"Hannah, would you mind?" "What I am going to tell you is, of course, top secret." "The Egyptians have rockets based at Helwan." "The targets are Acre, Haifa, Tel Aviv-Jaffa." "That would be the first strike." "The second strike would straddle the whole country." "The rockets will have special warheads." "They will contain bubonic plague and strontium 90." "If it succeeds, it will be the end of Israel." "All they are waiting for is completion of a teleguidance system without which they can't target the rockets." "I have received this." "Scientists are working on the teleguidance system somewhere in Germany, under the cover of a legitimate factory." "They're blameless because they don't know they are working for the Odessa." "They have nearly completed the job." "David, we must find that factory, quick." "I'll fly back tonight." "This is the West German Broadcasting Network." "We are interrupting our programme to take you direct to the United States for a further report on the condition of the President." "This is Washington." "We have just received confirmation that President Kennedy is dead." "President John F. Kennedy died at the Parkland Hospital following a shooting at Dallas earlier today." "Mrs. Kennedy was at her husband's side while surgeons administered an emergency blood transfusion." "But it was not possible to save the President's life." "We will be" "Events that can change history sometimes hang on tiny chances." "If I hadn't pulled to the curb I wouldn't have caught the traffic light nor seen the ambulance never have heard of Salomon Tauber or Eduard Roschmann." "Nor got involved with the agents of Israel or with the sinister and deadly men behind the Odessa." "That night I was just a reporter with a nose for a possible story." "Press!" "Sorry, you can't go in there." " What's going on?" " Ask at the police station." " Hello!" " Put it away." "It's nothing." "What happened?" "Suicide." "An old man gassed himself." "It's not worth two lines." "Did you hear about Kennedy?" "Yeah." "Just a second." "All right." " What have you got there?" " Some of the old man's rubbish." " Put it on my desk." " Right." "People are dying all over the world tonight but all anyone will want to read about tomorrow is Kennedy." "I'd better be going, Peter." "Keep out of trouble." "On board the plane taking John Kennedy's body to Washington the new President was sworn in." "In a voice shaking with emotion a woman judge from Dallas gave him the official oath to speak." "Mrs. Kennedy still wore the bloodstained dress in which she had held her dying husband in her arms." "That's so terrible." "You know what you could get for the photograph of the man firing those shots?" "With syndication rights, maybe two million marks." "What a thing to say at this moment." "You're a very scary person." "What did I say?" "You don't know what you said?" "You're a parasite!" "You live off other people's troubles." "It's the old job conversation once again." "Is that what it is?" " Come on, Sigi." " I'm tired." "I've been working all night." "And what is it, your work?" "Dancing around half-naked in front of a lot of old men!" "I earn more in a week than you do in a month!" "Anyway, they're not old." "Some of them are much more attractive than you are." "I am sincerely happy for you." "I'm not sure anyone would pay you to dance around half-naked." "You should have taken that regular job at the Komet then maybe I wouldn't have to work at the club." "You want to turn me into a cabbage?" "You are a cabbage." "I'm a freelance." "It's not regular work, but when I make money I can make a lot of money." "I like my work." "I'm conscientious and I'm ambitious." "But I'm a freelance, and I'm not giving that up." "You know, Monika and I are very fond of Sigi." " I'm very fond of you and Monika." " Don't you want children?" "You're very good with children, Peter." "Other people's children." "Do you have some reason for asking me to this lunch?" "Because if we continue any further with this marriage talk it may be the end of a wonderful friendship." "I wanted to give you this." " What is it?" " Something to read." "It was lying beside the body of that old man who gassed himself." " What's so special?" " You'll see." "But it's police property." "I really shouldn't give it to you, so keep it to yourself, huh?" "I always do, Karl." "Thanks." "My name is Salomon Tauber." "I have lived this long only because there was one more thing I wished to do." "The friends I have known, the sufferers and victims of the camp, are long dead and only the persecutors are still around me." "I see their faces on the streets in the daytime and in the night I see the face of my wife, Esther." "And I remember how she clung to me on the train as we pulled into the station at Riga." "We had been three days and three nights in that cattle truck from Berlin without food or water." "The dead, and there were many of them, were crowded in among us." "It was there I first saw him." "Captain Eduard Roschmann, the SS Commandant of the camp." "The "butcher."" "Every day brought another trainload of prisoners." "Roschmann had many of the women, children and elderly exterminated on arrival." "They were more valuable dead." "Their clothes, their hair, their teeth were a cash asset." "But Esther and I survived through that year." "I had been an architect before the war and knew enough of carpentry to get skilled work." "We laboured 12 hours a day in the camp workshops or else at the lumber mills in the damp frozen woods near the coast." "Several times during the following winter, I thought Esther would die." "The hunger, the cold, the constant brutalities seemed to have broken her spirit and her will to live." "Yet, compared to some, we were fortunate." "Many of the prisoners were given no food at all until they died of starvation." "Roschmann had a hobby." "He liked to destroy human beings." "First their soul, then their body." "Sometimes Roschmann amused himself by kicking those about to die as they huddled together naked stripped of dignity and of all hope." "He liked watching the dogs feed on them while they were still breathing." "We had seen a strange van grey coloured, waiting near the gates of the camp." "It had false windows painted on it." "There were drawings of people laughing and picnicking." "To the workers in the fields outside the camp when the van went by it must have looked like there was a holiday party eating and drinking inside." "Some prisoner musicians were made to play to add to the festivities." "But we soon found out that the van had a very different purpose." "Roschmann had converted it into a gas chamber." "The exhaust pipe had been fed back into the van so that everyone inside was suffocated by the fumes." "The expression in Esther's eyes has stayed with me always." "After her death, my soul died inside me." "But my body and mind remained alive." "I was determined to survive and one day tell the world what Roschmann did to our people here." "Peter?" "It's after 8:00." " Aren't you supposed to be at the club?" " I tried to call a taxi, but I couldn't get one." "A taxi?" "What do you need a taxi for?" "Don't I always take you?" "Between 1941 and the end of the war over 200,000 German Jews were brought to Riga." "400 came out alive." "In late 1944, we began to hear the crump of mortar fire." "There were rumours that the Russians had taken the suburbs of Riga and that the German army would be forced to retreat." "On October 11, 50 of us survivors were taken to the docks." "We were helping wounded soldiers to go on deck when Roschmann drove up in a staff car and gave instructions that they should be brought ashore again." "He intended to commandeer the ship for the SS." "The Captain was dead before he hit the ground." "The medal that fell from him into the snow was the Knights Cross with the oak leaf cluster." "Early in 1945, a few weeks before the liberation Captain Roschmann of the SS made up his mind to disappear." "He slipped quietly away in a car with two other officers." "He was wearing the uniform of an army corporal." "I saw him go and I was determined one day to bring him to justice." "But now I know I never will." "I bear no hatred nor bitterness towards the German people." "Peoples are not evil." "Only individuals are evil." "If, after my death, this diary should be found and read will some kind friend please say Kaddish for me?" "Still awake?" "Yeah." "Are you all right?" "No." "I have a job to do." "You don't even know if this Roschmann's still alive." "But if he were, say, hiding out someplace and I found him that would be worth your investment?" "Dead Jews don't sell papers." "These people Roschmann killed they weren't Russians or Poles, they were Germans." "German Jews." " But still Germans." " Tragic." "It's a sick world, isn't it?" "These are the best we can get on Lady Bird Johnson." "And you think that's why I should give you a commission because the victims of Riga were German Jews?" "Yes." "People don't want to know, Peter." "It's a dead duck." " Not to me it isn't." " Take my advice." "Drop it." "But, Peter, why?" "Why do you want to do this suddenly?" "It's over." "Nobody wants these dreadful trials anymore." "It upsets people." "People shouldn't be upset by the truth." "What is the truth?" "What do you young people really know?" "You were too young to understand what it was like." "I'll go and make the coffee." "Mother what was it like for you?" "For me?" "We lived in Perfallstrasse then." "You were about that size." "There were bombings every night." "One night, we left the cellar and the whole street was gone." "There were firebombs everywhere." "All I tried..." "All I tried to do was hide your eyes so you couldn't see people burning like torches." "When your father came back on leave it took him three days to find us, because we'd moved." "We'd moved in with a family on the other side of town in Altona." "You probably remember that." "What was my father like?" "Was he something like me?" "He was always very sure of himself." "Maybe he was a little more secure." "Well then, I'll tell you something." "Father would have been the first person to say, "Go ahead."" "I don't like the press." "It won't be any trouble." "It's just a sort of story human interest, you know?" "You can't go up." "I've re-let the room." "Did he have any possessions?" "Possessions?" " They're out the back." " Can I see them?" "Possible." "Is this his wife?" "I don't know." "Did he have any friends?" " Never saw anybody except old Marx." " Marx?" "They used to pick up their old-age pension together." "Can you make a description of him?" "Old." "Thin." "Long white hair." "Always wears a grey scarf." "Herr Marx?" "May I sit down?" "I'd like to talk to you about your friend, Salomon Tauber." " He's dead." " Yes, I know." "Are you an official?" "No." "Not from the authorities?" " The police?" " I'm a journalist." "Peter Miller." "Before your friend took his life he set down his experiences at Riga Concentration Camp." "A diary." "You were at Riga, too?" "Auschwitz." "In the diary, your friend wrote about an SS officer named Roschmann." "Captain Eduard Roschmann." "I want to find out anything I can about him." "Maybe even he's still alive." "Something." "Roschmann is still alive." " How do you know?" " Salomon saw him." "Yes, I read that." "That was in 1945." "That was three weeks ago." "Here in Hamburg." "Are you sure?" "He saw him coming out of the opera with some friends." "Why didn't he go to the police?" "He did." "He reported it." "But the police said he had no evidence." "That's why he killed himself." "You see, he'd come up against the Odessa." "The Odessa?" "He should have been like me." "All I care about is getting a boat to Israel, that's all I want." "Odessa?" "I don't know what you are talking about." "Come on, Karl." "It's a secret organization of some sort." "How much have you heard about it?" "Just stories, whispers, rumours." "Leave it alone, Peter, please." "Where is the diary?" " I've got it safe." " I want it back." "What's the matter?" "You're sorry you gave it to me?" "I gave you it because I thought it might make a human interest story not an investigation." "You gave me the diary because you were moved, and you thought I'd be moved by it." " I am." " It's police property." "You don't want me to follow it up or to go after Eduard Roschmann?" "Monika, we are busy." "The children just want to say good night to Uncle Peter." " Say good night, then." "But quickly." " Good night, Erik!" "Good night, Uncle Peter!" " Good night, Uncle Peter." " Good night, little Gretel." "Now, straight to bed." "I'll be up to put the light out." "Why are you so scared?" "I'm telling you, don't get involved." "It's not your affair." "War criminals are a police matter, but the police won't do anything about it so I'm going to." " State Attorney General's office." " Which department?" " War Crimes." " Second floor." "Room 223." "Thank you very much." "Riga, and the name was?" "Roschmann, Eduard." "What's going on here?" " This gentleman wanted" " I heard him." "Who sent you here?" "I'm a journalist." "Come into my office." "Can I see your card?" "Why are you so interested in Captain Roschmann?" "Is there some investigation of him?" " Why do you want to know?" " It's a matter of public interest." "We investigate many things but we cannot give information concerning the progress of our inquiries." "I'm simply asking if there is an inquiry." "The matter is confidential." "I can't discuss it." "Yes?" "Put him through." "Herr General." "What a nice surprise." "And it's good to hear you, sir." "Of course I'm coming." "I've got the invitation right in front of me." "The one evening in the year I wouldn't miss." "I'll pick you up, sir." "How about that?" "7:00 p. m., so we can go together." "Fine." "I think I ought to warn you, Miller." "It's a serious offence to interfere with the machinery of justice." "In 13 years your office has managed to bring to trial three SS men all of them privates." "In 13 years!" " Now, listen" " Justice." "ANNUAL MEETING" " DIVISION SIEGFRIED" "It's been a good evening, men, and good to see you." "They can't kill us off, can they?" "Never, Herr Oberst!" "And there is Major Krantz." "Not a year older, by the look of it." "There's a lot of us left." "I welcome you all to our 18th annual reunion." "Now a few words from someone who has not been with us for several years." "Your attention, please, for General Greifer, our general." "Comrades tonight we're together here." "But when are we apart?" "For us, nothing changes." "Germany believes she doesn't need us now but one day she'll know that she does!" "We'll be as mighty again as we ever were!" "It'll take time but the ideals will be the same." "When the drums beat and the bands play and our flags wave again and our whole nation will be united once more then we'll march together to the ends of the earth!" "One people." "One Germany." "One leader!" "It's good to be back, even if only for a few hours." "Greifer went too far tonight." "Very unclever." "He'll get himself into difficulties again." "Warn him." "Yes, Herr General." " Take off your coat, Werner." " Thank you." " Whiskey?" " A small one, please." " Ferdinand?" " Nothing, thank you." " Nothing." "Ice?" " No, thank you." "What was that incident at the rally?" "A young journalist." "We know all about him." "What did he want?" "He's been asking questions about Eduard but he's not getting anywhere." " It's being dealt with." " I hope so." "The only reason for my visit is to protect this project." " Sit down, gentlemen." " Thank you." "The deadline for Nasser's rockets has been brought forward to March 1." "It is essential that the teleguidance system is finished at least six weeks before that date." "Rest assured, Herr General." "It will be." "I had hoped Kennedy's death would give us more time but it looks as though President Johnson will force the German arms deal with the Jews." "So we have three months to keep our promise to Egypt if the rockets of Helwan are to fly against Israel." "You should have seen them." "The same old mentality." "I thought it was over, but it still goes on." " Have you told the police?" " Told them what?" "About getting attacked." "Having your camera smashed." "They'd just say I shouldn't have been at the rally." "They'd be right." "I'm sorry for the old man, but since you started this story you've had nothing but trouble." "Who cares?" "I care!" "I'm feeling a responsibility." "Responsibility for what?" "Something new for me, huh?" "Let's forget it now." "Tomorrow I'll get up early." "We'll go Christmas shopping together." "Erik, Monika, and Karl." " Anybody else?" " There's still your mother." " Yeah." "Mother." " I think we should've bought the earrings." "She'd never wear them." "She never wears anything that I buy her!" "I should get her something I could use myself." "Okay, so we buy the earrings." "They'd suit you." "I'll get her another nightgown." "I'm all right." "I'm all right." "Maybe it was an accident." "It wasn't an accident." "You know that as well as I do." "He pushed you!" "I don't care." "I've had enough." "You've had enough?" "I was pushed under a train, and you've had enough?" "Peter, please, don't go any further." "I'm scared." "I can't stop now!" "All right." "If you're going somewhere tomorrow then I'm coming with you." "You're not going anywhere!" "Peter, why are you doing this?" "Please, don't ask me that." "I must do this and I must do it alone." "I don't know if I'll be here when you get back." "Please, be here." "A lot of people want Simon Wiesenthal's address..." " ... but we don't give it to anybody." " I must see him." "It's urgent." "It always is." "I'm sorry." "But, you see, apart from Eichmann Wiesenthal has brought a thousand war criminals to justice." "That's a thousand reasons why we have to take precautions." "Look, you see those?" "They're all addressed to Wiesenthal." "But they won't be delivered until they've been checked." "Checked for what?" "Bombs?" "We leave that to the police." "They know what to look for." "Perhaps you want to see my credentials." "Credentials?" "PRESS" "Herr Bichler, this gentleman wants to leave." "Will you escort him from the building, please?" "Be careful, before the police start taking an interest in you." "Of course nobody will tell you!" "What did you expect?" "What do you want from Simon Wiesenthal?" "I have to see him urgently." "Have you got his address?" "I can get it." "But, Peter, this is the last time I am going to help you." "Ring me back at 3:00, and remember, it's confidential." "What was all that about?" "My journalist friend calling from Vienna." "Yes?" "Put him through." "I'll finish it later." "Yes, I'm listening." "No, you were quite right to phone me." "Stay close to Braun until I can make arrangements." "Give me Dr. Schultz's number in Vienna." "The code is 432, Herr Deilman." "The number is 5-1-7-2-6-5." "O" " D-E-S-S-A." "The organization of former members of the SS." "It was formed at the end of the war to help SS men to disappear." "To get them out of Germany." "Set them up with new identities." "Thousands were given forged documents." "This war's been over for 20 years." "But the Odessa's grown, like a spider's web." "It stretches to many countries:" "Argentina, Egypt, Spain, Paraguay." "And the centre is in Germany today." "After the war they set out to infiltrate every facet of life." "Commerce, the judges, the lawyers local government, even the police." "That takes a lot of money." "Money?" "They have millions!" "The SS smuggled out most of their gold and art treasures just before Germany collapsed." "A large part lies in vaults under the pavements of Zürich, Switzerland." "Yes, they have got plenty." "Recognise these?" "The members of the Hamburg Police Department." "Now spread the paper out." "SS, SS, SS, SS and those two, Odessa." "Interesting, huh?" "There are thousands of these people at large." "So what is so special about Roschmann?" "Herr Wiesenthal you read the diary." "Roschmann, Eduard." "Blue file." "Criminal at large." "Roschmann was captured by the British on December 20, 1947, in Graz." "He was put under escort on a train for Munich." "He escaped from his guards when he went to the lavatory." "They broke the door down, but the window was open and Roschmann gone." "They found his tracks in the snow." "He had evidently injured himself." "But he got away and made contact with the Odessa." "They would give him one of these." " Passport?" " Not an ordinary passport." "A forged passport for someone in the Odessa." "And with it, a new identity." "A new birth certificate, a new job, a new life." "By the way, this one was caught." "Find the man who deals with these things and you will be closer to finding Roschmann." "I don't even know what Roschmann looks like." "Roschmann." " When was this taken?" " Nine years ago." "In South America." "The man who took the photograph said he had a limp." "Probably the result of his fall from the train." "May I borrow this?" "I will make a photocopy." "312, please." "And I'll be leaving today." "Herr Miller?" "Herr Peter Miller?" " Yes." " I wonder if we could talk somewhere?" " Your room, perhaps?" " We can talk here." "Of course." "My name is Schmidt." "Dr. Schmidt." " What do you want?" " Perhaps we can sit down." "A very pleasant hotel, this." " A little too solid for me." " What is it that you want?" "You're a journalist, I am told." "With a reputation for being very thorough, very tenacious." "Some friends of mine heard you are making an inquiry into events that happened a long time ago." " You mean Eduard Roschmann, don't you?" " I do." " I most certainly do." " So?" "Eduard Roschmann is dead!" " I didn't know that." " Of course not." "There's no reason why you should." "I thought I'd mention the fact because I didn't want you wasting your time." "Tell me something, Dr. Schmidt, when exactly did he die?" "In May, 1945, fighting the American advance." "I'm sorry." "You'll have to try harder." "Roschmann was captured by the British in December, 1947." "Didn't your friends brief you properly when they gave you this errand?" "Drop this inquiry!" "Roschmann was seen alive in Hamburg this year." "It was never confirmed." "You just confirmed it." "Good day, Herr Dr. Schmidt." " Stay where you are!" " Car keys." "For the last time:" "What do you know about the Odessa?" "Only just what Simon Wiesenthal told me." "So, why after you spoke with Wiesenthal did you contact Ferdinand Schultz?" "Dr. Schmidt." "He represented himself to me as Dr. Schmidt and I didn't contact him." "He contacted me!" "David, give us 15 minutes and we'll get the truth." "I'm telling you the truth." "I've told you the truth." "You say he threatened you." "Yes." "Why?" "I don't know why." "Because of your interest in this diary." "Yes, yes!" "Peter Miller was last seen in Vienna two days ago." "One of our Kameraden talked to him at his hotel." "Then we lost him completely." "Who was in charge?" "I am in charge!" "Here's the information." "The address of his girlfriend, Miller's flat in Hamburg." "There's also a list of the people who are at your disposal." "Let me know where you are, every move." "We wouldn't have called you if it were not of maximum importance." "And when I catch up with him?" "Kill him!" "What are you running for?" " Why are you scared?" " Leave me alone." "That hurts." "Just tell me where your boyfriend is." " I don't know." " Don't give me that." "Where is he?" "Where is Miller?" " In Vienna." " He's not." "He left there five days ago." " Where's he gone now?" " If I knew I wouldn't tell you!" "I don't want you to misunderstand me." "Now, where is Miller?" "Stop!" "Let me in, quick." "What happened?" "A man attacked me." "Where do you live?" "I'll take you home." "Thank you." "I have told you we are members of Israeli intelligence." "I must also tell you we have tried twice to infiltrate the Odessa." "The question is:" "How far would you go to find this man?" "Would you risk your life?" "I already have." "Your best chance of finding him would be to get into the Odessa yourself, of course." "You would have some advantages over the other two." "What are they?" "In the first place, you are not a Jew, and" "What happened to the other two?" "The first we found drowned in the Elbe." "The second disappeared without a trace." "But we've learned a lot from our mistakes." "Our contacts are better than they used to be." "One of them is an expert on all SS procedure." "He would brief you very thoroughly." "Can you trust him?" "As much as we can trust you." " What would you be gaining from all this?" " Information about the Odessa." "All the information you could supply us with." "All right, I'll do it." "You made the right decision." "Let's get started." "There's a lot to do." "We'll begin with Hartstein at the Bremen General Hospital." "RECORDS OFFICE" "I want the medical file on a Rolf Gunther Kolb." "Kolb?" "Arcadia Clinic" " Delmenhorst" "When will Inspector Braun be back?" "Maybe next week." "He's away on a case." "Is there someone who could move in with you for a few days?" "There's Peter's mother, but she lives in Ahrensburg." "Anyway, I don't want to upset her." "You really shouldn't be alone, you know?" "I could arrange for someone to come and stay with you." " I don't think I'd like a stranger" " A girl." "A policewoman." "You'd feel safe with her." " Do you really think it's necessary?" " If I didn't, I wouldn't suggest it." "I'll get her to you as quickly as possible." "Don't go out more than you have to." "Stay away from the nightclub and keep in close touch with us." "And if you hear from your boyfriend, let us know." " Name?" " Rolf Gunther Kolb." " SS number?" "6-2-1-8-0-2." " Rank?" " Unterscharführer." " Unit?" "22nd SS Special Battalion attached to Flossenbürg Concentration Camp." "Tell me, Unterscharführer Kolb, what is an Aryan?" "An Aryan is invincible!" "Nature's chosen ruler!" "What is the life expectancy of a concentration camp inmate?" "From one day to nine months." " What was your date of enlistment?" " January, 1944." "Who was your commandant at Flossenbürg Concentration Camp?" "Major Max Koegel." " What is the SS motto?" " "My honour is loyalty."" " Camp motto?" " "There is a road to freedom." ""Its milestones are obedience, hard work, honesty, orderliness..." ""... cleanliness, abstinence, truthfulness, readiness..." " "... to sacrifice, love for the Fatherland."" " Good, Unterscharführer Kolb." "How can we show a profit margin on a prisoner's death?" "By commercial utilization of the corpse." "Gold fillings, clothing, hair." "But every corpse means the loss of two marks due to the cost of cremation." "If make-up will be detected, we can't have make-up." " But we've got to age him ten years." " Peter, please come into the light." "You see, he has that young face, young skin." "Well, no make-up, but I can do something around the eyes." " I'm sorry, but as I told you" " The moustache is good." "Kolb was tattooed with an SS blood group and he would have had it removed if he was on the run so you must have the scar." " I understand." " Oster, we'll do it now." "Take off your jacket." "Put up your arm." "Close your fist and grip as tightly as you can." "The first thing they look for is the scar." "Exactly as I did it." "Why do I have to learn this so precisely?" "Kolb hasn't been in the SS for over 20 years!" "He's a baker now, not a soldier." "Pick up that gun." "He's a 40-year-old man recovering from a tumour." "This is crazy!" "I'm finished with this." "I'm tired." "What I am trying to teach you may save your life." "Pick up that gun." "I need two more weeks." " He's not ready." " We don't have any more time." " He's ready." " But, David" " May I come in?" " Here's our new man." " How does it feel?" " Frightening." " This is it." " Prosit!" "So now, here's some money." "Driving licence and the watch you asked for." "This is a letter written by your employer Eberhardt at the bakery, on his own stationery." "He's away on holiday for three weeks and they can't contact him." "So, that's what you've got." "Three weeks." "You know your contact in Munich, but Ackermann is shrewd." "Remember the Iron Cross and don't forget to pick up the dagger." " May I help you?" " I see you sell war decorations." "I'm interested in an Iron Cross, Second Class." "An original." "For a souvenir?" "For my collection." "Second Class." "There's no swastika in the centre." "They are the only ones we are allowed to sell." "Except to friends, Herr Ackermann." "I was asked to give you this." "One moment, please." "American tourists buy them for paper knives." "I think perhaps I can help you." "Would you come in?" "Yes?" "My name is Kolb." "Please, come in." "Describe your uniform, Kolb." "Grey-green tunic and breeches." " Jack boots, black leather belt." "22nd Battalion?" "Yes, sir." "Attached to Flossenbürg Concentration Camp." "Remain at attention, Kolb." "This letter says you have been in hospital." "I had a stomach tumour, sir." "Go on." "I was having tests and this ward orderly kept staring at me." "I knew his face." "I remembered he had been a prisoner at Flossenbürg." "Well?" "He was one of the Jews we'd instructed to burn the bodies of Admiral Canaris and the others we'd shot for their attempted assassination of the Führer." "You were one of those who executed Canaris?" "I commanded the firing squad, sir." "Then the orderly saw this, my SS blood group letter." "I've since had it burnt off." "Let me see." "I didn't take any precaution about it because I didn't think anyone would be interested in a sergeant." "Now they're talking about Canaris and the others as though they were heroes." " They were traitors, all of them, swine." " That's enough!" "At which hospital were you?" "Bremen General, sir." "Ward?" "Princess Louise." "This orderly, what was his name?" "Hartstein." "I was at Flossenbürg several times." "I knew it quite well." "I don't remember you, sir." "No." "You seem nervous." "Are you nervous?" "I've been worried these past weeks." "All right." "Then what happened?" "I was transferred to a convalescent home." "Which one?" "Arcadia Clinic at Delmenhorst." "Then I received an anonymous phone call very official sounding warning that this Jew had informed the Attorney General's office who I was." " I had to disappear." " Your employer Eberhardt?" "He came to visit me at the nursing home." "When I told him what had happened he offered to help." " He gave me that letter." " Why didn't he contact us himself?" "Maybe he didn't want to use the phone in a matter like this." "He was going away on his annual holiday." "Yes, we checked." "A cruise to the West Indies is very pleasant this time of year." "Yes, sir." "I want these telephone numbers." "Put your jacket on." "Bad luck, wasn't it?" "I'm sorry, sir?" "16,000 inmates at Flossenbürg." "Only 700 survived." "You have to be spotted by one of them." "Yes, sir." "It was bad luck." "Unterscharführer Kolb, turn round and face me!" "Did you receive your dagger?" "Yes, sir." "From Major Max Koegel." "There is an inscription on the blade." ""Blood and honour," sir." "Tell me, what were the amenities like at Flossenbürg?" " Amenities, sir?" " Accommodation." "Two barracks, a gymnasium, a garrison shop, a whorehouse" "Which everyone shared?" "No, sir." "Officers had their own." "When you looked up from anywhere in the camp, what did you see?" "The sky." "Don't be stupid!" "When we looked up?" "You mean the ruined castle on top of the hill, where we kept the dogs?" "Come and sit down." "Bremen General?" "Princess Louise ward, please." "This is the Department of Social Security, Pensions Section." "I want to confirm that you have a ward orderly on your staff by the name of Hartstein." "Yes, we have a Jacob Hartstein." "Thank you." "Would you please transfer me to the Registrar's office?" "Yes, Rolf Gunther Kolb." "His tumour responded to treatment." "He was transferred to a convalescent clinic." "Could you tell me which one?" "Of course." "Arcadia Clinic in Delmenhorst." "Thank you." "Arcadia Clinic." "Kolb?" "Oh, yes, one moment, please." " Is there any trouble, sir?" " We'll soon find out." "Hello, this is Dr. Reitlinger here." "Can I help you?" "I am inquiring about a patient called Gunther Kolb." "Is he still with you?" "He discharged himself last week." "He was very much better." "It was a pleasure." "Goodbye." "Your tumour seems to have improved." "I don't have much pain now, sir." "You'll need a new identity." "And a new passport." "I'm sending you to one of our people in Bayreuth." "His name is Klaus Wenzer." "He's a specialist at this kind of thing." "Probably the best." "After he's fixed you up with documents he'll pass you on to someone who'll tell you what to do next." "Take Herr Kolb to the station and see he gets the train to Bayreuth." " We'll buy your ticket for you." " You've been very kind, sir." "Don't worry, Kolb." "One day we'll ask you to help us." " We must help each other, mustn't we?" " Yes, sir." "The Bayreuth train leaves in half an hour from platform three." " I'll wait with you." " Please, don't bother." "I can manage." "Thank you." "Yes?" "Sigi?" " Is that Peter?" " Who is this?" "One moment, I'll get her." "Sigi, it's Peter on the phone." " Why didn't you call me?" " That's what I am doing." " Peter?" " Sigi?" " Peter!" " Sigi, is that you?" "Of course it's me." "Where are you?" "It's a terrible connection." "I'm fine." "It's wonderful to hear your voice." "Who was that girl?" "Listen, I was attacked in the Elbe tunnel and I went to the police." "I can't hear you." " Are you all right?" " No, I'm not all right." "I'm angry and frightened and I want you to come home." " Where are you?" " I'm at Munich Station." "I've a few more things to do, but it won't take long." "What are you doing at Munich Station?" " I want you to come home." " Sigi, who was that girl?" "I can't hear you." " Peter!" " I have to go now." "Sigi, I love you." "Are you certain this girl got it right?" "From Munich Station an hour ago?" "That's very helpful." "Thank you." "Yes?" "This is Werner." "We have a problem and I need your help." "We are looking for someone called Miller, Peter Miller." "He was at Munich Station about an hour ago making a telephone call to Hamburg." "Just a moment." "Fredrich?" "Yes, sir?" "You said Herr Kolb made a telephone call from the station?" "Yes, Herr Bayer, just before he got on the train." " Excuse me, Herr Wenzer?" " Yes?" "Rolf Gunther Kolb." "Yes, I've been expecting you, Herr Kolb." "They just telephoned me to tell me you were coming." "But I didn't expect you to be here quite so soon." " You don't like to read the letter?" " Of course." "The letter." "Come into the office." " How long have you been here?" " I came directly from the station." "Good." "Do you have a driving licence?" "I'm sorry, I should offer you a cigarette, but I don't smoke." "I think smoking is very bad for the health..." " ... so I don't smoke and I don't drink." " I don't smoke either." "No, no, of course not." "I shall have to keep this." "Excuse me, please." "Please, make yourself at home." "It's my mother." "She's very ill." "She should be in the hospital, but you know what they're like." " They can't give the attention like I can." " No, of course not." "We've always been very close, Mother and I." "How long will it take for the documents?" "It depends." "First of all I need photographs." " The man I use is away for the weekend." " It is urgent." "Yes, naturally." "But there are also various technical preparations." "No, you must stay at the hotel until Monday." "The Excelsior, it's not very far from here." "It's nothing much, but it is comfortable and you will be safe there." " You must be patient." " You do all your printing here?" " Here, yes, all here." " When shall I see you again?" "On Monday morning at 10:00." "Perhaps we could meet over the weekend." " Discuss old times." " I'm sorry." "It's very difficult with Mother." "I'm sure you understand." "It's just 300 metres down the road to your left." "Until Monday, 10:00." " Has he gone?" " Yes, Mother." "He's gone." "One of these days, they will do to you what they did to your father." "It wasn't them, Mother." "They killed him when he was no longer any use to them." "They killed him." " Father died in a car accident." " And they will do it to you." "You know too much." "Just like him." "Do you still do what I told you?" "Yes, Mother." "Always." "And I wouldn't hesitate to make use of it if there was any trouble." "So do stop worrying." " Hello?" " Kolb?" "This is Wenzer." "I've managed to get hold of the photographer." "He can be here in an hour and take your picture tonight." "Tonight?" "After all, you said it was urgent and I've gone to a lot of trouble." "It's after 12:00." "We are lucky, he is not leaving until tomorrow morning." "He's on his way here now." "I really think you should come." "All right, I'll be there." "Good." "Then I'll see you in an hour." "What happens now?" "I don't want you here when he comes." " But I can't leave Mother." " I'll look after Mother." "I'm very good with the sick." " Come back in the morning." " Why can't I stay in the house?" "There might be a little blood." "What if something should happen to her while I'm away?" "Don't argue, Wenzer." "All right." "I'll just go up and see her to tell her not to worry." "You've got 15 minutes." "Excuse me?" "I'd like to make a phone call." "May I have the phone book, please?" " Local or national?" " Local." "Turn out the light." "Leave the door open." "Thank you." ""Hail Mary, the Lord is with you." "Blessed art thou among women..." ""... and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." ""Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners..." ""... now and at the hour of our death..."" "Who is that?" "Father, a Mass must be said for my boy." "They killed Viktor and now they're going to kill my Klaus." "I know it, Father." "Who is going to kill Klaus?" "The Odessa." " Where is Klaus?" " Hiding." "Hiding from them." " Where?" " He wouldn't leave me." "He will come back." "If they threaten him, he will use the file." "What file?" "In the safe." "I told him, for protection." " Klaus will need the file." " Yes, yes." " They won't harm him then." " I can take the file with me." "Klaus needs protection." "What's the number to the safe?" "Tell me." "I'll get the file." " The telephone..." " No, not the telephone." "The safe." "Last four numbers telephone..." "NEW IDENTITY:" "HANS JOSEF KIEFEL" " Hello?" " Sigi, listen, don't ask any questions." "I want you to do something for me." "Something very important." "But you mustn't tell anybody, do you understand?" "Not Mother, not anyone." "Yes, I understand." "Yes, I shall look forward to it." "We'll have a lovely day together." "You should have let me answer." "Who was it?" "Only Peter's mother." "She's coming up to see us next Thursday." "Sigi, what do you think you're doing?" "Open this door!" "This is one of fifty." " And I have them all." " How did you get them?" "Wenzer didn't trust his comrades." "He kept the file for protection, to use if they ever turned against him." "Yes, and where's the rest of the file?" "I have it safe somewhere." "If I gave it to you now, you wouldn't need me anymore and you might go after Roschmann by yourselves." "It was our agreement that I would deal with Roschmann on my own." "Yes, and if you fail?" "That's taken care of." "If anything happens to me, you'll get the file." "But if you are not going to give it to us now, why have you come here?" "I want my car, my own clothes, 1,000 marks for expenses." "And I want Tauber's diary back." "Who's there?" "It's me, Sigi." "Is there anyone with you?" "Only the porter." "Open the door." "Thank you." "Perhaps you had better unpack your things." "Yes, I'll do that." "Well, now you know everything." "Everything, I promise." "Why couldn't you have told me in the first place?" "Why couldn't you have trusted me?" "I wish I had." "What time is it?" "It's late." "I have to go now." "So soon?" "The official opening of the Kiefel Electric Trade Fair is at 10:00." " Peter, I'm scared." " Don't worry." "Just listen carefully." "If I'm not back by tomorrow morning if for some reason I'm delayed I want you to take a train to Munich." "Here's a key to one of the lockers at the station." "There's a number on it." "In the locker you'll find the file." "I want you to go straight to Vienna and give it to Simon Wiesenthal." "Here's a letter for him." "The address is on the envelope." "Also there's some money." "Don't look so anxious." "It's just a precaution." "On behalf of Kiefel Electric, Hans Josef Kiefel welcomes you our special guests and members of the press, to a demonstration of our advanced electronic equipment." "First we are proud to welcome our distinguished guests of honour who will declare this trade fair open." "Raimond, if Herr Deilman arrives, send him up immediately." "Very well." "Put the phone down!" "Step away from the desk!" "Further." "All right." "There." "Yes, the police are outside, but don't try to call them." "I have no intention of calling them." "What do you want?" "My name is Peter Miller, and yours is Eduard Roschmann." "Close the curtains." "Now the others." "You got that limp escaping from the British in 1947, didn't you, Roschmann?" "When you jumped from the train." "I don't really know what you're talking about." "I am Hans Josef Kiefel, and who was the man" "Riga, I'm talking about Riga where you were responsible for the murder of 80,000 men, women and children, Herr Commandant!" "Do you mind if I smoke?" "Please, don't make the mistake of not taking me seriously, Roschmann." "I do take you seriously." "There were never 80,000 disposed of at Riga." "Not even 70,000." "70,000, 60,000." "Does it really matter how many you killed?" "Move away from there." "That's just the point." "It doesn't matter." "Not now." "Not then." "Look, young man, I don't know why you've come after me, but I can guess." "Someone has been filling your head with a lot of sentimental claptrap about so-called war crimes and such." "That's all nonsense, absolute nonsense." "How old are you?" "Have you done your military service?" "You must have." "You know what the army's like?" "A soldier is given orders." "He obeys those orders." "He doesn't ask if they are right or wrong." "You know that as well as I do." "All I did was to obey my orders." "Don't compare yourself with a soldier." "You were an executioner." "To put it more plainly, a mass-murderer, a butcher!" " Don't call me a butcher!" " Don't compare yourself with a soldier." "How dare you call me a butcher!" "I was a soldier." "We all were." "Just like the rest." "You young Germans don't realize, don't want to understand, what it was like." "So tell me." "I'm interested in your point of view." " You are interested?" " What was it like?" "What was it like?" "It was like ruling the world." "Because we did rule the world, we Germans." "We had beaten every army they could throw at us." "For years they'd looked down on us, and we showed them yes, all of them, that we were a great people and we still are a great people!" "And we of the SS were the elite." "Of course, they hunt us down now." "First the Allies and now the wishy-washy old women of Bonn." "They want to crush us, they want to crush the greatness of Germany which we represented and still do." "That's why they divided the country." "You youngsters today don't realize what it means to be proud of being a German." "You don't speak for Germany, not anymore." "No?" "Look around you at today's youth." "Strong and healthy." "Virile." "A new generation." "And who created this new generation?" "We did, by weeding out the sickly and the inferior." "Look at yourself." "Strong and healthy." "Virile." "Blonde, blue-eyed." "That's what we were working for." "And we succeeded!" "You shouldn't be critical of us." "You should be grateful." "Sit down in the chair." "You can point that gun at me, but we're really on the same side." "Same destiny." "Same people." "Why should it matter to you what happened to a few miserable Jews?" "Put your gun away, young man, and go home." "I said, "Sit down."" "Put your hands on the armrests." "Look, Germany was crushed to pieces in 1945." "And now we are rising again." "Slowly and surely." "And what brings all this about?" "Discipline!" "Discipline and management." "Harsh discipline and harsh management, the harsher the better." "You see all this?" "The house, the estate, Kiefel Electric churning out power and strength each day." "My factory and hundreds of others like it." "Who do you think did all this?" "We did!" "You should be more practical, young man." "You should be more realistic." "You should acknowledge the facts of today." "Whatever prosperity there is in Germany today has to do with millions who work hard and never murdered anyone in their lives." "That's nonsense, absolute nonsense!" "Do you remember a man with the name of Tauber?" " Who?" " Salomon Tauber." "He was German and Jewish." "One of your prisoners at Riga." "Try to think, Roschmann." "I can't remember all the prisoners' names." "He died in Hamburg last November." "He gassed himself." "Are you listening?" "If I must." "Yes, you must." "All right, I'm listening." " He left behind a diary." " Is that why you came?" "Because of the diary of some old Jew?" "A dead man's diary is no evidence." "There was a date in the diary I want to remind you of." "Something that happened at Riga docks on October 11, 1944." "So what?" "The man struck me." "He disobeyed my orders." "I had the right to commandeer that ship." "Was that the man you killed?" " How should I know?" "It was 20 years ago." " Was that the man?" "All right!" "So that was the man." "So what?" "That was my father." "Your father." "So you didn't come about the Jews at all." "I understand." "No, you don't understand!" "What you and your kind did to all those people sickened the whole of mankind." " But I'm here for my father." " But how could you know?" "How could you possibly know from that diary that man was your father?" "October 11, the same date, the same place." "The Knights Cross with the oak leaf cluster the highest award for bravery in the field." "Given to very few of the rank of captain." "The same rank, the same decoration, the same man!" "I don't even remember." "You're not going to kill me." "You can't." "You called me a butcher." "Wouldn't killing me make you a butcher, too?" "What's the difference?" "I wouldn't be killing a man." " I'd be killing a" " Look, I was only Commandant until November '43." "Then another man came." "Krause." "He took over, Kurt Krause." " He did all the killing." "It wasn't me!" " I know what you are, Roschmann." "Look, I agree with you." "That was horrible, but I didn't do it, I couldn't even shoot straight." "If you kill me, you'd be killing the wrong man." "You're disgusting." "But I tell you, it was Krause!" "You can tell that to the German people, Roschmann." " I will tell them." " You're not even worth a bullet." "I even have evidence to prove what I say, a woman wrote to me from New York." "I was only in charge there 11 months, not one hanging or shooting at that time." "But why?" "I was held in custody for three weeks and then released." "I was confused that no serious charge was ever brought against me." "I didn't know how much had happened during the time I was detained." "As a result of Wenzer's meticulously accurate record of the Odessa immediate action was taken to bring many Nazi war criminals to justice." "In the first week of February, 1964 the research laboratories at Kiefel Electric were burned to the ground." "Arson was suspected, though it was never proved." "But Nasser's rockets of Helwan never flew." "Finally, in the spring, old Marx found himself in the Hall of Remembrance in Jerusalem, saying a prayer for the soul of his good friend, Salomon Tauber." "I bear no hatred nor bitterness towards the German people." "Peoples are not evil." "Only individuals are evil." "If, after my death, this diary should be found and read will some kind friend please say Kaddish for me?"