The Invisibles (2017) - full transcript

(train rattling)

(melancholic music)

(mysterious music)

(Cioma reading)
"Indicate which valuables you own,

savings in German or foreign currency, jewelry...

Because of your upcoming evacuation to the east,

you must list all of your assets.

For violations against the prohibition of disposal

police action will be taken."

Father says that's all his orders are.

What can be so bad about that,



to be evacuated to the east?

For God's sake, Cioma, what are you doing?!

You're crazy.

– You'll get us sent to prison!
– I am not ready yet.

Cioma.

Mama.

I want to stay here.

I want to live.

(melancholic music, train rattling)

The deportation of the Jewish population of Europe
to the extermination camps begins in October 1941.

Around 7,000 Jews in Berlin resist
and submerge into hiding.

This is their history.

THE INVISIBLES
We Want To Live

Deportation Collection Point
Levetzow Street Synagogue



(Cioma, present)
There you sit. The people are very tranquil.

I, too, had in my imagination a picture...

Cioma Schönhaus
Submerged in 1942 at age 20

...of clean, firwood barracks.

Where the Jewish workers now live.

They go from there to any job site

where they're assigned to work.

That was the picture.

Martin Israel Cohen!

(Cioma, present)
The silence was only interrupted...

by a crier.

He roared.

"Martin Israel Cohen!"

Martin Israel Cohen!

He's like the...

cock in the fairy tale...

The Town Musicians of Bremen,

who roars, crowing so loud,
because he wants to show

that he is not yet good only for the cooking pot.

Registration Office!

(Cioma, present)
Suddenly my name was called...

(Crier) Cioma Israel...

(Cioma narrating)
..."Cioma Israel Schönhaus."

Well, then. It was my turn.

(Crier) Cioma Israel Schönhaus!

Employment Exchange.

(Cioma narrating)
They don't deport Jews in forced labor.

(Clerk) Papers all there?

(Cioma narrating)
Maybe that's a way out?

(Clerk) Last position?

Gustav Genschow Machine Gun Factory.

Any outstanding wage payments owed?

Actually, the company owes me and I complained.

(suspenseful music)

Isn't it written there that I'm deferred?

That they need me?

Gustav Genschow Machine Gun Factory.

I'm one of the fastest, 180 runs an hour.

(Overseer) Come here.

(Woman) Why do I have to go alone to the camp?

(Woman) Why can't I stay with my aunt?

– (Overseer) No, no!
– (Woman) Let me stay here!

You can go.

"Well, you can go."

I say, "Where to?"

(Clerk) To the factory. You are deferred.

(Crier) Anna Sarah Hösch.

Can we leave the boy all alone?

Of course, he stays here.

Maybe he can save us.

– (Overseer) Come on now.
– I have my suitcase with me.

– We want to say goodbye.
– Please, please...

(sad music, Mother sobbing)

(Mother) Cioma, can you stamp and mail this?

For my coworker.

I wasn't able to say goodbye.

I forgot to mail it. How stupid!

(Overseer) That's enough.

Don't forget it. Promise me!

(Cioma narrating)
My parents disappear.

I don't know where they are being taken.

I may never see them again.

(fast dance music)

(soft giggling)

Shall we?

We had all the records from America.

So we danced, even though
we had never had dance lessons.

Ruth Gumpel née Arndt
submerged in 1942 at age 20
with her family

Part of our youth was lost.
We didn't have it.

(Ruth narrating)
We were no longer allowed to go to dance halls.

So we met up with friends to dance.

Why didn't your brother bring you before?

(Ruth, present)
We're at Bruno's, the friend of my brother Jochen,

who brought his girlfriend Ellen and me here.

(Ruth, present)
The worse the laws against Jews became,

the more we played around with the idea

of submerging.

Especially since my brother had heard

that young people have done that.

Two of my colleagues got their orders to report.

They are submerging.

(Ruth, present)
We called that "flitting."

He spoke with my parents about that, who refused.

You know how Papa is.

But what if someone else talks to him?

Who, then?

What about Mrs. Gehre?

Why don't you ask the Gehres first?

Well, that's it.

My father saw them.

I asked you to come talk with us, Mrs. Gehre,

because my children wanted it
and have given me no peace.

As I have said, it is hopeless.

There are four of us.

Jochen has a girlfriend, Ellen.

And there's Ellen's mother, too.

It's completely impossible to hide so many.

So many here in Kreuzberg know me as a doctor...

that I will not be able to go out on the street.

Totally impossible!

And no one can say how long it will be.

And even if...

We will have to rely on others all of the time.

For everything. How will that work?

Doctor, my husband and I have never forgotten...

that you healed our daughter when she was ill.

We will do everything we can
to help you and your family.

We have a room behind the kitchen, for a bed.

You can stay there.

For Ruth, Jochen, and your wife,
we'll also find something.

(Ruth, present)
But there is worry,

because you didn't know what will happen,

when you're "flitting".

(Ruth) Do you have everything?

(Ruth, present)
We did not think...

how long it might be.

If you had thought about it,
you would not have done it.

(melancholic music)

It was only half so bad for us

as for my parents.

Because until we submerged,

we all lived together.

– Father's reading lamp.
– In here.

– And the other bag?
– We have everything.

(Ruth, present)
Now they didn't know where we were staying.

They didn't know
what we did during the day. Where...

Are we out there somewhere?
It must have been...

a very difficult situation for my parents.

(suspenseful music)

(Ruth whispering) Mother, come on.

(Conductor) Anyone boarded?

(Eugen, present)
As the schools were closed, I was "obliged to work",

that's what they called it then, in the Jewish cemetery.

Eugen Friede
hidden in 1943 at age 16
by his non-Jewish stepfather

(Eugen narrating)
That's why I see Helga only on weekends.

When I'm free from forced labor.

(melancholic music)

(Conductor) What, you dare to take the bus?

– I have a permit.
– A permit? Show it to me! Right now!

(menacing music)

(Conductor reading aloud)
"The Jew may use the Kreuzberg line

to commute to work as it is over seven kilometers."

Over seven kilometers, you got that.
Under that, one went on foot.

But it doesn't say anything about sitting on there!

That's when it happened to me that a person

gave me a pack of cigarettes.

Even though I did not smoke,

that was not the true meaning of it.

They wanted to show that they disagreed.

(Eugen narrating)
Most do not even know

everything that was forbidden to us.

We could not use radios or own bicycles anymore,

Jews even had to hand pets over to the authorities.

(Eugen, present)
You knew the types

in hat and leather coat.

I knew these were Gestapo officials.

Your star is not sewn on
in accordance with the regulations.

– Name?
– Eugen Friede.

Eugen Israel Friede!

Eugen Israel Friede.

Street?

28 Belle-Alliance Strasse, Kreuzberg.

Just watch it!

And sew your star on again.

Damned Jew-boy!

(menacing music)

In tears, my mother sewed

the star on again.

My father said:

He can't stay here.
It's too dangerous here.

In a few days, they'll get him.

Maybe tomorrow.

But we can't leave him.....all alone.

He's only sixteen!

(sad music)

(Eugen narrating)
I am the only one in the family...

who must wear the star.

Do you think it's easy for me?

(Eugen narrating)
Julius is my stepfather and is not a Jew.

Therefore, my mother also
does not have to wear the star.

Here.

I sewed it back on.

Come, try it on.

I will find someone to take you in.

That was actually the day of my...

On that day, my illegality began.

(Stepfather) Maybe it is only for a few days.

In February 1943, all Jewish forced laborers
still living in Berlin are arrested and deported
in the so-called "Factory Operation."

(Hanni, present)
I was with a friendly family.

They took me in after the death of my mother,
so that I wouldn't have to go to the orphanage.

Hanni Lévy née Weissenberg
submerged in 1943 at age 17
as an orphan

This family was deported before me.
I was not on the list...

so I could continue to stay in the apartment.

(Hanni narrating)
I had to sew parachutes in a factory.

But because of the silk threads, I got an infection.

I was treated by a doctor,

even though they were not allowed to treat Jews.

(car approaching, brakes squealing)

(car doors slamming)

(footsteps)

(door opening)

(footsteps, loud knocking)

(Man) Open up! Gestapo!

(menacing music)

(footsteps on the stairs)

(Woman speaking desperately, loud knocking)

(Hanni, present)
Then there was a knock.

One must sit tight.

When there's a knock on a door,
you want to answer it.

That's normal.

That was an emotion that I had never had before.

(loud knocking on door)
(Man) Open up! Gestapo!

(vigorous knocking)

That's when I realized that I had to leave the house.

(footsteps, car starting)

(Hanni, present)
I waited until everything was quiet.

(car engine rattling)

(car doors slamming)

(loud voices speaking)

(car doors slamming)

(engine rattling fades)

(menacing music)

(Hanni narrating)
I can't save anything...

and take with me just a bag and a coat.

(menacing music)

I can't say if I was scared or not.

I just had the will to live.

That's what you can call it.

I'm going to a friend of my deceased mother.

But I can only stay a few nights.

Before going, I have first removed the star.

But my papers,
I didn't dare to destroy them right away.

We must be careful.

The neighbor.

But how it was going to work out,
with food and other things,

I had no idea.

But I think that's how it is, when you are seventeen.

(machinery whirring and grinding)

I have the parents blocked out of my mind.

I was all alone.

I came back to the apartment

and had the idea to sell
all of the household furnishings.

(Cioma narrating)
Before the Gestapo
could come up with the same idea.

How did you manage that?

– What?
– To still be here.

I'm important to the war effort.

How long will they still need us?

(Cioma narrating)
Unfortunately, I had shown Manfred the altered identity document.

And now he comes with papers.

It seems that I'm not the only one
who wants to submerge.

The photo has to be changed.
He has submerged.

He needs some identity papers so he can go out on the street.

Can you do that?

(sinister music)

(thunder)

(Cioma narrating)
The whole building has been cleared.

I no longer feel safe in the apartment.

The Gestapo could come at any time.

I try to stay calm and to figure out

what the next step is.

Then came the idea of the room agency.

(Cioma narrating)
I have removed the yellow thing...

and gone to the Zoo Train Station.

Because I'm enlisting in the military...

(Cioma, present)
The woman at the counter did not even listen to me.

(Woman) Next!

"Here, take a list of addresses. Next, please!"

And already I was dismissed.

I thought, "That's how easy it is?"

(Cioma narrating)
You don't even have to identify yourself.

Berlin seems to me like a train station for men

who are going to join their regiments

and just need a room.

It's getting late,

too late to report to the police until the next day,

But I am already there.

(doorbell ringing)

(Woman) Yes, I'm coming!

(Cioma, present)
Then a blonde Wagnerian figure appears...

She looks at me and I tell my story.

Uncle from Cologne, bombed out.

Unfortunately, my uncle was bombed out.
May I?

I'm on my way to join the military.

He has my old room at my parents' place

so I'm looking for a room for a few nights.

She says, unmoved, "Horst!"

Horst, come here,
there's someone here about the room!

(Cioma, present)
Horst comes out. Sweaty.

On his forehead, you can see
the imprint of the uniform cap.

Mr. Sturmfuhrer,
my uncle is bombed out in Cologne.

Since I'm enlisting soon,
he has my old room.

(suspenseful music)

– Put your suitcase here.
– Yes, m'am.

What about reporting to the police?

Damn it.

It's already half past eight.

– You'll do that tomorrow morning.
– Yes, sir.

Do you see,

if everyone would have been
as reasonable as this young man,

then there would have been
fewer problems with bombing victims!

(Eugen narrating)
My father has placed me with acquaintances.

They're communists and have no children of their own.

The worst thing is that I can't see Helga anymore.

We hadn't even had time
to say goodbye to each other.

Not only that,

I don't really know the people.

One can already tell, after a short time,

that they are afraid and do not want

me to be there.

Like cabbage and turnips mixed up!

Where did you learn that?

(Eugen, present)
I felt uncomfortable.

Get away from the window!
I don't want anyone to see you!

(Eugen narrating)
After two weeks, she said, "Visitors are coming."

"We can't keep you here."

(Eugen, present)
But they were communists,

and they passed me along to other comrades.

That was my great luck.

(Ruth narrating)
I'm sleeping at my mother's friend's place

but I have to leave in the mornings.

(doorbell ringing)

My mother and brother are with Mrs. Léfèvre,

who is also a former patient of my father.

I would go there to spend the day.

Actually, that was pretty nice.

(slow music)

We have to be quiet and the bedroom is unheated,

but it's better than wandering around outside.

(footsteps above)
We keep busy with parlor games.

After a few days we recognize

which neighbor is leaving or entering the building.

(whispering) The man from the third floor.

H...

(muffled coughing)

Jochen's cough is getting worse.

Don't look!

Um-hmm...

So, what do we want to do
with this beautiful brown hair?

Dye, please.

(Hanni, present)
I had to change.

– She wants to make it blonde.
– Good.

(Hanni, present)
Another hairstyle.

My niece.

(Hanni, present)
It has been a long time since

I had a different look.

(Hairdresser) How blonde?

(Hanni narrating)
Other women have also become blonde...

but for vanity or fashion.

(Hairdresser) Yes, yes.

One must suffer a little to be beautiful.

We can't do it in one appointment.

We'll do it tomorrow and then
the day after tomorrow, another appointment.

Same time as today?

Yes.

– What is your name?
– Hanni.

– Just Hanni?
– Hannelore.

Hannelore. And your last name?

Winkler.

Hannelore Winkler.

That was H and W.
The name I would not forget.

But later it was difficult
to remember my real name again.

(melancholy music)

(Hanni narrating)
With a new name and appearance

I became someone else.

Something fell away from me.

(loud rapping on window)

(heels clicking) Heil Hitler!
Bäcker, from the agency for bomb victims.

(Ruth, present)
There was a regulation.

If you had a big apartment

with a certain number of rooms,

you had to house people who were bombed out.

I want to verify the size of your apartment.

I have an important doctor's appointment soon.

– How many rooms do you have?
– Three.

(Bäcker) Living room

(menacing music)

– Bedroom.
– Wait!

Let me take a quick look to see if I made my bed.

You live here with your husband?

My husband has already fallen in combat.

(heels clicking) My condolences.

(menacing music)

(Bäcker) Enough space for a whole family.

Listen, this one, this one is my bedroom.

(suppressed coughing)

– Was there something?
– Come over here...

this is my daughter's room.

You can put some beds in here, too.
So five...

Here you go.

(Bäcker) You'll hear from us again soon.

(Ruth, present)
We heard that the room would be given

to people who were bombed out.

That meant that we lost this hiding place.

(Man) Heil Hitler!

(cheerful music)

Sorry, I'm coming from the room agency.

Good evening!
I was given your address by the room agency.

Heil Hitler, Mrs. Anker.
I am here about the room.

Thank you very much.

That's how it went about twenty times.

But then...

a very sweet,

(Cioma) Good evening!

somewhat plump woman.

You are Frau Schirmacher?

She looked at me kindly
and I thought she was that.

– Come in.
– Many thanks!

(sniffing) Ah, that smells good!

So your uncle, he had to go into the child's room,
the old gentleman?

Ah, yes.

(Frau Schirmacher) So, this is the room.

– You've been living at home until now, yes?
– Yes.

So you still get your food ration cards at home?

Yes.

Then you are still registered at home?

Yes, of course.

Then, why should I have you sign up
a second time here?

"If I don't do that, I'll save paying the taxes."

I won't register you.

(Cioma narrating)
I could hug her!

It's clean and it stays clean!

I have finally found a place where I can stay.

(Woman humming a tune)

(Radio Announcer) News of the wireless service.

Before that, the time.

At the sound of the gong, it's 5 p.m.

(doorbell ringing, gong sounding on radio)

From the High Command of the Wehrmacht...

The boy is here.

reinforced.....the Bolsheviks...

the pressure against the German lines...

(sighing) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

(Woman) So.

The Horns are against Hitler
and wanted to take me in right away.

Julius Friede.

(Eugen, present)
They had a garden,

a one-family house,

and they had a nice lamp shop.

Radios, lamps...

They have a daughter.

This is Ruth, our daughter.
Say hello, Ruth.

– Hello!
– Eugen.

(Eugen narrating)
I'll stay safe here until the end of the war.

The daughter is lots of fun, flirty.

This is obvious from the first moment.

And I have to say honestly,

Helga quickly becomes more distant...

rather than present.

(Mrs. Horn) Here you go.

Mrs. Horn, Mr. Horn,

you don't know how grateful we are

that you're letting Eugen live with you for a while.

(Mrs. Horn) It's our pleasure.

(Cioma narrating)
From the people

for whom I forged the military service passport,

I get an address
in the posh neighborhood of Grunewald.

A Dr. Kaufmann wants to meet with me there.

No one followed you?

(Cioma, present)
That was a beautiful, traditional villa,

a luxurious Berlin house of a senior official

in the finance ministry of the German government.

Good morning, it's a pleasure.

We have seen your altered documents.

Good work.
Where did you learn to do that?

– At the school for applied arts.
– We've investigated that.

Here...

What amuses you about an identity document

that will save the life of one who is persecuted?

It's just the job title.

She doesn't look like an Assistant Housekeeper.

(Kaufmann) Do you have tools?

Yes, from my training.

I also have an eyelet machine.

Good, Schönhaus.

So...

(Cioma, present)
Our collaboration began.

He gave me first

three or four identity documents
and when he liked them,

I always got on Fridays

a batch of twenty identity documents.

(melancholic music)

(Hanni narrating)
During the day, I'm on the street.

I go where there are many people.

On Kurfürstendamm, I am noticed the least...

I hope.

As long as I still had my real name

and my appearance,

I had to duck.

Now I had to learn not to slouch anymore.

You have to learn to move like others

and try not to be too scared or to cringe.

I cannot show anxiety.

No one can do you any harm

because you are officially not here anymore.

Good morning, young lady.

– Are you interested in the film?
– I don't know yet.

I forced myself to

react differently.

May I invite you to the cinema?

Perhaps then you might exaggerate it...

No thanks. My fiancé is coming.

That's a shame, good afternoon.

(soft music)

(Hanni narrating)
I always look around carefully.

I let my eyes wander and look at everyone,

in case, God forbid, I discover a familiar face.

I'm behaving like everyone else.

But I'm careful, in case someone could recognize me.

(murmuring)

Two apple beers, please.

– Good morning, Hanni.
– Hello, Mrs. Berger.

I brought you something.
It burns a little.

Thank you.

Some money for you.
You'll have to go back to the hairdresser soon.

(soft music)

(Hanni narrating)
I thought I was the only one.

I could never have imagined that others were doing the same.

(Ruth, present)
There was a blackout because of the bombing.

That was, in and of itself, to our advantage.

First, it was evening, with few people on the street,

if any.

And if there were,

then they could not recognize anyone.

(suspenseful music)

(Ruth whispering) Papa!

(Ruth narrating)
One lives from hour to hour, day to day.

And Jochen? How is he?

Jochen has found something. In a factory.

He can work there, too.

Not far from here.

– Mother?
– Mother is with a woman in Wedding.

For several days.

(footsteps approaching)

(footsteps fading away)

I don't know where Bruno is.

It's been a few days since he disappeared.

– Maybe they have him...
– Bruno is smart.

They won't catch him.

From Mrs. Gehre, something to eat.

Of course, food was always an issue.

That was a terrible...

That was the worst, not having enough.

Nobody was full.

Everyone was always a little hungry.

You could never eat enough.

No one.

Neither us, the submerged,
nor the ones who helped us.

It was a terrible situation.

Maybe I can work, too.

– In a small shop.
– In a shop?

Yes, but only after closing time.

I can clean there.

They don't ask questions.

Papa, it's going to be all right. Don't worry.

– Yes?
– Take care of yourself.

(sad music)

(knocking on door)

One moment, please!

(Frau Schirmacher laughing)
You're such a homebody!

I made coffee.
Will you have a cup with me?

– Um-hmm.
– Wow!

So, that's how you spend so much time in your room.

Yes, it's just a pastime.

– Um-hmm.
– To compensate for work.

– A hobby, so to speak.
– So to speak, yes.

My professional work is technical drafting.

I'm curious about what sort of things
you draw professionally,

that are so important, here in Berlin.

But I'm lucky

to have such a great subtenant!

But I did something

which helped me

to win the goodwill of the landlady.

I made up my bed myself,

as I'm used to doing at home.

So, the landlady had practically no work
because of me.

(All singing) ♪ Long may he live! ♪

♪ Long may he live! ♪

♪ Three times long! ♪

Wait! Eugen, take a picture!

(Eugen narrating)
Even my father comes for Mr. Horn's birthday.

Illegality and hiddenness, I had imagined differently.

(Eugen) Smile!

(Eugen, present)
We had what we needed to eat.

Mrs. Horn had everything we needed as far as food,

even without having to give ration cards.

We were fine.

It was really a good life.

For a short time.

Don't eat too much!
We are having doves this evening.

(soft music)

(doorbell ringing)

(Kaufmann) Good work!

And you were fast.

Two more identity documents.

That's the same man who just left?

It's not good to know any more than necessary.

There are only a few who can keep silent.

If you get your fingers caught in a door

and it slams shut...

Do you understand?

Here, your reward.

Food ration cards.
Two sets per identity document.

Do not get caught reselling them.

Your work is of the utmost importance.

– Are you aware of this, Schönhaus?
– Yes, sir.

(Ruth narrating)
I have to change my lodging again.

I'm with Ellen, who lives
in the attic of an acquaintance.

(slow music)

What are you sewing there?

(Ruth, present)
After we had been submerged for a while,

we got stir-crazy, right?

So she said, "Let's go out to the cinema."

There were many war widows.
That did not stand out.

You don't mean this seriously...

That's the perfect camouflage for outside.

(playful music)

Good evening. Two tickets, please.

– (Cashier) Here, thank you.
– Thank you.

(exuberant film music)

(Ruth narrating)
The cinema offers many benefits.

Victory messages are not encouraging for us...

but it's nice and warm.

And you can be in the dark, feel safe.

Halfway.

(Film Narrator) The peasants are by Soviets...

(Soldier) Is this seat still free?

(Film Narrator) Villages and fields
were turned into wasteland.

(film music playing)
Continue on to...

The soldier looked over at you.

It's not as if he wanted something from you!
He thought more like,

"These two women,
so young and already widows!"

(Ruth, present)
That's the funny thing.

We found humor in many situations.

We are all convinced that helped us.

(giggling)
(Ruth) Psst!

Ellen?

Ellen Lewinsky, is that you?

Ellen!

(menacing music)

Who was that?

Stella.

Stella?

We had heard that there were Jewish informers,

those who worked for the Gestapo.

There were various names.

One was Stella Goldschlag, whom Ellen knew.

You worked with her?

She was in the department next door.
I saw her every now and then.

Mother has heard
that she snitches for the Gestapo,

running around looking for people
who are submerged.

As a reward, the Gestapo had said

they would, in the case of Stella,
take care of her parents,

that the parents would not be removed.

Naturally, they were transported out later, anyway.

The Gestapo blackmailed Stella Goldschlag
and another 20 Jewish Berliners,
to hunt down the submerged.

(Cioma narrating)
Sometimes I went for lunch
at restaurants on Kurfürstendamm

where you could still have a proper meal
without ration coupons.

Here I meet my friend Ludwig Lichtwitz.

Two cups of coffee, please.

(Cioma narrating)
He is also a Jew and submerged.

He sells the food ration cards for me.

Ludwig has made all kinds of useful connections.

I have something for us. A workshop.

In Moabit, on Walden Strasse.
Lots of people, completely safe.

(ominous music)

(train rattling)

(mysterious music)

There it is.

(Cioma, present)
Ludwig was friends

with a chauffeur from the Afghan Embassy.

The chauffeur has the workshop officially rented

in the name of the Afghan Embassy.

The landlord thinks that the embassy
stores stuff here.

No one asks who comes and goes.

– No catch?
– No catch.

(Cioma, present)
There was also a third party in the league...

(knocking on door)
That's Werner.

Werner Scharff.

One of the well-known characters
in the history of illegality.

He's an electrician in the Jewish community.

Is there still a community?

A few people are still here.
They still need it.

The Jewish community
was taken over by the Gestapo.

But because Werner Scharff knew all about

electrical lines and electrical contacts,

they took him over.

You're the draftsman with the food ration cards?

– Hmm, you're well informed!
– Don't worry.

Nobody will bother you here.

(Cioma, present)
The inhabitants saw us coming and going.

(Werner) In case anyone comes.

If they asked us what we did,

we said, "Wartime secret!"

That's how we lived quite safely in the house.

It was actually an ordinary-looking place to stay

and it worked in that sense.

– A bit short?
– Looks good.

(sad music)

(Hanni narrating)
The family I was staying with was denounced

because a young man
sometimes stayed with them overnight.

A deserter.

Now I can't sleep there anymore.

The throbbing and pulsing in my finger
is getting worse and worse.

I don't know what I should do, anymore.

(melancholic music)

(knocking on door)
(Woman) Hello?

(door rattling)
(Woman) Who's in there?

(knocking again)
(Woman) Is everything okay?

(shaking and tapping)
(Man) We're calling the police.

I'm coming. I was just sick.

(Woman) What are you doing in there for so long?

Are you not feeling well?

It's fine now.

We don't want any trouble here, understand?

(Hanni narrating)
Worse than my finger and the fatigue

is the feeling of going crazy...

because I can't talk to anyone.

(Hanni, present)
I always had the feeling

that someone was watching over me.

Maybe it was my father.
It is just a feeling...

One can't know.

So, now it's out.

Wait. It's not ready yet.

(quiet music)

(Mrs. Horn, distant) In the shop, they know

how much we always buy.

(Mr. Horn, subdued) You keep your mouth shut!

(Mrs. Horn) I have only said that we have a guest,

and if they could, to give me a bit more.

(Mr. Horn) You need to stop blabbering so much!

(Mrs. Horn) I didn't say anything!

Then why does the butcher ask me
if we are hiding a Jew?

That was the moment
when I had to disappear quickly.

(Mr. Horn) Do you know what that means for all of us?

(Eugen, present)
The woman became hysterical,

"Your dad should pick you up immediately!"

The boy must disappear immediately.

(plaintive music)

(Eugen narrating)
That's how the pleasant days with the Horns end.

We are waiting for a man
who will get me out of Berlin.

(knocking on door)

Then Winkler comes one afternoon.

(Mrs. Horn) This is Mr. Winkler.

(Eugen, present)
He looked at me and said,

"Pack the suitcase, we're going to Luckenwalde."

It's three quarters of an hour by train.
Stay well behind me.

(sad music)

I was out on the streeet
for the first time in a long while.

I was scared because at the time,

no young men

of my age did not wear a uniform.

Someone like me,
totally in civilian clothes, was unusual.

(ominous music)

That train ride was a whole production.

The fear was great
that a police inspector might come.

I avoided facing others.

Winkler sat down and quietly read a newspaper.

I sat elsewhere.

We deliberately sat apart

and everything went well to Luckenwalde.

(Man) So you are Eugen.

– I am Horst.
– Hello, Horst.

– Do you play soccer?
– Yes.

(Winkler) Stand next to each other.

His son, who had my physique

and was one year younger, Horst,

and the eleven-year-old daughter, Ruth.

You can wear Horst's Hitler Youth uniform.
Then you can go out.

That's your cousin, Eugen.

Four people lived in a small, two-room apartment.

Two rooms.

And there they took me in.

Good evening, Eugen.
It's nice that you're here.

Thank you very much.

(lively music)

(Cioma narrating)
Finally, I have a place to work.

(Cioma, present)
With each identity document,

comes additional risk.

Do I need it?

I said, "I enjoy doing it."

It was stimulating.

I felt like it was a real job.

I never had another job that was as much fun as that.

(Cioma narrating)
Kaufmann and Helene Jacobs

earn "Helpful Berliner" badges

for reporting their papers as lost.

Genuine documents,
so that I can't make a mistake

when I change the photos and copy the stamp.

I'll also need papers, soon.

I've heard that we'll be next.

The Reich Association of Jews
will be dissolved, too.

Got myself betrayed by a jerk in the Gestapo.

Nice of him, huh?

Anyone who wants to grab me
must get past my "colleague" here.

I won't let myself be arrested by them.

(Ruth narrating)
We have no place to stay

and are outside at night.

It was constant snow and ice. Cold.

And very often, when I had no place to stay at all,

I am also on the streets,
walking around until the morning,

until I could get back to one or another apartment.

It's all a bit blurry.

But the idea

that it was winter, that is so clear.

I can still feel it.

You know?

Empty stomach. No hot meal in sight.

None at all. Not even a cup of coffee.

And then, not knowing where to stay.

Mama, which uncle is Eugen the son of?

Do your homework.

(Eugen, present)
She bugged her mother:
"Who is that and what does he want?

He's with us and he's not my cousin.

I want to know who he is."

The mother took her aside and said,

Ruth, Eugen is a Jew we are hiding here.

"Why are we hiding him?"
"Because the Nazis will kill him."

We don't want that.

(Eugen, present)
Many children have betrayed their parents.

They were asked to do so

in the Hitler Youth, when they realized

that their parents disagreed politically
with the Nazis.

(disturbing music)

Something went wrong once.
Something very bad happened.

Do you know where this morning's newspaper is?

"Ludwig,

where's the newspaper
that was laying here on the desk?"

"The newspaper?"

I used it for fuel in the stove.

Have you lost your mind?!

There were about twenty identity documents in it.

For God's sake!
How will I explain this to Dr. Kaufmann?

Say what you want, Schönhaus,
but I don't believe it.

"An identity document on the black market

costs a few thousand marks.

What you burned there..."

That is a fortune.

People are waiting for their papers.

It's a matter of life and death.

You haven't done something else
with the identity papers?

I swear, Mrs. Jacobs, by my parents' lives.

(Cioma, present)
I had the greatest respect for Dr. Kaufmann.

When you realize

that you must endure that gaze of total disdain,

that is very unpleasant.

Cioma, I'm not sure if it's true...

but we need your help.

I hope that we can continue to trust you.

(doorbell ringing)

– Heil Hitler.
– Heil Hitler.

(operatic music on the radio)

If you want to set your things down, please do.

(Woman) It's nice that it worked out.

There's a lot to do in a big place.

We came there

through people Ellen knew.

My husband.

(Man) Hi, ladies.

Wehlen.

He knew

that we were Jewish and were submerged.

But he didn't know our names.

And you are?

– (together) Lise...Mari...
– Marianne.

Liselotte.

Hans, please turn off the radio.

Hopefully, they will do something
about the bombers here!

One can hardly sleep
because of the loud "victory reports"!

He and his wife said we could clean the house.

Boy, we cleaned it!

And watch the children.

These are our children. Children...
(telephone ringing)

This is our oldest, Hilde.

That's Fritzi.

Wehlen.

He knew who we were and didn't say a thing.

He protected us.

Completely protected us.

And we had fabulous meals there.

It was an ideal situation.

On 19 June 1943,
Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels
declared that Berlin was "free of Jews".

(Cioma narrating)
Work from Kaufmann brings in a lot of money.

With the food ration cards I sold,

I fulfilled a childhood dream.

I bought myself a secondhand sailboat.

(Cioma, present)
Ludwig said, "That would be crazy!

On land, it's already dangerous enough.

I will not go with you on that boat."

But I found that...

that gave me strength,

the sailboat.

(triumphant program music)

(Ruth, present)
I went to the cinema.

I do not remember anymore, which movie.

I wondered why the seat next to me remained empty.

(Film Narrator) The 3rd Army with 25 infantry divisions

and 15 armored units led a major offensive.

It is among the greatest sacrifices of blood

and a loss of 500 tanks for the Bolsheviks,

a bloody collapse.

So the attacker shows that he...

Then the film was over.

It was a romantic comedy or something.

(Man) Excuse me...

Would you like to go for a walk with me?

Yes, well, I...

I have gotten my draft notice

and in three days, I'll be a soldier.

That has me, first, touched a bit...

and second, I had nothing else to do.
(laughing)

– Do you live nearby?
– No, in Tempelhof.

At your parents'?

With a friend of my mother.

Then why are you always coming to the cinema here?

How do you know that?

My mother told me that you always go to the cinema.

(Hanni, present)
The cashier was his mother.

And there was an usher.

He asked the usher to keep the seat open.

That's what you did?

He probably had other intentions.
(laughing) I don't know about that.

Hanni...

I wanted to ask you...

if you will visit my mother.

You want me to visit your mother?

Yes.

My father is very old.

She has no one else.

So she'll have someone to talk to.

Since I have to leave now...

she shouldn't feel lonely.

Yes.

(Cioma narrating)
Werner has disappeared.

With the right papers...

you can even feel safe from a police inspector.

– I will call ahead to see if the coast is clear.
– Fine.

But it becomes dangerous
if someone recognizes you.

(ominous music)

He was not paying attention
while calling from the telephone booth.

When he is finished and ready to go...

Look who we have here!

"So, and you come with me."
He was arrested.

You can't let me go?

(Cioma narrating)
They will beat it out of him,

where he is staying.

We have to be sure that the coast is still clear.

Apparently, he was interrogated
but kept his mouth shut

and didn't betray us.

(Men laughing and talking loudly)

Because of the bombings,

the wife and children were evacuated.

Mr. Wehlen then stayed alone in the apartment.

(glass ringing)

My dear Colonel Wehlen,

I'm surprised at what you have to offer us.

Why should only our staff in Paris

live like God allows in France?

He had everything, everything.

Wonderful food.

He dealt on the black market,

but on a large scale, not just in small items.

Not only your wine is first class!

Ham from Bayonne!

Aged for six months. Best quality.

We had parties all the time.

Ellen and I cooked, what was there.

Then we had to serve it.

(suggestively) Hmm.

Slim as a deer, huh?

Now all the men were drunk.

We had to be very quick on our feet.

And pretty dark eyes.....like a Jewess!

There are no Jews in Berlin.
(Men laughing)

The girls come from a good family.

Show them the same respect

that you give the wine,

a Château Batailley...

– from our beautiful Bordeaux.
– (Men) Oh!

– (Wehlen) Cheers!
– (Men) Cheers!

– To the Führer!
– (Men) To the Führer!

(glasses clinking)

(church bell ringing)

(Woman) Cioma?

We know each other.

From school.

Oh, that Stella! Yes, yes.

That was a great moment,
when I passed the KaDeWe department store.

I said, "Hello, Stella.
Would you like to have a drink?"

She says, "Yes."

(mysterious music)

(Cioma, present)
I would liked to have been her friend.

But I was not as attractive as the other guys.

She always had

a wreath of guys around her.

Everything seems to be going well for you.

I would like to have talked to you then,

in school.

(Cioma, present)
I put my hand on hers.

She did not pull away.

So I thought, "Yay, that's good."

(mysterious music)

Stella?

"Shall I show you my illegal room?"

The one at Frau Schirmacher's.

Then she says, "Yes."

You are really crazy.

Come on.

It's only two stations by bus.

Aren't you making a mistake?

I have the feeling that an angel intervened.

Yes.

You're right.

That was a declaration of love from her.

She said, "Aren't you making a mistake?"

Because,

as a rule, she betrays people.

One, two, three, four, five.....out!

(knocking on door, dog barking)

(knocking again)

(Man) A friend sent us.
Is your husband there?

Come on, I'll let you in.

(Eugen, present)
When it rang,

I went into the Winklers' bedroom.

There was a nook between the wall

and the wardrobe.

I stood in it and pulled

a clothes rack in front of it.

Come on in.

My husband will be here in a minute.

Have a seat.

(ominous music)

Mr. Winkler?

We were given your address by Günter Samuel.

We were in Theresienstadt.

(Winkler) You've escaped from the camp?

(Werner) We walked. Only at night.

As far as I know,

only three people succeeded,
since this camp existed,

in getting out of there alive.

Among others, Werner Scharff

and his girlfriend Fancia Grün.

That's Eugen,

a Jewish boy we're hiding here.

Frida, make something to eat,
they're half-starved.

We sat around the table and then...

he tells, Werner Scharff,

what he knows.

That was the first time that I heard

what they did with Jews.

They were all killed.

The next day, all of them are dead.

They are gassed there.
Thousands!

What am I saying?
Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands!

He came right out and said
that the Jews would be killed.

And that millions of Jews...

would be gassed and incinerated.

I could not imagine that.

I asked, "Why?

They have taken everything from them.
Why kill them?"

Yes, because the Nazis had their worldview,

that Jews were to blame
for all the evil in the world.

They had to be killed.
Yes, that's their ideology.

(soft music)

Excuse me?

We're closing now.

Weren't you in the cinema yesterday?

– Yes.
– That's not as it should be.

Mrs. Kolzer?

How do you know...

I was walking with your son.

(Hanni, present)
So I told her,

that I'm Jewish and being hunted and don't know...

I don't know where I can sleep.

So she said to me, "You come with me."

Wait here.

I'm closing up shortly.

If anyone asks us,

you are the daughter of my sister, my niece.

(Hanni, present)
You have to imagine,

these two people

were of very modest means.

Now here comes a stranger to whom,
out of the goodness of their hearts...

(whispering) She's asleep.

...they give shelter...

(whispering) Let's set up the cot.

...for whom they must provide, for the most part.

But I only thought about that later.

The only thing that I was aware of is that I slept well.

And that I had found people
who were good human beings.

There it goes.

– What's up now?
– My bag. Have you seen my bag?

Yeah, I used it for fuel in the stove.

Everything was in it.
Wallet, money, identity papers...

– Did you lose the bag?
– Yes, I must have left it on the train!

Kaufmann.

Well, I am waiting. Thank you.

His superior was a Dr. Popitz.

One of those who was later executed
on the 20th of July.

He called Dr. Popitz right away

and asked for any urgent information.

"They are bringing charges against Schönhaus."

Are you sure? Wanted posters?

(menacing music)

Yes, thank you.

Schönhaus...

They are already looking for you.
No more going out on the street.

There is a wanted poster
with a photo from your identity papers.

I can't believe it...

Now you are rehabilitated, Schönhaus.

Since you are so careless with your own things...

"Now I believe you,

that the identity documents
were burned in the stove."

The most important thing is that
we get you a new place to stay.

(telephone dialing)

(telephone ringing)

(on telephone) Jacobs.

(dog barking outside)

(Eugen narrating)
Mr. Winkler is looking for accommodations

for the Theresienstadt refugees.

But Werner Scharff
doesn't want to stay in Luckenwalde.

He has other plans.

It's only a good half hour
from the Zoo Train Station to here.

(Eugen, present)
Madness!

A really crazy guy, that one...

completely fearless.

What if you are in Berlin
and someone recognizes you?

Should I hide until the end of the war?

Take a look!
It's a small one but it types like a big one.

He said from the first day,

"You have to do something against the Nazis."

What do you want it for?

Hiding Jews is good but it's not enough.

– Didn't you tell her...
– We want to do something.

He came up with ideas, as he imagined

how to get the resistance

organized and what it might look like.

– You heard Werner.
– Yes, and so what?

To tell that to children was dangerous enough.

If no one does anything, nothing will happen.

We have to distribute leaflets
in the form of chain letters.

We are making leaflets!

With the goal of informing the population

about the actual state of the war.

That the war is lost!

The Nazi murderers only want to save their own skins!

They have to know that now, by a passionate appeal!

I was enthusiastic.
Hans Winkler was enthusiastic.

Only Aunt Frida saw things more realistically.

You put the idea in my husband's head.

You're both crazy!

Werner didn't come up with that!

Exactly how that idea

got in his head caused a serious rift.

Listen to this:

"Fellow Germans!
Providence has abandoned the Führer...

and the commanding officers carry on a lost fight

to extend their own lives!"

– Huh, how does that sound?
– It's good!

When it comes out that you planned this,
they'll string us up!

(Cioma narrating)
Dr. Kaufmann has found accommodations for me.

I'm going straight there by bus.

Because of the many wanted posters,

we go late in the evening to Helene Jacobs'

where I'll be safe...

I hope.

Is that your bag?

"Are you two together?"

– What do you care?
– Relax, young man.

"Relax, relax."

And I started thinking...

What kind of guy is this?
Senior criminal detective...

experiencing for the first time

in his civil service career, that he has a...

wanted man in front of him.

I think, "Well, now it's the last stop.

You will never get out of here."

At that moment, Ludwig gets up and...

he gets up too.

What will he do?

He'll be down there, behind the stairs, waiting.

Or, he is going to arrest Ludwig.

(brakes squeaking)

(ominous music)

(engine accelerating)

What can I do now?

Go down the stairs very slowly

without making any noise.

Then I waited for the bus to go around a curve.

It slowed down and I jumped off.

Ten minutes later, here comes Ludwig.

Just as cool as a cucumber!

I asked him, "What about that guy?"

"Oh, he's just hanging around under the stairs."

(Eugen narrating)
A friend gave us a duplicating machine.

He wants to help mail the leaflets.

The host at the bar in the train station

who has housed Werner and Fancia.

Werner's girlfriend can also work with him in the bar.

They even have a name:

Community for Peace and Development.

(Eugen, present)
That's the unique thing

about this organization.

It's small and the people are inexperienced
but very courageous,

with ambitious goals.

We have to wake them up!

No other group successfully

sent so many chain letters...

Addresses throughout Germany.

...across the whole country.

We'll put the letters in mailboxes in Berlin.

Here, I've taken from the courthouse...

...an ink stamp for the post office.

We don't even have to pay postage
for the chain letters.

(Winkler) And from there to a branch
of our punctual German post office!

(suspenseful music)

Hans Winkler, with his 11-year-old daughter, Ruth,

goes to Berlin,
where he throws the things into mailboxes,

until his wife got mad and asked

if he isn't worried
that something will happen to the child.

– You have all of them together?!
– Don't worry.

No one checks us,

when I'm on the way with her and the backpack.

Come here.

Do you see? It couldn't be safer.
Trust me.

(Helene) Cioma.

Lord, we pray for those who have nothing to eat,

who are hungry and do not know
what they will eat tomorrow.

– Amen.
– Amen.

(siren howling)

(Cioma, present)
The only bad thing was
that you feared the air raid alarm.

She lived on the fifth floor.

Ludwig drove to the Stössensee bay
and got all the ropes off the boat.

We tied them to the heater

and I imagined

that if a bomb hits and

only the staircase is destroyed
but the facade still stands,

I can climb down.

I never had to do it.

(siren fading)

With so many bombs, the mail can be interrupted.

Perhaps the letter didn't arrive.

(Hanni narrating)
Her husband is dead

and she's worried about her son.

(faint talking on the radio)

Nothing has happened to him,
or someone would have already come.

Then we started to live alone with each other.

Like mother and daughter.

The young man was away, off at war,

and we relied on each other for support.

There is not much left.

There may be enough for two more times,
then it's all gone.

They don't have any left at the pharmacy.

How much longer can the war last?

(drumming on radio)

(Radio Announcer) This is England.

This is England.

First, the headlines.

This went on, until one day,
there was a telephone call.

(telephone ringing)

Jacobs.

From a Mr. Hallermann,

looking for Dr. Kaufmann.

I don't know where you can meet Kaufmann.

Yes. Can't it wait until tomorrow?

Fine.

An acquaintance of Kaufmann.
I have to go.

– What if it's a trap?
– Yes, perhaps.

But if I don't go, he'll come here.

If I'm not back in two hours, then...

(slow music)

Later, I learned that when she came there,

Hallermann was there with two detectives

and said, "That's her."

Then Helene was arrested.

(Cioma narrating)
Helene did not show up by the morning.

I went one last time to the workshop.

(ominous music)

There I have hidden a document...

that I have prepared just in case.

A military service passport
that identifies me as a soldier on leave.

I have a crazy plan.

I want to go by bicycle across Germany...

and try to go over the border to Switzerland.

In March 1944, the U.S. Army Air Force
makes its first daylight attack on Berlin.
From then on, bombs fall at any time of the day.

(distant aircraft droning)

(Eugen, present)
Every day...

thousands of planes flew over Luckenwalde.

Bombers. Whole squadrons.

It was like a celebration when

the silver fish-like planes flew overhead.

You knew it couldn't be too long.

(Eugen narrating)
My parents are here, too.

My father should be in the Volkssturm militia.

If something had happened to him,

he no longer would have been able
to protect my mother...

and she would have been sent to a camp.

So they submerged.

Winkler has us worried about the attic room.

The boy doesn't listen to me anymore.

Julius, tell him that he should help me.

Eugen, come give me a hand!

What are those tablets?

(suspenseful music)

You never know.

Just in case.

The war is almost over!

(siren howling)

(Ruth, present)
On the 3rd of February, there was a big air raid.

That day, I was at Wehlen's,

alone in the house, he wasn't there, either.

We never thought that the bombs

could strike us.

They weren't meant for us but for the Germans.

But when there was an attack, it wasn't wonderful.

It was mixed emotions.

We wanted them to be bombed.

Naturally.

(suspenseful music)

Then I wanted to go from the house to the factory.

I went on foot.

The bad thing was that
the closer I got to Mitte, in central Berlin...

the more damage I saw.

Bombed out houses...

...dead horses in the street...

...dead people.

It was horrific and it took

perhaps two hours.

It was really very terrible.

I went there and in the street

nothing happened, not to the Köhler's
and not to the Gehre's.

(Ruth narrating)
My brother is in the factory in Kreuzberg,

where he can also sleep.

My mother and Ellen may also be there during the day.

(knocking on door)

– (Jochen) Who's there?
– It's me.

(Ruth, present)
My brother and the others did not know

what had happened to me.

They had bombing attacks there

and did not know if there were also air raids at Wehlen's.

It was a great reunion,

naturally, for everyone.

Ahhh, yes...

I remember everything, in detail.

(Eugen narrating)
Our group is betrayed.

Hans Winkler and Werner Scharff are arrested.

My parents and I hope

that the Gestapo will not find us.

(loud knocking on door)

On the 11th of December,
there was a knock on the door.

(Man) Open up!

If we heard a noise on the stairs,

I went into the wardrobe.

I was able to see what was going on through a crack,

and saw the two...

Secret State Policemen!

...who acted as if...

as if they had raided a whole nest of partisans.

(Man) Where is the boy?

– (Wife) Leave my husband alone!
– Shut up!

Where is the boy?

One of them yanked the closet door open.

He knew one person was missing.

They knew we were there.
They knew everything.

Let's go, come with me.

Slaps right and left...

I also remember that...

I wanted to pack a few basic necessities.

You no longer need a toothbrush!

Everyone come with me!

(menacing music)

(Man) Hurry up!

(Eugen narrating)
The former Jewish hospital in Berlin had become

the Gestapo's final deportation collection point.

Any Jews left in the city
were brought here when captured.

(people coughing)

My mother was taken on one of the last transports

to Theresienstadt.

My father died the evening of our arrest
from taking the tablets.

I'm still here because the trial for high treason

against Winkler and the others is being prepared.

(Eugen, present)
I never expected not to get out of it.

I always believed...

that I could get out of there.

By some means, I'll get out of it.

I can only explain it as youth...

and the idea that I was innocent of any evil.

Somehow I will get out of the mess.

– Cut me a piece?
– (Jochen) Sure.

(Ruth narrating)
We can't stay with Wehlen.

But here in the workshop

the owner, Mr. Köhler, forbids questions to the workers,

since we have a "secret war mission".

"I'll tell other people

that you have a special assignment from Hitler

and that will be okay."

(knocking on door)

(Jochen) Who's there?

(melancholic music)

(Ruth) Bruno!

(Ruth laughing)

(Jochen) Come here!

How did you know that we were here?

The woman didn't want to say at first...

(Ruth narrating)
Bruno can stay here, too.

In the growing chaos, no one will notice.

If only the war would soon be over.

(Jochen) He brought food.

(Eugen narrating)
After a while, I end up in the Gestapo cellar...

and there I become very afraid.

That was a dungeon, like I had never seen before.

The people were chained by hand and foot

to iron rings.

(Eugen narrating)
Every so often, they took someone out...

never to return.

(sinister music)

(door opening)

– Is there a German swine left?
– Here.

Get up.

– Name?
– Eugen Friede.

Eugen Israel Friede!

Come with me!

He grabbed me by the collar and shoved me along.

He opened a door, gave me a kick...

and I was outside.

I was in the Grosse Hamburger Strasse.

(Eugen narrating)
I don't know how long I sat in the basement...

but it's a special day.

It is April 23, 1945, my 19th birthday.

(Eugen, present)
I hid for a few days,

until the Russians were there to stay.

(Ruth narrating)
We were able to muddle through almost two years

but are now afraid of being buried
in an air-raid shelter

before the war ends.

April 1945 was constant

bombing and shooting

so you could no longer go out of the basement.

(bombs exploding)

There was nothing to eat but we were able

to get water for us from a pump

in Naunyn Strasse,

around the corner from Oranien Strasse.

I'm going to get fresh water.

Any men in here?

(Ruth, present)
Jochen and Bruno were in a coal cellar.

They were not allowed to be seen.

It was dangerous to go out

because lots of things were flying around.

I had a bucket in my hand

and went around the corner,
I could see the pump already...

but there were two Russian soldiers.

(sinister music)

I did not know what was happening.

Russian soldiers!
Are they really here already?

So, I ran back to the cellar,

and I shouted, "The Russians are here!"

The Russians are here!
The war is over!

The war is over!

We did not know what we should do.

The German women started crying,

"For God's sake, what will happen to us now?"

My mother immediately rips the hem

of her coat.

Before we submerged,

she had sewn our Jewish identification cards
into the hem.

Then a Russian soldier with a rifle
came into the cellar,

Looking as if he is going to shoot us,

and my mother said, "No, no, no, no!

We are Jewish."

He did not understand anything...

and went back out again.

The Russian army had so much to avenge.

(glass breaking)

I am Jewish!

German woman!

– Not German woman, Jewess.
– (Soldier) German woman.

Nobody believed me.
"You're not Jewish.

Hitler has killed all the Jews.
And you are blonde.

So, no speaking of Jews at all.

Tonight we will come visit."

Tonight we will come, German woman.

I didn't wait until they came back.

(Hanni narrating)
I have to flee again.

But there are two of us together and our path leads to freedom.

(hopeful music)

And then my brother and Bruno were standing

in the courtyard of the factory.

It was two or three days later.

Then a soldier comes with a pistol pointed at the boys.

Don't shoot! Please! We are Jews!

The Jews are dead.
Hitler has killed all the Jews.

No, we are Jews! We were hiding.

Jews, yes? Hebrews?

If you are Jews, say the Shema Yisrael.

The prayer every Jewish person knows

even if he is not religious.

Do it!

(reciting Shema Yisrael prayer together in Hebrew)

(emotional music)

Shema Yisrael.

He was a Jewish officer in the Russian army.

We did not know that there were Jewish soldiers.

Of the 7,000 submerged Berlin Jews,
1,500 survived in the city.

Many of those who helped the survivors
were honored as "Righteous Among Nations"
in the Yad Vashem memorial for Holocaust victims.

This award for people who risked their lives
to save Jews was also given to:

Hanni Lévy née Weissenberg
was found on a Red Cross list by a relative
who brought her to Paris in 1946.
She has lived there to this day
as the great-grandmother of a large family.

Some are keen to condemn.

Some naturally supposed that I was brimming with anger and hate.

But I was not.

I could not be that way.

But for years, for months after the war...

I learned what I escaped.

Eugen Friede endured the last stages of the war in Berlin.
He emigrated to Canada but returned.
Today, he lives as a contented great-grandfather
in Kronberg im Taunus.

If anyone in the world would have asked,

"Can you imagine that Germans

simply kill millions of innocent people?"

Anyone would have said,
"That's an absolutely absurd idea.

Complete madness."

Yes, it's crazy.

It's just, it's just hard to believe because...

between not liking Jews and gassing Jews...

there's a huge difference.

That is something which is not comprehensible.

And it will not be understood for a long time.

Ruth Arndt and Bruno Gumpel married in September 1945
and emigrated to the U.S.A.
They had two children and five grandchildren.
Ruth died in 2012 in San Francisco.

Especially when I'm over here,
I talk about our rescuers.

That was always of great importance to us,

when we are in America at colleges

or schools to speak,

to also emphasize that there were other Germans.

Namely, our saviors.

We have always called them by name.

Most people were not aware
that such a thing existed.

Cioma Schönhaus
managed to escape by bicycle to Switzerland.
He lived there until he died in September 2015.
He left behind four children.

The way I see it, in the words of this rabbi,

"Whosoever saves one life...

he has saved the whole world."

And this one person, that's Helene Jacobs.

She stands,

to me,

for all Germans.

She was once asked,

"Why, exactly, did you do that?"

She answered, "I wanted to redeem my fatherland."

And I think...

that she...

succeeded.

THE INVISIBLES
We Want To Live