliver to this man... but were somehow handed to the Gestapo." "You have been acquitted." "You have nothing to fear." "You have to tell us the truth." " No, no!" "You don't have to tell him anything." "I told you on the phone you were not to visit my client." "It was irresponsible of you to come." "She could suffer a relapse." "One should consider the repercussions of one's actions beforehand." "I respect your intention of clearing up this unpleasant, long-expired incident from WWII." "In order to spare my client any further harassment..." "I have prepared a statement... that clearly answers all your questions." "First:" "Frau Schnittgens was not Frau Kropp's friend." "My client merely worked for Frau Kropp as a bookkeeper at her general store." "Frau Schnittgens is a bookkeeper, there was no personal relationship." "Frau Schnittgens learned of the affair... through village gossip." "Realizing that the Pole and his Ioverwere in danger, my client urged Frau Kropp to visit her husband in Bavaria." "She hoped this would avert harm." "Second:" "Frau Schnittgens possessed but a single letter... written by Frau Kropp to her lover." "Frau Schnittgens received the sealed, stamped envelope... with a note asking her to drop it in the next mailbox." "My client did not do so, considering it dangerous." "She intended to give it back to the sender upon her return." "Third:" "It is true that Frau Schnittgens gave the letter to the Gestapo, against her will." "Sadly, Frau Schnittgens had mentioned the letter to close friends, and someone must have passed this information on to the Gestapo." "I'll send this to you by registered mail." "I didn't write it." "I don't write German." "Anyone could have written it." "You deny that this love letter from Frau Kropp ever reached you?" "From Pauline Kropp." "I had a fever." "You don't know the woman?" "Who visited you at the hospital?" "Who came to see you?" "I don't know." "Maybe a crazy woman." "You think you can make a fool of me?" "You want to play me for a fool?" "Well, you can't." "You think I'm some farmer from Brombach, do you?" "Schulze!" "Here, Second Lieutenant." "Enough, Schulze." "Take him away." "Unbelievable." "Alright, Frau Kropp..." "Please, have a seat." "Do you think there's any sense in denying it?" "Actually, we can skip this interview, but I wanted..." "I wanted to know a little bit more." "You can go." "I won't be needing you." "You can write it up for me later." "God, how shall I say this?" "I'd like to know whether there was a relationship between the two of you." "I mean a physical relationship." "You understand what I mean." "What's that supposed to mean?" "Maybe..." "Maybe he raped you and you had to defend yourself." "You had to defend yourself, Frau Kropp." "My God, my God." "Let us write in the protocol... that I started it, not that he seduced me." "Let us write that I'm to blame... and let us also write that I regret nothing." "Alright, this way." "Right." "Please, spare her." "I implore you, here it is in writing." "I swear under oath... that I do not harbor resentment, that I forgive her." "First Lieutenant, please." "We have a son, he's only a child." "It's not her fault, I'm sure she won't do it again." "She must be sick." "Calm down." "Help my wife." "She's a good wife and a good mother." "My God..." "Kropp, calm down, calm down." "I promise you I'll do everything I can." "Be brave." "It was by accident." "I turned on the radio and there was a German voice." "It was Radio London." "For listening to foreign stations... and disseminating information you can be sentenced to death." "How did they find out?" "I told a girlfriend." "She turned me in." "Well, if you go around telling." "But not what I heard." "I didn't even hear anything." "That's the point, that': just it." "All I told her... was that I heard Radio London." "And that the man had a nice voice... and that I wondered what he looked like." "If the judge believes me, he won't have to sentence me to death, and maybe he can put me in a concentration camp." "I hear the camps are awful too." "But you live." "You know you're not allowed to look out." "Get back to work." "There are records of countless cases in which Polish civilian workers, who for engaging in illicit sexual intercourse were... recommended for special treatment, were shown to bear Nordic features, a favorable appearance, and a positive character." "Not that, get to the point." "These people are suitable under certain conditions... for Germanization." "That's what we're looking for, Schulze." "The Reich Leader ofthe SS in his capacity as the Reich Commissioner... to insure the consolidation of the German People... ordered that Polish prisoners and civilian workers... who have engaged in intercourse with German women and girls... or committed other immoral acts upon them... shall, priorto submission for special treatment," "be examined in view of their potential for being Germanized." "The public health officer': report must include:" "1." "Race classification, 2." "Height without shoes, 3." "Body type." "Do you understand all this?" "I don't." "The public health officer has to do it, we can't do it." "Well, where the hell is he?" "He's always coming late." "If he's like this on the front, I don't want to be in his shoes." "We'll prepare everything for him... so all he has to do is sign." "But, Schulze, this is ourjob." "Do we really have to do this?" "I mean the purpose of all this nonsense is so obvious." "Shut up, Schulze." "This isn't about the Pole." "It's about her." "Her husband is a soldier." "This woman... simply has to be helped, do you understand?" "Well, she is lovely, isn't she?" "Have the Polack come in." "Bring him in." "Come on, let's go." "Shoes off, you're going to be measured." "Take off your shirt." "Stupid measuring tape." "Schulze, what are you doing?" "How did your father measure you?" "He made a mark at the top of your head." "Here." "Then he measured, from top to bottom or bottom to top." "It doesn't matter." "Here we go." "Just a second." "1.29 meters." "Did you get that?" "What?" "1.79." "Of course." "You're an ass." "Eye color, hair color, skin color." "No problem." "Eye color." "Look straight ahead." "Blue." "1C." "Hair color." "I'd say, here, this one: dark brown." "Dark blond." "Yes, dark blond." "Three." "Here's where it gets complicated." "Damn, let's skip it." "Hold on." "No, forget it." "Skin color." "Second Lieutenant, how do you classify his skin?" "Light pink, rosé." "Here on his neck it gets dark brown." "What are we going to write?" "Pink, can you say that?" "That's more forwomen or girls, I think." "I'd say it's light." "Body type." "Body type." "Lanky." "Lanky isn't a scientific term." "Hold on, I'll look it up." "Damn, nothing in this worthless book." "I wrote "body type normal." Sounds good, hm?" "But now for the hard part:" "describe the most prominent feature." "What would that be?" "Prominent." "Ten, two." "Herr Mayer." "I'm not a specialist for race issues." "This is outside my area of competence." "Get the Pole out of here." "Have him wait outside." "We won't discuss your area of competence... in the presence of this Pole." "I'd like to read you something... about your area of competence." "If no race inspector is available, the public health official shall... furnish the medical report." "Signed:" "Heinrich Mtiller, Chief of the Gestapo." "It's not... as easy as you imagine." "Does he even know what you've got planned for him?" "This isn't about the Pole." "It's about Frau Kropp." "You know what she faces." "Bring him back in." "Go on, what's wrong?" "The doctor': waiting." "There's nothing wrong with me." "You can get dressed." "Then I'm healthy?" "Heahhy?" "Better yet, you're Aryan." "I'm what?" "Aryan, you can become a German." "A German?" " Yes." "No!" "I don't want to become a German!" "I don't want to!" "Take him away!" "Dark cell confinement until he calms down." "Is he crazy?" "Second Lieutenant..." "You see, Second Lieutenant, it's not that easy." "That settles that." "Fool." "I can't recommend this petition." "It could cost me my head if I... advocate the Germanization of a Slav... who doesn't even want to be Aryan." "I advise you, Second Lieutenant, to be careful as well." "Doesn't want to." "He can't be that crazy." "But about Frau Kropp." "This is... primarily... about Frau Kropp." "Can't you understand that he may not be crazy... and doesn't want to be German either?" "At ease!" "Be seated!" "You know the charges against you." "I'm not guilty." "Open the door." "How do you feel here?" "What's your profession?" " I teach high school." "A fine profession." "Tomorrow at 11 you can be a free man." "But first, at 8, your cellmate and fellow countryman, a certain Zasada, requires you to do him a favor." "You must hang him." "What?" "Me?" "Why me, Inspector?" "Please, I'd rather..." "Hang me before you provoke me in such a way." "Oh no." "What are you saying?" "We Germans don't hang Poles." "Your people seduce German women, married women, the wives of our soldiers." "Please, get someone else to do it, Inspector." "L'll die ifl have to do it." "I can't do that." "I don't want to." "You're bigger than the culprit." "He is big too, but you are bigger." "And you're nice, that': why I chose you." "You won't torment him." "If a smaller man puts a noose on someone bigger, what could happen... is that the noose won't sit right." "It gets caught... on the chin." "Like this, you see?" "Then he dies along agonizing death." "And I don't want that." "Go ahead and try it." "No." "I won't do it." "It's quite simple." "It's quite simple." "I won't do it." "Here, look." "You won't tie the noose yourself." "It will be hanging there waiting." "A horsecart will pull up under the gallows... and you climb up onto it, you place the noose around his neck," "and the cart pulls away." "That's it." "Place it around the neck." "You see, here, down here." "This area, not here." "Here, you see, here." "Do it." "Do it, do it." "I won't do it." "I won't do it." "I'm very patient and you know it." "Still, you will do what has to be done." "And you will do it because Zasada will ask you to." "You talked to each other and Itolerated it... although it is strictly forbidden." "And I bet you understand each other." "Really understand each other well." "Look there's a dirty little Polish thief who'd love to hang Zasada." "But I don't want that, I really don't." "He's two heads smaller and could cause Zasada undue pain." "And another thing, to have an executioner who could also be a friend... is a comfort in one': final hour." "It's what every man would want." "You understand me, I'm sure you understand." "Fine, then I'll see you tomorrow." "Tell your boss if he doesn't deliver on time," "I'll go to the competition for coffins in the future." "Why coffins?" "Last week you read aloud that coffins are prohibited in such situations." "Don't ask such stupid questions." "You know the regulations." "Prohibited for mass executions;" "allowed for up to three." "Corpses from single executions... are to be sent to the Anatomical Institute in Freiburg." "How is that done without a coffin?" " Don't know, Sir." "Then it was incorrect... to charge the coffin to today's execution." "When the people at the Institute remove the body, they have to return the coffin." "That way it can be reused for future executions." "Who's that in the truck?" "The executioner, Doctor, another Pole." "It was hard work bringing him around." "Is he capable?" "Is he doing it voluntarily?" "Is he doing it voluntarily?" "Reich Leader Himmler approved granting a Pole who hangs a countryman... three cigarettes." "I gave them to him yesterday." "If he does a good job, he'll get three more." "Yes, he's doing it voluntarily." "I'm being hanged..." "Don't be foolish." "What are you doing here?" "It's already 6:50, get going!" "Hurry up!" "Herr Mayer, good thing you have your gun with you." "Why, Why do you say so?" "In case you have to put him out of his misery." "He'll just have to hang until he's dead." "When the army shoots a deserter, the commanding officer has to deliver the coup de gréce." "I'm beginning to seriously doubt that the other prisoner in the truck knows what he's doing." "He's already as limp... as a wet towel." "I'm not authorized to shoot;" "my orders are execution by hanging." "There's more to that than meets the eye." "Switzerland is so close." "Why didn't I flee, why?" "Don't rebuke yourself, the Swiss would have... sent you back to the Germans." "Listen, your mother lives in Lodz, right?" "Yes, why?" " Well then." "They won't even let me write home." "What would you write?" "Tell me," "I'll write to her afterwards..." "I don't know... what one writes in my situation." "Tell her I send a big hug." "Just that." "I don't want Mama to know the whole story." "And write that I was calm when I died." "Write something so she can be proud of me." "The address is Glowna 4, apartment 8..." "Can you remember that?" "Of course." ""Glowna 4" is enough, everyone there knows us." "That's what we said, Erna and I." "Really." "But then Erna said..." "You used to be a teacher, you'd know..." "Is there anything after death?" "No one knows... what really happens to us, so one can't preclude anything..." "When we were born, we didn't know anything about life, so we don't know what comes thereafter." "Rememberwhat you learned in high school." "The law of conservation of energy... is a simple truth." "Do you remember?" "The source of energy in man is the spirit." "It's called "Spirit."" "It can't be destroyed... or lost." "Body, mass, and matter... are never lost... but only change forms." "Same with the spirit." "You learned that in religion." "They send whole pigs back home." "I'm going to shout right now:" ""Long live Poland!"" "You're right, it doesn't fit." "I don't have to watch this brutality." "I'm only required, and I want to make this clear, to confirm death." "I don't have to attend the execution." "If the noose slips under his chin, you'll see him thrash about a long time." "I must correct you, Doctor, you are required to be present at the execution... because no SS doctors are currently available." "SS doctors are, as you must know, bound by duty to field hospitals, concentration camps, and other important Reich institutions." "And you should..." "Oh..." "Alright, I'm here, I'm not backing out." "Our people are being led... out of town." "How many?" "Ten, maybe twelve." "How many in all?" "100, 200..." "What are you getting at?" "They made a mistake." "If you've got 200 men... and only 5 police, then they could..." "It's not that easy." "Although..." "The border isn't far off..." "If they kept together..." "But the Swiss would turn them in..." "If they were alone, but in a group they wouldn't dare." "Sit down!" "You see, there's no sense." "It works in the movies, but not in life." "Careful, Mayer's coming." "Heil Hitler." "The group is ready for the execution." "I need a short piece of rope." "Short, why a short..." "Not for his neck, to tie his feet together." "Do you think anybody here has a piece of rope on him?" "Ask them." "Does anyone have a piece of rope?" " I do." "Start them marching." "Here, Doctor..." "Those assigned to the execution, forward march!" "The others wait here." "Get going, Stackmann." "Case against Pauline Kropp, wife, for illicit relations with POWs." "In the name of the German people:" "the accused engaged in relations with a Polish POW... in such a manner as to... clearly offend the German sense of morality." "For repeated sexual intercourse with a Pole she has therefore... been sentenced to two and a half years at a labor camp." "P0 LAK LOVER" "Where are we going?" "To the rock quarry." "Come on down." "Damn you, stupid Polack bastard!" "Get up there." "Feet together." "Piece of shit." "The culprit Stanislav Zasada, for engaging in sexual intercourse... with a dishonorable German woman, has forfeited his life." "To safeguard the people and the Reich... he is to be deprived of life." "The execution may proceed!" "Herr Mayer..." "What is it?" "Don't forget him." "Thank you, Doctor." "Get over here, Viktorczyk." "Viktorczyk, don't be a coward." "I'm only doing my duty." "Get going!" "Giddyap!" "About face!" "Hey, don't do that, it's dangerous." "Hand me that." "I'll be right back." "My God, just wait." "Trespassing is prohibited here because it's extremely dangerous." "When my mother was released from camp, my father had already died." "He was killed on the eastern front." "She always said he was a good person, a good husband and father." "She never talked about the Pole or the concentration camp, except once, and then all she said was "It was awful."" "And the Pole... always said, "I don't care, I don't care..."" "After the concentration camp my mother was very sick... and she tried to get compensation." "At the town hall they told her... to let sleeping dogs lie and that it was a political matter." "After that we moved away from there." "There are lots of films about this time." "But I don't know... if it's even possible to tell, to explain everything."