Germany in Autumn (1978) Movie Script

''Dear Eberhard,

warmest greetings to you all.

l'm often with you in my thoughts.

Though my health is good,

my captors supply me

with insufficent information

about the events at hand.

The kidnappers' aim,

after their demands are rejected

and l am liquidated, will only

lead to more victims.

From what l know about the planned

Ponto kidnapping and my own case,

this aim will be achieved. There is,

as we've seen, no absolute protection

against those working as carefully

and effectively as the RAF.

And the police wrongly believe

that my kidnappers

won't take any personal risks.

They do not seek it,

nor do they shun it.

ln addition to Ponto and Schleyer,

there will be more cases to come.

One must soberly take stock,

and consider

all future kidnapping cases

that will have a fatal outcome.

Helmut Schmidt should know this,

as should Helmut Kohl and Genscher.

l am only one phase of this conflict,

the winners of which, l feel,

will not be the federal authorities.

The people who the kidnappers

want freed will only motivate them

to take further action ...''

Merciful Father,

into your hands we pass your servant,

Hanns-Martin Schleyer,

in the solemn hope

that he be with Christ.

We thank you for the goodness

which you bestowed

upon his earthly life,

and for the goodness

which we experienced through him.

''Our country's leaders

cannot always drive in armored cars.

Hence they will always be vulnerable.

Go to Bonn and Cologne,

and perhaps speak to Mr. von B.

and Kurt H. about these matters.

My kidnappers know of this letter,

but it was of my own doing,

and came about during the last night.

This front will not cool down soon.

But an escalation can be prevented

once the primary goal is achieved,

and hopefully not after 10 attacks.

l will certainly keep my composure.

Do stay healthy and optimistic.

l hope to see you soon. Your Dad.''

''Once a certain level

of atrocity has been reached,

it's irrelevant who is responsible.

lt simply has to stop.''

April 8, 1945. Mrs. Wilde, 5 children

GERMANY lN AUTUMN

lt's me, Fassbinder.

lt's about the interview

we did this afternoon, about ...

that last part. l ...

l don't know

if l was hysterical, but l ...

Can we omit that part, or something?

Okay.

What's done is done.

Okay, thanks.

l think that ...

... marriage is a form

of cohabitation,

which ...

is artificial to start out with.

Regardless

of how much ...

if you're brought up as we are,

of how much you may need it,

l think marriage is artificial.

And l make ....

As to marriage, l can definitely say

that one of my goals in making films

is that people

who are married,

whose marriage might be on the rocks,

who see my films about marriage,

that they might start to deal with

their marriage in concrete ways.

And in my opinion,

it's much more positive, for example,

if a marriage like that

really goes to pieces,

or if my films help

break up such a marriage,

than if marriage as an institution

is preserved without question

or examination. lt's that simple.

Armin!

Armin! - Yeah?

- Are you sleeping again?

Hi. - Make some coffee.

- Yeah.

Where's the telephone?

- Over there.

Why are you back so soon?

l thought you were coming tomorrow.

Why?

l told you l was coming back today

to do the mixing. l would've rather

stayed in Paris. You don't listen.

Did you hear anything?

- About what?

About the airplane.

- What airplane?

My God, Armin, the hijacked airplane!

No, l didn't hear anything.

Did you even listen to the news?

- No.

Yeah, it's me. l just got in.

Anything new?

No, Armin said

there was nothing new on this end.

Nothing more than

what they said on the news

and what's in the papers ...

about that GSG-9 special unit,

or something.

l just can't imagine

that they'd storm the plane.

l just can't imagine that.

You know what l think?

l'd blow up the whole plane!

Armin wants to blow up

the whole plane. You know him.

All for a few passengers!

- 86 of them, no less. - That'd do it.

Now they have to promise to make

every guest-worker a millionaire.

That's different!

- Get me my coffee!

Okay. Are things are fine otherwise?

l'll call you when l hear something.

Yeah. Bye, darling.

And the others that are in jail,

should they be shot or hanged?

You're actually serious, aren't you?

You'd shoot or hang

every single one, wouldn't you?

- Yeah.

And who'll you get to do that?

- The state.

The state? The police, or what?

- Yeah.

Okay, and who gives them that right?

lf they don't follow the law,

the state doesn't have to either.

Now just hold on a second.

You really mean ...

if someone does something wrong ...

Yeah. - The other person

can justify doing a greater wrong.

Especially if he's in power,

like the state, eh? - Yeah.

Okay, then l say this is my apartment

and you're going to leave.

No, it's just as much mine.

- lt's my apartment!

Okay, okay, okay ...

And now get out. Get out, l said!

- Then l'll get out.

l'm leaving.

Armin!

So there'd be no discussion?

- No discussion.

You think that's okay?

l wouldn't encourage anyone

to talk in the current situation.

l would be terribly alarmed

if someone, in a public discussion,

expressed themselves

in the way

that Jung did yesterday, in the ...

in that discussion.

He pointed out

that criticism is justified,

and that if

criticism is quelled, and ...

such demands are made,

like what's happening

with the terrorists ...

l'd just be scared

to hear someone say that.

Why?

Because l don't know

what someone else would do with it.

You see? An acquaintance of mine

really badmouthed Boll once.

lt was before Schleyer was kidnapped.

When l defended Boll, he said,

''You're one of those sympathizers!''

Understand? You just don't know,

in the current situation of hysteria,

how something you say

can be used against you.

And that's why l think l wouldn't

encourage anyone to talk.

For my part,

l can't understand that, because ...

Well, it really reminds me

of the Nazi period,

when people just kept quiet

in order to stay out of trouble.

Armin?

Armin!

Give me lngrid's number in Paris.

- Yeah, sure.

lngrid? Hold on.

Hey, it's me.

Get me a schnapps, Armin.

All l get is grief.

What time it is?

l don't know, around 10.

They're dead.

Baader, Ensslin and Raspe.

They killed themselves

in their jail cells.

Yeah.

She hung herself,

and Baader and Raspe

shot themselves.

Thanks.

l don't know, they had a gun

and shot themselves.

Nobody knows

how the weapons got in there.

Yeah, an international commission

is going to investigate

whether or not it was suicide.

What l may or may not think

is completely irrelevant.

lt's the most secure

prison in the world.

People are prohibited by law

from entering those cells.

The cells are thoroughly searched

twice a day.

The fact they had real guns in there

is just unbelievable.

No, no. No idea.

No, no. l have to stay here.

l'm not finished yet.

Okay, okay, okay.

Okay. Bye.

What has to happen these days

before you'll talk again?

Well, the people

that have authority, and those ...

who have the relevant influence,

they ...

have to use that influence.

And who, may l ask,

has influence and authority?

People like Mitscherlich,

for example, or Jung,

or Boll, for God's sake,

with his international reputation ...

You just said you had a problem

with someone because of him!

People here have to grasp

the fact that ...

Here and now ...

ln essence, it's ...

The masses don't make a democracy.

They haven't grasped what it is.

They think

that if you criticize the state,

you're already, what do l know ...

But you support that by saying

you wouldn't encourage

open discussion right now.

Well, l want it to happen

through the media, for example.

Nonsense. They'd do a manhunt.

Everyone knows that.

But now they provide phone numbers,

a different one for each city,

for anonymous phone calls.

What's that all about?

That just encourages people

to denounce each other.

lt's nothing less

than a call for denunciation!

You don't really think

that this will change!

You don't seriously think

they'll revoke it, or anything!

lt'll stay! lt's just what they want!

Yeah, listen if you want!

Yeah, Armin's listening.

Pour me one too.

Yes ...

No, l can't leave.

l can't leave right now.

l don't know why either. l ...

l'd like to, but l ...

l'm scared too.

l feel like l can't carry on.

lt's alright. Alright. Fine.

Bye ... bye.

l go shopping, and you don't eat.

- l'm sorry, Armin.

lt's always the same!

- l'm sorry!

What is it this time?

Nothing.

Then come on over and eat.

What shall we do with our big boy?

What are you looking at?

l'm not looking at anything.

Anita?

lt's me.

No, me ... yeah.

You got anything on you?

Okay.

Send it over. About three, okay?

By taxi. Okay. Thanks.

l thought you'd quit that stuff.

- Well, l thought so too.

Yeah, l'm depressed! l can't go on!

l can't work anymore!

And Siggi is proof that it helps.

Now l understand what they mean.

Why do you want to delegate

your concerns

to the system of freedom

that you believe in?

Well, l delegated them when l voted.

Besides, there are political parties,

and l assume

that in those parties,

one of which l voted for,

that reason will prevail.

That's what l assume.

- So reason must come from above?

The reas...

Your understanding of democracy

ought to be,

especially if you experienced

the Third Reich,

as you in fact did ...

Then you ought to say,

''The rank and file individuals ...''

l want to tell you that l ...

have considerable difficulties,

because l do understand

that there is good reason to be upset

about many things that are happening,

and that criticism is necessary.

You said you wouldn't even

advise people to talk!

Not at the moment, no.

- That's a rejection of democracy!

When the pilot was shot

in Mogadishu, or in Aden,

you said that for every person shot,

you'd like to see

one terrorist shot

in Stammheim Prison.

Yes. Publicly.

- Publicly? - Yes.

And that's democratic?

- No, it's not.

But hijacking the airplane

wasn't democratic either.

Or saying, ''Now we'll shoot

one person after another.''

lf it had been you or me in there,

what would you have thought?

That changes everything.

You have to consider that.

So it's 'an eye for an eye'?

- No, not 'an eye for an eye'.

But in a situation like that, you

can't just respond with democracy.

800 ...

43 ... l think that's right.

Franz ...

now in a semi close-up ...

Seen through the door,

he appears to be very lonely.

He turns ...

Armin? - Yeah.

Armin? - Yeah, what is it?

Where's the grass?

There.

Have you gone mad?

Are you mad? What are you doing?

- The police are at the door.

So what?

- Armin, the police are at the door!

Now l really don't understand.

They're coming upstairs.

- Have you gone nuts?

What if they'd come in?

- Then they would've come in!

Sure. One wrong move by either of us,

and they would've opened fire.

They wouldn't do that.

- What about the cases when they did?

lf people got shot,

it was their own fault.

You know what you are?

You're a measly little shit!

Then that's what l am.

Then l'm going to get drunk.

You just said you don't care

about laws, yet you're a democrat!

l do care about laws ...

- You just said you didn't.

But if people who ...

- No 'buts'! You say you don't care.

Regardless of the situation.

And you're a democrat!

But if people like that ...

- No! Answer me, please!

They break the law, not me.

- Yes, so does a normal murderer!

Then the terrorists are murderers?

- Sure they are, for all l care!

But there aren't

any special laws for murderers!

Yes, but you can catch them,

and then you have them under arrest.

And they can't cause such trouble.

- No?

No.

- No?

lt's not just

that a normal murderer has

bad reasons, or none at all,

for committing a murder.

lsn't the bad thing about terrorists

that they have reasons

that you can understand?

- But the means are wrong, Rainer.

But you don't care about laws either.

You said laws are irrelevant,

when it comes down to it.

- l was so outraged ...

ls it permissible to have a situation

where you don't care

who makes the laws,

or what they are?

''As you know,

we picked up the Jews.

We went into the courtyards

and sang 'The Sentry on the Rhein',

that's how woozy l was.

Then the two Jews took me aside

and told me stories.

Words are good too, Gottlieb,

and the things people say.''

Armin!

ls that you?

Yes. Why are you shouting?

Where have you been?

l went to a few bars,

then l met a guy who needed a place

to sleep, so l brought him home.

You did what?

What's he look like?

Look for yourself. He's asleep.

Why don't you look?

- Where's he from?

l'm not sure. Hamburg, l think.

- That's all you know? - Yeah.

Go ahead.

Go on, look at him.

Throw him out.

- Why? - Because l said so.

What's he supposed to do?

- l said throw him out, so do it!

Hey, get up! Come on, get up.

But why?

- Go on. You have to leave.

Alright, l'll leave.

Now what did you do that for?

And democracy is

the most humane form of government,

is it not?

- lt's the lesser of all evils, right?

The lesser of all evils?

- Yes, right now it is an evil.

Democracy? - Yes.

- Would authoritarianism be better?

No. Here and now ...

What would be better? lf it's the

lesser evil, there must be ...

some kind of good.

What would that be?

The best thing would be

a kind of authoritarian ruler

who is benevolent,

and kind and orderly.

Gabi Teichert, history teacher.

Since autumn 1977

she's had doubts as to what to teach.

She's been in search

of the foundations of German history.

Either she's digging

a shelter for World War Three,

or she's digging

for prehistoric artifacts.

Mayerlink Castle ...

The Crown Prince's mistress ...

The couple commit suicide.

''God save Emperor Franz.''

To this day,

this is the original text

of the German national anthem.

Suicide is for those

who don't fit in this world.

Field Marshall Erwin Rommel,

hero of Africa.

Father of the current

Stuttgart mayor, Manfred Rommel.

ln autumn of 1944,

killed by the state with poison.

Subsequent state funeral,

memorial ceremony ...

GERMAN WEEkLY NEWS

His son attends the state ceremony.

Gabi Teichert

is in trouble with her superiors.

The principal says,

''Your view of German history

is all confused.

As such, it is inappropriate

for classroom teaching.''

Gabi Teichert answers,

''l'm trying to see things

in their proper context.''

October 25th, 1977.

ln front of St. Eberhard's Church,

Stuttgart.

State memorial service

for Hanns-Martin Schleyer.

The King of Serbia.

A murder by the German

secret service in Marseille, 1938.

ln front of St. Eberhard's Church

in Stuttgart.

A Turk is apprehended.

He was carrying a rifle.

Come with us.

- Where to?

To pick him up?

- No? - Yes.

Go over to k-Station.

We'll bring the car over

and see if the story checks out.

And then ... Does he speak German?

- My German not so good.

What are you, a Turk?

- Yes.

You can't walk around the city

with a rifle. Not today.

Bought ... - Sure, bought, but ...

- This here gone ...

This here gone ...

- Yes.

He explains, ''l wanted

to shoot a pigeon for lunch.''

When did you buy it? Today?

- Yes.

High mass and memorial ceremony

are broadcast from the church

to the Daimler-Benz factories.

Delegations of the workforce

and representatives of Daimler-Benz

attend the broadcast in the

Automobile Museum auditorium.

ln the factories, the assembly lines

stop for three minutes of silence.

On this production assembly line,

95% of the workers are foreigners.

The media are present.

lf we give each other

the blame for terrorism,

we won't ... we won't get very far,

we won't reach our objective.

This rock is simply too big.

All of us

welcome the democratic struggle,

the struggle of opinions

and of arguments.

While those people

who lend intellectual or material

support to the terrorists

have not even comprehended

what a democratic order means,

those people

who insist upon human dignity,

even for terrorists,

are democratic through and through.

And then there is the large

and respectable group of those

who are critical

of state and society.

We cannot improve this country

if we are not aware of its flaws.

Dear Mrs. Schleyer,

dear sons,

dear family members gathered here,

Mr. President,

honorable guests ...

Meanwhile, in the New Palace,

the reception is being prepared.

People, quiet down! My goodness,

same old story. Okay, here we go!

As always, smile!

Be polite, be quick.

Remember, this has to be quick.

Please hold the trays properly,

at chest level, okay?

And off you go!

How many guests had you expected?

- We'd expected around 1100 guests,

but with such events, you never know.

ln the end,

between 450 and 550 guests showed up.

What was the event?

- The event was the funeral

of Mr. Martin Schleyer.

We have to cater to such

sad occasions as well.

Are such state receptions common?

- There are often such receptions,

but not under these circumstances.

What will become of our dreams?

What will become of our dreams

ln this divided country?

The wounds will not heal,

Will not heal,

under filthy bandages.

What will become of our friends?

And what about you

And me?

l'd rather be out of here,

And most of all ...

l'd like to stay here ...

Most of all l'd like to be gone

l'd rather be out of here,

l'd rather...

The fluctuation is ...

really considerable,

especially here in this building.

lnmate Horst Mahler, former lawyer,

sentenced to 14 years in prison,

7 of which are already served.

Horst Mahler is suspected of being

a founding member of the RAF.

He was one of the inmates

to be exchanged

for Lorenz, head of Berlin's

Christian Democrats. He refused.

Franziska Busch

works in a political group.

ln private, she belongs

to a renowned TVdirector.

She's already read 7 of Mahler's

works. She expects clarification.

We're making a film about

the political climate in West Germany

after the Schleyer kidnapping.

You once said that this event

represents a deep incision

in the political life of West Germany.

What do you mean by that?

l see it in the context

of the events of 1945,

to name just one year.

Then there's 1967,

and now 1978,

'77 and '78, all points of incision.

lnitially, 1945 marked only

the crippling of the political power

of German fascism.

The ideology was broken only in part.

But there was no

anti-fascist revolution in Germany.

To a certain extent,

this was finally rectified

by the 1967 student revolts.

Not until then

did we become truly aware

of what fascism is, and particularly

of the fact that the social roots

of fascism continued to exist.

Continued to exist in West Germany,

but also in other countries,

especially the United States.

ln 1967, the desisive moment

was the protest movement

against the Vietnam War.

Then, in 1968/69,

there was the obvious decline,

you could say collapse,

of the student movement.

lt broke up into numerous

bickering and feuding factions.

Each one flew their own flag.

The majority of the population

showed no solidarity whatsoever,

an experience

that nobody had made before,

and that nobody assumed

would have to be made.

lt was something that nobody

understood or could understand.

That was our fault. lt wasn't

propaganda or dumbing down,

as is often claimed.

We weren't, our consiousness wasn't,

keeping up with the times.

And at the time, we ...

felt that it had to move forward.

And we saw that we'd come up against

certain limitations

that seemingly

could not be overcome.

And so, in our heads it became

the notion that the whole thing,

as is so often the case,

failed once again

due to a barrier of power.

Not because of our shortcomings,

or lack of awareness on our part,

but due to objective conditions

of power. - Which it was as well ...

lt was, but one has to ask

why this particular society,

which we criticized thoroughly,

whose decay we had diagnosed

decades ago ...

Why is this society still able

to react to act to us

with such resolve and force?

Of course, it was all

more or less abstract,

removed

from the existing social context,

and in particular, removed

from the mentality of the people,

who were not in any way ready

to wage war against the state,

or to support

a war against that state.

At the time we weren't aware of this,

otherwise we would never

have put this policy,

if you can call it that,

into effect on a practical level.

The development

that came about,

leading up to

the Schleyer kidnapping,

and, this is really

the crux of the problem,

leading up to Mogadishu ...

That created the conditions

to bring the crisis ...

l see it as a crisis of the Left,

of our left-wing thinking,

... it finally came to our attention

as a crisis,

as a weakness of ours,

an object of our critique.

l think you can't imagaine it

as a more radical culmination,

than this opposition that we

initiated with our protest,

that we began with our

uprising against imperialism ...

The fact that we took to the streets

because of My Lai,

for example, a massacre

against the Vietnamese people.

And now we have to watch

as one group of this movement,

in order to free prisoners

with which the general population

does not in any way identify,

takes innocent

and defenseless civilians,

women, children, old people,

takes them hostage,

and threatens their lives,

threatens to massacre them,

apparently without ever

having asked the question:

Does this in any way have anything

to do with left-wing politics?

The question is,

how can a person like Ulrike Meinhof

kill another person,

or find his death acceptable?

A criminal murderer

removes himself

from the system of moral values.

A revolutionary carries it too far.

This means that the moral rigorism

of the revolutionary,

which can spiral into

a subjectively...

presumptuous arrogance,

is at the same time the prerequisite

for overcoming the scruples

that one has as a left-winger,

when it comes to killing a person.

You see the moral corruption

of the capitalist system,

you see the people in this system

acting in a corrupt way,

and you judge them morally,

you condemn them.

And based on that moral judgement, you

consider them the embodiment of evil.

Thus, you have the idea

that personal guilt plays a role,

and that it is necessary and just,

for the sake of liberation,

to eradicate this evil,

including where it is personified.

This means eradicating people.

This is why there's so much talk

about sympathy for terrorists.

There exists a common starting point,

and that is the moral indignation

about the current state of society,

the disgust at the fact

that we had fascism,

state-sponsored fascist murder,

the fascist extermination

of other peoples,

and that all this had social causes

which continue to exist today.

And that so little

of the moral outrage

could be translated

into political action

in this population, in this country.

That today people like

Dregger and Straub can,

through their apparent support

of the Chilean junta,

justify, in retrospect,

this country's Nazi fascism.

For what Straub said in Chile

is nothing short of saying

that fascism, if it's necessary

to preserve a social system,

meaning the system of profit,

is sometimes an inevitable evil.

ln other words, it's a good thing.

Munich, Saturday, October 15, 1977

Late Afternoon

May l come in?

May l?

My God, look at you!

kurt Hartung, Dentist

May l sit down?

- Please, make yourself at home.

Who are you? What do you want?

l had an accident.

l'm sorry.

l crashed my car.

Out in front of the building.

- ln front of the building?

l thought l'd seen you before.

Shouldn't you see a doctor?

- No doctors.

Can l have a glass of water?

Perhaps you'd rather have a schnapps?

- No schnapps.

Just water.

This'll do you good.

You were in Spain?

- Hm?

Please wipe off the blood.

Do you have any iodine?

ln the bathroom, top cabinet.

l can't bear seeing blood, either.

Are you a pianist?

You could say so.

So ...

Over there, your guitar's ready.

Roll sound!

Wolf Biermann, ''Girl in Stuttgart''

''l ran into a girl,

and it really hurt.

The tears streamed down her face.

She screamed,

'Yeah right! Yeah right!

No way was it suicide!

ln Filbinger's mega-jail,

don't take me for a ride.

Just like Ulrike, yeah right.

They twist it to fit their tale.

Baader, Ensslin, Raspe ...

The alchemists of the revolution.

l think that both are true:

They drove themselves

and were driven to that point.

Desperate by their own means,

made desperate by us,

and they took that final dark step,

the three of them, all on their own.

And yet ...

lf the desperate girl were right,

and if the truth were to come out,

namely that the suicide

was not really suicide ...

Hey, don't kid yourself,

too many here would approve.

Their beer would taste all the better.

They'd be so proud,

just like they are of our GSG-9 boys.

But that wouldn't be all.

ln this beautiful country of ours,

the number of those

killed by their own hand

would increase even more.

Where should the tears go?

What about her,

what about the girl?

And what about

this flourishing land in crisis?

Soon l think l'll see her photo.

lt will be in a row with other photos.

ln the window of the bakery.

And a hand, armed with a pen,

will, with a scribble, cross out

her human face.''

The political group that Franziska

Busch belongs to is producing a film

that is reminiscent in form of the

revolutionary films of the '20s.

Now hold it out there.

Straight out. Look this way! Good.

Franziska Busch

has her own film plans,

but so far she couldn't convince

the director, who's her boyfriend,

nor the political group

that she works for.

Workers on a balcony.

Now they go back inside.

Mrs. Holle ...

A sparrow flies about 2 feet higher,

onto the next branch.

l dreamed of colorful flowers

The way they bloom in May.

l dreamed of green meadows

Of joyful chirping of birds,

Of joyful chirping of birds.

And when the roosters crowed,

A watchful eye did open.

lt turned cold and dark,

And the ravens shrieked from the roof.

lt turned cold and dark,

And the ravens fell from the roof.

But on the windowpanes,

Who draws those leaves there?

But on the windowpanes,

Who draws those leaves there?

Turn off the engine.

Those were colleagues from

the other side, a special border unit.

They were a bit uneasy with the fact

that they found Schleyer.

Get out, please.

Open the trunk and the hood.

We take special care

of girls these days.

Drive forward a bit, will you?

ls this being done at all crossings?

- We're lucky here,

there's not much traffic.

ln Colmar there's a two-hour wait.

You can thank them,

or were we the ones who started it?

l always wanted to fly

one of those things.

Hey, you ...

They get 500 marks flight allowance,

besides their salary.

And then those helmets they wear ...

l looked at one once.

And most of them crash anyway.

You just fly, and see everything.

And nobody can see you.

And the responsibility you have,

with the bombs

and all that napalm stuff ...

You have to have a diploma,

that's the thing ...

Our sort stands around getting wet.

The bag.

Are you cold?

- Yes.

That's the kind of car they like.

Fast,

with four doors.

Our sort drives a Polo,

or an Audi if we're lucky.

But we'll get them all.

Are you married?

- No.

So that's how it is?

Come over here, young lady.

That could be you, right?

The chin,

the hair...

No, no.

You don't have those fanatical eyes.

No, don't worry.

l know it's not you.

But it could be you.

All right, young lady. You can go.

Woe to the fugitive

Fleeing the world.

Roaming foreign lands,

Forgetting his homeland.

Hating his mother's house,

Leaving his friends behind ...

The German Military Railway

in the World War, 1914 - 1918

From the Maas to the Memel,

from the Etsch to the Belt,

Deutschland,

Deutschland uber alles,

Germany above all in the world.

History teacher Gabi Teichert learned

from a thick, densely-printed book

that since 1918, the German anthem

is frequently sung with this text:

''From the Maas to the Memel''.

What fairy-tales they tell the people!

There stands a man, a man

As strong as an oak.

He surely has, he has

Seen many a thing.

Perhaps tomorrow

He'll already be a corpse.

Just as it happens

To so many freedom fighters,

Perhaps tomorrow

He'll already be a corpse.

Just as it happens

To so many freedom fighters.

Off we go, we go to battle,

We are born to fight.

Off we go, we go to battle,

We are ready for battle.

To Karl Liebknecht

we did make an oath,

To Rosa Luxemburg

we reach out our hand.

l was, l am, l will be.

Rosa Luxemburg said before her death,

''Germany has only one alternative:

Socialism or barbarism.''

l'm not really afraid.

- You're not afraid? - No.

Why not?

- Well, if we ...

The German Army, autumn maneuvers.

ln 1977, the maneuvers are called

''Steadfast Chatti''.

Chatti is old German for the region

of Hesse at the birth of Christ,

first cited in Tacitus.

Okay! Okay!

The division commander.

Eight!

Wait, correction.

Wait a moment!

What is that?

lt can't be!

They're right in front of the thing.

Gentlemen, so far we've carried out

the operation according to plan,

despite the loss

of the 4th Ranger Brigade.

The acceleration of the delay

by perhaps three hours

will not throw off

our primary schedule.

l hope that 34 ...

let me emphasize this, it's crucial:

All measures are subordinate

to getting 34 ready for action

by the break of dawn.

ls that clear, Burmeister?

And the entire logistics battalion,

Mr. G-1, tell this to G-4,

is running around without camouflage

on their helmets. Call me petty,

but if it's an order,

then you wear the beast.

And the gentlemen of the dispatch

battalion here at the command post

have no

camouflage netting on their helmets.

Why do l give orders

if they're not obeyed?

lt's the dispatch unit

over by the helicopter landing pad.

Hanns-Martin Schleyer,

Friday/Saturday, September 9th/10th,

1977, to von Brauchitsch:

''lf Bonn refuses,

then they should do it soon.

Although a person, just as it was

in war, would like to survive.

lt is never sweet and pleasant

to die for the Fatherland.''

... the confession-like representation

of the conflict in mid-September ...

Late autumn, 1977,

National Convention of the

German Social Democrats in Hamburg.

One:

lmprisoned terrorists

who, in their criminal conspiracy,

communicate with

terrorists on the outside,

whatever means

and whichever middle-men they use,

regarding further crimes ...

As l said,

their speaking, writing, their

exchange of opinions, signals, etc.,

must be prevented at all costs.

And that was possible.

Haven't we seen this all before?

And then the other nuisance,

at the universities, the ''young Left''.

Mainly ...

The Swiss author Max Frisch,

guest speaker at the convention.

... obsessed with theory

and unintelligable to the workers.

There is one phenomenon

the police cannot get rid of,

no matter how much reinforcement,

specialization and popular support

they get, through wiretaps

and pushing the limits of the law,

and that is the phenomenon

of resignation.

Besides the invitation

to cheery consumption

as the prerequisite

for economic growth,

what do we offer the youth?

Which self-transcending goal,

what meaning in life?

l'm not talking specifically about

the Federal Republic of Germany.

Democracy ... assuming

we don't just want to save it,

but rather create it ...

must mean more democracy.

That would be a goal

that transcends

the consuming individual.

Good morning, gentlemen.

- Good morning, director. - Morning.

Can we get started?

- The next appointment is at 11.

ls the film ready?

- Yes, it is. - Gentlemen?

Good morning, deputy.

- Morning. - Come in.

A great event we announce,

yet we do not announce violence.

Sister...

you, my flesh and blood, lsmene ...

Name one of Oedipus' curses

that Zeus has not already

fulfilled in our lives.

There is no suffering, no outrage,

no affliction, no disgrace,

that we have not experienced.

- l sense it stirring in your breast.

Did Creon not grant

one brother of ours funeral rites,

but refuse the other?

Eteocles he took into the earth,

according to custom, they say,

so gracing him

among the dead below.

But Poynices' dishonored corpse

may not be mourned,

may not be buried.

So it was proclaimed:

Without lament and without burial,

he shall be left to the birds,

who lurk already

to gorge themselves.

Noble Creon

passed down such an edict.

To you and me.

Yes, to me as well.

And he does not jest.

What boldness do you contemplate?

Lend me a hand

to bury the dead with me.

You will bury him,

despite the interdict?

Yes. He is my brother...

and yours too, though you fail him.

l will not betray him.

lmpudent one! Creon forbade it!

He may not keep me from my own.

- We must accept

that we women are not meant

to compete with men.

We are ruled by the strong.

He can impose worse

than only this.

So l plead pardon

from those below,

for l am ruled by force.

l obey the powers that be.

There is no sense in reckless action.

l'll not ask you again.

And even if you were willing,

l would not accept your help.

Keep your actions secret, at least.

Let no one know,

and l too will keep it secret.

No!

Proclaim it loudly to all!

Your silence makes me hate you more.

Your heart seethes hotly

with your dreadful works!

l will not give up

until my strength gives out.

lmpossible!

Can a human heart ...

l can't stand it. l'll wait outside.

- Should l join you?

Remember the costumes.

Eteocles,

who fought for his Fatherland

and fell as a hero ...

Lower him into his grave

with all the ceremonies

that we grant

the greatest of our dead.

His brother Polynices,

on the other hand,

who was exiled and yet returned,

who wanted to burn

his fathers' city and his idols,

who desired to murder

and enslave his own people ...

He will receive,

as l ordained,

no burial,

and no mourning ceremony.

His corpse shall remain unburied.

Prey ...

for dogs

and birds.

A ghastly sight.

This is my will.

Do you want a coffee too?

- No, thanks.

That's the culprit, caught

while burying him. But where's Creon?

- What have l chanced upon?

She was burying him. That's all.

- Did you know it was forbidden?

l did indeed know.

That was clear.

And yet you dared to break my law!

The disclaimer text at the start

is not clear enough.

lt's too classical. lt must be

clearer, with more demarcation.

The term ''great'' is ambivalent.

lt could mean 'fantastic' as well.

That will cause problems for us.

That rebellious woman,

Antigone ...

The disclaimer text is too noble.

''A great event we announce,

yet we do not announce violence.''

Did you add this text?

- lt seemed appropriate

to balance Sophocles' text

with the disclaimer text.

To keep with its style,

to premise it, almost like a chorus.

But that's exactly

what makes the disclaimer vague.

These allusions ...

burials denied, female terrorists ...

The piece is from

the 5th century B.C. lt's Sophocles!

lt's no comfort to discover

that there were female terrorists

even in the 5th century B.C.

We have a second

disclaimer version. Please.

We didn't choose

to announce a great event.

We were forced

to announce this great event.

That's enough.

At least it should be ''great

calamity'' instead of ''great event''.

That would ruin the verse.

And what was it that forced

the women to this announcement?

Creon's refusal

to let Polynices be buried.

The rule of law, then.

Gentlemen,

l don't think this is the place

to discuss Sophocles.

All we have to discuss is whether

the disclaimer is credible.

l also think that the term

''great event'' is ambivalent.

lt should be ''great calamity''.

Then it would be clear

that the two women distance

themselves from the event.

This ... stylistic

approximation of Sophocles

is misleading.

We also have a third

version of the disclaimer. Please.

lt is unavoidable,

and impossible to overlook,

that in some pieces,

even classical ones,

violence is portrayed.

We distance ourselves absolutely

from every form of violence.

We say this

in the name of the directors,

the administration, the entire cast,

the stage hands, the cashiers,

and in the name of everyone

directly or indirectly

involved in this production.

Sister...

of my blood and heart, lsmene ...

Name one of Oedipus' curses

that Zeus has not already fulfilled

in our lives.

That sounds better.

But l think it somehow

humiliates Sophocles' text.

lt seems silly, artificial,

almost ironic.

Not convincing.

And irony is something

we can do without right now.

lf we completely skip the disclaimer,

and just do the Sophocles text ...

l mean, if we can't even

do Sophocles anymore ...

The next word will be censorship,

and then it'll be fascism.

Gentlemen!

What is this nonsense?

Let me remind you

that there used to be 'clean' classics

for 'Upper-class' girls' schools.

The resulting editions

omitted certain passages

found in Ovid and elsewhere.

We're over that.

Are we now to check the classics

for political references

and remove them?

Try to understand our situation!

Our backs are against the wall.

l ask myself if it's necessary,

at a time like this,

to put on Antigone.

A refusal to allow a burial ...

rebellious women ...

and that soothsayer, Teiresias,

a precursor of the prophet,

a kind of anticipation

of an intellectual.

The youth will misinterpret this

as a call to subversion.

The churches should see this!

l'm sorry l didn't

see the entire scope of ...

The title of the series is

'Youth Meets Classics'. - Exactly!

So the production is cancelled?

800,000 marks have been

put into the production.

This is not about money.

We have to think of the viewers.

l suggest

that the production go ahead,

and that the finished film be

held back until things calm down.

lt's simply too topical.

The end as well.

What will we broadcast instead?

- Director, sir,

the repeat of the dramatization

of Hoegner's ''Bellum Gallicum''

was a very instructive piece.

Violence against the Gauls,

violence by the Gauls,

Roman violence, Gallic violence,

Caesar, Vercingetorix ...

But it's about war, not about terror.

l'd like to add

that it's a very good production.

Really. Very good. lt's just not

the right time to broadcast it.

The viewers wouldn't understand it.

ls it really Sophocles' ending?

- Yes, it is.

Yes, perhaps ...

Maybe it's better this way.

... not to mention the truth.

Should l gild the truth,

only to be proved a liar?

Truth determines all.

l am drawn to the son's voice.

Come closer, people, quickly!

Hasten to the tomb and

enter through the gap in the wall.

Come to the door and see

if it is Haemon's voice l hear,

or if l'm deceived by a god.

We listened,

like the distraught one ordered,

and saw her at the back of the tomb,

strangled with a noose,

the fine linen of her veil

about her neck.

And he clasped her body,

bewailing their wedding

which death denied,

his father's deed,

and his poor bride.

Seeing this, the father groaned,

and rushed forward to him crying,

''What have you done? What ailed you?

Has misfortune driven you mad?

Come out, my child, l beg of you.''

With wild eyes, the son

glared at him with disgust.

Without a word he drew his sword

and smote, but as the father fled,

he missed.

He turned his wrath against himself,

driving the blade half its length

into his chest.

But still aware, he clasps a lax arm

around the maiden.

And suddenly, from the dying one,

a fountain erupts,

flooding her pallid cheeks

with bloody red.

The dead lies now with the dead,

celebrating marriage rites

in the house of Hades.

The graves have been protected

from rain by corrugated sheets.

My sister Gudrun,

Jan and Andreas expressed the wish

to be buried in one grave.

Und ... l ...

When l came back from holidays,

the first thing l read in the paper

was ''lnto the sewers with them!''

And l know

that people called for them to be

''buried outside'' and the like.

Rommel decided autonomously,

without consulting the city council.

''They'll be buried on the

Dornhaldenfeld Cemetery. That's it!''

Bosch is buried there as well,

the industrialist. As is

Theodor Heuss and Reinhold Maier.

As for the question of the burial

of the three dead terrorists ...

lt was clear to me

that this had to be decided

quickly and cleanly ...

- What do you mean?

Clean in the admistrative sense,

or the human sense?

Clean in the human sense.

lt would have been unbearable

to carry the responsibility,

even in part,

for weeks and months

of discussions about

the proper burial of the terrorists.

That's why l made the quick

and binding decision.

Ensslin's father had tried hard,

desperately, to find graves.

ln Stuttgart

he had considerable difficulties,

for three terrorists,

people outside of society ...

People couldn't accept

their burial within the walls

of a city or parish.

Outside, on a field, sure.

But not where

so-called normal people are buried.

Mr. Eschwege, we need ...

- That's fine.

First it's Andreas, then Gudrun,

and then Jan.

lt's a double grave,

with the three of them together.

Can the dividing wall be torn down?

- No, it can't.

lf you look down, you'll see

it's been chiseled out of the rock.

You can't ... l couldn't come here

and remove the dividing wall.

But the way it is,

they're all on the same level.

Andreas and Jan in one grave,

and Gudrun isn't

off to the side or anything.

lt is a unit. l think it's fine.

And ... uh ...

We should accept, don't you think?

lt's a funeral like any other.

l don't think it's right

if others shirk their responsibility.

We somethimes get customers

who are not so agreeable.

For me, a guest is a guest.

l see it the same way.

lt was a spontaneous decision,

after l heard

that Mr. Ensslin had been

turned down for certain reasons.

How did you find that out?

An innkeeper couple told me,

adding their respective commentary.

lt really enraged me,

so l went straight to the phone,

called Mr. Ensslin,

and explained that l wanted,

for purely humanitarian reasons,

to put on this funeral meal for him.

Once it even happened

that the October angels came in May

as foreign October angels,

looking for local November angels.

They had been shot, though.

WHOEVER ATTACkS THE FRG

COMMlTS SUlClDE (LEBER)

Thursday, October 27th,

Dornhalden Cemetery, Stuttgart.

GUDRUN, ANDREAS + JAN

TORTURED AND MURDERED lN STAMMHElM

This way, please!

- And lift!

Quiet!

- What is this crap?

Please stand back

to give the family some room.

Hey, you photo vultures!

Hold on. Hold on.

Would the family members

please step forward?

Please let

the family members through.

Hold on.

Hold on, please.

The cemetery, a former shooting

range, is at risk of flooding.

We didn't think the path

that these comrades took

was the right one.

But in light of their deaths,

and the circumstances of their deaths,

that becomes secondary.

The solidarity will remain!

lf you are truly outraged,

affected and mobilized,

you won't shout,

but rather consider what to do.

Murderers!

Murderers! Murderers!

The police,

as you can see, are present.

The police were prepared.

One may not talk of a 'plan'.

The police had to intervene,

because a vehicle

had been damaged by the participants.

Here, Ritchy. Come over here!

Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!

TO THE MURDERED COMRADES

Careful, the back door.

- Thank you.

Did you open it?

- Yes.

Drive slowly.

We were checked again.

And what's this?

''Once a certain level

of atrocity has been achieved,

it's irrelevant

who is responsible.

lt simply has to stop.''

Germany in Autumn (1978) - full transcript