Numbered (2012) - full transcript

Over time, my tattoo
became part of my body.
two
00:00:30,097 --> 00:00:32,933
I don't show it or try to hide it.

I reluctantly show it to the curious

and promptly, in anger, to unbelievers.

many young people ask me
why don't I have it deleted.

This surprises me. Why should I?

There aren't many of us anymore
as witnesses.

former prisoner of Auschwitz

My name is Leo Luster.

My number is B11647.

When they gave me that number,

my eyes were full of tears.



It was like I wasn't human anymore.

They branded us the same way

that mark cattle.

I don't see it as a scar. For me, it's a medal.

Orna Birnbach.

20713.

Daniel Chanoch.

B2823,

of Lithuania.

My number is B2896.

Chana Weingarten, A4918.

They gave me a number at Auschwitz,

but I don't remember him by heart.

My number is A11998.



I can't say this in Hebrew.

I don't remember. I think I preferred to forget.

76...

901.

There are seventy-six thousand...

Did you know they only gave these numbers at Auschwitz?

It reminds me of my past,

of my parents.

From everything I experienced during that year.

You can hardly see it. See?

The tattoo has been here for 60 years.
For over 60 years.

I don't think it will ever leave.

You can't see anything here.

When others see the number,

you know that person passed
by many difficulties.

But for them,
the number doesn't mean anything.

You didn't ask me
why my number is here and not here.

Everyone's number stays here.

But I thought one day I would be free

and I didn't want everyone to see
that I had been here.

That's why I wanted to do it here.
I raised my arm like this,

for them to do inside.

Hidden.

By winning a number,

you had a sense of security, that you were still useful for something

and that it would not be sent to the crematorium anytime soon.

I'm always asked, "Why don't you have plastic surgery?"

They can skin your ass and cover your number.

And I say, "Why? Should I be embarrassed?

Whoever did this to meÈ who should be ashamed."

When my son was four years old,
he asked:

"Mommy, who wrote on your arm?"

And I answered:
"Evil people, during the war."

He thought for a moment and said:

"Mother, there were no Maccabees
At that time?"

I said no.

Then he said, "Mother, when I get married,
I will have many children

and they will all be Maccabees.

That way you never need to worry again."

In the end, he really became a Maccabean

and ended up getting seriously injured

in the Yom Kippur War.

I love summer,
when everyone can see my number.

I reach out of the car
as if to say, "Look, I have a number!"

I'm just kidding.
These days, it's a sign of prestige.

I have a number. I'm a celebrity.

Even more a beautiful number like mine.

Have you noticed how small and elegant it is?

Yeah, it gives me a certain superiority.

At the age of eight, when they put me in the ghetto,

my parents boldly told me:
"These people want to kill you."

It was valuable information.

So, during an operation
of extermination of children,

I hid in the attic with other kids

and...

the SS found us.

I soon realized it was the end
and that we would die soon.

I got up.

an SS officer
he was down there smoking.

I jumped down there

and, before the SS officer...
I bumped into him,

and he lost his balance.
I started running,

he pulled out a pistol and tried to hit me.
I ran in zigzag.

It was at that moment

that I rescued my life,

that's why I'm superior.

I owe my birth
to my mother's womb.

but my life
I owe myself, honey.

Only myself.

I think Auschwitz has taught me a lot.

It was 44 months in the illustrious facilities

of Auschwitz, Dachau and Mauthausen...

For me, it was a piece of cake.

I did it. With pride.

76...

914,

half star of david

below.

Did I make a face again?

Excuse!

I lost my father, Moses,

my mother, Sarah,

and my brothers, Shabtai,

Abraham Alberto

and Yose'leh Pepo.

I thought Yose'leh would be

the king of Israel when he grew up.

My kids have asked about the number for many years.

I thought if I shared it with them

the horrors of my past,

they would be sad. And I didn't want that.

They had all the joys

that I was able to give.

I sang for them.

My heart could be crying,

but my mouth sang.

There, far away

Beyond the sea

There is my village

… there is my love

There is my home

… there is my love

There was a guy standing in line at Auschwitz.

-Behind him.-Behind me.

We have consecutive numbers.

And the fact that the three of us are here,

-sitting in this order...
-It wasn't easy during...

Something unprecedented.

we survive
and we met again in the State of Israel.

We all walk the paths...

-From hell.
-...from hell. Different ways.

Everywhere, stories were heard

how people with numbers
they were kind of disturbed.

When I walked around Haifa

wearing a short-sleeved shirt,

the children came to ask me:
"What does this number mean?

Did you get out of prison? … thief?"

Since then, I stopped wearing short sleeves.

There at home,
we had a gentlemen's agreement.

My kids didn't ask,
and I didn't talk about it.

I couldn't finish a sentence without crying three times.

… Good. Crying is good.

The number was part of it.

As well as freckles and gray hair,

he had a number. My father was like that.

This number has been a part of my life since childhood.

Of course, it was our vault password.

And the lock password on our bags.

When we arrived at the concentration camp...

At the top it was written:

"Arbeit Macht Frei."

-"Work sets free."-Sets free

So, they told us to split up the left and right sides.

I was sent to law

and my brother to the left...

… very sad to see

I have such strong memories of the last three months of his life.

We were together and all of a sudden I went to the right and he...

A few days before he died, he was in bed at the hospital,

and I decided I wanted too

that number tattooed on me.

And that was it. After that, our life went very well.

This is the story of my life.

Thank you very much. It was a pleasure.

It was summer.
We went to a bank in the United States,

and the cashier said:

"Look, they both have numbers on their arms.

Yours ends with 4 and hers with 5.

Cool."

We replied, "Really, it's cool.

This is from another time in our life.

… really cool."

At 17,

I was jealous of an SS watchdog,

a German shepherd.

While we were working, the SS officer built a fire

to keep warm, and the dog was there beside him.

Whenever I looked, I saw the officer

petting and feeding the dog.

I always thought:
"Why wasn't I born a dog?"

I allow myself some luxuries.

Since that time,
I don't miss anything I want,

if I think it will make me happy.

Whenever I want something beautiful, I buy it.

Even if I'm broke.

You know what,

I have a lot more winter clothes
than summer.

just imagine the cold

already enough
for me to buy a new piece.

At the time, sometimes I thought

that it was better to go to the gas camera.

at least i would stay warm

before being completely burned.

I like to stay warm.
I prefer the summer.

After being released,

when I looked in the mirror for the first time,

I found my look so different, so aged, so...

off...

The Bergen-Belsenera concentration camp surrounded by small towns.

I just wanted to find something to eat.

Suddenly,

saw a chicken coop in a yard.

It was very strange to see a chicken
after everything I went through that year.

I entered the chicken coop

and, out of nowhere, a little German girl
came out screaming:

"Please don't take my chicken,
it was the only one left."

when i heard that,

I said, "I only had one mother too."

I caught the chicken there
and twisted her neck.

This was the only murder
I've already committed.

Now you need to laugh...

9...

-98...
-95...

-What's the number? I do not know.
-95...

I do not know.

But I remember the shoe size
of each member of the kibbutz.

I remember each one of the people
to whom I sold shoes.

How can I not remember
what's in my own arm?

9895.

And mine È 9896.

we have consecutive numbers

because I was always right behind her.

Wherever she went, I went with her.

Even during the "selection".

When we arrived at Auschwitz,

that cursed place,

our first question was:
"Where do we find our parents?"

They replied: "Don't be ridiculous.

They already left by the chimney
for a long time."

I asked, "What do you mean?"

And they replied: "See the chimney?
Do you think they're making bread for you?"

They took everything we had.
The name was the last thing.

…we were just a number.

We were being consumed by filth and lice.

I was there sick and unconscious

among corpses.

And she was taking care of me.

I blacked out, and when I woke up, I found her covered in lice.

It was horrible. Indescribable. Inconceivable.

Next to us, there was a girl

fully covered by lice.
She didn't even try to push them away.

She was lying in a fetal position.
and, in the hands,

she was clutching a small beet.

I couldn't take my eyes off
of that beet.

I thought she wouldn't be able to eat.
she was too sick

or even already dead.

So I took the beets out of her hands.

That's what saved us.
I had absolutely nothing to eat.

But what if she woke up
and because I got the beetroot,

she starved to death?

It haunts me to this day.

I lived inside death for 44 months.
Don't make me laugh.

Death. What is the problem? …part of life.

… until nice to cover up
with a dead body.

… almost a comforter.

Death. Big Deal.
We see hundreds of people dead

when we're growing up. Nothing more.

When they sent us to the ghetto in 1941,

The place was surrounded by SS officers.

They started arresting the children.

We knew we would have problems.

Suddenly, our teacher, Yudilevich, stood up and said:

In this world of ours, our life

It's just a corridor to reach the afterlife.

How beautiful, how brilliant,

what light, what love!

Suddenly, I no longer feared death.

Today, my only fear

È to die intubated.

All I need
It's a do-it-yourself kit

so that I can apply myself
the lethal injection.

When the kit is in my pocket,
ready to use, i will be a happy man.

I don't want to live with a disability,
not even for a day!

No way.

I refuse.

As long as I can drive at night,
walk around

and enjoy the girls, great.

If I miss it,
What is the meaning of life?

I just wish I had the number...

engraved on my skin.

After the end of Shiv·, I went to a tattoo studio.

I went in and asked them to tattoo
my dad's number on my leg.

It was a very emotional day.

Three days later,

I needed to open the family safe.

There, all of a sudden,

I looked at my leg, put in the number and realized.

I got the wrong number tattooed.

I was so mad at myself.

How could I make this mistake?

I can say this number even when I sleep: 65640.

First of all,
my father would not have approved of the tattoo.

On top of that, do I need to fix it?
He would have been furious.

Tommy, come take a look.

Come take a look.

See the font they used?
… like that of an old computer.

-Typewriter.
-That's right.

this looks like
with the one they wrote on his arm.

65...

640...

No, that's the wrong number.
… that's why I'm fixing it.

Download this one.

I don't approach my clients
like a butcher.

-Nothing more.
-I know.

I really want to do this.
I don't know how I could go wrong with that.

It happens.

They took us all together in single lines

even a building.

There was a woman standing there

and she grabbed us by the arms.

It was very scary.

I was terrified.

I was sure
that it was the lethal injection.

They scratched the skin until it bled.

It was quite painful.

Hello, Tsipi.

My angel.

My father appeared to me once in a dream.

He kissed me on the forehead,

like he did when I was a kid.

I felt his presence. Just once.

He did like this...

And then it disappeared.
Already my mother, never.

I just wanted

that there was a little hole

so that my mother
could see me grown up.

So she would see that I survived.

She never knew.

This is my mother, by the plum tree.

And this is my father, a distinguished man.

Here in the middle.

And my dear husband, Shmuel Kalderon.

They didn't get to know
that I married Shmuel.

That's why I put them in the same frame,
so that they are always together.

Simo didn't know that I had been taken to Auschwitz.

When I returned from the war, he welcomed me into town.

I fell asleep,

and then...

he approached me.

He started to caress me, like,

and shake my hand.

It was really good.

It looked like...

the affection of a caring father.

He didn't try to rush anything.

First, he touched me here.
I was shocked.

I didn't want to.

So he touched me here, and then here...

But his methods were brilliant,

I'm serious.

Caressed...

He had... an amazing method.

And he was so hot, I can't lie.

It was part...

of our life in partnership.

Take a look, dear Zwi.

174251.

Thanks!

My adult life began while I was in the countryside,

say so.

When they released me,

I was an experienced prisoner,

but I had no experience
in being a free man.

He was an orphan, he had no one.

I wasn't cultured

like those people

who go to dinners, talk, dance...

I loved classical music,

so i had a radio in the room.

To say the truth,
I used to go there to listen to music.

He had the only radio on the entire kibbutz.

We started talking.

There was a tension between us.

Music and Literature
soon they were left behind and...

-Only the hormones left.
-That's right.

But anyway, I approached him first.

I hugged him.

And his reaction was very moving.

When I hugged you for the first time,
Zwi, what happened?

What happened?

I almost fainted!

It ended up on the ground.

That's the truth.

-He was too excited.-I was in shock.

I was really scared.

I soothed him, and he got up.

And then...

we had our first kiss,
wasn't it, darling?

I didn't get a kiss

since I was a child.

It was wonderful.

It wasn't...

Look,

in the moments when we make love,

we weren't in Auschwitz.

tidy up the numbers

can be a problem, technically.

But what do you have in mind?
Flowers? Butterflies?

It doesn't. After all, it's the holocaust.

Maybe just cover it with black?

What's that? A snake?

At the. I'm just showing you an option
that you enjoy the area well.

With watercolors and everything.

Colorful? At the.

No way.

-Just for now, with watercolors.
-I understand, but I don't want to.

just cover with black dots
and add the number above or below.

For me, it's great.

Every tattoo deserves special attention.

Okay, let's go. … by my father.

I'll relax once I get started.

Above or below?

Below.

It really gets better.

One more second, don't move.

I got it, I can't believe it.

No, I got it.

But I was the one who felt the pain.

-See for me, it was nothing.
-I never would have.

What difference does the number make?
I have my memories, don't I?

-But we are people...
-Interesting.

-We're sensitive.
-Truth.

You know how it is...

Now I'm like those tattooed young men.

It's good. Enough already!

when i started working
as a journalist,

everyone immediately knew more about me
than i about them.

At the time, public opinion

thought it was like Darwin's theory,
that only the cruel survived.

those willing
to go over the bodies.

So I decided to remove.

I went to the hospital in Haifa,

and the doctor muttered something
about being a mark of honor.

For me, it wasn't a mark of honor at all.

And that was it. He applied local anesthesia,
cut a piece of skin

and then sewed back.

It's nothing compared to the people who were killed,

who lost their children.

What is a number? … just a number.

I remember
from when we arrived at Auschwitz.

They undressed us.
My mother also had to undress.

She was beside me, naked.

there the men came
shave all our fur,

including our hair.

It was very difficult
to see my mother so humiliated.

We were together for six days.

To this day I am dying of guilt.

because she asked me
whether she should try to get out of line.

I saw how they beat
those who tried to flee.

I didn't want to be hit.

I had no idea her queue would
for the gas camera.

Did you understand?

I had no idea where they were going.

So I told her not to run away.

… as if I sent it myself
for the gas camera.

My father was 44 years old when he died
of starvation in Bergen-Belsen.

And my mother was 39 years old
when they turned it into soap.

With the approach of Holocaust Remembrance Day,

I shop wildly. I try to buy a feeling of security.

Jewelry, clothes.

It doesn't suit me.

Let me see that other one.
I already have one like this.

You can leave it here, I'll try it.
Show me the red.

Hello? “Great, she hung up.

That white one there, with embroidery on the sleeves.

-I'll exchange it for something else.
-You can change later.

So no need to change.

-I'm leaving with shaking hands?
-No, you will take this one.

-It was so cute.
-Thanks.

This one is stunning.

Look how beautiful it is.

-I just like potted flowers.
-Nothing like that...

He arrives.

Give me a discount.

One, two, three and the pants. Where are they?

-Just a minute.
-Oh there there...

When my son was in a coma,

the neighbors commented:

"How can you believe her son's situation is serious?

Look how she dresses..."

I shopped compulsively.

A new outfit every week.

I wanted to cover something up,

so that no one would see it.

The mourning of a mother is the most terrible thing in the world.

CEMETER

Simo.

I hope you can hear me.

There is so much I want to tell you.

I have no one else to tell.

I talk to a lot of people.

They listen, but not you.

SHMUEL (SIMO) KALDERON
FROM PARTY TO FARMER 1918-2006

We were great friends.

And we could have continued.

Be strong.

He must be freezing to death...

I was the youngest of three children.

My sister, who was taken
with my mother and disappeared,

my brother and me.

Mom, Dad.

My mother worked at the Yiddish Newspaper.

My grandparents were in a village.

A whole family.

A great family.

Big, loving.

I already was. Gone forever.

One day this will be my final path, ok?

God full of mercy

Who dwells in the heights

Give the perfect rest

For the soul of... whatever

In Heaven...

It will be a relatively large funeral.

Many friends will come

and everyone who knows me.

I want to be buried in a coffin.

I also wish you had some music.

Something unique.

As for my family,

I believe it will be a historic landmark.
It will be the first tomb of the family.

It's not a matter of pride,
It's a matter of honor.

To be buried in such a beautiful place?

…something important, no doubt.

It breaks my heart that my parents have been murdered.

And I ask again... the Germans...

I feel that, mystically, we are connected.

That I am fulfilling their hopes and dreams.

That I chose a wife they would have loved. That I am active.

And I understand that, on the stairs...

And that they are seeing me, satisfied.

There is an opening in the floor and a ring has sunk into this small opening...

and during the turmoil, I suddenly see the ring and catch it.

Downstairs, a huge SS officer was smoking a cigarette.

I jumped and barely managed to escape death...

no one ever wants to be
the first to raise his hand.

don't be afraid,
I will not make a "selection".

Can ask.

You said you don't have
what to cry for.

… almost as if you were
mocking everything.

Is this your way of handling the situation?

Deal with what situation?
my children and grandchildren

are all in Israel,
and thatÈs wonderful.

After everything you've been through, with the holocaust and all,

I don't understand how you can still
have so much joy.

See, life is one.

Why waste it?

You are the king of the world.

Sir... What's your name? Maurice,

Purpose

How touching.
Interestingly, he was from Holland.

It did not survive Auschwitz.

Maybe I should have kept
his number on me.

If I knew he didn't survive
and that there's nothing left of him...

He died in 1942.

He was 30 years old.

And I deleted it.
I was suddenly very sad

to think I turned him into dots.

Died in Auschwitz in 1942

-Now it's blue, isn't it?
-Is.

-But was it black before?
-At the.

You need to go to university.

There in the concentration camp,

they gave me the job

to pull teeth from bodies.

And putting two bodies in one coffin.

If one of them was too tall or...

I needed to break my legs
with a hammer.

So that it would fit.

I am 86 years old.

It flew by.

One two.

I worked for 30 years
in the port of Tel Aviv,

as a docker.

He carried the bags on his back.

That's why you want so much
that I go to university?

Yes, I couldn't go.

So I don't have to carry
bags on the back?

Yes, so you don't have to be a docker.

You need to study.

Nowadays,
you're nothing without a college degree.

Despite this, in Thessaloniki,
used to say:

"The more you know,
more will suffer."

Let me see.

It wasn't a very well done job.

Did you do it with a needle?

Yeah, with a needle and iodine, something like that.

I even got a fever afterwards.

It hurt alot.

Did you make yours to remember me?

for others to see

and never forget the holocaust?

… that's what you think?

So they don't forget. Never.

-Never.
-I did it so I wouldn't forget.

-Like?
-I did it so I wouldn't forget.

You and all of us.
If anyone asks, they should tell:

"My grandfather survived the holocaust,

that's why I got the tattoo."

So they remember.
To let them know.

So they know and never forget.

Here is proof that I won. He.

My grandchildren, my great-grandchildren.

-Very well.
-We won.

Where are you from? From Poland?

I came from the ends of the world,

where there is no more world.

-What's your name?
-I'm Daniel Chanoch from Lithuania.

I have a list of all transports to Auschwitz.

The ramp list.

I was with them at Auschwitz.

I remember them, the two sisters.

I was very envious of them
because they had some family.

-We went to college together.-They weren't killed,

-they always stayed together.-We went out together.

We started marching in the snow on January 18, 1945.

We made it to Gunskirchen.
No one died. We all survive.

-Have you ever come back to visit Auschwitz?
-Often, not just once.

So, sorry for the sincerity,
but I don't think he was actually released.

They said there aren't many survivors with numbers anymore.

Yeah, that's why they're doing it.

The triangle was for political prisoners.

-It's not a triangle...
-… half a Star of David.

I can't see it anymore...

Should have it remade.

This one is fake.

My number is B435...

-Are you from Greece?-I am.

Is there anyone left from the Yavoshna camp?

Nobody?

We are all Jews, but I don't know anyone here.

We are all brothers of the holocaust,
but I don't know anyone but you.

It doesn't matter. We are all here now.

-They made me do heavy work.
-Yes.

We had to change the course of the VÌstula River.

Silence, please.

God my God

May this never happen again

The ghetto walls

The country fences

In Belzetz and Auschwitz

Majdanek, Stutthof

Help our people

Help our children

This is our prayer

Men's Prayer

-Bravo, Chaim.
-Very well, Chaim.

Smile.

Why?
Is that any reason for joy?

Why not smile?

now they are filming
those with the visible numbers.

So È "Hail, Hitler".
It has to be with the other arm.

I can't remember...

Once again...

I'm looking for the members
from my original family, Shami,

but there was no one left.

I heard that some of them
may be in Argentina,

but I don't know where.

I keep looking,
but I don't find anything.

There's no one left.

Thank God I have
a little new family.

… few people.

A10142...

15509...

A11998...

76914...

B14671...

Hanna Rabinovitz, daughter of Leon Klinger

Subtitles: Rebeca Passos