"Who are you if you close your eyes?" "I didn't want to see." "I was already part of it." "Too many children were born in the poor families." "Girls with bad genes." "Gertrud Johansson came from such a family." "Seven sisters and brothers." "The mother had died recently." "Gertrud was the oldest one." "She was... different." "She was more visible." "The whole family was a great burden on the society." "How many children will I have when I grow up?" "What a nice one!" "You can have it." "I don't want a snotty-nosed kid!" "But it's only a stone." "Well, then I'll throw it away." "No, you gave it to me!" "Girls who came of poor stock mustn't continue the misery." "We saw it as our task to create a healthy and prosperous..." "A new man!" "The time had come." "Gertrud was next." "On March 21, 1951, they came from the authorities." "You'd be happy in this institution, Gertrud." "There are girls your age, girls you can be friends with." "Girls like you." "Girls like me?" "!" "In an institution for crazy people?" "!" "Gertrud, that place..." "Odenslund." "Odens... well..." "Maybe it isn't that bad." "But..." "I don't want to go, dad." "I don't want to." "But..." "If everything goes well there, you'll soon be back home." "THE NEW MAN" "There were many girls." "Some of them left, many stayed." "To all of them I had said exactly those same words:" ""Welcome to Odenslund."" "Welcome to Odenslund." "I'm Solbritt." "I'm the head nurse here." "Did you have a nice journey?" "Very nice, thank you." "Axel!" "We have a new janitor here." " Axel!" "He hasn't learned yet." "Excuse me ..." "It's important to have a good man in a place like this." ""A place like this?"" "Among all these girls, I mean." "You can have coffee in the kitchen, before going back." "Well, Gertrud..." "Are you content to be here?" "Should I say what I really feel, or what I'm expected to say?" "Sit down." "You understand why you're here." "It's for observation and rehabilitation." "To give you the opportunity to make yourself useful here at Odenslund." "How does that sound to you?" "You see, Gertrud, if your social adaption fails here, we must consider a more..." "long-term solution." "The next step will be tubular occlusion." "Do you understand?" "Can I go home after that?" "Well, that's up to Dr Berg." "Dr Berg?" "Attention!" "Can Astrid come to the office right away?" "Astrid to the office, please!" "We work until 7 o'clock." "Saturdays only to 3 o'clock." "At nine, lights out and silence." "Where is Dr Berg's office?" "I'd like to talk to him." "I want to go home." "Come." "Come!" "That's Lisa." "She's our room-mate." "She'll be leaving soon, to work in a lawyer's family." "Come on." "If you mess around, you'll be locked up in "Retreat"." "If things go really wrong, you'll be transferred." "Transferred?" "Where?" "This is your place." "Here are your clothes, and..." "I'd like to help you make your bed but I'm not allowed to climb." "And this too..." "Do they think we pee on ourselves?" "What is that in your hand?" "Nothing." "Interesting." "Do you know what I have?" "A tapeworm eating at my spine." "If you don't believe me, I'll show you." "I believe you." "Alba, come on!" "Can you feel it?" "Can you?" "All good things are in there." "It's true." "In there the children are safe." "Gerda." "Thank you." "Anna Jenny." "From your little boy." "What did you say?" "Thank you very much, most kind nurse Birgitta." "What are you hiding there?" "Erika!" "Where did that come from?" "Axel must have missed one when he drowned the others." "Axel!" "There you are." "You must learn to finish things." "Yes..." "Erika..." "Off you go..." "Nurse Ingrid..." "Take her to Retreat." "Jenny, no gypsy manners." "Jenny!" "Let her keep it!" "Sit down." "It's just a kitten." "Idiot!" "I'm not an idiot!" "Of course you are!" "I'm not an idiot!" "Why else would you be here?" "What about you?" "Why don't you read the letter from your boy?" "Axel forgot to lock the gate." "Shall I call for help?" "No." "Let her run." "Maybe she'll learn something." "Dad!" "Dad..." "No!" "Do you understand the risks you take getting into strange men's cars?" "I have to know where my family is." "They were brought to child health care right after you came here." "What am I doing here?" "Why must I stay here?" "Well..." "It's the local authority's... decision." "They think that..." "They think that you can't take care of yourself." "I agree to that operation, whatever it's called." "I agree to it, if I may leave after that." "Tubular occlusion, that is sterilization." "I promise I'll tell dr Berg as soon as possible." "Just do like the others and it will be fine." "Understood?" "Hey, punk!" "Get to work!" "That's why you're here." "You do like this." "You're leaving, right?" "That operation can't be so bad." "It's probably quick, I mean." "We have other things on our minds." "We're young." "It's just a stone." "Jenny!" "I'll shout!" "For a nurse?" "Help!" "They'll lock you up." "You'll have to stay in Retreat." "Give it to me." "Is it hard to understand?" "Give it to me and I won't scream." "Hello!" "Hello!" "Open up!" "Hello!" "Why are you screaming?" "I think the lock has jammed." "Where were you off to?" "To get something in the yard." "What?" "A stone." "Are you trying to be funny?" "Please, Erika, stop that!" "Axel will find it for you, I promise." "Erika, calm down, calm down." "Axel will find the kitten for you." "He will!" "I won't let anyone put my little ones in the sack and drown them." "Do you understand what you're doing?" "Do you?" "Don't you get it?" "You're as empty in your stomach as in your head." "Understood?" "Don't say that." "You, bloody rat!" "Say:" ""I'm a little whore." Let's hear it!" "Say: "I'm a little whore."" "No!" "And I haven't got a bastard's child either!" "Alba, Alba, don't!" "What's happening here?" "Tell me!" "Alba..." "Then stay there." "Nurse Ingrid..." "Can someone tell me what this is all about?" "What are you doing down there, Jenny?" "Come out at once." " Gertrud." "Axel, come here when I speak to you!" "Look at me, Axel." "Tell me..." "Is there anyone else who should be punished?" "Be in Retreat with Alba?" "Yes." "No." "Or..." "No." "Thank you, Axel." "Gertrud, what happened?" "Give me the spade." "Give me the spade." "What happened?" "It was my fault." "Yes?" "I was just joking with Alba." "And then suddenly she wanted to... crush my head." "But Gertrud managed to persuade her to give away the spade." "Is that correct?" "Axel, is that correct?" "Yes, that's correct." "Well, then..." "Gertrud..." "I'm very glad to see that you've taken the opportunity and make the best of it." "Well..." "Good girl!" "Soon it's your turn, girls." "That was nice." "Feeling good?" "Now it's your turn." "You'll bathe and swim like the others." "Come here, Alba." "Alba's mom kept her locked up inside." "She didn't want her to see her fiancé." "It's not deep." "Poor Alba." "So she crushed her mom's head, took her purse and went to buy that ring." "Can you see another girl here with a cap?" "No." "So take it off!" "Now, what's this?" "Here, take these..." "Look at me, Alba!" "Let's calm down." "You can keep the cap on." "Give me the hand." "Give me the hand." "There..." "The other hand and we'll walk on together." "Carefully..." "One step, good girl." "One step down, and another one." "You can do it, Alba." "Good!" "Take one step down..." "Good girl." "Good, Alba!" " See what Alba can do!" "That's great, Alba!" "Lisa!" "What are you doing?" "No, no!" "What are you doing?" "Come back!" "No, let go of me!" "And another step." "Good!" "That's good, Alba!" "Now come." "If you can't do it, you may turn back." "Come on!" "I'm here." "You can do it." "Come..." "Come on!" "Yes, come..." "No!" "Get up!" "What are you doing?" "What is this?" "What are you doing?" "No, no, no!" "Enough!" "I take over from here." "Thank you." "Leave us!" "Lisa, listen to me." "We talked about this." "Step inside the car, and everything will be fine." "I promise I'll talk to Dr Berg." "Step inside now." "I'll talk to Dr Berg about this." "Dr Berg, can I have a word with you?" "This isn't a good time." "Maybe we should..." "Can we, please, have just another second?" "Dr Berg!" "Dr Berg, where are you?" "I'd like to talk to you." "Take it easy." "You're going nowhere." "I refuse being locked up any more." "Calm down, Gertrud." "Let go of me!" "What's this?" "Careful!" "Let her go." "What's happening?" "I must talk to Dr Berg." "You can't talk to him." "But I have to talk to him now." "Well, then you'll get to talk to him." "Give me the bag." "You may talk to Dr Berg." "Thank you." "Some other day." "Dr Berg is here only now and then." "That's how it is." "Now, take it easy." "Patience is the great virtue here at Odenslund." "Let me go." "Let her go." "Take her to Retreat." "Good morning." "You shall bring coffee to the second floor." "To Dr Berg." "Gertrud, I just want some water." "Maybe you can help me?" "What have you done?" "I was under the house to look for the kitten." "For Erika?" "Did you find it?" "No, it was so dark." "Oh, no..." "Alfvén." "What?" "It's Hugo Alfvén." "Does Gertrud like music?" "I've read in her medical journal that she likes to dance." "And that she likes boys." "She likes boys a lot." "Is the rush because of that?" "To get out to see boys..." "No." "No?" "Why the rush, then?" "I want to be with my family." "Family?" "All my brothers and sisters." "Your brothers and sisters..." "Oh, yes, all your brothers and sisters." "Tell me, Gertrud..." "If all your six brothers and sisters and you had seven children each." "How many more children would there be in your village?" "A lot!" ""A lot!"" "Yes, that's good." "That's very good." "You'll have your tubular occlusion, just like you want." "If every girl could do her share, just like you..." "Everything is so much easier when you co-operate." "And when can I leave?" "Listen!" "This is truly Sweden." "Dr Berg." "Do you know that he's got a gramophone in his office?" "Here..." "Stop it!" "I'm leaving!" "May I have this dance." "I can't." "Do I put the legs inside or outside?" "As close to the crutch as possible." "It's not difficult." "Just listen to the music." "It's easy for you to say." "Do you know who this is?" ""Extremely flabby and anti-social."" "Jenny, don't touch that!" "It's me in a couple of lines." ""Typical gypsy mentality."" ""No symptoms"" ""Typical gypsy mentality."" "What are you doing?" "Tell me!" "Tell me!" "Come on, dance with me." "Let's see if you can!" "No!" " Put back those files." "Look at me, let's dance." "Let go of me." "Good." "This isn't funny." "You can!" "Please, can't you..." "You're a good dancer." "No!" "Well, yes..." "Like that." "It's great!" "Give me the cap." "When I get out of here we'll move in together." "We will." "Yes." "And you, what will you do?" "What do you mean?" "When you get out of here." "I wanted to be a children's nurse." "But it doesn't matter." "I don't want to leave this place anyway." "What's wrong with you?" "I suffer from epilepsy." ""The falling sickness."" "If I get angry, scared or in a hurry or climb up high..." "I've never seen you having a seizure." "No." "No, it was long ago." "How long?" "Maybe you're cured." "Come on!" "Climb up the ladder!" "No, I don't want to..." "You must try." "Or else you'll never leave this place." "But I don't want to!" "You don't want to leave?" "What business do I have out there?" "Oh, there you are." "I've been looking everywhere for you." "Where have you been?" "Come..." "We're going to have a presentation." "We're inviting people from the authorities, important people." "And from papers, too." "The girls will be able to show their work." "Fantastic." "I heard you've already been to see Dr Berg." "You had a nice talk, he said." "The doctor..." "We'll hang it here, the beautiful tapestry." "I've also been thinking about your future, Gertrud." "Is it time now?" "For the operation?" "I was thinking that you ought to take up after Lisa." "You ought to start weaving." "They have some cake and then they play in the garden." "What's his name?" "Johnny." "His foster-parents call him John." "That's enough." "We're not ready." "We're not ready yet." "Jenny, you know what will happen." "Come here." "Let go, you know what will happen." "It'll be the last time." "Let go..." "Come!" "Bye, Johnny!" "Bye!" "No, come..." "Let me hold him." "A little bit more, a little bit more..." "Calm down." "But he's crying." "Calm down, I said!" "You'll be the loser." "He's mine, he's my boy." "I gave birth to him." "Stop it!" "Calm down!" "It's my boy!" "I gave birth to him!" "Calm down, Jenny!" "I gave birth to him." "Yes, I know that." "I gave birth to him." "If you go on like this, you'll never see him again." "Never again!" "You hear!" "Look at me!" "Never again!" "Jenny, calm down." "We'll go up to your room now, and stay calm." "Listen to me." "Why doesn't anybody help me?" "Off you go, girls." "Go to your rooms!" "They just stand there watching." "That's enough." "I have no..." "Go back to your rooms." "...anybody help me?" "You can see for yourself." ""No symptoms"" "Did we invite the papers?" "Yes, the local paper." "We must have the national press." "Go there now." "We'll wait a little." "Nothing gets better from waiting." "Go there now." "When they've finished." "You must go." "Now!" "...to see our capable girls." "Please!" "That's not the point." "We want the authorities to let us have more girls here to make our work more effective." "Yes, Astrid?" "I want out." "Well, go out then." "I want to leave this place." "Leave Odenslund." "I don't suffer from epilepsy any more." "You're disturbing us." "Go back to your work." "I'm here." "She's not well." "She's shown tendencies to..." "My work is to give these girls..." "If we could postpone it, you might realize that..." "I wan't us to agree on this, to stand united." "Good." "And three more." "Try." "You can do it." "One." "Two." "Three." "Good!" "If you can't do it, you may turn back." "Good, a few more." "A few more..." "A few more..." "Just a few..." "You did it, Astrid!" "Do you know what it will be?" "What?" "What the picture represents?" "It's the three Fates by the tree Yggdrasil, spinning people's destinies." "Not mine." "I spin my own destiny." "You do?" "You know, Gertrud, I'm very proud of..." "I can see that that you stand up for the girls here." "But are you really certain about this?" "It's a decision you can't go back on." "I've made up my mind." "I want out." "Then come to Dr Berg's office in a little while." "I think it's time now." "No, not here." "Come!" "Axel, wait!" "I can trust you, right?" "Axel!" "What?" "Can I trust you?" "Yes, of course you can trust me." "Good." "I have to go." "Bye." "...how Gertrud Johansson is getting along here." "Solbritt, we've made a decision." "Yes, but..." "Good news, Gertrud." "All formalities are arranged." "Your operation will be in a week's time." "Unfortunately there are those who can't see the good in this." "But then there's someone like you who can be restored to society." "Be rehabilitated." "Live a normal, well, almost a normal life." "Then we know it's the right thing to do, that we've chosen the right way." "The right way..." "You've been a good girl, Gertrud." "We're so proud of you and your work." "So we'd really like you to say a few words at the presentation." "Something nice, something beautiful." "You may leave now." "Off you go." "They are so much alike." "But she's so pale." "Hello." "Hello." "Is dad here, too?" "Yes." "His name is Sverker." "You're beautiful." "Welcome to Odenslund." "I'm Solbritt, the head nurse here." "Berit Edesand." "Welcome to Odenslund." "Hello." "Sverker." "A nice trip?" "Very." "Gertrud, come and say hello to Mr and Mrs Edesund." "Edesand." "I've lost the stone." "What stone?" "Anna, come here!" "Here she comes." "Say hello, Anna." "Hello." "Hello." "So you're Anna." "Solbritt." "And this is Gertrud." "Hello." "Anna has talked so much about you." "What?" "Promise me, you won't tell anyone." "I won't." "Axel and I are going to live together." "And there'll be room for everyone." ""Everyone"?" "You, Börje, Dagny, Ulla." "Do you know where they are?" "But I don't want to." "If I run away, I'll end up in an institution, too." "Anyway they are nice, very nice." "I have a room of my own." "And your new mom bakes tasty biscuits." "I get it." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "I'll soon come back to see you again." "That's great." "Oh, yeah..." "Are they there?" "Yes, here they are." "Anna, now you and I and mom will go home." "Come." "Come." "I understand why Anna likes you." "Well, we'll be leaving then." "Thank you, it was very nice." "Thanks for the coffee." "Hello!" "Axel!" "What are you doing here?" "Here you are." "Thanks." "I've continued the tapestry." "It'll be shown at the presentation." "We'll be famous and in the papers." "Only a scandal puts you there." "What are you doing here?" "I thought you'd work in a lawyer's family." "They let me live in a room in the cellar without a lock on the door." "The lawyer finds it so "practical" to have someone like me there." "He tells me that every time." ""Every time?"" "There'll be no kids." "What does she do here?" "Lisa needs warm clothes." "But she's not allowed here." "Get out of here!" "Get out!" "And don't come back!" "Wait!" "Lisa, come back!" "Keep together, girls." "Lisa!" "You hear, keep close together!" "Keep together!" "Come on down here..." "Quiet!" "Mom..." "You're pregnant, right?" "I think it's a boy." "Do they know?" "Only Axel." "I'm sure they'll let us keep it." "We'll have a real family, Axel and I, with only one child." "And that's why you agree to the operation?" "You're such a fool." "Don't you see?" "During the operation they'll see that you're pregnant." "They'll take it away." "I've changed my mind." "What did you say?" "Axel, help me." "Tell them about us." "About you and me." "Axel, say something." "It's you and me, Axel." "We're leaving this place." "We decided that." "Axel, what does this mean?" "What is it?" "What have you two decided?" "Nothing." "What?" "What have you decided?" "Nothing." "Well then, Gertrud, you'd better calm down and go to your room." "I don't want to do it any more." "Gertrud..." "Gertrud changed her mind." "Yes, I've changed my mind." "Well, I haven't." "Well then..." "Lisa Svensson." "Shall we begin?" "Did he let you down?" "I need your help." "I must gain time." "So it will be too big to be taken away." "What can I do?" "They're taking my child!" "And what about mine?" "My child!" "Only you can help me." "You're strong." "You'd never agree to the operation." "You already did..." "What happened?" "What did they do?" "When I had Johnny, they wanted to take him away from me." "They told me that if I agreed to sterilization, I'd be with him." "And I am, I am..." "Twice a year." "Can't we just run away?" "Sure." "And when they catch me," "I'll be transferred and I'll never see Johnny again." "What do you mean, "transferred"?" "If I don't make it here, I'll be transferred to a mental hospital." "Do you mean that if you go crazy they send you away." "Gertrud!" "Stop, Gertrud!" "You behaved like an idiot." "Not enough." "I must get to that mental hospital." "I must gain time, just a few months." "Then they can't take my child." "Sure, you'll gain time." "But it might be for life." "What do you mean?" "You don't stay there forever, do you?" "Dinner time." "It's our child in my belly, Axel." "Yours and mine." "A new human being..." "For you it's real." "All of us here, we haven't forgotten how poverty and misery almost took over." "The least fitted had most children." "Those who could take care of children had one child... or two." "And those who couldn't they had... ten." "We know that, if we just let things go on, those in bad positions will be worse off." "These girls come from unacceptable conditions." "Do we think that we help them with observations and rehabilitation?" "Or do we agree on the fact that it takes a lot more." "That tubular occlusion is the only solution." "When voices rise, voices that question our work, saying... saying that it's a personal decision, then we say that this is to important to let a girl decide on her own." "It's up to the authorities to act." "You promised to say a few words, Gertrud." "I did?" "Yes." "Do you really think he wants me to?" "I want you to." "It would mean a lot." "Should I say what I really feel, or what I'm expected to say?" "To those who ask if the operation is necessary, we answer:" "We can't stop now." "Now that we're beginning to see the results of our efforts." "You stand here, I'll talk to them first." "... to create a healthy society for a new man." "For the sake of these girls we can't hesitate." "We're helping them." "Excuse me." "You'll now be able to listen to one of the girl's story." "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" "Yes, absolutely." "Welcome up, Gertrud Johansson." "Well, you see..." "Gertrud will soon be leaving us here at Odenslund." "I was thinking there might be something you'd like to tell us all." "Yes." "Well..." "I..." "I'd like to say thank you to Odenslund and especially to Dr Berg." "You easily think that you know how people are." "When I came here I thought that everyone here was an idiot." "So I understand if you think so, too." "That all are alike here." "But any idiot can see that we're different, right?" "At least you see that when you're locked up in these small rooms." "Then you have to see that other thing that you don't see on the outside." "I mean what a person really is." "I wouldn't have seen that, so..." "Thank you, Dr Berg, for that." "Thank you." "Gertrud is tired after having worked on the tapestry you'll soon see." "Wait, I'll say something "nice and beautiful"." "Go back and let her finish." "Well, if you can do it, please..." ""Something nice and beautiful."" "Here at Odenslund?" "It took me a while, but finally I thought of something." "Or somebody..." "She was called Lisa." "And she was nice." "So nice that she didn't fit into this world." "Thank you." "Maybe we should just talk about Gertrud instead." "About me?" "But I don't fit in either." "No girl here does." "People are ashamed, they hide us." "And we mustn't breed like rabbits." "We get pregnant only by a glimpse!" "You've heard that, haven't you?" "Is that the same Lisa Svensson who was found dead here some time ago?" "It's very sad, but she was discharged long ago." "Did she commit suicide?" "It was surely an accident." "I'd like to read you something that someone else wrote." ""Lisa Svensson, medical journal." "She says a life without a family isn't worth while living." "If she had the opportunity, she'd breed at once." "In order to prevent her hysterical genes to spread..." "In order to prevent her hysterical genes to spread she must undergo a tubular occlusion."" "That means sterilization." "I'm sorry about this incident." "Things like that happen here." "A big applause for the beautiful tapestry!" "Here are the girl's things." "So, who are you if you close your eyes?" "I should have understood it earlier." "I was part of it." "So many girls..." "Some of them stayed, others left." "But there was no one else like her." "No one like Gertrud." "Gertrud stayed in a mental hospital for 28 years." "After the Mental Health Care Reform in 1979 she was let out." "Her son came to pick her up." "THE NEW MAN"