"1942, THE NETHERLANDS DURING GERMAN OCCUPATION." "DUTCH JEWS ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED TO WALK IN PARKS" "OR GO TO RESTAURANTS OR STATE SCHOOLS." "DEPRIVED OF THEIR FREEDOM AND SEGREGATED, MOST ACCEPT THEIR FATE" "IN THE HOPE THAT THE HUMILIATION IS THE WORST THAT WILL HAPPEN." "Tazelaar, I want it started up by Monday, before noon." "Maintenance can be carried out on C13." "Den Daas." "That transfer has been sorted out." " Thank you." "Don't forget the doctor's note." " OK." "Have a nice day." "Mr Suskind?" "The director would like to see you." "Can't it wait till Monday?" "Daddy!" "Daddy!" "Whose birthday is it?" " Mine." "You look so pretty." "OK kids, coats on." "Paul, Saar, Anne, Lou." "You're a bit late." "She is your daughter, you know." "Who needs the toilet?" "Hurry up." " Yeah." "I might as well have stayed in Germany." " Yes, but you're in Amsterdam now." "But for how long and where's it all leading?" "To the theatre." "And you're driving the kids there, now." "Without a car?" "Yeah..." "Then we'll walk." "I leave that stinking country because of that bastard and he follows me!" "The son of a bitch." "To pinch your job, how mean!" "Walter, if that's the worst thing that happens..." "Is everyone here?" "Come on, sweetheart." "JEWS ONLY" "Come on, kids." "Have you got it with you?" " Yes, back to the Dark Ages." "The Suskind family." "Seven people." "Do you want one, Saartje?" "Paul." "Vreugdenhil, Christiaan?" " Yes." "Are you in the show too?" " I'm the pianist." "Jewish?" " No." "Come with me." " What's going on?" "I'm not Jewish." "Officer, you can't treat Arians like that." "What are you doing here?" "I'm here for the revue." "Let him play the piano." "What business is it of yours?" "As a German, I'm always proud of Germans in uniform, like you." "Always correct." "Papers, please." "Here you are." "Mr Suskind?" " Yes." "Wait here." "Mister..." "A nice piece of rough." "If you want to sell it, my boss will know what to do with it." "You still have a job?" "You didn't get fired?" " I got lucky." "You don't have to go to Germany?" " I can stay in Amsterdam." "I've got a Sperre." "Don't ask me why." "It's not from the Krauts." " No, the Jewish Council." "Get your white rag, sorted." " Can you get one just like that?" "Well, not just like that..." "You probably have to work for them." " What are you worrying about?" "If you can earn a living, here in Amsterdam and ride your bike here and breathe the air here, in Amsterdam..." "You can wipe your arse with that rag for all I care." "At least I don't have to go to Krautland." "Simon, come on." "What are you doing here, where do you live?" "What are you sitting there for?" "Come here, you're driving me crazy." " There was a stone in my shoe." "Watch out, a cop!" "Papers, please." " I live here." "Roos!" "Roos, come here!" "Go away, Roos." " Shut up!" "Go away, you stinking Jew!" "Daddy!" "Some day the war will end." "And then she will go to school, and she will live and she will get married." "And we will be a grandpa and grandma." "You'll make a great grandpa." "Hanna, will you promise me something?" "Will you stay with me always?" "Whatever happens?" "JEWISH COUNCIL" "Excuse me, excuse me." "Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me." "Good morning." "You're already here, Mr Polak." "It may take a while, but follow me." "Thank you." "To be honest, I don't see myself in some German factory." "You'll be exempted, surely." " As long as you're indispensable here." "You, me..." "Now, where was I?" "Ah, DrTugendhaft and his family, they can be removed." "Doctors really are indispensable." "We're lucky the gentlemen are allowed to choose who has to be deported." "Not the Germans?" " No." "They just say how many." "We're free to choose who." "Imagine getting a summons to report." "You could not report in." " Then they'll come and get you." "Miss Elzas, am I mistaken or is that someone new?" "That's Mr Polak from the Expo." "He is here for the lists." "Ah, the lists!" "Guess how many we've managed to remove from the list." "Bram, perhaps Mr Polak doesn't like riddles?" "14,000, all of them a Sperre." "Who would have thought?" "Did you expect that, Mr Polak?" "Be honest." "No." "Ten, maybe." "Twelve, at the most." "This morning, we had coffee with the SS." "Excellent coffee, I must say." "Suddenly, that Mr Aus der Funten asks..." " Hauptsturmfuhrer Aus der Funten." "He asks now many people the Council needs to get everyone on the train within a year." "That's what he says." "I say twenty thousand." "Once a businessman always a businessman." "You ask for 20, you get 14." "Like rats, Mr Asscher." "We're walking into the trap like rats." "Mr Kisch, this really is the only way." "A slippery slope." "Do we want to become the Nazis' slaves?" "Is that our mission?" " Adapting." "We've survived for 2,000 years by adapting." "This could, God forbid, be the last time." "Please sit down, Mr Kisch." " Sit down?" "Is your name on there, Mr Polak?" "Suskind is my name, Walter S[Jskind." "Sluzker." "And you would like to be removed?" "I understand." "But I'm afraid I can't help you." "Sorry." "Listen, you should know I have considerable work experience." "A ship with 1,000 passengers has sprung a leak and there is only room for 50 in the lifeboat." "What about the other 950?" "They're just allowed to perish?" "I worked at Krupp." "And since '38 at Hoogovens." "You'll see, I'll be indispensable here within a week." "As a pianist?" "I can tap dance too." "I'm a company manager, a good one." "DUTCH THEATRE" "157,694 cards." "The German way." "Double-entry bookkeeping." "There's a card for every name on the list." "Watertight" "Felix." "Felix Haiverstad." "After the war he'll be an artist again." "They wait here for transportation to Westerbork camp." "Can't they go straight there?" " 140,000 people on a train in one go?" "You send them twice a week, 400 or 500 people at a time." "Here is the toilet." "One toilet?" "Do you know how much waste matter a family produces in a day?" "Times 400 or 500 families..." " No families or children here." "The Germans don't like whining." "Where do you keep them then?" " There." "In the synagogue?" " That's where the children are housed." "Get rid of the Torah and you've got a créche." "The SS are certainly resourceful." "So the children are separated from the parents upon arrival?" "And brought here, yes." " The slippery slope." "You can still refuse the position and return the armband." "We'll see you here anyway." "Your child here." "You across the street with your wife in the front row stalls." "Let me know." "What do you want with that?" "To escape." "Hide." "Have you gone mad?" "If they catch us, they'll send us to Mauthausen." "Is that what you want?" "Your daughter in a prison camp?" "Hiding is forbidden!" "Walter, I'm so proud of you." "We've got a Sperre." "Yes, if I take that job as the Nazi's stooge." "If you don't, there'll be ten others who will." "Twenty, a hundred." "Someone has to do it." " Why?" "Why must we leave?" "We're ordinary Dutch citizens." "Maybe you can petition the Queen." " As if she cares about a few Jews." "Do you know what will happen if you don't take that job?" "Police!" " Get lost!" "Out the back!" "Come on, run!" "Up there!" "Roos." " Simon, grab my hand." "Look at me." "Let go." " Come on." "Stay where you are!" " Simon, go on." "Roos, stay with him." "Mummy!" " Mummy!" "Run!" "Run!" "Good morning." "Will you be eating at home this evening?" "No." "Thank you." "Half-blind." "Lower jaw gone." "Are you still a human being then?" " What are you talking about?" "Helmut." "My brother." "The Eastern Front?" " Yes." "He was awarded the Iron Cross First Class." "A hero." " Yes." "Quite different from those here who are dragging our honour through the mud." "To the Central Bureau?" "And then on to the theatre." " Yes, sir!" "What were our orders?" "How were we going to take care of this task?" "Do you remember?" "Well?" "Quickly, orderly, thoroughly." "How?" "Rottenfilhrer?" "Teutonically, Herr Sturmbannfuhrer." "It may not have dawned on you yet but we're not the Salvation Army." "Beating people up in the street, is that Teutonic?" "An officer shouldn't berate his men." "Even when they're beating helpless people to death?" "People?" "Symptoms of decay." "I'm warning you, once more and you'll be going where your brother went" "Together we face the task of making things run smoothly here." "And prevent worse happening." "We all know who and what we have to be on the alertfor." "Tolerate them like you would a storm." "You can't do much about that either." "Achtung!" "With discipline and hard work, we can fulfil our honourable task." "Hauptsturmfuhrer, may I introduce you to Mr Walter Suskind?" "He has been appointed by the Council to take charge here." "Ladies and gentlemen." "You must execute your tasks here with efficiency and dedication." "There are certain rules to be adhered to." "Rule number one:" "Teutonic regime." "Disorder will be severely punished." "Rule number two:" "Tears or other displays of emotion will not be tolerated." "Rule number three:" "Tough action will be taken against all attempts to fraudulently obtain privileges for family or friends." "It is in everyone's interest that this operation proceeds flawlessly and is concluded within ten months." "Heil Hitler!" "Would you come and report like that?" "So meekly and obediently?" "That's easy for you to say, people are scared." "They should have burned the registers." "Instead they just hand them to the Krauts. "Here, 150,000 Jews."" "Working in Germany..." "I'm a godforsaken Polish pagan," "Worth less than nothing, the Muselmann..." "They kick me hem, they kick me them." "Schoontje Schelvis?" "What a lovely name!" "And what's his name?" " Bram." "To a labour camp?" "He can't even walk yet!" "A clean nappy first, and then a sleep?" "Sir." "That's enough now, stop." "Have you registered yet?" "Can I see your summons?" "Sir, please stop." "Listen, that's enough." "Sir?" "I want you to stop." "No, no." "Do you have to?" "Let me go, you bastard!" " May I have your keys?" "Calm down, calm down." " What?" "What happened?" " Mrs Waterman, may I have your keys?" "Your keys." "That's it." "Are you alone?" "Madam, are you alone?" "Husband?" "Children?" "Disciplinary case." "Don't you speak Dutch?" " Better than you, you filthy Kraut!" "Probably went into hiding." "Rations halved and immediate deportation." "I have to get out of here." "Listen, my children..." "My children!" "We're getting quite Teutonic already." " Yes." "What does that really mean?" " Something very German." "Yes, war." "With people like you, you don't even have to be anti-Semitic." "Shall I pray with you?" " Get lost." "I don't pray, ever." "So you're not Jewish?" " Oh, so why am I here then?" "No-one knows." "Can I ask you something?" "Whats there to sing about?" "Have you got a better idea?" "Nice catch." "Did he eat well?" " Yes." "Time to have a sleep." "Bye, Mummy." "He's mine." " Of course he is." "You can come and feed him twice a day, but now you have to go." "No!" "I want to keep him with me." "Stop her." "Stop her." "Schoontje, listen." "No, they're taking my child away!" "Calm down." "Soon you'll be on the train with Bram in your arms." "I promise." "OK?" "I promise." "I promise." " Come on." "Mr Suskind?" " What?" "Do you know where they're going?" "Westerbork" " Yes, but after that?" "To work in Germany." "What?" "What else?" "No idea." "But it stinks." "You have to let me go." " Madam." "My children are wandering the streets." " Please, leave." "Stop it." "Stop it, stop it!" "And just leave them?" " They should be in the creche" "Creche, my arse!" "Are you sending your kids to Germany to work?" "Do you have any idea how old they are?" "Mum?" "Mummy?" "Why isn't she here?" "Please knock in future." "What are you doing?" "Are you going to grass on me?" "Idiot." "Double-entry bookkeeping." "The disciplinary cases are marked on the cards too." "I know." "This is only half of the work." "Oh, you want me to play the hero too?" "You've got the key." "To the file room." "Felix..." "Why did you take this lousy job?" "Like you..." "to save my skin." "Yes." "And that's all you can save." "Walter." "Do you think I'm not afraid?" "You shouldn't have become a Jew then." "What are you doing?" "She's on the roof!" " Who?" "I want him back!" "I want my child back now!" "Bram!" "Get her down off the roof." "Quickly." "Muller!" "Get her down from there, using any means." "Bram!" "Bram!" "You don't seem to have understood me." "Rule one?" "I tried..." " Rule one?" "Teutonic regime, Herr Hauptsturmfuhrer." "Under no circumstances will I tolerate chaos." "It was an accident." "How could I stop it?" "Your theatre, your responsibility." "Why?" "What have they done wrong?" "They exist." "I'm scared." "That's exactly what they want." "Where did such hatred come from?" "Because of what we are?" " No." "Because of what they think we are." "Because of what we teach them." "About the pure and impure." "That there is a dividing line between what is acceptable and what is unacceptable." "My bed!" "Who are you?" " That's my bed!" "Is that your bed?" "You know what?" "Come and get it, come on." "Don't." " Come on." "Simon!" "Come here, you." " Let me go!" "Let him go!" "No, don't!" " Bastard!" "What are you doing, you little Jewish bitch?" "This is the deportation material for tonight?" "412 people." " We'll have to increase that." "Double it, multiply it by ten!" "Do you have enough workers?" "Absolutely, I have a fine team." "Thank you." "Hauptsturmfuhrer, may I ask you something?" "Go ahead." "Where do they go?" "I mean, after Westerbork?" "My responsibility ends when the train leaves." "That's all I can tell you." "The Jews owe us their labour, while our own men are fighting the war." "So Germany will have the Jews to thank for its eventual victory?" "Hauptsturmfuhrer, I have found a discrepancy, a 'D'." "A disciplinary case, which is on the card but not on the list." "Arrest them." "All of them!" "Yes, sir!" "Death to Jews!" "Death to Jews!" "Off to Mauthausen with the lot of you." "Unless you suddenly remember the name." "Who messed with the list?" "Herr Hauptsturmfuhrer, I assure you I do not tolerate sabotage or falsification." "But it might be a mistake, we're only human." "That's bullshit." "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't punish your 'mistake'." "Mr Suskind..." "What would I achieve?" "Order." "Without me, you choose chaos." "Because I remove one small cog from the machine?" "Your machine will go on working." "I'm easy to replace." "But there is one difference." "You can trust me." "I'm German." "Meaning?" " I'm a businessman." "A realist." "So I take a realistic approach." "I've had a German upbringing, went to a German school." "I acknowledge you as my superior." "Herr Hauptsturmfuhrer, let me do my job." "Mr Suskind?" "Just so we're clear." "One more 'mistake' and you'll be on the train." "With your family." "My God, I thought I was going to die." "I was treated correctly." "He probably likes me." " An SS man?" "Maybe he's fallen for me." "But what happened?" " Oh, nothing." "That arrogant idiot!" "Mr Haiverstad." "The dimwit." "The big hero with his ink against a gang of crooks." "Calm down." "It all ended well." " Yeah." "There's someone ill back there, over on the side." "Go and see." "392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397." "Keep your hands off me." "Come with us!" " Scumbag!" "Look!" "Mummy!" "Mummy!" "Roos!" "Simon!" "I said be quiet." "Simon!" "Let me go!" "Are you deaf?" "Be quiet!" " Let go of me." "Simon!" "That smells good." "I'm Uncle Walter." "And you?" "I'm Roos and that's Simon." " Hi Simon." "No papers, nothing." "Is it alright if they stay here?" "What happened?" " It was that bully from Puls." "The key man." " You'll just have to sleep here." "Key men aren't allowed in here." "Goodnight." "Uncle Walter?" "Where are they taking Mummy?" "I wanted to thank you." "What for?" "For not grassing on me." "And I want to apologise." "I'm an idiot." " Yes." "Just do your job." "Yes, sir!" " Other hand." "Let them perish." "We're safe in the lifeboat." " Darling." "If I could just have saved one of them." "Are we going into hiding then?" "Until it's all over." "And there's no-one left." "I can hear God berating me." "What do you mean?" " That it's unacceptable that a distinction is made between pure and impure." "Don't try to be a hero, Walter." "How am I going to explain to her later that I got rid of 100,000 people?" "And God knows where they end up." "What about us?" "Is there nobody who can help us?" "God?" "We'll have to manage on our own." " Without God." "But I've got you." "Haven't I?" "Do what you have to do." "Piet." " Walter." "Glad you came." " Right." "Cor, I'll have another one." "I'm listening." "No heroics, no violence, no weapons." "Never." "Not with those kids." "The problem of those index cards remains." "Yes, we know all about that." "But a chain is only as strong as its weakest link." "Aus der Funten." "Unscrupulous, a lout." "A bastard maybe." "But as lonely as hell." "Why do you think he drinks?" "They're all lonely?" "Why do you think I'm still here?" "I talk to him as one Kraut to another." "He gives me every opportunity to convince him he's an arsehole if he doesn't let me stay." "Listen..." "Can I exchange this for brandy and cigars?" "Good stuff, not that rotgut." "Ask Old Cor." "The sergeant is a good cop." "They do exist." "What'll you do with the brandy?" " Soothe, conciliate, placate, win over." "Aus der Funten." " And where does that get us?" "It diverts his attention." "If he thinks I'm his friend..." "A bastard like that?" "No chance." "Do we want to get those kids out of there or not?" "It'll be fine." "One, two, three, four." "Don't!" "What do you think you're doing?" "Waking little kids up!" "380, 381, 382, 384." "385, 386, 387, 389." "My compliments, Suskind." "Well done." " Thank you." "With a kiss from David." "I'd rather keep him with me." "It's nearly his birthday." "He'll be in good hands, I promise you." "You obviously don't have children." "Mrs Groenteman..." "You'll be reunited after the war." "He can stay with farmers in Friesland." "It's about your son." " We're young and strong." "And quite capable of looking after our own child." "Even in a labour camp?" " No is no." "Just get on with your work, miss." "Just get on with your work..." "You did your best." "But what about that child?" "Conciliate." " Conciliate?" "Aus der Funten, he's across the street." "At the créche?" " Yes." "He brought a baby." "I'm telling you, this place is only for Jewish children." "From now on every abandoned child is considered Jewish." "I'm willing to bet you she is Jewish." "Mr Suskind." "That went well yesterday." "My compliments." "Incredible." "What an unnatural mother!" "Abandoning such a beautiful baby." "Typical Jewish behaviour." "She doesn't look Jewish at all." " What is Jewish?" "Bauer." "It's all in here." "Scientifically." "Does anyone have a tape measure?" "You forgot her nose." "One hundred percent." "I knew it." "She can stay." "Perhaps a little toast to a happy ending?" "Why are you looking at me like that?" "It's been a longtime since I had a drink with a fellow Countryman." "So, what's a German doing in Amsterdam?" "My grandparents were from Holland." " I see." "Aren't you homesick?" "Thank you." "Believe it or not, but until I was 23 I never smoked, never drank." "Not a drop!" "We were all for nature, for purity." "Sleeping under the stars on a bed of pine needles." "Dreaming and philosophising." "We wanted to change the world." "And we have done too." "I once had a comrade" "You'd never #nd a better one" "The drum beat for battle" "He marched by my side" "We kept in step" "We kept in step" "A bullet flew towards us ls it for me or for him?" "It took away his life" "Now he's lying at my feet" "As if he's part of me" "As if he's part of me" "Those Russians are tigers." "The Krauts don't stand a chance." "I want to go to Sienna." "Walter?" "And to Florence, the Ponte Vecchio!" "The war's not over yet." "It nearly is." "Not long now." "I know this really sweet hotel in Sienna, ll Fiore di Dante." "They have homemade fig jam." "Delicious." "But darling..." "I can't leave." "Not yet." "Yes, they're for you." "Hold on." "Like this." "Here you go." "PASS" "Thirteen stamps." "We did it!" "We did it!" "You have to stay here, but won't be deported." "Thank you." " I'll tell the Haupsturmfuhrer." "That is unacceptable." "Do something about it." "Roos and Simon Waterman, thank God." "Where will they go?" " Hindeloopen." "Hello." " One, two, three, four, five." "Coats." "Hurry up!" "Are we staying here?" "No, you'll take the train later." " With that cop?" "Waite minute." "Is there a problem?" "That little boy can't come." "I'm sorry." " Why?" "He can't go back." "He'll have to." " But his card's been destroyed." "Nobody will dare take him." "Look at his face." "His face?" "What's wrong with it?" " These people are risking their lives." "I'm not leaving him on his own!" "These are dark days, young lady." "Too Jewish?" "Meshuga!" "That may be so, but if they do a check we're all in big trouble." "You want him to sit in there all day?" "I'm not sure that's a good idea." "Up here is perfect." " That's the first place they'll look." "It's absurd." " But it's true." "And there will be more." "That's just crazy!" "Ridiculous!" "Watch your fingers!" "No, Walter." "But where shall we put them?" "There's nowhere they can go, dammit." "What's over there?" "A college." "Mr Van Hulst?" "Miss Pimentel." "You're from the theatre, aren't you?" "Mr Suskind?" "Yes." "I wanted to ask you something." "I knew you'd come and see me one day." "And not via the front door." "Your shed." "Could we use it?" "It's an emergency, I take it?" "A half-empty train." "Do you know how much that costs?" "It is beyond my control." "How many people have you got here?" " Almost 400." "Almost 400?" "'I am sorry, mein Fuhrer, but the war will have to wait a while." "My esteemed colleague made a mistake'" "I can't do magic." " You can't count either." "400 Jews are 400 Jews and not almost 400." "How many orphans do you have right now?" "Without parents across the street." "Hardly any." " How many?" "With her, thirteen." " That will just be enough." "Please, they're just children." "Jewish children." "Tomorrow's enemy." "Wrap them up warm." "All thirteen?" "And get a move on." "It's beyond my control." "Believe me, I don't want this either." "Then don't do it if you don't want to." "I have to, it's an order." " Do what you can." "If Berlin orders 400 and I only send 387 what do you think will happen?" "To me?" "To the Central Bureau?" "And to her?" "What does the German war industry want?" "A civilised country doesn't make children work in factories." "Families have to stay together." "And the numbers have to add up." " Exactly." "Vigeveno, Lea." "Vigeveno, Isaac." " That's me." "De Vries, Salomon." " Yes, sir." "Flessedrager, Zwaantje." "I have a proposition, Mr Suskind." "Your choice. it's up to you." "Either the children..." "Of..." "My mother worked as a cleaning woman for Mrs Kohn." "Her husband was a, what do you call it, the singer in the synagogue?" "Hazzan." " Hazzan." "I must have been seven, eight years old when I heard the Jew Kohn sing." "Wonderful!" "I wanted to sing like that too." "Do you feel that too sometimes... a sadness that makes you happy?" "Do you know that feeling?" "Yes." "How is he today?" "Who?" " Mr Kohn?" "We're not barbarians." "Such a beautiful orchestra." "Maybe we should send the children after all?"