None Shall Escape (1944) - full transcript
The career of a Nazi officer shown as flashbacks from his trial as a war criminal.
Unconditional surrender.
The leaders of the Nazi party are
today standing trial in Poland
as in the other
capitals of Europe.
Today, we sit in judgment
over those who caused humanity
unspeakable miseries.
We must be aware of our
great responsibility
not only to the past,
but to the future.
Throughout the occupation by the
Nazis of the invaded countries,
a complete record has been
kept of the crimes of the Nazis
and the Nazi collaborationists.
The names of these
criminals were recorded,
anticipating the day when
judgement would be done.
This court will decide not only whether
the accused are innocent or guilty
but the extent of the crime.
This court will determine what
penalty the accused must pay.
This, then, is the basis of judgement
with which I open this session of the
International Tribunal, District of Warsaw.
The first accused is the former Reich
Commissioner of the Western region of Poland,
Wilhelm Grimm.
The accused has been
provided with defence counsel
and will enjoy full rights.
Call the accused.
Wilhelm Grimm!
You are Wilhelm Grimm,
born October 7, 1890 in Berlin?
Yes.
You have been wounded.
You may sit down.
Wilhelm Grimm,
you are charged with the wanton
extermination of human life.
You are charged with
the crimes of murder,
unlawful detention,
degenerate atrocities,
and common theft.
- How do you plead?
- Not guilty.
Where is your attorney?
I shall act as my own counsel.
Do you know these witnesses?
We will proceed.
First witness:
Reverend Roman Warecki,
priest of Lidzbark.
If it please the court,
I'd like to make a brief statement
before giving my testimony.
I'd like to explain
why I am testifying.
The trial of these criminals marks
a milestone in human history.
It is being argued today that
we, having defeated the Nazis,
should show tolerance
and mercy;
that these men are the victims
of circumstance and of history
and that they enjoyed no
freedom to act
in accordance with the dictates
of their own consciences.
I'd like to relate an incident
which occurred many years ago
to prove that the accused
acted of his own volition
and that he had freedom
of choice and of will.
It was very early in
the spring of 1919,
following the end of
the First World War.
In our little town of Lidzbark,
it was market day,
and the warmth of
spring was in the air.
There were few scars of war
to be seen on the town itself,
but they were there.
Not on the buildings,
but in the hearts and faces
of the mothers and wives
whose men would never return
or, returning, were crippled,
shattered.
But now it was over.
I had started across the
square on my morning stroll.
I stopped to greet my
friend, the village rabbi.
In the marketplace,
there was the usual activity.
Grouped about the
wagons and stalls,
the villagers and farmers
discussed the politics of the day.
The big question of course
was Poland's future.
I don't care who signs
the treaty of Versailles.
I believe that Poland is free when
we get back our own boundaries.
Not before.
- The Poles are in the hands of the Lord.
- Not the Lord, the Germans.
- Good morning, Father.
- Morning. Morning.
It happened!
Poland is going to be a republic!
I'm sorry, Father,
but I believe in Poland for the Poles.
It happened!
It happened!
Paderewski has been
sent to Versailles.
Paderewski will get our demands.
The whole world will listen to him!
Yes, they'll listen to him -
when he plays the piano.
We are going to erect a
monument to Paderewski
in the center of
the public square
to honor our independence!
At least let's wait until we get it.
Ha-ha, don't worry,
we'll get independence.
Who do you mean by
"we", Dr. Matek?
All of us, Oremski,
thanks to divine providence.
And if you'll forgive me, Father,
thanks also to the treaty
they will write in Versailles.
Can't you see how the Versailles
treaty will protect Poland?
I don't believe it.
- What don't you believe now?
- I don't believe anything.
What about the Germans?
You blockhead, haven't you heard?
The war is over.
- German imperialism has been defeated forever.
- He's right.
Why, that...
Yes, it is!
Our German teacher,
Wilhelm Grimm.
I didn't expect him
to return so soon.
This is a surprise, Mr. Grimm.
- Welcome back to Lidzbark.
- How very generous to an enemy.
- The war is over.
- You think so?
- I see you've suffered a wound.
- A wound?
That sound like flesh and bone?
In a minute, the children will come
yelling and running out of school.
You know, Wilhelm,
your place as teacher
is still open for you.
And Marja?
Your place has not been filled
there, either.
Welcome back, Professor Grimm!
You recognized me?
After such a long time?
Sure, why not?
We're not babies.
Four years ago,
you were just a child.
Now you're young lady.
- What's your name?
- Anna Oremska.
- Doesn't he look distinguished?
- You mean that medal?
He's been wounded.
Don't you feel sorry for him?
No.
Father Warecki says we have not
to hate the Germans anymore.
My brother doesn't
hate them anymore.
He's dead.
Marja.
Wilhelm.
- Darling, I'm so happy.
- Happy?
Why did you stop when
you saw me limping?
Darling, I knew nothing about it.
- Why didn't you write me that you...
- That I'm a cripple?
Isn't it enough that
you know it now?
Would you have waited
for me if you'd known?
Don't you know me
better than that, Wilhelm?
Do you think you're any different
to me because you've been wounded?
Well, you don't understand.
Nothing's the same anymore.
My love is the same, Wilhelm.
- Isn't it peaceful here, darling?
- Well, at least there's no Polish hysterics
about Polish independence and
Polish republics and Polish peace.
- Have you forgotten, Wilhelm? I'm Polish, too.
- In three days, you'll be my wife.
- And then?
- Then you'll be German.
- As if it mattered.
- What does matter?
Being your wife.
More than anything.
Waiting three more days
seems like forever, Marja.
After all these years.
- I'm worried, Wilhelm.
- What about?
Those curtains I got for the living room.
Do you really like them?
Yes.
You couldn't have found a nicer house.
It's so small and snug.
On the coldest winter evenings
it'll be as warm and lovely...
...as you are.
I can't believe it's true.
All those long four years you were
gone, I kept praying you'd come back.
Remember, Wilhelm,
it was right here,
at this very table that
you asked me to marry you.
And when you were called
away to the army so suddenly,
all you left behind for me
was hope for the future.
In those days,
I still believed in the future.
And now you don't?
Our future?
I love you, Marja.
You're the only human being
in the world that I love.
The others I hate, all of them.
Not only these village clowns who
babble idiotically in the market square,
the German people, too.
They lost the war, not our army.
Today, the German people babble
about freedom and democracy
just like the Poles.
But that's the only chance
any people have, Wilhelm.
Without freedom,
there's no future.
The future lies in victory,
not in freedom.
The war will be continued
until it's won, that's our destiny.
If Germany had won,
would you have come back to me?
Well, if we'd won, I wouldn't have to spend the
rest of my life a a country schoolteacher,
rot in this village.
If we'd won, there'd have
been a German Middle Europe,
a German Lebensraum
from Berlin to Baghdad,
a colonial empire... I was promised
a post in the Ministry of Education.
We'd have lived in a big city.
An official mansion
with servants and cars.
I'd have had position,
responsibility.
- Bringing German culture to the barbarians...
- And Poland?
Huh. Poland can benefit by
German culture, too, Marja.
Let's go back, Wilhelm.
I think he's on his
way over now, Marja.
You've made up your mind?
You're sure?
Uncle Roman, I'm afraid.
He's changed so inside himself.
I don't know him anymore.
If I were to marry him now,
it would be like marrying a stranger.
I can't do it.
He frightens me.
I don't understand him.
If you prefer not to see
him, to have me tell him...
- No.
- You're sure?
- Is Marja in?
- Yes.
Okay, here you are.
I got your note.
Wilhelm...
I've decided to
postpone our marriage.
Please understand.
Everything's so changed.
I need time.
I'm not sure of myself anymore.
My sister in Warsaw's ill.
She's asked me to spend
a month or two with her.
When I come back...
You don't have to make it
worse with such a lame excuse.
You just don't want to burden
yourself with the remnants of a man.
Crippled leg. Crippled career.
Why don't you say it?
Why don't you admit that you're going to
Warsaw to look over more eligible young men.
Because it isn't true!
Very sensible, Marja.
No poverty-stricken schoolteachers for you.
You were no wealthier before
you went away, Wilhelm.
- Your accusation is untrue.
- And unkind.
And I suppose it's kind,
after all the years I've waited,
to walk out and leave me
three days before my marriage,
making me the laughing
stock of the village idiots.
That's what bothers me, Wilhelm.
They're my people.
You know I love them.
If you think they're idiots,
what can you think of me?
I think you're a typical peasant
who's decided to place her
dowry on the auction block
for the highest bidder.
Write to me often, Marja.
Every day.
- Goodbye, Marja. Have a good time.
- Thank you, Krystyna!
Oh, stop it!
Come here, come here!
There she goes!
- Bye, Miss Marja!
- And don't hurry back!
I told you she jilted him.
My mother heard it last night.
She did not. She's only going to
Warsaw to visit her sick aunt.
That's what she says.
She's dumping Old
Limpy off the wagon.
- I know why, too.
- Why?
I'll tell you why. Cause he's not
good enough for any Polish woman.
I think you're all terrible
making fun of him that way!
Now that Miss Marja's gone,
maybe there's a chance for you, huh?
Shut your mouth!
And you!
Repeat what you said.
Repeat what you said.
All right. I said you're not
good enough for any Polish woman.
- And I'm not the only one who thinks so.
- Jan!
It's true. Your own father said
so, and other men in the village.
So I'm not good enough
for any Polish woman?
Class dismissed.
It was a difficult decision that
Marja found herself forced to make.
And after three months in Warsaw,
she learned that the war had left
its tragic mark on everybody,
feeling Grimm was no exception.
She wrote that she was coming back,
determined to go through with her marriage.
- But on the day of her return...
- I object.
The accused will have an
opportunity to defend himself.
You granted me the right
to act as my own counsel.
I object to all these old-wives' tales of
petty relationships as completely irrelevant.
Your Honor, there were
no objections until now.
Evidently, it's because what I
have to say is extremely relevant
that the defendant
wishes to stop me.
Objection overruled.
The witness may proceed.
As I said, Marja wrote that she was
determined to go ahead with her marriage.
She felt that now, more than ever,
Wilhelm needed her love and care,
With her help, perhaps he could
readjust himself to a normal life.
And that would be her job.
So Marja returned to Lidzbark.
However, it would have been better if she had
picked another day to come back to the village.
What's wrong?
Has anything happened to my uncle?
No, there's some
trouble about Jan.
There's no sense
continuing till tonight, Jan.
- It's plain to everyone that you're guilty.
- I'm not.
What's the matter, uncle?
What's happening here?
No, it's all... it's all right, Marja.
I'll explain the whole thing.
Confess to the priest,
or I'll disown you.
Maybe Father Roman
will have mercy on you.
- I'm innocent.
- You've disgraced me.
Oremski has been my friend
and neighbor for forty years.
- Confess or I'll beat the truth out of you!
- Please, please.
We're old friends, Jan.
You can talk to me.
Would you please believe me?
There's nothing I can say except
that I don't know anything about it.
- What does Anna say?
- She refuses to talk to anyone.
She hasn't uttered a single word in three
weeks. She's like one stricken dumb.
- Good evening.
- Good evening, Masza.
May I speak to Anna?
Down there.
Hello, Anna.
I just came back from Warsaw.
Aren't you going to say hello?
Anna, I've known you
for many years.
I've always felt that we were friends.
I want to help you.
All right, Anna.
You'll be sorry later.
I know you've always loved Jan.
It will be on your conscience
when they punish him.
They'll send him to a reform school.
It'll be your fault because
you refused to confess.
Your sin will be
doubly shameful.
Don't let them hurt Jan.
- Don't let them send him away.
- Why shouldn't they?
Jan deserves the worst
punishment they can give him.
- Why didn't he kill me?
- Who?
I begged him to kill me.
He knew I wanted to die.
He could have killed me with the
long pistols with silver handles.
He could have killed me
with his walking stick.
- Wilhelm?
- I didn't say it.
I didn't say anything!
Marja!?
Anna!
Anna!
Anna!
Marja!
You've...
You've come back?
Yes.
- Can those pistols be fired?
- Yes.
Then if you have any sense of honor
left, you'll use one on yourself.
Marja, what...
What's this all about?
Marja!
Dr. Matek!
Dr. Matek!
- What is it?
- Dr. Matek, a terrible thing happened.
Anna. They're bringing her in.
- Go and get Father Warecki.
- Yes, sir.
- Oremski.
- Oremski!
Oremski!
Let him go! Let him go! Please!
Your victim has drowned
herself in the lake.
And may the Lord have
mercy on your soul.
The buzzards'll pick out
your eyes from the gallows.
Please, please go home.
Everything will be all right.
Thank you.
- You heard from Marja lately?
- Didn't I tell you?
- Not a word.
- I thought I told everybody.
- Very interesting letter.
- Good.
Yes, at last. Concerts, books.
She's beginning to find
Warsaw an interesting place.
She even mentioned a young man.
- A young man makes any city interesting.
- Ah.
Of course, as yet, you know,
it's nothing very serious.
Of course not.
Just, uh, interesting.
Ah, life is good
to young people.
Even deep wounds can
heal, it just wants time.
Now, what is that?
- What brings you here, Mr. Grimm?
- I've just been released from the hospital.
I sought sanctuary in a house of God.
I didn't expect the good fortune of
finding two of His servants here.
You're the only people
I can turn to for help.
It's your duty to help, isn't it,
not to condemn.
All right, then, help me.
Give me enough money so I
can get across the border.
Return to Germany where I
can start my life over again.
Here is all I have.
I don't know whether it's
your good fortune or bad
that the court couldn't find
sufficient evidence to convict you.
Today, you stand before two roads.
Upon one, humanity walks in brotherly
love and human understanding.
On the other run wild the
forces of destruction.
You started on the wrong
road, Grimm.
It's not too late to turn back.
Walk with us
in the light of God.
Goodbye.
I'll repay you this
money as soon as I can.
That was in 1919.
We prayed for him and hoped he
would find peace and a new life.
Does the defence wish
to question the witness?
Yes.
A few moments ago,
I asked that all this gossip
be stricken from the record
as irrelevant and immaterial.
My objections were overruled.
I would now like to ask the
witness three questions.
Proceed.
Was it ever proven that I
molested that young girl?
Did the jury dismiss the
case for lack of evidence?
Is it true that I returned the money
I borrowed from you and that Jew?
- Yes.
- No further questions.
Thank you.
Next witness.
Karl Grimm!
- Your name is Karl Grimm?
- Yes, Your Honor.
- You're related to the accused?
- I'm his brother.
Is this witness testifying for
the prosecution or the defence?
That is for the court to decide.
- I want only to tell the truth.
- Proceed with your testimony.
Wilhelm and I were really
more than brothers.
We're only fourteen
months apart in age.
And as far back as I can remember, we were
as close to each other as twins could be.
In school, at the university
and all through the First War.
I was beside him on the
battlefield when he lost his leg.
It was I that helped bring
him to base hospital.
And, as is only right and natural,
it was my blood that was used in the
transfusion that saved his life.
It was my life, too.
In... in 1923,
Germany was torn to pieces.
It seemed the republic
would neither live nor die.
It was a nation bewildered
and angered and helpless.
We of the middle class didn't
know which way to turn.
I hadn't seen my
brother in five years.
I wondered what had become of him because
during all that time, he had never written to me.
We were living in Munich,
my wife, Alice, and our two
small children, Willie and Elsa.
Willie.
That's only your mouth, not a tunnel,
don't stuff so much food in at one time.
- Yes, mother.
- You're expecting someone?
No.
- Well, darling, see who it is.
- Willie, see who it is, please.
- Good evening.
- Good evening.
Good evening.
- Karl?
- Good evening.
Wilhelm!
- I didn't recognize you. Forgive me, I...
- Karl, you devil. Isn't it great?
- Where have you been?
- Oh, never mind the questions.
We're just having dinner.
Aren't you hungry?
Oh, come. You look half starved.
Come and sit down.
- Let me fix you something to eat.
- Thank you.
You see, now I have a little Elsa.
And, uh, you remember this
one, of course, huh?
No. No, I guess he wasn't
quite here yet when you left.
Willie, this is your Uncle Wilhelm.
Willie, meet your nephew.
We named him after you.
Uncle Wilhelm?
What's the matter with your eye?
Willie, stop asking questions.
Sit down, Wilhelm.
Conversation can wait.
- Mother?
- Yes?
- May I ask just one question, please?
- All right, just one.
Uncle Wilhelm?
What is the matter with your eye?
Willie!?
Alice, please.
We all want to ask the same question.
I lost it many years ago in Poland.
Lost it? You mean it just fell out?
I'll tell you all about
it, little Willie.
Well, what sort of excuse is that?
You were traveling.
You still could have written, Wilhelm.
Yes, for three years we've been trying to
find out whether you were dead or alive.
I didn't want to bother
you with my troubles.
Oh, Wilhelm,
how could you be a bother to us?
Well, Karl, what about you?
Mm. Here we are, getting older.
And the children are practically grown up.
That I know. I mean, in general.
Conditions here in Germany are
so bad that they're intolerable.
Oh, we manage to survive.
I got a pretty good job writing
editorials for the Munich Post.
- Socialist paper?
- Why not?
Why not?
Huh!
You know, you've been away too long, Wilhelm.
Things have changed here.
When you start working
again, you'll see.
You must live here with us, Wilhelm,
and learn how to relax again.
That's very kind of you, Alice.
- But how can I move in on your family?
- Our family?
You thought you weren't
part of our family?
These days, Wilhelm,
there isn't much left besides one's family.
Is it, now?
I want to tell you two something.
A new spirit is being born,
a new religion of blood and race.
And the man to lead it is
already here in Munich.
You mean this Hitler creature?
That's right, Karl. Laugh.
You too, Alice.
Everybody laughs at things
they don't understand.
The whole of Germany will laugh.
But when they stop,
it'll be too late.
When they stop,
he'll have taken Munich
and the whole of Germany.
Well, why stop with Germany,
why not the whole world?
Why not?
Yes, we laughed.
It all seemed so very funny to us in 1923.
Hitler went into the beer hall and proclaimed
himself the new leader by his own authority.
But when on the next day he actually tried
marching through the streets of Munich,
the authorities promptly threw
him and his gang in jail.
It was really very amusing.
After all, how could anyone
take this hysterical paperhanger
and his crowd of hoodlums seriously?
And so we laughed.
So you took the world, eh?
Well, flowers.
And caviar.
Not bad for a jail.
But your eye!
- You told us..
- Ha-ha, it's glass. Look, look, look.
- Party supplies everything. Sit down.
- So I see.
- Everything except freedom.
- Don't worry.
- Wilhelm...
- Sit down.
There's talk going around the city
that they're going to make you
serve the entire two-year sentence.
There's talk the pressure of the party will
force them to release us.
Huh.
Maybe.
Look, Wilhelm.
I can get you out of here right away
on the condition that you leave Munich.
I wonder what our Führer would think of that
proposition.
He's upstairs now,
writing his book.
A book?
Something to change the course
of world history, I'm sure.
Yes.
Well, fortunately,
your faith isn't shared by everyone.
So you won't accept my offer to
let me help you out of here?
Well, I think you're crazy.
But if that's the way
you want it, all right.
- Certainly, you're very comfortable here.
- In six months I'll be free.
Time's up.
- Goodbye, Wilhelm. Good luck.
- Heil Hitler!
Between brothers, I prefer this.
But Wilhelm was right.
They were free in six months.
And we felt it, all of Germany felt it.
Even in those early days,
the Nazi technique was apparent.
Ridicule of the republic
was their political line.
They created unrest, suspicion.
They fostered food riots.
Divide and conquer
was their aim.
This situation became so grave
that in 1929, the authorities
resolved to put a stop to it.
The Weimar Republic has launched a
campaign to stamp out lawlessness.
At this moment, they are
seeking out the ringleaders.
This is a warning.
Effective immediately,
it is unlawful for any citizen
- to shelter any member of the Nazi party.
- Uncle Wilhelm.
Our news broadcast has ended.
This is Radio Munich.
Three minutes pause.
- Where is everybody?
- Out, all except me.
- What's happening? I just
turned on the radio... - Willie.
Listen to me carefully.
- Police are probably...
- Are they after you, too?
I think so.
Yes, Karl Grimm's
apartment is two flights up.
Thank you.
When they ask for me,
say that I'm in Berlin.
- That I've been there for two weeks.
- But why should we lie?
- There is only one truth - National Socialism.
- Yes.
- Will you obey me?
- Yes, sir. I suppose they'll search the house.
They won't.
Not if you say the right things.
I hate these places.
No elevators.
- Is your father home, sonny?
- No, sir. Nobody’s home.
- You father walks with a limp, doesn't he?
- No, sir, that's my uncle Wilhelm.
That's right. Wilhelm Grimm.
He's not here, either.
He went to Berlin last week.
Open the door, sonny.
Let's take a look around.
No, you can't come in.
You're not allowed. Police can't
search a house without a warrant.
That's the law of
the Weimar Republic.
Isn't it?
How soon will your
father be home?
- In an hour, maybe.
- We'll see him then.
Yes, sir.
There's your Weimar Republic for you.
Even a small boy can make them run.
They call it democracy.
Stupid.
Good work, Willie.
You've got the makings of a Youth leader.
- Where are you going?
- I'm gonna be away for about six months.
See you when I get back.
Buy yourself the best pair
of roller skates you can find.
Oh, here's something else.
For luck.
- Keep that always.
- Thanks, Uncle Wilhelm.
Don't say anything to your father
about what happened tonight.
He gets upset so easily.
Goodbye.
Goodbye, Uncle Wilhelm.
Of course Willie told me.
He had to explain the money somehow.
I was very sentimental in those days.
He was my brother.
And I loved him more than
I hated his politics.
So in the years that followed,
I tried to convince him that he was wrong.
But he was rising up to a position
of influence in the Nazi party,
and all that he could hear was the din of
noisy promises made by his party's leaders
which the decent, intelligent people
of Germany were not taking seriously,
so that by the time they awakened
to what was happening, it was 1933.
It came to a point where every
man with any honesty left in him,
with any integrity,
had to make a choice.
The choice was not easy.
We were born in Munich and had
lived there all of our lives.
- Good evening, father.
- Good evening, Elsa.
Why are you so late, Karl?
Sit down. I'll get your supper.
The children have eaten.
- Alice?
- Yes?
- I quit the paper. We're leaving.
- Karl, what happened?
I already bought the tickets,
so you better start packing.
We're leaving in the morning for Vienna.
Vienna? Oh, daddy,
that's a beautiful city, isn't it?
- I've seen pictures of it.
- Yes, I think you'll like it there, Elsa.
Karl, I'm so glad. Every minute you're
away from the house, I'm terrified.
This morning, they took the butcher downstairs
away to a concentration camp.
- I don't know...
- Did you see this, father?
- Good evening, Willie.
- Good evening. Look!
Uncle Wilhelm's picture in the paper.
They're going to give him a medal
tonight at the Kaiserhof Hotel.
- Yes, I saw that.
- Well, let's go over and congratulate him.
- Willie, we're moving tomorrow to Vienna.
- Vienna?
- What for?
- Your father has a job offering there.
Does uncle Wilhelm know?
Are we even going to see him and say goodbye?
Yes, I am going to see him.
In view of your distinguished
services to the party
as an old fighter and as
bearer of the Blood Order,
in appreciation of your unfailing loyalty
to the Führer during recent months
in which the Führer had to
perform his inexorable duty
as highest judge of the nation and
of the party against their traitors.
In the name of the Führer,
I nominate you,
party comrade Wilhelm Grimm,
SS-Gruppenführer and Deputy Chief
of the newly founded Bureau for Living
Space in the Ministry of Education.
- Heil Hitler!
- Heil Hitler!
Karl!
You've come to congratulate me.
How nice.
- I'll be with you in a minute, Albert.
- All right.
I haven't come to congratulate you, Wilhelm.
I have come to say goodbye.
We're leaving tomorrow
morning for Vienna.
You better stay here.
It doesn't' look too well for a man in my position
to have a political refugee in the family.
I couldn't afford it.
No more than I can afford a
brother who is an SS leader.
Why don't you come with us, Wilhelm,
before you get too involved in all this?
- Show some courage.
- My record speaks for me.
Your record shows only that you're afraid to
break away from these murderers.
Oh, shut up, you fool.
Wilhelm.
Quit the Nazi party now.
Because I promise you the first thing
that I'm going to do when I get to Vienna
is write a signed article about all I know of
the Reichstag fire and the Schleicher murder.
with your name and all
the others' connected with it.
You leave me no choice.
Then you will come?
In Vienna, we could be free to
start some kind of a new life.
And the little bit of money that I believe is
in the safe, I'm going to share it with you.
- When do you leave?
- Tomorrow morning.
Expect me tonight.
My brother. Huh.
He's a nervous fella.
So are many people these days.
It's very hard to make a choice.
Takes courage, eh?
And don't worry about school, Elsa. You'll
go right into the same grade you were here.
- They have much better schools.
- I won't like it.
You won't like it.
Not even there yet,
and he knows he won't like it.
I don't see why we have to move.
You know what's bothering him, Karl?
He wants to join the Hitler Youth.
Sure, all the other fellas
in school are in it.
And they have all the fun.
Long vacations and bicycle rides...
... and guns and education for murder.
Do you know why your uncle
Wilhelm changed his mind?
- Is he really coming with us?
- Yes, of course.
- Why did he change his mind about the party?
- Because he learned the truth about them.
I don't understand.
Look, Willie. Do you really
want to know why we're moving?
It's because I'm afraid. Not just for
your mother and little Elsa, but for you.
I feel that I have a chance
to let you grow up in a place
where men still live by their
convictions and not just by fear.
You see...
There comes a time in a man's life when
he has to make some great decisions.
When that time comes for you,
I want you to be ready for it.
Fine father you have. You ask for
a bicycle, and I give you a speech.
You give him a speech,
and I do all the packing.
Wilhelm!
Now, you see?
You finished packing before we did.
And I've got a job for you.
When you get out of
that silly uniform,
you can begin to knock some
sense in that young man's head.
Captain Werner!
In the name of the Third Reich,
you're being taken away for indoctrination.
It's for your own good.
You lost your sense of duty
and must be rehabilitated.
- To a concentration camp?
- He's sick. He must be made well again.
All right, Wilhelm, you are afraid,
but you can't kill that kind of fear.
- We'll answer you someday, I know we will.
- Take him away. - Come on!
- Karl!
- Willie!
- Karl!
- Remember this!
- Karl!
- Always remember this, Willie!
Remember this!
I always really hoped that
Willie could remember.
With me gone, his uncle could exert
his every influence upon the boy.
Six months later, my wife wrote me that
Wilhelm had placed him in a Nazi Youth group
under his
personal supervision.
But during all those years in concentration
camp I knew this day would come.
I knew that people all over the world
would arise and demand an account.
It was only my faith in the
people that kept me alive.
- You wish to question the witness?
- No.
Thank you.
Call the next witness, please.
Your son,
you said his name was Willie.
Do you know him?
My wife, my daughter, are they still alive?
In September 1939, Poland was overrun.
In three weeks, the war was over.
Even so, for me it was a long war.
My husband was killed during
the first few days of fighting.
Our home in Warsaw was in ruins, so, with
my daughter, Janina, I returned to Lidzbark.
We were determined to make
the best of our situation
which was like that of thousands of others.
With them, we would rebuild our lives,
search among the ruins for
some semblance of peace.
I wanted to work again.
The teacher in Lidzbark
had been killed,
and I was needed in
his place at once.
Marja.
Uncle Roman.
- My dear.
- Well, here we are.
Two refugees.
Welcome back to your old refuge.
Marja, you'll have our old room back.
It'll be big enough for the two of you.
My sympathies, Marja.
Try to be strong.
- Thank you.
- It was a bad war. We lost.
Well, it's over now.
Over?
I think it's just beginning.
Sit down, Marja, and rest.
Uncle Roman, I've got to
get Janina away from here.
Far away, where she'll be safe.
- Lithuania, maybe.
- I'm not leaving you, mother.
It's natural you should feel upset, Marja.
But there's really no danger.
What can happen? After all,
the war is over, and we're civilians.
Hey, you! Report in the
public square at once.
- All of you.
- Of course.
Uh, thank you.
Hurry up!
Get in line! Hey!
Now, smile!
All of you!
Look happy!
I want to show smiling,
laughing faces!
I'll have the name and address of every
man and woman who refuses to smile.
Come on, guys,
get in line there!
Come on, look happy!
Hey!
Out of the line, Jew.
- I didn't ask for food, I was forced here.
- Get out!
There's nothing you can do.
- Come on, get moving.
- You, put on a good smile! Look happy!
That's right.
Come on, smile!
Come on, smile! More!
More smiling, everybody!
All right.
Camera!
- Come on, smile, smile, smile, smile.
- Come on!
That's right.
- You!
- Yes?
- Are you the parish priest?
- I am.
- Where's the Bürgermeister?
- Dr. Matek, at your service.
The Reich Commissioner
wants to see both of you.
- Follow me, please, gentlemen.
- Yes, sir, we're coming.
- You think we got enough?
- Plenty.
That's all!
Come in, come in.
So we meet again.
I want you to meet two old friends of mine.
The Reverend Warecki. Dr. Matek.
- Gentlemen, my nephew, Lieutenant Wilhelm
Grimm. - Delighted.
This is a surprise,
Herr Commissioner.
For people who sleep all the
time, waking can be a surprise.
Of course, you're welcome
to the use of my office.
If you had consulted me,
I would have offered it to you.
Formalities, mere formalities.
I didn't summon you here for
social purposes, gentlemen.
The court has been
set for this district.
As leaders of the community,
you'll be responsible for cooperation.
This district must supply
to Germany each month
a certain amount of grain,
beef, pork, and dairy products.
My staff is working on the figures now.
You'll receive them within twenty-four hours.
There'll be little you can
get out of here, Herr Grimm.
The war has drained us.
We haven't enough for ourselves.
We'll be of whatever assistance we
can, Herr Grimm.
After all, it's a question of business.
What's the difference whether the
farmers sell to us or the Germans?
They'll be paying.
Speaking of payment, the village of
Lidzbark is already indebted to the Reich
for feeding the population.
That's all, gentlemen.
I trust
you'll exert your influence on the
population to see that they cooperate.
It's the only way we'll
get along together.
Good day.
Willie, you should have been with
me at that bread line a minute ago.
These aren't people, they are dogs.
But good dogs.
You can train them.
"Smile or no food."
It' just like saying,
"Jump through the hoop or no bone."
They jumped.
We're lucky, Willie.
We got out of school just in time.
From now on, no more theory.
We start making history.
Are my quarters
prepared, Gersdorf?
I'll find out immediately,
Herr Reich Commissioner.
Did you notice the expression on the
priest's face as he recognized me?
That isn't really why we're
here, Uncle Wilhelm.
Just on account of those
people you used to know.
- Disappointed?
- Sure.
The least we can do is live in
the capital of the province.
This is a terrible place.
It's dead here.
We'll move to Posen pretty soon.
I've a job to do here first,
in this terrible place.
I've always wanted to come
back and show these people
what happened to that poor
fella they used to know.
Let's go out, Willie.
There's something I want to show you.
Go to your places.
You can hear the music just
as well from you seats.
There's no need running to the
window or out of the schoolhouse.
Another thing.
No one is to accept food from
the German field kitchen.
Furthermore, it is important for
every boy and girl to understand--
Yes?
Just as I left it.
With slight modifications.
Yes, Marja.
My nephew, Lieutenant Grimm.
The passing years haven't
been very kind to you, Marja.
Well, it's probably been a hard life.
- I've managed.
- You know, Willie...
It was right in this room
I tried to pound knowledge
into the heads of little
provincial idiots.
The only thing they could
ever learn was obedience.
'Cause they knew how to obey.
Class, rise!
For being such good students,
I'm going to reward you.
Take your books outside
and burn them.
New books will arrive from
Germany in a couple of days.
Class dismissed.
Well, what do think of Marja?
She's handsome, eh?
- Here you see German youth indestructible...
- Mother, what ha--?
My daughter, Janina.
Commissioner Grimm.
Lieutenant Grimm.
Your mother and I are old friends.
Did I know your father?
I don't know him.
- Where do you live, Marja?
- At the parsonage.
Then we'll dine with you tonight.
- An honor.
- Yes.
In honor of Teacher Grimm's return.
I'm accustomed to eating rather well
these days, so I'll send my own food.
Invite Dr. Matek.
Until tonight, then.
Oh, by the way, what about Jan Stys?
I'd like to see him again, too.
He was such a rascal when he was a boy.
Quite a marksman with stones.
Jan is in the Polish Army.
What Polish army?
Janina.
Go to the Stys farm right away.
Tell Jan he must leave.
That Wilhelm Grimm is here.
But mother, he's so badly
wounded he can't move.
Tell him he must go.
Good coffee, eh?
Yeah, we have the best of everything.
The best.
And not enough of it.
Haven't you expanded enough?
Haven't you Lebensraum now, with Austria and
Czechoslovakia...
...and Poland.
Small bites, mere bites.
Just appetizers.
- Russia?
- There the meal begins in earnest.
- It might be too big a bite.
- Poland took us three weeks.
And when we're ready,
Russia won't take us more than six.
- May I help you?
- Thank you, I can manage.
It's a pleasure to help.
- So, Herr Grimm. You've never married?
- Married? No.
No woman would want a cripple.
A poverty-stricken one at that.
Isn't that so, Marja?
But I've been rewarded
in other ways.
I have my nephew,
and he's like my own son to me.
Yes. A very fine boy, apparently!
What do you do with yourself
in this little hole of a town?
- I teach kindergarten.
- No, I mean in the evenings.
Look, isn't there any... any music here?
Not even a theater?
Lidzbark happens to be a small
village, but we have music very often.
We used to.
Well, I... I like the forests
and lakes around here.
You know, we have 'em at
home, too, only much nicer.
- Homesick already, lieutenant?
- No, I should say not.
You know,
this war is a lot of fun.
- Sport?
- Now, don't change the subject.
If I'm gonna be around here for a while, you and
I have got to see quite a lot of each other.
Tell me,
what do you do for amusement?
Well, I...
I amuse myself.
It's purely a question
of mathematics.
Armies require so much food.
civilians must supply it.
That reminds me.
I want a list within twenty-four hours
of all the farmers in the district.
What for?
Also a list of all the men between
the ages of sixteen and sixty.
May I ask why?
Find a way.
Does anyone here know the
whereabouts of Jan Stys?
- Jan... - We are not in communication
with the Polish Army, Herr Grimm.
What Polish army?
Willie?
It's time for us to go.
Good night.
I trust you enjoyed
your dinner.
You know, I don't think
things are going to be so bad.
After all, we're men of goodwill,
and he sounded reasonable.
- I think we'll find a solution.
- There's only one solution.
Jan!
- Didn't you give him my message?
- She did, Marja.
- That was for me to decide.
- But you shouldn't have come here.
- Come, sit down, Jan...
- How can you talk of solution or reason?
And you! I was outside the kitchen window.
I heard you.
I heard you and that young Nazi.
What do you do for amusement?
There's only one
amusement left for Poles.
To kill Germans.
You ask why they want lists of farmers?
To bring in Germans and
throw our people out.
Lists of men from sixteen to sixty?
For labor camps.
Poland will become a nation of slaves.
Is that your idea of "reasonable", Dr. Matek?
You think the war is over because
our army has been defeated. No.
The war has just begun.
If you accept defeat,
you'll be alone among the Polish people.
Mark this October 1939.
The fight is beginning.
We've got guns and ammunition hidden
in the forests and the swamps.
- We'll never stop... fighting.
- Jan! Jan!
You mustn't stay here. You know he's after you.
Your life is in danger.
Of course. That's why we're fighting.
All of us.
It's dangerous
not to--
The next day we were to learn why
Grimm wanted that list of names.
Boys of fourteen, men of
sixty, they took them all.
Tore them away from their families,
shipped them off in trucks to labor camps.
As for our girls,
their fate is well-known to you.
The officers called it their "club-house".
Our clothing was seized.
Every house in the village, every farm
throughout the countryside
was looted of all
food and livestock.
They overlooked nothing.
Please!
I beg you. Please!
Please. Please!
It does you no good to burn these things.
Will you see that Jan gets his lunch?
I'll be right back.
- Mother!
- Marja!
No, the future's in
victory, not in freedom,
so horses are more important
than Jews, that's all.
Have you lost all human
feeling, Wilhelm?
Human feeling is a luxury
that vital nations can't afford.
Human feeling is the
last resort of decadence.
What have your human
feelings brought you?
Well?
What are you staring at?
- I'm trying to see one spark of pity.
- In which eye?
The left one.
That's the glass one.
I know.
Come here, Marja, look.
This is interesting.
I save my human feelings for my boy.
I think your daughter does, too.
Your life is really bound up in that
boy, isn't it, Wilhelm?
Completely.
Yes. You know,
it's an interesting story, Marja.
As an educator,
you could learn something from it.
For fifteen years he lived with his family and
my brother. He was completely corrupted.
When my brother was sent to a concentration
camp, I took charge of the education of the boy.
- Your own brother was sent to a
concentration camp. - He's still there.
- Couldn't you prevent it?
- Prevent it? I sent him.
He was poisoning the boy.
And all that's been wiped out.
Every vestige of the past has
been blotted from his memory.
In him, you see the new Germany.
Indestructible.
- It's as if he were your own son, isn't it?
- He is my own son, spiritually.
I feel myself reborn in him.
A beautiful relationship.
Cheer up.
You take life too seriously.
- That's because you're so young.
- I'm not young.
You take life too easily,
as if it were nothing.
It's shameful.
I really can't understand
you, Janina.
Look, we need horses. And horses need stables.
So we put them in the synagogue.
Anyway, those weren't people.
They were Jews.
Janina, please don't go.
I want to talk to you,
and I want you to understand.
When I was young,
I felt differently, like you do.
And then later I was taught that victory for
the German nation was all that matters.
- Those people mean nothing to you and me.
- Nothing to you, I know.
But they mean very much to me.
They're my friends,
my neighbors, my schoolmates.
All the people I...
I've known since I was a child.
Younger ones who grew up with me.
Why do you treat them like animals?
Worse than animals!
Janina, please don't
look at me that way.
I don't like to see hate
and contempt in your eyes.
Janina, look at me.
What's wrong with me?
Janina!
- Come home, Janina.
- I assure you, madam, my...
I forbid you to see my daughter
again, is that clear?
No, it isn't. Why?
Because you're no good.
You deserted your father, didn't you?
- When he needed you most, too.
- No, it isn't true.
It was my father who deserted. He was a traitor.
- You're the traitor.
- My uncle had to send my father away.
It was his duty, his loyalty to
National Socialism. That took strength.
Your uncle is a coward.
So are you.
Is Dr. Matek here?
- Yes.
- Please, I must see him at once.
- Tomorrow I'll go.
- No, you don't.
The doctor said not for three days.
The doctor. Ha-ha-ha.
A lot he knows about it!
Something must be done.
Something must be done!
Dr. Matek, I beg you to help us.
Use your influence.
There must be someone
who can reason with them.
My dear rabbi, I...
I don't know what to say.
Take me down there,
I'll talk to Grimm.
Don't misunderstand me,
I'll do whatever I can.
The children over there.
I don't quite understand, Uncle Wilhelm.
What's the difference whether
they're here or somewhere else?
It's not geography,
Willie, it's mathematics.
There's just so much food at our disposal.
There must be fewer mouths to feed.
Did I say mathematics?
Huh. Simple arithmetic.
What's going to happen to them?
There's a whole trainload coming from Warsaw.
They'll attach these cars to it.
- When?
- I don't know. Maybe the next day.
But without food or water...?
I've no doubt that some of
them will manage to survive.
I believe you know me,
Herr Reich Commissioner.
You knew him when he gave you the money
to escape to Germany twenty years ago.
I believe that debt was repaid.
Does the Jew demand interest?
If mercy is interest,
yes, I demand it.
You must remember what mercy is.
You received it from us when you were in need.
- I merely carry out orders.
- You're afraid not to carry out orders.
Before God and man,
I protest this crime against humanity.
By all means,
if it makes you feel any better.
May I say a few words to my
people before they're taken away?
If you think it'll stop the noise, yes.
Let them call for silent prayers.
Hey, you again?!
Gersdorf! He's going to quiet them.
Let him speak.
My people! Be calm!
Listen to me!
Let us prepare ourselves to face
this supreme moment in our lives.
This is our last journey.
It doesn't matter if it's long or short.
For centuries,
we have sought only peace.
We have submitted to many degradations,
believing that we would
achieve justice through reason.
We have tried to take our place honestly,
decently alongside all mankind.
To help make a better world, a world in
which all men would live as free neighbors.
We have hoped
and prayed.
But now we see that
hope was not enough.
What good has it done to submit?
Submission brought us rare moments
in history when we were tolerated.
Tolerated!
Is there any greater degradation than to
be tolerated, to be permitted to exist?
We have submitted too long!
If we want equality and justice, we must take our
place alongside all other oppressed peoples,
regardless of race and religion.
Their fight is ours.
Ours...
is theirs.
We haven't much time left.
By our actions we will be remembered.
This is our last free choice,
our moment in history.
And I say to you, let us choose to fight.
Here! Now!
Hurry!
Hurry!
Drive them in!
We will never die.
We'll be you. All of you.
David.
Just help me up.
It's...
It's too late now.
Please.
You were right, David.
We will never die.
I'm worried about Uncle Roman,
leaving him here alone.
But there's nothing we can do.
We can't stay here any longer.
Not after what we saw tonight.
What can we do?
Tomorrow night, when Jan leaves,
we're going to the forest with him.
There'll be plenty for us to do.
- Good. Does it still hurt, Jan?
- This is no time for wounds to heal slowly.
Uncle Roman will bring Dr. Matek.
I heard your name mentioned.
You're Jan.
Jan Stys.
The Reich Commissioner
has been looking for you.
Well...
Take him.
Take him and be proud of yourself.
You've captured a helpless, wounded man.
Why, you're a hero.
- They'll promote you, give you a medal.
- I'm only a soldier.
A mechanical soldier run
by wheels and springs.
They turn a key and you jump.
- An officer of the Reich obeys...
- Obeys orders. I know.
But you obey orders because you haven't
the courage to disobey. You don't dare.
- It isn't a question of daring.
- It's the only question!
Your uncle doesn't dare disobey
even though he knows he's wrong.
Rabbi Levin made a
choice as a free man.
But you're afraid.
Your father dared.
You speak of a master race!
Men like your father are the masters,
you and your uncle the slaves.
Go ahead, take him away!
Take him and think of your
father while taking him!
Don't tell me what to do!
Nobody can make me do
anything I don't wanna do!
I make my own decisions!
Hey, you!
Get moving!
Get up!
Get up!
Sergeant, have you lost your mind?
He's sick.
Something wrong, lieutenant?
Why waste good German
strength on an old man?
If he can't work,
shoot him.
Come on!
Get moving!
That’s all.
I thought you'd like to know.
That's very strange. I can't imagine why the
lieutenant would behave in such a manner.
- I think I know, Herr Reich Commissioner.
- Yeah?
As you know, the lieutenant
and I were at school together.
It was often thought by many of us
that he showed... certain weaknesses.
We thought perhaps the influence of his
father...
Stupid.
That's exactly what I told the others, Herr
Reich Commissioner. Of course, it was stupid.
The lieutenant must
graduate with high honors.
- If I may make a suggestion...
- Yeah?
In my opinion, the lieutenant
sees too much of those women.
The mother and daughter.
He does.
That girl has enjoyed special privileges.
Some of the men have been wondering why.
I think it would be more
satisfactory for all concerned
if she were sent to live
in the officers' club.
I make all the decisions here.
Of course.
I was merely offering
a humble suggestion.
A little late, aren't you?
- What was it this...? Yes, what is it?
- Herr Lieutenant?
Reich Commissioner Grimm
wishes to see you at once.
All right, thank you.
- Oh, I knew where to find you, eh?
- What was it, Uncle Wilhelm?
- What about dinner?
- I'm not hungry.
- A drink? Might help your appetite.
- No, not for me, thanks.
Willie...
- You're not in love with that girl, are you?
- No.
Good. Now, I can understand the
attraction, she's quite a beauty.
Just a child.
Willie...
You know, we can make the mistake of
considering these Polish women as equals.
They're here to
work for us and...
- for recreational purposes.
- What's this got to do with Janina?
You know I couldn't feel any closer
to you if you were my own son.
There isn't anything in the world I
wouldn't do for you, Willie. You know that.
I know that.
- What I've done today is for you, too.
- What?
I sent that girl to live
at the officers' club.
- But she's so young.
- Children grow up quickly these days.
Besides, it was necessary.
Some of the officers were beginning to ask
why this particular girl should
enjoy special privileges.
- You said you were doing it for me?
- I did. It's part of your education.
As an officer of the Reich,
you can have but one loyalty.
Uncle Wilhelm...
That... that girl, Janina.
She's everything I believe in.
I can't tell you how much that means to me.
I can't explain.
You said you'd do anything for me.
Then get her out of there. Please!
- Don't be romantic.
- I beg you!
- It's too late. I've given the order.
- Non, no, it isn't. You're in charge here.
If you gave the order
too put her in there,
- then you can give the order to get her out.
- All right!
Gersdorf!
Gersdorf!
- Find out what that's for.
- Yes, sir.
Block the entrance!
- They're holding a special service?
- I don't know.
What's this about?
What is this? Who gave you
permission to hold a special service?
- I need no permission.
- The service will not take place.
Yes, it will.
If my orders are disobeyed,
you will suffer the consequences.
Send the people home.
Gersdorf, guard the entrance.
It's dangerous to tamper
with the orders of the Reich.
It's dangerous to tamper
with the orders of God.
- What is it?
- An accident.
One of the girls of the officers' club.
She was shot.
You remember Anna?
Shall I order the guards to let them
pass, Herr Grimm?
Are you crazy?
You can't go in there.
You're an officer. Whatever you
feel personally doesn't matter now.
Think of me, Willie.
Don't I mean anything to you?
Do this for me, just this one thing for me.
That's all I ask.
Don't go in there!
- I must. I wanna pray.
- Why?
I wanna pray to my father
to ask him to forgive me.
I want to let him know that
now I understand what he did.
I wanna be forgiven for having
deserted him and my mother.
- For having been a traitor.
- He went, Willie. That's not true.
It was he.
Before it's too late, Uncle Wilhelm.
Come with me.
As an officer of the Reich, I command you.
Return to your quarters!
Return to your quarters!
Good luck.
This is going to look bad on
records at the headquarters.
Wilhelm Grimm left Lidzbark that night.
An those of us who felt that such cruelty,
such complete lack of human decency
was peculiar to him alone, learned
otherwise in the years that followed.
Those who came after him may have varied
their forms of torture and brutality,
but they were the same.
They were all Wilhelm Grimms.
They were Nazis.
You didn't see him
again after that?
Not until today.
In this courtroom.
You wish to question the witness?
No.
Thank you. That's all.
Accused Wilhelm Grimm.
Do you deny the testimony stated
by the witnesses to be the truth?
To deny or affirm the gossip that's
been offered here as testimony
would simply be to admit the authority
of this court which I refuse to do.
I know this court will
exercise its temporary power.
But remember, it's only temporary.
You've just won another battle
in a fight which has not ended.
We of the Nazi party are
the destiny of Germany.
The destiny to fight and conquer.
You cannot crush us!
We will rise again and again!
You heard the witnesses and you
heard the accused's defence.
Men and women of the
United Nations, all of you.
You are the jury.
It will be up to you to
finally judge all criminals
and to the determine the penalties
that shall be meted out to them.
For this will only be your war
if the final victory
brings you justice
and the true and
everlasting People's Peace.
The leaders of the Nazi party are
today standing trial in Poland
as in the other
capitals of Europe.
Today, we sit in judgment
over those who caused humanity
unspeakable miseries.
We must be aware of our
great responsibility
not only to the past,
but to the future.
Throughout the occupation by the
Nazis of the invaded countries,
a complete record has been
kept of the crimes of the Nazis
and the Nazi collaborationists.
The names of these
criminals were recorded,
anticipating the day when
judgement would be done.
This court will decide not only whether
the accused are innocent or guilty
but the extent of the crime.
This court will determine what
penalty the accused must pay.
This, then, is the basis of judgement
with which I open this session of the
International Tribunal, District of Warsaw.
The first accused is the former Reich
Commissioner of the Western region of Poland,
Wilhelm Grimm.
The accused has been
provided with defence counsel
and will enjoy full rights.
Call the accused.
Wilhelm Grimm!
You are Wilhelm Grimm,
born October 7, 1890 in Berlin?
Yes.
You have been wounded.
You may sit down.
Wilhelm Grimm,
you are charged with the wanton
extermination of human life.
You are charged with
the crimes of murder,
unlawful detention,
degenerate atrocities,
and common theft.
- How do you plead?
- Not guilty.
Where is your attorney?
I shall act as my own counsel.
Do you know these witnesses?
We will proceed.
First witness:
Reverend Roman Warecki,
priest of Lidzbark.
If it please the court,
I'd like to make a brief statement
before giving my testimony.
I'd like to explain
why I am testifying.
The trial of these criminals marks
a milestone in human history.
It is being argued today that
we, having defeated the Nazis,
should show tolerance
and mercy;
that these men are the victims
of circumstance and of history
and that they enjoyed no
freedom to act
in accordance with the dictates
of their own consciences.
I'd like to relate an incident
which occurred many years ago
to prove that the accused
acted of his own volition
and that he had freedom
of choice and of will.
It was very early in
the spring of 1919,
following the end of
the First World War.
In our little town of Lidzbark,
it was market day,
and the warmth of
spring was in the air.
There were few scars of war
to be seen on the town itself,
but they were there.
Not on the buildings,
but in the hearts and faces
of the mothers and wives
whose men would never return
or, returning, were crippled,
shattered.
But now it was over.
I had started across the
square on my morning stroll.
I stopped to greet my
friend, the village rabbi.
In the marketplace,
there was the usual activity.
Grouped about the
wagons and stalls,
the villagers and farmers
discussed the politics of the day.
The big question of course
was Poland's future.
I don't care who signs
the treaty of Versailles.
I believe that Poland is free when
we get back our own boundaries.
Not before.
- The Poles are in the hands of the Lord.
- Not the Lord, the Germans.
- Good morning, Father.
- Morning. Morning.
It happened!
Poland is going to be a republic!
I'm sorry, Father,
but I believe in Poland for the Poles.
It happened!
It happened!
Paderewski has been
sent to Versailles.
Paderewski will get our demands.
The whole world will listen to him!
Yes, they'll listen to him -
when he plays the piano.
We are going to erect a
monument to Paderewski
in the center of
the public square
to honor our independence!
At least let's wait until we get it.
Ha-ha, don't worry,
we'll get independence.
Who do you mean by
"we", Dr. Matek?
All of us, Oremski,
thanks to divine providence.
And if you'll forgive me, Father,
thanks also to the treaty
they will write in Versailles.
Can't you see how the Versailles
treaty will protect Poland?
I don't believe it.
- What don't you believe now?
- I don't believe anything.
What about the Germans?
You blockhead, haven't you heard?
The war is over.
- German imperialism has been defeated forever.
- He's right.
Why, that...
Yes, it is!
Our German teacher,
Wilhelm Grimm.
I didn't expect him
to return so soon.
This is a surprise, Mr. Grimm.
- Welcome back to Lidzbark.
- How very generous to an enemy.
- The war is over.
- You think so?
- I see you've suffered a wound.
- A wound?
That sound like flesh and bone?
In a minute, the children will come
yelling and running out of school.
You know, Wilhelm,
your place as teacher
is still open for you.
And Marja?
Your place has not been filled
there, either.
Welcome back, Professor Grimm!
You recognized me?
After such a long time?
Sure, why not?
We're not babies.
Four years ago,
you were just a child.
Now you're young lady.
- What's your name?
- Anna Oremska.
- Doesn't he look distinguished?
- You mean that medal?
He's been wounded.
Don't you feel sorry for him?
No.
Father Warecki says we have not
to hate the Germans anymore.
My brother doesn't
hate them anymore.
He's dead.
Marja.
Wilhelm.
- Darling, I'm so happy.
- Happy?
Why did you stop when
you saw me limping?
Darling, I knew nothing about it.
- Why didn't you write me that you...
- That I'm a cripple?
Isn't it enough that
you know it now?
Would you have waited
for me if you'd known?
Don't you know me
better than that, Wilhelm?
Do you think you're any different
to me because you've been wounded?
Well, you don't understand.
Nothing's the same anymore.
My love is the same, Wilhelm.
- Isn't it peaceful here, darling?
- Well, at least there's no Polish hysterics
about Polish independence and
Polish republics and Polish peace.
- Have you forgotten, Wilhelm? I'm Polish, too.
- In three days, you'll be my wife.
- And then?
- Then you'll be German.
- As if it mattered.
- What does matter?
Being your wife.
More than anything.
Waiting three more days
seems like forever, Marja.
After all these years.
- I'm worried, Wilhelm.
- What about?
Those curtains I got for the living room.
Do you really like them?
Yes.
You couldn't have found a nicer house.
It's so small and snug.
On the coldest winter evenings
it'll be as warm and lovely...
...as you are.
I can't believe it's true.
All those long four years you were
gone, I kept praying you'd come back.
Remember, Wilhelm,
it was right here,
at this very table that
you asked me to marry you.
And when you were called
away to the army so suddenly,
all you left behind for me
was hope for the future.
In those days,
I still believed in the future.
And now you don't?
Our future?
I love you, Marja.
You're the only human being
in the world that I love.
The others I hate, all of them.
Not only these village clowns who
babble idiotically in the market square,
the German people, too.
They lost the war, not our army.
Today, the German people babble
about freedom and democracy
just like the Poles.
But that's the only chance
any people have, Wilhelm.
Without freedom,
there's no future.
The future lies in victory,
not in freedom.
The war will be continued
until it's won, that's our destiny.
If Germany had won,
would you have come back to me?
Well, if we'd won, I wouldn't have to spend the
rest of my life a a country schoolteacher,
rot in this village.
If we'd won, there'd have
been a German Middle Europe,
a German Lebensraum
from Berlin to Baghdad,
a colonial empire... I was promised
a post in the Ministry of Education.
We'd have lived in a big city.
An official mansion
with servants and cars.
I'd have had position,
responsibility.
- Bringing German culture to the barbarians...
- And Poland?
Huh. Poland can benefit by
German culture, too, Marja.
Let's go back, Wilhelm.
I think he's on his
way over now, Marja.
You've made up your mind?
You're sure?
Uncle Roman, I'm afraid.
He's changed so inside himself.
I don't know him anymore.
If I were to marry him now,
it would be like marrying a stranger.
I can't do it.
He frightens me.
I don't understand him.
If you prefer not to see
him, to have me tell him...
- No.
- You're sure?
- Is Marja in?
- Yes.
Okay, here you are.
I got your note.
Wilhelm...
I've decided to
postpone our marriage.
Please understand.
Everything's so changed.
I need time.
I'm not sure of myself anymore.
My sister in Warsaw's ill.
She's asked me to spend
a month or two with her.
When I come back...
You don't have to make it
worse with such a lame excuse.
You just don't want to burden
yourself with the remnants of a man.
Crippled leg. Crippled career.
Why don't you say it?
Why don't you admit that you're going to
Warsaw to look over more eligible young men.
Because it isn't true!
Very sensible, Marja.
No poverty-stricken schoolteachers for you.
You were no wealthier before
you went away, Wilhelm.
- Your accusation is untrue.
- And unkind.
And I suppose it's kind,
after all the years I've waited,
to walk out and leave me
three days before my marriage,
making me the laughing
stock of the village idiots.
That's what bothers me, Wilhelm.
They're my people.
You know I love them.
If you think they're idiots,
what can you think of me?
I think you're a typical peasant
who's decided to place her
dowry on the auction block
for the highest bidder.
Write to me often, Marja.
Every day.
- Goodbye, Marja. Have a good time.
- Thank you, Krystyna!
Oh, stop it!
Come here, come here!
There she goes!
- Bye, Miss Marja!
- And don't hurry back!
I told you she jilted him.
My mother heard it last night.
She did not. She's only going to
Warsaw to visit her sick aunt.
That's what she says.
She's dumping Old
Limpy off the wagon.
- I know why, too.
- Why?
I'll tell you why. Cause he's not
good enough for any Polish woman.
I think you're all terrible
making fun of him that way!
Now that Miss Marja's gone,
maybe there's a chance for you, huh?
Shut your mouth!
And you!
Repeat what you said.
Repeat what you said.
All right. I said you're not
good enough for any Polish woman.
- And I'm not the only one who thinks so.
- Jan!
It's true. Your own father said
so, and other men in the village.
So I'm not good enough
for any Polish woman?
Class dismissed.
It was a difficult decision that
Marja found herself forced to make.
And after three months in Warsaw,
she learned that the war had left
its tragic mark on everybody,
feeling Grimm was no exception.
She wrote that she was coming back,
determined to go through with her marriage.
- But on the day of her return...
- I object.
The accused will have an
opportunity to defend himself.
You granted me the right
to act as my own counsel.
I object to all these old-wives' tales of
petty relationships as completely irrelevant.
Your Honor, there were
no objections until now.
Evidently, it's because what I
have to say is extremely relevant
that the defendant
wishes to stop me.
Objection overruled.
The witness may proceed.
As I said, Marja wrote that she was
determined to go ahead with her marriage.
She felt that now, more than ever,
Wilhelm needed her love and care,
With her help, perhaps he could
readjust himself to a normal life.
And that would be her job.
So Marja returned to Lidzbark.
However, it would have been better if she had
picked another day to come back to the village.
What's wrong?
Has anything happened to my uncle?
No, there's some
trouble about Jan.
There's no sense
continuing till tonight, Jan.
- It's plain to everyone that you're guilty.
- I'm not.
What's the matter, uncle?
What's happening here?
No, it's all... it's all right, Marja.
I'll explain the whole thing.
Confess to the priest,
or I'll disown you.
Maybe Father Roman
will have mercy on you.
- I'm innocent.
- You've disgraced me.
Oremski has been my friend
and neighbor for forty years.
- Confess or I'll beat the truth out of you!
- Please, please.
We're old friends, Jan.
You can talk to me.
Would you please believe me?
There's nothing I can say except
that I don't know anything about it.
- What does Anna say?
- She refuses to talk to anyone.
She hasn't uttered a single word in three
weeks. She's like one stricken dumb.
- Good evening.
- Good evening, Masza.
May I speak to Anna?
Down there.
Hello, Anna.
I just came back from Warsaw.
Aren't you going to say hello?
Anna, I've known you
for many years.
I've always felt that we were friends.
I want to help you.
All right, Anna.
You'll be sorry later.
I know you've always loved Jan.
It will be on your conscience
when they punish him.
They'll send him to a reform school.
It'll be your fault because
you refused to confess.
Your sin will be
doubly shameful.
Don't let them hurt Jan.
- Don't let them send him away.
- Why shouldn't they?
Jan deserves the worst
punishment they can give him.
- Why didn't he kill me?
- Who?
I begged him to kill me.
He knew I wanted to die.
He could have killed me with the
long pistols with silver handles.
He could have killed me
with his walking stick.
- Wilhelm?
- I didn't say it.
I didn't say anything!
Marja!?
Anna!
Anna!
Anna!
Marja!
You've...
You've come back?
Yes.
- Can those pistols be fired?
- Yes.
Then if you have any sense of honor
left, you'll use one on yourself.
Marja, what...
What's this all about?
Marja!
Dr. Matek!
Dr. Matek!
- What is it?
- Dr. Matek, a terrible thing happened.
Anna. They're bringing her in.
- Go and get Father Warecki.
- Yes, sir.
- Oremski.
- Oremski!
Oremski!
Let him go! Let him go! Please!
Your victim has drowned
herself in the lake.
And may the Lord have
mercy on your soul.
The buzzards'll pick out
your eyes from the gallows.
Please, please go home.
Everything will be all right.
Thank you.
- You heard from Marja lately?
- Didn't I tell you?
- Not a word.
- I thought I told everybody.
- Very interesting letter.
- Good.
Yes, at last. Concerts, books.
She's beginning to find
Warsaw an interesting place.
She even mentioned a young man.
- A young man makes any city interesting.
- Ah.
Of course, as yet, you know,
it's nothing very serious.
Of course not.
Just, uh, interesting.
Ah, life is good
to young people.
Even deep wounds can
heal, it just wants time.
Now, what is that?
- What brings you here, Mr. Grimm?
- I've just been released from the hospital.
I sought sanctuary in a house of God.
I didn't expect the good fortune of
finding two of His servants here.
You're the only people
I can turn to for help.
It's your duty to help, isn't it,
not to condemn.
All right, then, help me.
Give me enough money so I
can get across the border.
Return to Germany where I
can start my life over again.
Here is all I have.
I don't know whether it's
your good fortune or bad
that the court couldn't find
sufficient evidence to convict you.
Today, you stand before two roads.
Upon one, humanity walks in brotherly
love and human understanding.
On the other run wild the
forces of destruction.
You started on the wrong
road, Grimm.
It's not too late to turn back.
Walk with us
in the light of God.
Goodbye.
I'll repay you this
money as soon as I can.
That was in 1919.
We prayed for him and hoped he
would find peace and a new life.
Does the defence wish
to question the witness?
Yes.
A few moments ago,
I asked that all this gossip
be stricken from the record
as irrelevant and immaterial.
My objections were overruled.
I would now like to ask the
witness three questions.
Proceed.
Was it ever proven that I
molested that young girl?
Did the jury dismiss the
case for lack of evidence?
Is it true that I returned the money
I borrowed from you and that Jew?
- Yes.
- No further questions.
Thank you.
Next witness.
Karl Grimm!
- Your name is Karl Grimm?
- Yes, Your Honor.
- You're related to the accused?
- I'm his brother.
Is this witness testifying for
the prosecution or the defence?
That is for the court to decide.
- I want only to tell the truth.
- Proceed with your testimony.
Wilhelm and I were really
more than brothers.
We're only fourteen
months apart in age.
And as far back as I can remember, we were
as close to each other as twins could be.
In school, at the university
and all through the First War.
I was beside him on the
battlefield when he lost his leg.
It was I that helped bring
him to base hospital.
And, as is only right and natural,
it was my blood that was used in the
transfusion that saved his life.
It was my life, too.
In... in 1923,
Germany was torn to pieces.
It seemed the republic
would neither live nor die.
It was a nation bewildered
and angered and helpless.
We of the middle class didn't
know which way to turn.
I hadn't seen my
brother in five years.
I wondered what had become of him because
during all that time, he had never written to me.
We were living in Munich,
my wife, Alice, and our two
small children, Willie and Elsa.
Willie.
That's only your mouth, not a tunnel,
don't stuff so much food in at one time.
- Yes, mother.
- You're expecting someone?
No.
- Well, darling, see who it is.
- Willie, see who it is, please.
- Good evening.
- Good evening.
Good evening.
- Karl?
- Good evening.
Wilhelm!
- I didn't recognize you. Forgive me, I...
- Karl, you devil. Isn't it great?
- Where have you been?
- Oh, never mind the questions.
We're just having dinner.
Aren't you hungry?
Oh, come. You look half starved.
Come and sit down.
- Let me fix you something to eat.
- Thank you.
You see, now I have a little Elsa.
And, uh, you remember this
one, of course, huh?
No. No, I guess he wasn't
quite here yet when you left.
Willie, this is your Uncle Wilhelm.
Willie, meet your nephew.
We named him after you.
Uncle Wilhelm?
What's the matter with your eye?
Willie, stop asking questions.
Sit down, Wilhelm.
Conversation can wait.
- Mother?
- Yes?
- May I ask just one question, please?
- All right, just one.
Uncle Wilhelm?
What is the matter with your eye?
Willie!?
Alice, please.
We all want to ask the same question.
I lost it many years ago in Poland.
Lost it? You mean it just fell out?
I'll tell you all about
it, little Willie.
Well, what sort of excuse is that?
You were traveling.
You still could have written, Wilhelm.
Yes, for three years we've been trying to
find out whether you were dead or alive.
I didn't want to bother
you with my troubles.
Oh, Wilhelm,
how could you be a bother to us?
Well, Karl, what about you?
Mm. Here we are, getting older.
And the children are practically grown up.
That I know. I mean, in general.
Conditions here in Germany are
so bad that they're intolerable.
Oh, we manage to survive.
I got a pretty good job writing
editorials for the Munich Post.
- Socialist paper?
- Why not?
Why not?
Huh!
You know, you've been away too long, Wilhelm.
Things have changed here.
When you start working
again, you'll see.
You must live here with us, Wilhelm,
and learn how to relax again.
That's very kind of you, Alice.
- But how can I move in on your family?
- Our family?
You thought you weren't
part of our family?
These days, Wilhelm,
there isn't much left besides one's family.
Is it, now?
I want to tell you two something.
A new spirit is being born,
a new religion of blood and race.
And the man to lead it is
already here in Munich.
You mean this Hitler creature?
That's right, Karl. Laugh.
You too, Alice.
Everybody laughs at things
they don't understand.
The whole of Germany will laugh.
But when they stop,
it'll be too late.
When they stop,
he'll have taken Munich
and the whole of Germany.
Well, why stop with Germany,
why not the whole world?
Why not?
Yes, we laughed.
It all seemed so very funny to us in 1923.
Hitler went into the beer hall and proclaimed
himself the new leader by his own authority.
But when on the next day he actually tried
marching through the streets of Munich,
the authorities promptly threw
him and his gang in jail.
It was really very amusing.
After all, how could anyone
take this hysterical paperhanger
and his crowd of hoodlums seriously?
And so we laughed.
So you took the world, eh?
Well, flowers.
And caviar.
Not bad for a jail.
But your eye!
- You told us..
- Ha-ha, it's glass. Look, look, look.
- Party supplies everything. Sit down.
- So I see.
- Everything except freedom.
- Don't worry.
- Wilhelm...
- Sit down.
There's talk going around the city
that they're going to make you
serve the entire two-year sentence.
There's talk the pressure of the party will
force them to release us.
Huh.
Maybe.
Look, Wilhelm.
I can get you out of here right away
on the condition that you leave Munich.
I wonder what our Führer would think of that
proposition.
He's upstairs now,
writing his book.
A book?
Something to change the course
of world history, I'm sure.
Yes.
Well, fortunately,
your faith isn't shared by everyone.
So you won't accept my offer to
let me help you out of here?
Well, I think you're crazy.
But if that's the way
you want it, all right.
- Certainly, you're very comfortable here.
- In six months I'll be free.
Time's up.
- Goodbye, Wilhelm. Good luck.
- Heil Hitler!
Between brothers, I prefer this.
But Wilhelm was right.
They were free in six months.
And we felt it, all of Germany felt it.
Even in those early days,
the Nazi technique was apparent.
Ridicule of the republic
was their political line.
They created unrest, suspicion.
They fostered food riots.
Divide and conquer
was their aim.
This situation became so grave
that in 1929, the authorities
resolved to put a stop to it.
The Weimar Republic has launched a
campaign to stamp out lawlessness.
At this moment, they are
seeking out the ringleaders.
This is a warning.
Effective immediately,
it is unlawful for any citizen
- to shelter any member of the Nazi party.
- Uncle Wilhelm.
Our news broadcast has ended.
This is Radio Munich.
Three minutes pause.
- Where is everybody?
- Out, all except me.
- What's happening? I just
turned on the radio... - Willie.
Listen to me carefully.
- Police are probably...
- Are they after you, too?
I think so.
Yes, Karl Grimm's
apartment is two flights up.
Thank you.
When they ask for me,
say that I'm in Berlin.
- That I've been there for two weeks.
- But why should we lie?
- There is only one truth - National Socialism.
- Yes.
- Will you obey me?
- Yes, sir. I suppose they'll search the house.
They won't.
Not if you say the right things.
I hate these places.
No elevators.
- Is your father home, sonny?
- No, sir. Nobody’s home.
- You father walks with a limp, doesn't he?
- No, sir, that's my uncle Wilhelm.
That's right. Wilhelm Grimm.
He's not here, either.
He went to Berlin last week.
Open the door, sonny.
Let's take a look around.
No, you can't come in.
You're not allowed. Police can't
search a house without a warrant.
That's the law of
the Weimar Republic.
Isn't it?
How soon will your
father be home?
- In an hour, maybe.
- We'll see him then.
Yes, sir.
There's your Weimar Republic for you.
Even a small boy can make them run.
They call it democracy.
Stupid.
Good work, Willie.
You've got the makings of a Youth leader.
- Where are you going?
- I'm gonna be away for about six months.
See you when I get back.
Buy yourself the best pair
of roller skates you can find.
Oh, here's something else.
For luck.
- Keep that always.
- Thanks, Uncle Wilhelm.
Don't say anything to your father
about what happened tonight.
He gets upset so easily.
Goodbye.
Goodbye, Uncle Wilhelm.
Of course Willie told me.
He had to explain the money somehow.
I was very sentimental in those days.
He was my brother.
And I loved him more than
I hated his politics.
So in the years that followed,
I tried to convince him that he was wrong.
But he was rising up to a position
of influence in the Nazi party,
and all that he could hear was the din of
noisy promises made by his party's leaders
which the decent, intelligent people
of Germany were not taking seriously,
so that by the time they awakened
to what was happening, it was 1933.
It came to a point where every
man with any honesty left in him,
with any integrity,
had to make a choice.
The choice was not easy.
We were born in Munich and had
lived there all of our lives.
- Good evening, father.
- Good evening, Elsa.
Why are you so late, Karl?
Sit down. I'll get your supper.
The children have eaten.
- Alice?
- Yes?
- I quit the paper. We're leaving.
- Karl, what happened?
I already bought the tickets,
so you better start packing.
We're leaving in the morning for Vienna.
Vienna? Oh, daddy,
that's a beautiful city, isn't it?
- I've seen pictures of it.
- Yes, I think you'll like it there, Elsa.
Karl, I'm so glad. Every minute you're
away from the house, I'm terrified.
This morning, they took the butcher downstairs
away to a concentration camp.
- I don't know...
- Did you see this, father?
- Good evening, Willie.
- Good evening. Look!
Uncle Wilhelm's picture in the paper.
They're going to give him a medal
tonight at the Kaiserhof Hotel.
- Yes, I saw that.
- Well, let's go over and congratulate him.
- Willie, we're moving tomorrow to Vienna.
- Vienna?
- What for?
- Your father has a job offering there.
Does uncle Wilhelm know?
Are we even going to see him and say goodbye?
Yes, I am going to see him.
In view of your distinguished
services to the party
as an old fighter and as
bearer of the Blood Order,
in appreciation of your unfailing loyalty
to the Führer during recent months
in which the Führer had to
perform his inexorable duty
as highest judge of the nation and
of the party against their traitors.
In the name of the Führer,
I nominate you,
party comrade Wilhelm Grimm,
SS-Gruppenführer and Deputy Chief
of the newly founded Bureau for Living
Space in the Ministry of Education.
- Heil Hitler!
- Heil Hitler!
Karl!
You've come to congratulate me.
How nice.
- I'll be with you in a minute, Albert.
- All right.
I haven't come to congratulate you, Wilhelm.
I have come to say goodbye.
We're leaving tomorrow
morning for Vienna.
You better stay here.
It doesn't' look too well for a man in my position
to have a political refugee in the family.
I couldn't afford it.
No more than I can afford a
brother who is an SS leader.
Why don't you come with us, Wilhelm,
before you get too involved in all this?
- Show some courage.
- My record speaks for me.
Your record shows only that you're afraid to
break away from these murderers.
Oh, shut up, you fool.
Wilhelm.
Quit the Nazi party now.
Because I promise you the first thing
that I'm going to do when I get to Vienna
is write a signed article about all I know of
the Reichstag fire and the Schleicher murder.
with your name and all
the others' connected with it.
You leave me no choice.
Then you will come?
In Vienna, we could be free to
start some kind of a new life.
And the little bit of money that I believe is
in the safe, I'm going to share it with you.
- When do you leave?
- Tomorrow morning.
Expect me tonight.
My brother. Huh.
He's a nervous fella.
So are many people these days.
It's very hard to make a choice.
Takes courage, eh?
And don't worry about school, Elsa. You'll
go right into the same grade you were here.
- They have much better schools.
- I won't like it.
You won't like it.
Not even there yet,
and he knows he won't like it.
I don't see why we have to move.
You know what's bothering him, Karl?
He wants to join the Hitler Youth.
Sure, all the other fellas
in school are in it.
And they have all the fun.
Long vacations and bicycle rides...
... and guns and education for murder.
Do you know why your uncle
Wilhelm changed his mind?
- Is he really coming with us?
- Yes, of course.
- Why did he change his mind about the party?
- Because he learned the truth about them.
I don't understand.
Look, Willie. Do you really
want to know why we're moving?
It's because I'm afraid. Not just for
your mother and little Elsa, but for you.
I feel that I have a chance
to let you grow up in a place
where men still live by their
convictions and not just by fear.
You see...
There comes a time in a man's life when
he has to make some great decisions.
When that time comes for you,
I want you to be ready for it.
Fine father you have. You ask for
a bicycle, and I give you a speech.
You give him a speech,
and I do all the packing.
Wilhelm!
Now, you see?
You finished packing before we did.
And I've got a job for you.
When you get out of
that silly uniform,
you can begin to knock some
sense in that young man's head.
Captain Werner!
In the name of the Third Reich,
you're being taken away for indoctrination.
It's for your own good.
You lost your sense of duty
and must be rehabilitated.
- To a concentration camp?
- He's sick. He must be made well again.
All right, Wilhelm, you are afraid,
but you can't kill that kind of fear.
- We'll answer you someday, I know we will.
- Take him away. - Come on!
- Karl!
- Willie!
- Karl!
- Remember this!
- Karl!
- Always remember this, Willie!
Remember this!
I always really hoped that
Willie could remember.
With me gone, his uncle could exert
his every influence upon the boy.
Six months later, my wife wrote me that
Wilhelm had placed him in a Nazi Youth group
under his
personal supervision.
But during all those years in concentration
camp I knew this day would come.
I knew that people all over the world
would arise and demand an account.
It was only my faith in the
people that kept me alive.
- You wish to question the witness?
- No.
Thank you.
Call the next witness, please.
Your son,
you said his name was Willie.
Do you know him?
My wife, my daughter, are they still alive?
In September 1939, Poland was overrun.
In three weeks, the war was over.
Even so, for me it was a long war.
My husband was killed during
the first few days of fighting.
Our home in Warsaw was in ruins, so, with
my daughter, Janina, I returned to Lidzbark.
We were determined to make
the best of our situation
which was like that of thousands of others.
With them, we would rebuild our lives,
search among the ruins for
some semblance of peace.
I wanted to work again.
The teacher in Lidzbark
had been killed,
and I was needed in
his place at once.
Marja.
Uncle Roman.
- My dear.
- Well, here we are.
Two refugees.
Welcome back to your old refuge.
Marja, you'll have our old room back.
It'll be big enough for the two of you.
My sympathies, Marja.
Try to be strong.
- Thank you.
- It was a bad war. We lost.
Well, it's over now.
Over?
I think it's just beginning.
Sit down, Marja, and rest.
Uncle Roman, I've got to
get Janina away from here.
Far away, where she'll be safe.
- Lithuania, maybe.
- I'm not leaving you, mother.
It's natural you should feel upset, Marja.
But there's really no danger.
What can happen? After all,
the war is over, and we're civilians.
Hey, you! Report in the
public square at once.
- All of you.
- Of course.
Uh, thank you.
Hurry up!
Get in line! Hey!
Now, smile!
All of you!
Look happy!
I want to show smiling,
laughing faces!
I'll have the name and address of every
man and woman who refuses to smile.
Come on, guys,
get in line there!
Come on, look happy!
Hey!
Out of the line, Jew.
- I didn't ask for food, I was forced here.
- Get out!
There's nothing you can do.
- Come on, get moving.
- You, put on a good smile! Look happy!
That's right.
Come on, smile!
Come on, smile! More!
More smiling, everybody!
All right.
Camera!
- Come on, smile, smile, smile, smile.
- Come on!
That's right.
- You!
- Yes?
- Are you the parish priest?
- I am.
- Where's the Bürgermeister?
- Dr. Matek, at your service.
The Reich Commissioner
wants to see both of you.
- Follow me, please, gentlemen.
- Yes, sir, we're coming.
- You think we got enough?
- Plenty.
That's all!
Come in, come in.
So we meet again.
I want you to meet two old friends of mine.
The Reverend Warecki. Dr. Matek.
- Gentlemen, my nephew, Lieutenant Wilhelm
Grimm. - Delighted.
This is a surprise,
Herr Commissioner.
For people who sleep all the
time, waking can be a surprise.
Of course, you're welcome
to the use of my office.
If you had consulted me,
I would have offered it to you.
Formalities, mere formalities.
I didn't summon you here for
social purposes, gentlemen.
The court has been
set for this district.
As leaders of the community,
you'll be responsible for cooperation.
This district must supply
to Germany each month
a certain amount of grain,
beef, pork, and dairy products.
My staff is working on the figures now.
You'll receive them within twenty-four hours.
There'll be little you can
get out of here, Herr Grimm.
The war has drained us.
We haven't enough for ourselves.
We'll be of whatever assistance we
can, Herr Grimm.
After all, it's a question of business.
What's the difference whether the
farmers sell to us or the Germans?
They'll be paying.
Speaking of payment, the village of
Lidzbark is already indebted to the Reich
for feeding the population.
That's all, gentlemen.
I trust
you'll exert your influence on the
population to see that they cooperate.
It's the only way we'll
get along together.
Good day.
Willie, you should have been with
me at that bread line a minute ago.
These aren't people, they are dogs.
But good dogs.
You can train them.
"Smile or no food."
It' just like saying,
"Jump through the hoop or no bone."
They jumped.
We're lucky, Willie.
We got out of school just in time.
From now on, no more theory.
We start making history.
Are my quarters
prepared, Gersdorf?
I'll find out immediately,
Herr Reich Commissioner.
Did you notice the expression on the
priest's face as he recognized me?
That isn't really why we're
here, Uncle Wilhelm.
Just on account of those
people you used to know.
- Disappointed?
- Sure.
The least we can do is live in
the capital of the province.
This is a terrible place.
It's dead here.
We'll move to Posen pretty soon.
I've a job to do here first,
in this terrible place.
I've always wanted to come
back and show these people
what happened to that poor
fella they used to know.
Let's go out, Willie.
There's something I want to show you.
Go to your places.
You can hear the music just
as well from you seats.
There's no need running to the
window or out of the schoolhouse.
Another thing.
No one is to accept food from
the German field kitchen.
Furthermore, it is important for
every boy and girl to understand--
Yes?
Just as I left it.
With slight modifications.
Yes, Marja.
My nephew, Lieutenant Grimm.
The passing years haven't
been very kind to you, Marja.
Well, it's probably been a hard life.
- I've managed.
- You know, Willie...
It was right in this room
I tried to pound knowledge
into the heads of little
provincial idiots.
The only thing they could
ever learn was obedience.
'Cause they knew how to obey.
Class, rise!
For being such good students,
I'm going to reward you.
Take your books outside
and burn them.
New books will arrive from
Germany in a couple of days.
Class dismissed.
Well, what do think of Marja?
She's handsome, eh?
- Here you see German youth indestructible...
- Mother, what ha--?
My daughter, Janina.
Commissioner Grimm.
Lieutenant Grimm.
Your mother and I are old friends.
Did I know your father?
I don't know him.
- Where do you live, Marja?
- At the parsonage.
Then we'll dine with you tonight.
- An honor.
- Yes.
In honor of Teacher Grimm's return.
I'm accustomed to eating rather well
these days, so I'll send my own food.
Invite Dr. Matek.
Until tonight, then.
Oh, by the way, what about Jan Stys?
I'd like to see him again, too.
He was such a rascal when he was a boy.
Quite a marksman with stones.
Jan is in the Polish Army.
What Polish army?
Janina.
Go to the Stys farm right away.
Tell Jan he must leave.
That Wilhelm Grimm is here.
But mother, he's so badly
wounded he can't move.
Tell him he must go.
Good coffee, eh?
Yeah, we have the best of everything.
The best.
And not enough of it.
Haven't you expanded enough?
Haven't you Lebensraum now, with Austria and
Czechoslovakia...
...and Poland.
Small bites, mere bites.
Just appetizers.
- Russia?
- There the meal begins in earnest.
- It might be too big a bite.
- Poland took us three weeks.
And when we're ready,
Russia won't take us more than six.
- May I help you?
- Thank you, I can manage.
It's a pleasure to help.
- So, Herr Grimm. You've never married?
- Married? No.
No woman would want a cripple.
A poverty-stricken one at that.
Isn't that so, Marja?
But I've been rewarded
in other ways.
I have my nephew,
and he's like my own son to me.
Yes. A very fine boy, apparently!
What do you do with yourself
in this little hole of a town?
- I teach kindergarten.
- No, I mean in the evenings.
Look, isn't there any... any music here?
Not even a theater?
Lidzbark happens to be a small
village, but we have music very often.
We used to.
Well, I... I like the forests
and lakes around here.
You know, we have 'em at
home, too, only much nicer.
- Homesick already, lieutenant?
- No, I should say not.
You know,
this war is a lot of fun.
- Sport?
- Now, don't change the subject.
If I'm gonna be around here for a while, you and
I have got to see quite a lot of each other.
Tell me,
what do you do for amusement?
Well, I...
I amuse myself.
It's purely a question
of mathematics.
Armies require so much food.
civilians must supply it.
That reminds me.
I want a list within twenty-four hours
of all the farmers in the district.
What for?
Also a list of all the men between
the ages of sixteen and sixty.
May I ask why?
Find a way.
Does anyone here know the
whereabouts of Jan Stys?
- Jan... - We are not in communication
with the Polish Army, Herr Grimm.
What Polish army?
Willie?
It's time for us to go.
Good night.
I trust you enjoyed
your dinner.
You know, I don't think
things are going to be so bad.
After all, we're men of goodwill,
and he sounded reasonable.
- I think we'll find a solution.
- There's only one solution.
Jan!
- Didn't you give him my message?
- She did, Marja.
- That was for me to decide.
- But you shouldn't have come here.
- Come, sit down, Jan...
- How can you talk of solution or reason?
And you! I was outside the kitchen window.
I heard you.
I heard you and that young Nazi.
What do you do for amusement?
There's only one
amusement left for Poles.
To kill Germans.
You ask why they want lists of farmers?
To bring in Germans and
throw our people out.
Lists of men from sixteen to sixty?
For labor camps.
Poland will become a nation of slaves.
Is that your idea of "reasonable", Dr. Matek?
You think the war is over because
our army has been defeated. No.
The war has just begun.
If you accept defeat,
you'll be alone among the Polish people.
Mark this October 1939.
The fight is beginning.
We've got guns and ammunition hidden
in the forests and the swamps.
- We'll never stop... fighting.
- Jan! Jan!
You mustn't stay here. You know he's after you.
Your life is in danger.
Of course. That's why we're fighting.
All of us.
It's dangerous
not to--
The next day we were to learn why
Grimm wanted that list of names.
Boys of fourteen, men of
sixty, they took them all.
Tore them away from their families,
shipped them off in trucks to labor camps.
As for our girls,
their fate is well-known to you.
The officers called it their "club-house".
Our clothing was seized.
Every house in the village, every farm
throughout the countryside
was looted of all
food and livestock.
They overlooked nothing.
Please!
I beg you. Please!
Please. Please!
It does you no good to burn these things.
Will you see that Jan gets his lunch?
I'll be right back.
- Mother!
- Marja!
No, the future's in
victory, not in freedom,
so horses are more important
than Jews, that's all.
Have you lost all human
feeling, Wilhelm?
Human feeling is a luxury
that vital nations can't afford.
Human feeling is the
last resort of decadence.
What have your human
feelings brought you?
Well?
What are you staring at?
- I'm trying to see one spark of pity.
- In which eye?
The left one.
That's the glass one.
I know.
Come here, Marja, look.
This is interesting.
I save my human feelings for my boy.
I think your daughter does, too.
Your life is really bound up in that
boy, isn't it, Wilhelm?
Completely.
Yes. You know,
it's an interesting story, Marja.
As an educator,
you could learn something from it.
For fifteen years he lived with his family and
my brother. He was completely corrupted.
When my brother was sent to a concentration
camp, I took charge of the education of the boy.
- Your own brother was sent to a
concentration camp. - He's still there.
- Couldn't you prevent it?
- Prevent it? I sent him.
He was poisoning the boy.
And all that's been wiped out.
Every vestige of the past has
been blotted from his memory.
In him, you see the new Germany.
Indestructible.
- It's as if he were your own son, isn't it?
- He is my own son, spiritually.
I feel myself reborn in him.
A beautiful relationship.
Cheer up.
You take life too seriously.
- That's because you're so young.
- I'm not young.
You take life too easily,
as if it were nothing.
It's shameful.
I really can't understand
you, Janina.
Look, we need horses. And horses need stables.
So we put them in the synagogue.
Anyway, those weren't people.
They were Jews.
Janina, please don't go.
I want to talk to you,
and I want you to understand.
When I was young,
I felt differently, like you do.
And then later I was taught that victory for
the German nation was all that matters.
- Those people mean nothing to you and me.
- Nothing to you, I know.
But they mean very much to me.
They're my friends,
my neighbors, my schoolmates.
All the people I...
I've known since I was a child.
Younger ones who grew up with me.
Why do you treat them like animals?
Worse than animals!
Janina, please don't
look at me that way.
I don't like to see hate
and contempt in your eyes.
Janina, look at me.
What's wrong with me?
Janina!
- Come home, Janina.
- I assure you, madam, my...
I forbid you to see my daughter
again, is that clear?
No, it isn't. Why?
Because you're no good.
You deserted your father, didn't you?
- When he needed you most, too.
- No, it isn't true.
It was my father who deserted. He was a traitor.
- You're the traitor.
- My uncle had to send my father away.
It was his duty, his loyalty to
National Socialism. That took strength.
Your uncle is a coward.
So are you.
Is Dr. Matek here?
- Yes.
- Please, I must see him at once.
- Tomorrow I'll go.
- No, you don't.
The doctor said not for three days.
The doctor. Ha-ha-ha.
A lot he knows about it!
Something must be done.
Something must be done!
Dr. Matek, I beg you to help us.
Use your influence.
There must be someone
who can reason with them.
My dear rabbi, I...
I don't know what to say.
Take me down there,
I'll talk to Grimm.
Don't misunderstand me,
I'll do whatever I can.
The children over there.
I don't quite understand, Uncle Wilhelm.
What's the difference whether
they're here or somewhere else?
It's not geography,
Willie, it's mathematics.
There's just so much food at our disposal.
There must be fewer mouths to feed.
Did I say mathematics?
Huh. Simple arithmetic.
What's going to happen to them?
There's a whole trainload coming from Warsaw.
They'll attach these cars to it.
- When?
- I don't know. Maybe the next day.
But without food or water...?
I've no doubt that some of
them will manage to survive.
I believe you know me,
Herr Reich Commissioner.
You knew him when he gave you the money
to escape to Germany twenty years ago.
I believe that debt was repaid.
Does the Jew demand interest?
If mercy is interest,
yes, I demand it.
You must remember what mercy is.
You received it from us when you were in need.
- I merely carry out orders.
- You're afraid not to carry out orders.
Before God and man,
I protest this crime against humanity.
By all means,
if it makes you feel any better.
May I say a few words to my
people before they're taken away?
If you think it'll stop the noise, yes.
Let them call for silent prayers.
Hey, you again?!
Gersdorf! He's going to quiet them.
Let him speak.
My people! Be calm!
Listen to me!
Let us prepare ourselves to face
this supreme moment in our lives.
This is our last journey.
It doesn't matter if it's long or short.
For centuries,
we have sought only peace.
We have submitted to many degradations,
believing that we would
achieve justice through reason.
We have tried to take our place honestly,
decently alongside all mankind.
To help make a better world, a world in
which all men would live as free neighbors.
We have hoped
and prayed.
But now we see that
hope was not enough.
What good has it done to submit?
Submission brought us rare moments
in history when we were tolerated.
Tolerated!
Is there any greater degradation than to
be tolerated, to be permitted to exist?
We have submitted too long!
If we want equality and justice, we must take our
place alongside all other oppressed peoples,
regardless of race and religion.
Their fight is ours.
Ours...
is theirs.
We haven't much time left.
By our actions we will be remembered.
This is our last free choice,
our moment in history.
And I say to you, let us choose to fight.
Here! Now!
Hurry!
Hurry!
Drive them in!
We will never die.
We'll be you. All of you.
David.
Just help me up.
It's...
It's too late now.
Please.
You were right, David.
We will never die.
I'm worried about Uncle Roman,
leaving him here alone.
But there's nothing we can do.
We can't stay here any longer.
Not after what we saw tonight.
What can we do?
Tomorrow night, when Jan leaves,
we're going to the forest with him.
There'll be plenty for us to do.
- Good. Does it still hurt, Jan?
- This is no time for wounds to heal slowly.
Uncle Roman will bring Dr. Matek.
I heard your name mentioned.
You're Jan.
Jan Stys.
The Reich Commissioner
has been looking for you.
Well...
Take him.
Take him and be proud of yourself.
You've captured a helpless, wounded man.
Why, you're a hero.
- They'll promote you, give you a medal.
- I'm only a soldier.
A mechanical soldier run
by wheels and springs.
They turn a key and you jump.
- An officer of the Reich obeys...
- Obeys orders. I know.
But you obey orders because you haven't
the courage to disobey. You don't dare.
- It isn't a question of daring.
- It's the only question!
Your uncle doesn't dare disobey
even though he knows he's wrong.
Rabbi Levin made a
choice as a free man.
But you're afraid.
Your father dared.
You speak of a master race!
Men like your father are the masters,
you and your uncle the slaves.
Go ahead, take him away!
Take him and think of your
father while taking him!
Don't tell me what to do!
Nobody can make me do
anything I don't wanna do!
I make my own decisions!
Hey, you!
Get moving!
Get up!
Get up!
Sergeant, have you lost your mind?
He's sick.
Something wrong, lieutenant?
Why waste good German
strength on an old man?
If he can't work,
shoot him.
Come on!
Get moving!
That’s all.
I thought you'd like to know.
That's very strange. I can't imagine why the
lieutenant would behave in such a manner.
- I think I know, Herr Reich Commissioner.
- Yeah?
As you know, the lieutenant
and I were at school together.
It was often thought by many of us
that he showed... certain weaknesses.
We thought perhaps the influence of his
father...
Stupid.
That's exactly what I told the others, Herr
Reich Commissioner. Of course, it was stupid.
The lieutenant must
graduate with high honors.
- If I may make a suggestion...
- Yeah?
In my opinion, the lieutenant
sees too much of those women.
The mother and daughter.
He does.
That girl has enjoyed special privileges.
Some of the men have been wondering why.
I think it would be more
satisfactory for all concerned
if she were sent to live
in the officers' club.
I make all the decisions here.
Of course.
I was merely offering
a humble suggestion.
A little late, aren't you?
- What was it this...? Yes, what is it?
- Herr Lieutenant?
Reich Commissioner Grimm
wishes to see you at once.
All right, thank you.
- Oh, I knew where to find you, eh?
- What was it, Uncle Wilhelm?
- What about dinner?
- I'm not hungry.
- A drink? Might help your appetite.
- No, not for me, thanks.
Willie...
- You're not in love with that girl, are you?
- No.
Good. Now, I can understand the
attraction, she's quite a beauty.
Just a child.
Willie...
You know, we can make the mistake of
considering these Polish women as equals.
They're here to
work for us and...
- for recreational purposes.
- What's this got to do with Janina?
You know I couldn't feel any closer
to you if you were my own son.
There isn't anything in the world I
wouldn't do for you, Willie. You know that.
I know that.
- What I've done today is for you, too.
- What?
I sent that girl to live
at the officers' club.
- But she's so young.
- Children grow up quickly these days.
Besides, it was necessary.
Some of the officers were beginning to ask
why this particular girl should
enjoy special privileges.
- You said you were doing it for me?
- I did. It's part of your education.
As an officer of the Reich,
you can have but one loyalty.
Uncle Wilhelm...
That... that girl, Janina.
She's everything I believe in.
I can't tell you how much that means to me.
I can't explain.
You said you'd do anything for me.
Then get her out of there. Please!
- Don't be romantic.
- I beg you!
- It's too late. I've given the order.
- Non, no, it isn't. You're in charge here.
If you gave the order
too put her in there,
- then you can give the order to get her out.
- All right!
Gersdorf!
Gersdorf!
- Find out what that's for.
- Yes, sir.
Block the entrance!
- They're holding a special service?
- I don't know.
What's this about?
What is this? Who gave you
permission to hold a special service?
- I need no permission.
- The service will not take place.
Yes, it will.
If my orders are disobeyed,
you will suffer the consequences.
Send the people home.
Gersdorf, guard the entrance.
It's dangerous to tamper
with the orders of the Reich.
It's dangerous to tamper
with the orders of God.
- What is it?
- An accident.
One of the girls of the officers' club.
She was shot.
You remember Anna?
Shall I order the guards to let them
pass, Herr Grimm?
Are you crazy?
You can't go in there.
You're an officer. Whatever you
feel personally doesn't matter now.
Think of me, Willie.
Don't I mean anything to you?
Do this for me, just this one thing for me.
That's all I ask.
Don't go in there!
- I must. I wanna pray.
- Why?
I wanna pray to my father
to ask him to forgive me.
I want to let him know that
now I understand what he did.
I wanna be forgiven for having
deserted him and my mother.
- For having been a traitor.
- He went, Willie. That's not true.
It was he.
Before it's too late, Uncle Wilhelm.
Come with me.
As an officer of the Reich, I command you.
Return to your quarters!
Return to your quarters!
Good luck.
This is going to look bad on
records at the headquarters.
Wilhelm Grimm left Lidzbark that night.
An those of us who felt that such cruelty,
such complete lack of human decency
was peculiar to him alone, learned
otherwise in the years that followed.
Those who came after him may have varied
their forms of torture and brutality,
but they were the same.
They were all Wilhelm Grimms.
They were Nazis.
You didn't see him
again after that?
Not until today.
In this courtroom.
You wish to question the witness?
No.
Thank you. That's all.
Accused Wilhelm Grimm.
Do you deny the testimony stated
by the witnesses to be the truth?
To deny or affirm the gossip that's
been offered here as testimony
would simply be to admit the authority
of this court which I refuse to do.
I know this court will
exercise its temporary power.
But remember, it's only temporary.
You've just won another battle
in a fight which has not ended.
We of the Nazi party are
the destiny of Germany.
The destiny to fight and conquer.
You cannot crush us!
We will rise again and again!
You heard the witnesses and you
heard the accused's defence.
Men and women of the
United Nations, all of you.
You are the jury.
It will be up to you to
finally judge all criminals
and to the determine the penalties
that shall be meted out to them.
For this will only be your war
if the final victory
brings you justice
and the true and
everlasting People's Peace.