The Rose Garden (1989) - full transcript
In Germany, an old man attacks another old man and is arrested. The attacker refuses to speak. A female lawyer is appointed to him. She discovers that the attacker has numbers tattooed on his arm and the attacked man was a German officer.
MAN 1: Was that him?
Yeah, up to his old tricks again.
(LAUGHING)
MAN 2: Yeah, I thought I saw him in the neighborhood.
MAN 1: Yeah, I heard he was here.
(SIREN WAILING)
(SMACKING LIPS)
Come on, come on.
(CLICKING)
(CROWD APPLAUDING)
I'll go back.
(CHATTERING ON PA)
You lost your wallet.
(SPEAKING YIDDISH)
(SPEAKING YIDDISH)
I can't understand what you're saying.
GABRIELE: Tina! Tina, come here.
Tina, you shouldn't let a stranger kiss you. You understand?
But he's so sad.
Now, you say goodbye to Uncle Walter.
His plane is boarding.
Bye. Bye.
Did I tell you that fairly soon
Pharmaceutical Corporation will be asking you to work more closely with them?
No.
It's not my suggestion, I only supported it.
Your book has made a great impression everywhere.
Thank you.
I don't know what I would have done without you.
As soon as I get back to Hamburg, I'll call you.
Bye.
(SIGHS)
Tina, why are you so unfriendly with him?
I don't like him.
Listen, it is not other people's fault
that your father doesn't want to live with us anymore.
He said it was you who didn't want to live with him.
You'll have to decide then, don't you, who to believe.
Come along. Come.
(SPEAKING HEBREW)
(EXCLAIMS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
(SPEAKING HEBREW)
(GROANING)
(YELLING IN GERMAN)
Are you hurt?
I'll let you know when we've seen a doctor.
Okay, let me help you.
POLICEMAN: Stop! Jochem!
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
(GROANING)
It's all right. You'll be all right.
(CROWD MURMURING)
Thanks for coming.
I heard that after the separation from your husband,
you also left his law office
and now are continuing on your own.
I practice together with Mrs. Moerbler. I couldn't do it alone.
I must say, I'm rather impressed.
Oh, I wish everyone were.
Your daughter,
has she recovered from the scare at the airport?
How do you know about that?
From the criminal charge you brought against the man.
I've never seen such mean, ruthless brutality.
And yet you've dropped your charges.
Why?
My daughter wasn't hurt.
Was that the only reason?
She said she felt sorry for the man.
Why?
The man hasn't spoken since his arrest,
he had no papers on him,
so we don't know his name, nor where he comes from.
He doesn't respond to anything.
And how is his unfortunate victim doing?
The old man is in a hospital in a very sad state.
The assailant has a number tattooed on his arm,
so we have reason to believe
he was a prisoner in a concentration camp.
That doesn't give him the right to attack strangers.
In his cell, they gave him paper and pencil,
hoping that he would write or scribble something,
so they could at least find out what language he speaks.
That's what came out of it.
Hmm.
(CHUCKLES) It's my daughter.
Have you got an explanation for this?
No.
If you'll tell him that you're her mother,
maybe he'll trust you and talk.
Well, he would still notice I don't have much sympathy for him.
Just imagine having been imprisoned for many years
in a German concentration camp,
and, years later, getting arrested in the same country.
With his kind of behavior, he would have been arrested in any country.
But this is Germany.
If we should assign counsel to him,
I would prefer someone who could handle the case with care.
Mr. Brinkmann,
I will not handle a case where a guilty conscience over the past
weighs heavier than the prevailing law. No.
I didn't mean it that way.
Still.
Before you refuse, try to talk to him.
Please.
My name is Gabriele Freund.
I am the mother of this girl.
Please, sit down.
Sit down!
GABRIELE: I would like to help you.
Can you understand me?
But you just understood what I said.
Please, sit down.
I would like to talk to him alone. Mmm-mmm.
I'm a lawyer.
But not his. Sorry, too dangerous.
Please, talk to me. Otherwise I can't help you.
The old man you assaulted is not doing well.
There is a danger that his health will be affected forever.
Which means that you will be accused of aggravated assault.
He's had a heart attack and multiple contusions.
If you agree, I will visit him,
bring flowers in your name and tell him you're sorry.
(GROANING)
The guy is sick.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
He understands every word.
I've never seen a tattooed number like that.
The guards say he doesn't react to anything.
Except when one of them tries to look at the number on his arm,
then he fights like a madman.
Well, what happens now?
We have to request a psychiatric evaluation.
That is only permissible if a defense lawyer has been appointed for him.
We are familiar with the code of criminal procedure.
Would you like to take the case?
I don't know.
(SIGHS)
Can't you read?
I have to speak to Mr. Krenn.
That's impossible. What do you want?
I'd like to ask him if he's certain
he doesn't know the man who attacked him.
Who are you?
We already have a lawyer.
Professor Eckert.
Get in touch with him.
(PHONE RINGING)
Gabriele Freund.
No, Claudia. Tina is visiting her father today.
Yes, I'll tell her. Mmm-hmm. Bye.
(RINGING)
Freund.
(CLICKS TONGUE)
Why all of a sudden?
You absolutely wanted her until Monday evening,
and she was looking forward to it.
(BELL RINGING)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
She's coming in.
Tina, hurry up.
Your mother's already here.
Wait for me.
Why didn't you take my nameplate off?
(GROANS)
Your nameplate.
Oh, it broke.
Well, you always have liked broken things.
Why's the new one hiding from me?
Are you ashamed of her?
Haven't you told her we're divorced yet?
You know, Tina does not look so well.
What is the matter with her?
How would you feel if you were shuffled around
like a stage prop all the time?
Well, you're the one who decides when she can come to visit.
And why does it always have to be at the most inconvenient times?
GABRIELE: Well, don't take her then.
But I want to take her. And I want custody.
Don't try it.
Mmm.
Herbert!
How can you find out what someone did during the Nazi era?
What about the Privacy Act? Never heard of it?
I'm asking for your help.
Oh.
What's his name? His name is Arnold Krenn.
Professor Eckert is his lawyer.
Eckert?
Don't get involved with Eckert.
He'll eat you alive.
I think you just convinced me to take the case.
Thank you.
(CAR DOOR CLOSES)
(CAR STARTING)
(CAR PULLING AWAY)
ECKERT: Just the case you had to select to open your new practice.
GABRIELE: I was court appointed.
You could have refused.
If your client drops the charges, the case wouldn't have to go to trial.
My client doesn't know this man, has never seen him.
So why should he drop the charges?
Even if he's fully compensated for the damages?
Do you have any idea who this man is?
Where he comes from?
What his financial situation is?
No.
You don't seem to know what you're getting into.
My client lives in Hamburg.
His wife has to live for weeks in a Frankfurt hotel.
Mr. Krenn was on his way to Montevideo
for a family celebration. Now he's in a hospital.
He may never see his family again.
Not even a lot of money can compensate him for that loss.
The man is obviously sick.
(CHUCKLES) Oh, no.
You can't get away with it that easily.
I won't permit it.
Do you know that he probably was a prisoner
in a German concentration camp?
For that he has my deepest sympathy.
But in this case, my client is the victim and he, the assailant.
Is it really as simple as all that?
It must be, dear colleague.
The law is valid for all equally.
When my client was the victim,
there was no such equality.
I am not responsible for the Third Reich.
(CHUCKLING)
What is your main concern?
You insist on a trial,
and you insist that my client stays in prison until then.
As soon as Mr. X reveals his identity
and provides sufficient bail,
the detention order will be lifted.
What time is it?
(SIGHING) Your father is always late, Tina, you know that.
He's got a lot to do.
So do you.
Tina, will you tell your father that I need to know...
Know what?
His papers have been found.
Somebody mailed his passport to the Lost and Found Office.
Aaron Reichenbach.
Ecuadorian national, born 1930 in Lodz, Poland.
(CAR HONKING)
Daddy!
TINA: I'm coming!
When are you coming to pick me up?
GABRIELE: Sunday evening.
Monday morning.
Monday morning. Okay.
Be good.
Oh, Tina! Your things!
(CHUCKLES)
PHYSICIAN: He broke the window of his cell
and cut his wrists with the glass.
He's lost a lot of blood, but he'll make it.
GABRIELE: Hello?
Mr. Reichenbach.
He's been tranquilized.
Did he say anything?
He just says "Krenn" over and over. Nothing else.
Are you sure he's saying "Krenn"?
Sure I'm sure.
It's been driving me crazy.
GABRIELE: Krenn is the name of the man he attacked.
That means he knows him. He knew what he was doing.
PHYSICIAN: He's not crazy.
What is he, then?
He won't talk to us.
Did he say so?
PHYSICIAN: No. Not even that.
(GRUNTING)
Mr. Reichenbach has lived in Quito since 1948.
He has a small apartment there.
He has no relatives.
His father immigrated in 1939,
died 15 years ago.
Aaron Reichenbach works as a dental technician.
He makes good money, but not very much,
but good.
He took leave for an important visit to Europe,
but no one knows what was so important about it.
Unfortunately, I can't tell you any more.
That's all there is in the letter.
Hmm. Thank you.
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
Who is Krenn?
The man he attacked.
Where is he? Back home in Hamburg.
He's well again.
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
PHYSICIAN: Please, help him.
But how?
How?
(DOOR BUZZING)
(GABRIELE AND TINA LAUGHING)
They set the trial date for the Reichenbach case. What?
The trial date has been set for the Reichenbach case.
When?
In two weeks. On the 23rd.
Oh, God.
The prosecutor has submitted a medical certificate
that he'll be able to stand trial by then.
(SIGHS)
(GABRIELE MUTTERING)
(MAN CHATTERING ON TV)
Look here.
Not now, Tina.
(RINGING)
Hello.
Hello?
Hello.
(RATTLING)
Now, what was it you wanted to show me?
He looks just as sad here.
Oh.
GABRIELE: He was in Hamburg.
She has to be in school at 8:00.
She'll tell you when you're to pick her up.
Okay.
How can I do this? I have to work.
(SCOFFS)
Just do like I do.
Drive there and pick her up.
What's so damn important about Hamburg?
I have to find out why someone with very little money
flies all the way from Ecuador to Germany
and then, although he's probably been a peaceful citizen until then,
assaults an old man, seemingly without reason.
(SIGHING) Let me give you a piece of advice.
Oh, no, those days are over.
I make my own mistakes now.
Well, now, you're crazy. No one else would even touch this case.
I can't let the man down.
He's probably got no one but me.
But it's not of your doing. It's not your fault.
Someone's got to be responsible.
If you blow this out of proportion,
you could hurt this man's chances.
Most judges are allergic to the Nazi era.
The best thing then would be for the case not to go to trial.
How?
Eckert could... Eckert can't do anything.
His client wants the Jew punished.
"The Jew." Did Eckert say that?
Listen to me. Now, listen.
Thanks. But no thanks.
(CAR DOOR CLOSES)
(CAR STARTING)
(CAR PULLING AWAY)
Don't you ever take a break?
(CLEARS THROAT)
Chance has brought us together,
and I think we should use the time wisely.
You disappeared so suddenly last time.
There was nothing else to discuss.
I hear people praise your quick wit and fear your sharp tongue.
Have you changed your point of view in our case?
We live under the rule of law.
To me it's an open and shut case.
Not the way I see it.
In light of your client's past, the sentence will be mild.
Why does Mr. Krenn insist on taking this case to court?
(LAUGHING) Hopefully, you're not losing sleep over this case.
I'm giving it some thought, yes.
You shouldn't.
I've heard you're going to be nominated for a high position with
Pharmaceutical Corporation as their legal counsel.
You shouldn't put it at risk because of such a trivial case.
What do you mean?
May I give you some advice, madam?
When they call you to a board meeting,
you ought to go well-prepared
and not preoccupied with trivialities.
I am not going to forget this conversation.
KLAUS: I remember it well.
The passenger got out and looked at the people, sort of weird.
He didn't look at the cat, just the people.
Hmm.
And he had tears in his eyes.
And then? Did you take him to the airport?
No. He suddenly wanted to go to an old school.
What did he do there?
Nothing.
It was at least 10 minutes.
He just stood here and didn't move.
Then things couldn't go fast enough for him.
He promised me 10 extra marks
if we managed to make the flight to Frankfurt.
The 9:30 flight?
Exactly.
He thanked me and apologized like a little kid.
Somehow, I felt sorry for the guy.
What language did he speak?
A funny mixture of English and German.
And he understood you?
Easily.
What else did he say?
Nothing.
Any names? Where he came from? Where he was going?
Not a word.
Did he have any luggage?
No.
(CHILDREN SHOUTING)
Maybe he went to school here.
No. He probably grew up in Poland.
(CHUCKLES) Oh, yeah.
Otherwise, he would have spoken German better.
Although I don't agree with the reason you're here,
I'm delighted you've come to Hamburg.
(CHUCKLES)
I have the feeling I saw something today I didn't want to see.
What did you see?
Oh, I don't know.
I don't think I saw anything,
but I have the feeling I should have seen something.
You have to get off this case.
If I asked you to examine this man...
I'm an internist, not a psychiatrist.
I'm not qualified for this case.
Are you advising me?
Your client doesn't want to talk.
That's his privilege and you have to respect it.
But because of it, you don't have a basis for a defense.
From an ethical point of view,
you can't proceed with the case precisely for that reason.
Do you know anything about a school on the Bullenhuser Road?
WOMAN ON PA: Professor Stauffer, please.
If it's really important to you,
I'll look into it right away.
I'll be back.
Excuse me. Gabriele Freund. I'm expecting someone.
Yes, he's here. He is?
Thank you.
Good morning. Good morning.
I remember that I picked your man up
from a small pension called Norma. Yeah.
I went there last night after I met with you,
and found out that Mr. Reichenbach's suitcase is still there.
They also had a record of one phone call he made to Mr. Paessler.
This is Mr. Paessler, the journalist.
Is this the man?
Yes. Aaron Reichenbach.
I really do thank you.
You're welcome.
Georg Paessler. I'm pleased to meet you.
Gabriele Freund.
I got to know him quite well.
He was always calm and collected
even when I couldn't have been.
I admired him a lot.
GABRIELE: Did he speak German?
Some. I have a feeling he understands everything,
but he either speaks German poorly,
or, well, he simply doesn't want to.
Now, tell me anything that could help me with his defense.
His father was a journalist, who was working on a book in South America
when Hitler marched into Poland in September of 1939.
Aaron Reichenbach lived in the Polish town of Lodz
with his mother and his two sisters, Ruth and Rachel.
He's Jewish. Yeah, he's Jewish.
They were living in the ghetto until the summer of 1940,
then they were separated.
So, Aaron and Ruth stayed together.
And how old were they then?
They were four, six and 10. Yeah.
In Auschwitz, they saw Rachel again.
In the fall of 1944, the two sisters were suddenly taken away.
Nobody told him why or where to.
Aaron survived and found his father
after years of searching in Ecuador.
He had to tell him that the mother had died in Birkenau.
He said his father went out like a candle when he heard the news.
He wasn't ill, he just died.
Aaron remained a poor man,
because everything he earned he's invested in the search for his sisters.
(EXCLAIMS)
It's a distressing story.
But, uh, I can't expect the judge to weigh the pain of the past
against a severe assault in the present, to acquit him.
If you're one of those people who think the past should finally be left alone,
frankly I don't know what you want from me.
Excuse me, I never said that.
I know that tone of voice.
Now, do you want to help him, or don't you?
What do you expect?
Facts.
Facts?
Facts you can have.
Come with me.
Just try to imagine the Neuengamme concentration camp.
Where are we?
Here. About here.
Most likely more than 50,000 people were killed there.
In the fall of 1944,
20 Jewish children between the age of five and 12,
were taken from Auschwitz to the Neuengamme camp.
They were to be used for medical experiments.
Among them Rachel Reichenbach.
A so-called doctor inserted a rubber hose
down the throat of some of the children
and poured live tubercle bacillus into their lungs.
(EXHALES)
Shortly after that, the children came down with a high fever.
Their bodies were all covered with scars and sores.
At this stage their auxiliary glands were removed to be examined.
By April 20th, 1945,
British troops had already taken over half of Hamburg.
They were just six kilometers away from the children.
That evening, the children were taken to
the Spaldingstrasse field camp
and from there to the schoolhouse on Bullenhuser Road.
This is where the children were kept that evening.
During the night, they were taken out, one by one,
and hanged in there.
The next day the corpses were picked up and taken to Neuengamme for cremation.
All traces were extinguished,
all files destroyed.
But a Danish doctor had noted down the names of the children
and gave them to the Swedish Red Cross.
One of the names was Rachel Reichenbach.
We discovered this list only a few years ago
and sent out a multilingual poster all over the world.
That's how, after 40 years,
Aaron Reichenbach found out how his sister Rachel had died.
He scraped together every cent he had just to come all the way
from Ecuador to see her grave.
There is no grave.
(SIGHS)
Come here.
Oh, I lost it.
Here.
Did he write this? Yes.
It means Rachel, Aaron and Ruth.
Their father taught them very early on how to read and write.
He gave the various letters little faces
to make learning more enjoyable.
GABRIELE: And this, what does it say?
(SPEAKING HEBREW)
That's, uh, "Hear my cry, O God."
"Hear my cry, O God."
(SIGHS)
What does Krenn have to do with all this?
I'll show you something. Come with me.
SS Obersturmfuehrer Arnold Krenn was commanding officer
of the field camps in Hamburg during that time.
(QUIETLY EXCLAIMS)
(SIGHS)
It can't be true.
I can't believe it.
Yeah, it is beyond belief.
But it is true.
In 1946, a British military court condemned to death
the SS people involved and had them executed.
Arnold Krenn, like so many others, had gone underground in time.
And he was never tried?
Not for that.
But that's impossible!
(SCOFFS)
The investigation was closed in 1967
because the prosecutor supposedly didn't have sufficient evidence
to file a case against Krenn.
(SCOFFS)
In the past few years, at the request of the victims' families,
the investigation has been reopened.
So far, without results.
(EXCLAIMS)
(LOW INDISTINCT CHATTERS)
Many years after the war,
the children here found out what had happened in their school.
They planted this rose garden to keep the memory alive.
Unless I really want to hurt Aaron Reichenbach,
I cannot bring any of this up in court.
The prosecutor is going to describe it as an act
of premeditated revenge!
What am I to do?
He left his suitcase and a pension here.
He didn't tell you that he was going to Frankfurt.
I'm supposed to defend him and he doesn't even speak to me.
Would you talk if you sat in prison, expecting to be sent back to Auschwitz?
In 40 years, someone must have told him that Auschwitz no longer exists!
For many survivors, it will always be part of the present.
They tell themselves rationally that the camps no longer exist,
but when they close their eyes, they're still there.
The trial is tomorrow. How can I help him?
This is everything we have on Krenn.
(EXHALES)
Thank you.
What for?
For wanting to help him.
Oh, there she is.
(LAUGHS)
(EXCLAIMING DELIGHTEDLY)
I have to go. I'm flying to Berlin.
I would have liked to talk to you before the trial.
I thought you said those days were over.
(SIGHS)
I'm sorry. How did it go?
Why are you asking?
So you can report to Professor Eckert again,
and tell him what the defense is planning?
What do you mean? I mean, what do you mean "again"?
(LAUGHS) Are you trying to tell me that it was a pure coincidence that
he and I were on the same plane yesterday?
Do you really believe...
When is the trial?
Tomorrow at 11:15.
Tell me, what would you have done with her if I had been late?
(LAUGHS) But you weren't.
I'll see you.
TINA: What's the matter?
Please, sit down.
I went to Hamburg and I brought your suitcase back with me.
(SIGHS)
You can understand me. I know that.
Your trial starts in two hours.
Please, tell me why you attacked Mr. Krenn.
Mr. Krenn...
There's a risk that you will be accused
of attempting to murder Mr. Krenn.
I have to know how to respond.
For God's sake, please, tell me something.
(SPEAKING IN GERMAN)
No trust.
HARALD: That's her.
Hello. Let's get it over with quickly and with some decency.
What do you mean by that?
That you don't dispute the charges and we'll waive the hearing of evidence
and plead for a milder sentence.
How about this? You drop the charges
and we'll waive the hearing of evidence.
Is that your final word?
You bet.
KRENN: I heard horrible screams,
felt a very painful blow on the nape of my neck,
and was pushed to the ground from behind.
I realized at once
from the disgusting gibberish, it's a Jew.
(GAVEL POUNDING)
I want to make it clear that this is a case of assault,
and nothing else.
I request that the witness's comments not be restrained.
His thoughts might make us better understand my client's behavior.
I would like to point out that
personally I have nothing against Jews.
This was just dropped off for you.
Any questions?
Just one. Mr. Krenn,
did you know the accused?
No.
SCHUBERT: And you've never seen him before?
Never.
(LAUGHING)
(GAVEL POUNDING)
SCHUBERT: Have it checked out immediately!
Right away, sir.
If you wish, we'll take a break.
No, thank you. The pranksters don't deserve recognition.
You can always arrange such a package yourself.
I shall refrain from responding to that.
I assume the defense wants to question Mr. Krenn.
Is it true that you were an SS guard in Sachsenburg in 1934,
and that you then continued your SS career
through the following concentration camps?
Buchenwald in '38, Natzweiler in '40,
Majdanek death camp in '42, then Ravensbruck,
then Vught in Holland,
and finally Neuengamme, where you assumed command as SS Obersturmfuehrer?
This is a disgraceful attempt to discredit my client!
If I have omitted anything about your SS career,
please correct me.
May I point out
that you may only question the witness with respect to this case.
The accused is sitting over there!
(GAVEL POUNDING)
JUDGE: Please, Mr. Eckert!
Mr. Krenn,
you have a most remarkable history,
working your way up through the most horrible camps.
Are you sure you never met Mr. Reichenbach?
Why don't you help her, Mr. Reichenbach?
Why don't you speak up? What have you got to hide?
You understand us, so why won't you speak?
We have to accept
that those who have endured the hell of concentration camps
may be unable to speak the language of their torturers!
Dear colleague,
the language that obviously causes you such shame
is the language of Goethe, Kleist, Luther,
Thomas Mann and Kurt Tucholsky.
Yes, but he never had the possibility to learn their language.
To him it was the language of Hitler, of Himmler, of Goering,
of Goebbels, of Mengele, of Eichmann!
So let him tell the court then which language he's prepared to speak.
Any language will do, as far as I'm concerned.
The language of humanity will do.
What do you mean by humanity?
Assaulting a stranger?
Should it become accepted behavior in Germany for anyone who's spent
a few days in a concentration camp
to have the right to assault and injure a German citizen?
You are fogging the issues, Professor.
I resent that tone of voice!
Do you believe he'd remain silent
if he had even the slightest justification for assaulting Mr. Krenn?
Mr. Reichenbach.
(SHOUTING) Mr. Reichenbach!
You understand every word! We know that!
Admit your guilt!
Confess to your senseless act!
GABRIELE: I ask the court not to allow my client to be badgered like this.
He's had to take it for years. He's had enough of it.
I'm asking the defendant whether he had met Mr. Krenn personally.
Place, date and time.
Mr. Reichenbach,
did you understand the question?
Have you met Mr. Krenn before?
(WHISPERING)
JUDGE: Please, answer.
Airport.
Did you meet him at any time while in the concentration camps?
(WHISPERING)
JUDGE: Had you heard about him then?
(WHISPERS)
But at the airport, you supposedly shouted, "Stop him! He's a murderer!"
He is a murderer!
(GAVEL POUNDING) This is outrageous!
I insist that you withdraw this allegation and apologize!
I apologize for having called Mr. Krenn a murderer
before a valid judgment has been rendered against him
to justify my statement.
Don't believe, for one moment,
that you're helping your client with these kinds of outbursts.
My client only wanted to prevent
Mr. Krenn from fleeing the country.
(LAUGHS) This is absurd!
Mr. Krenn planned to return in a week.
Professor Eckert,
you know very well that a prosecutor in Hamburg right now
is investigating Mr. Krenn's involvement
in the child killing at Bullenhuser Road.
This investigation,
like all the others, will demonstrate his innocence.
Mr. Krenn has been sentenced earlier
for other crimes committed during the Nazi era.
He was pardoned and granted more than 120,000 marks
in compensation for time spent in prison.
The only reason he is free now is because he was certified unfit for detention.
My client knows that.
So when he justly feared that Mr. Krenn might try to avoid a new investigation,
he went to the airport to prevent him from fleeing.
Well thought out, but far from the truth.
How are you going to explain us, dear colleague,
why, on the day before the assault,
the accused forced his way into the Hamburg home of the witness
and put up a struggle when evicted from the house by a member of the staff.
I can swear to that!
Mr. Reichenbach, is it true?
Were you there?
I was there.
Under these circumstances, the Prosecutor's Office must consider
adding charges pursuant to Paragraph 225
and Paragraph 223a of the Criminal Code.
What did you plan to do in the witness's apartment?
He knows.
Ruthi.
Ruthi.
Ruthi.
(CRYING) Ruthi.
My Malechel.
(CRYING SOFTLY)
Malechel. My Malechel.
I request an adjournment. The accused can...
A defense,
a proper defense is not possible under these circumstances.
ECKERT: We should get this thing over with!
Please take into consideration
the accused has no residence in this country,
and if we adjourn, he will have to go back to jail.
The motion to adjourn is granted.
A date for reconvening will be set in the next few days.
(EXHALES)
This is a disaster! Paragraph 225.
Premeditated assault. He could get two to 10 years!
Did you know that he went to Krenn's house?
No.
Why doesn't he talk to you?
I mean, he must have noticed you want to help him.
Talk. What do you mean talk?
He obviously can't talk.
Don't you see? Only his mind has been crippled.
It's not a visible handicap and therefore not easily recognized.
This is crazy!
He'll be sentenced,
and the man who's responsible for the murder of 20 children will go free!
You could at least have told me you were at Krenn's place.
(CHUCKLES)
Don't you want me to defend you?
I have no money.
You don't need any.
I get paid by the State.
(LAUGHS) It's not the same State anymore.
(SIGHS)
I want to help you.
But you've got to believe me and trust me.
I can imagine that Krenn and his lawyer
would prefer us not to dredge up the past in open court.
So I can talk to his lawyer, and if he agrees,
the prosecutor would drop the charges and you would be set free immediately.
No, no!
No! I no want good from this man.
He no good then to mein Schwester, sister.
(SPEAKING IN GERMAN)
I want tribunal.
Tribunal for him
and tribunal for me, and fair, fair.
You want justice.
Psak din, Psak din for him,
and for me, too.
(SIGHING)
Listen.
If you were a guest at my house,
that would qualify as your residence
and you wouldn't have to stay in prison during the trial.
I would like to invite you to come and stay at my house.
No money.
(EXCLAIMS) Don't worry.
I have two letters here that will please you.
I've got a bit of hate mail, too.
Strangers who were at the trial sent you some money,
so that you can hold on and get justice.
All together it's 1,350 marks.
We are very happy about it.
This should please you as well.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Nail. Nail.
No nail.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Screw.
Scruce.
TINA: (LAUGHS) No, screws.
Scruce.
(GIGGLES)
Screwdriver.
Thank you. Scrucedriver.
(GIGGLING)
TINA: What's a concentration camp?
What is a concentration camp?
(SPEAKING IN GERMAN)
Something not...
Forgive, forget.
(CAR HORN HONKING)
Mommy!
Hello.
May I?
Don't worry about it. They're idiots.
TINA: Mommy!
Mommy, Uncle Stauffer called.
Can't you be any louder?
(BOTH GIGGLING) Can't you be any louder?
I could try.
(LOUD BANGING)
(SHUSHING)
Uncle Stauffer called. He's waiting for you to call him back at the clinic.
He said it was really important.
Okay.
Go on.
Do you do everything Stauffer tells you to?
Well, they give me 10,000 marks for two days work.
Isn't that wonderful?
Well, at least that takes you away from your crazy Nazi hunt.
All I've got to do is to review the documents,
and then make a recommendation at the meeting tomorrow.
Hmm. That's it.
And you're leaving that fanatic alone in your house for two days?
Why don't you take him in? You've got room enough.
I can't send him back to prison.
The law doesn't provide for that.
(CAR ENGINE STARTING)
(CAR DRIVING AWAY)
The building is under some reconstruction.
So, I'm afraid I will have to provide you with a bigger office.
(GABRIELE CHUCKLES)
(DOOR CLOSES)
These are the pleas and the court rulings to date.
Dr. Kurth of our staff has written a legal memorandum
which she'll bring to you in a moment.
Oh, excuse me.
Do you have any questions?
No, not right now.
We'll turn off the phone, so you won't be disturbed
every five minutes by wrong numbers.
If you need a phone, you're welcome to use mine right next door.
I want this phone turned off for today and tomorrow.
You know where to find me.
Thank you. Good luck.
Thank you.
Excuse me! What's wrong?
I have been working at this for eight weeks.
And now you come along, read it,
and tomorrow you will present it single-handedly before the commission.
All because some stockholder has taken you under his wing.
How would you feel in my place?
I know nothing about this.
Well, you do now.
(DOOR CLOSES)
(SIGHS)
Professor Stauffer?
"With respect to enclosed stay of imprisonment,
"I support the request because of health reasons
"for patient Arnold Krenn.
"Professor Walter Stauffer."
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
You could have spared us this disgrace, Mrs. Freund.
What happened? Mr. Reichenbach has been extradited.
The police picked him up.
There was a woman from the Consulate.
She said they are sending him to South America on the next plane!
(WOMAN CHATTERING ON PA)
Mr. Reichenbach, were you told that you were extradited,
or anything about your right to appeal?
Everything was by the book.
Mr. Reichenbach, did you understand everything they told you?
His interpreter is right here. So, what's the problem?
Mrs. Marques,
are you a licensed, court-certified official interpreter in Germany?
No.
GABRIELE: Are you licensed in Ecuador?
No.
Well, in that case, there is no guarantee
that Mr. Reichenbach has been duly informed of his rights.
If you have any questions as to the legal aspects,
please get in touch with the senior prosecutor Mr. Brinkmann.
He is waiting for your call.
Wait here.
Mr. Reichenbach, do you want to stay?
They will probably keep you in custody
until they've ruled on my objection to your deportation.
It may take a while before I can get you out again.
He may stay.
POLICEMAN: Come.
Come.
(PHONE RINGING)
Hello. Freund.
Hello?
MAN: You slut.
(TRZEBINSKI SPEAKING IN GERMAN)
INTERPRETER: It was night.
(SPEAKING IN GERMAN)
INTERPRETER: Krenn was awake and fully dressed.
He seemed as if he was expecting us.
I told him, "There is an order the children must be poisoned,
"but I can't do it.
"Anyway, I have no poison."
Krenn said, "If you're too much of a coward,
"I'll have to do it myself."
BRITISH JUDGE: Were the children anesthetized?
(INTERPRETER SPEAKING IN GERMAN)
(SPEAKING IN GERMAN)
INTERPRETER: Some were asleep, others awake.
Some cried.
Since there was no poison available,
and no gas,
the children were hanged.
(GLASS SHATTERING)
(EXCLAIMS)
What was that?
Come into my bed. Quickly.
Be careful.
What do you expect me to do?
Call the police if someone throws rocks through your window.
I think someone's trying to pressure me.
HERBERT: Not Eckert.
He would never have to stoop that low.
I'm worried about Tina.
Well, then, for God's sakes, drop the case.
Why am I talking to you?
Just tell me you're not interested.
Did I hear my name mentioned?
Someone has thrown rocks through your trial opponent's window.
More importantly, through my daughter's window.
I warn you.
Do not try to make connections which can't be proven.
But you can't guarantee they don't exist.
Here, drink this.
When you're sober, you're okay,
drunk you're quite amusing,
but in-between you're positively intolerable.
Why did you get divorced?
You want to hear my confession?
She's got class. With her, you could get to the very top.
Maybe she will knock you off your pedestal, Herr Professor.
How would you like that?
Do you think that's possible?
Well, is it?
Hardly.
Why don't you drop the charges?
There's nothing to be gained from the old Jew.
Krenn would never go along with it.
Well, convince him.
The hell I will.
I won't lose to a woman.
(DOOR OPENING)
Please, sit down. Sit.
Nothing has been decided yet.
You can still be extradited.
Please, think about it carefully.
You tell me.
The prosecutor may request up to 10 years in prison.
I don't know if our arguments
will be sufficient to successfully defend you.
Even if you are not here,
I promise that I will fight like hell
until Arnold Krenn finally stands trial.
I promise.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
I will stay.
I...
Tina.
(CHUCKLING) Oh.
Well, Tina will be very, very happy.
Thank you.
You know, it was only when I
saw what you wrote on the memorial that I understood
how much this means to you.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Mmm.
"Hear my cry, O God."
No. No, no, no, no.
"God, thy way is holy."
Mr. Paessler had a different translation.
He said it meant, "Hear my cry, O God."
Paessler no Hebrew.
Okay.
(SPEAKING HEBREW)
Mmm-hmm.
If you still believe in him, you should pray.
I will pray. For you.
Gabriele Freund.
Friend.
He bring list from Mr. Paessler.
He prisoner in Neuengamme concentrations camp.
He says, "Children,
"they put children on Lastwagen..."
Truck. Truck.
Ja, ja, ja, truck. They put children on truck.
Ruthi and Rachel, he sees on truck.
Rachel on list, Ruthi not on list...
Why Ruthi not on list?
Krenn. Krenn knows.
"Krenn," he says,
"when you find Krenn, you find Ruthi."
(SIGHING)
(KNOCKING)
(DOOR OPENING)
(CHATTERING ON TV)
(SIGHS)
(EXCLAIMS)
But his is more beautiful.
No. I don't think so.
(DIALING)
Herbert?
Herbert, it's very important.
I have to go to Hamburg tomorrow morning.
I'll drop her off at school.
But I...
(SIGHS)
(PHONE LINE DISCONNECTED)
(SIGHS)
But, Mommy, I could stay alone.
Mrs. Hasold is right downstairs.
GABRIELE: Right... Right there.
Now, what does this mean?
I translated this for you last time.
What does it mean?
(READING HEBREW)
"O God, thy way is holy."
And this means, "Hear my cry, O God."
(READING)
Hear my cry, O God. Yes.
Aaron Reichenbach wrote this one. He knows nothing about this one.
So this was written a long time before he came here.
Yes. And look. Two of the entries are with green ink.
R-A-R, Reichenbach and Hanna Mendel, Berlin.
Maybe Hanna Mendel can tell us who this other person is.
Hanna Mendel, Berlin.
(BUSY TONE)
MAN: ...in your hand or in your mouth.
I'll come right back.
(LINE RINGING)
(RINGING)
(RINGING STOPS)
(RINGING)
Mommy? MAN: Now, my little girl,
it's going to be your turn soon.
(CAR ENGINE RUNNING)
How much have you got?
11.
All right, give me what you have got.
I can go in and get the rest. My...
Daddy! Daddy! Daddy, wait for me.
Daddy!
(PANTING)
(BELL RINGING)
Hello!
Hello! Mrs. Mendel?
WOMAN: Who are you looking for?
I am a lawyer. I'm looking for Hanna Mendel.
It's very important.
She's in Spain, visiting a friend of hers.
When will she be back?
Not for a while.
If you need to get in touch with her,
you can write to her Berlin address.
The mail will be forwarded to Spain.
She won't let anyone have her address.
(WOMAN CHATTERING ON PA)
(LINE RINGING)
Tickets, please. Thank you.
Thank you.
(BUS STOPPING)
(GRUNTS)
(CRYING)
Tina!
(GROANING)
(CRYING) Please don't be mad, Mommy.
Look at me, Tina. Hmm?
I was so scared.
Why were you scared? What happened? Hmm?
HERBERT: Hello?
I just wanted you to know that your daughter was in the hospital.
Thank God Dr. Hoeppner was on duty.
What has happened?
She broke her wrist.
How did it happen?
I don't know. I wasn't there.
You left her alone? How the hell could you leave her alone?
You're asking me why she was alone? You're asking me that?
(PHONE LINE DISCONNECTED)
I have never heard you two have a normal conversation with each other.
(DOORBELL RINGING)
I am so sorry about last night. How is she doing?
(SHUSHING) She's sleeping.
Oh.
Brinkmann was looking for you yesterday.
He wants to see you as soon as possible in his office.
I will stay with her while you're gone.
What does he want? I have no idea.
Herbert, there is one witness who could testify for Aaron.
We can only reach her through a woman in Spain.
Nobody knows her address, only the Federal Post,
and they won't tell.
(SIGHING)
I want to help, Gabriele.
Oh, watch out for Brinkmann.
He was supposed to have been a big wig with the Hitler Youth.
Doesn't he realize the risk?
The charge is now premeditated aggravated assault.
I will ask for his acquittal.
Your real goal is nailing Krenn, isn't it?
I would like to see him charged and brought before a judge, yes.
But he's an old man. What good is it if he has to die in prison?
He was young when he ordered the children murdered!
Why didn't you tell him then, "They're children, what good is it if they are murdered?"
Sorry.
You're right.
It wasn't personal.
Nevertheless, you're right.
And even if Krenn dies, one question remains.
How was it possible that our judicial system
allowed someone like Krenn to slip through time and time again for 45 years?
I wonder whether yourself have asked that question before.
You've consistently defended our government, our legal system.
Keep it up. This country is worth it.
But who will guarantee that it will stay this way
if we don't fight injustice when we see it?
The young people of this nation should know
that not only do actions bear guilt, there are guilty individuals!
Otherwise the young people will be cheated, like I was.
I didn't know.
Because the guilty will never come forward to tell the truth.
They will hide behind their ugliest disguises and the most despicable hypocrisy.
You do believe that Krenn is guilty?
Yes. What is the evidence?
In the trial before the British Military Court in 1946,
four ex-SS men stated that the orders to kill the children came from Berlin.
Later, during the investigation conducted by our prosecuting authorities,
these witnesses were deemed credible
and that was the end of the investigation against Arnold Krenn.
Mrs. Freund, whether we like it or not,
following binding orders is an accepted legal defense.
Four ex-SS officers said that none of them saw the orders from Berlin.
All of them swore that Krenn was in charge that night
and that he was present most of the time.
They were always the same SS men.
The same witnesses?
The same witnesses.
How is that possible?
Were all four witnesses credible in one answer and not in the other?
If we are to believe them when they say that the orders came from Berlin,
then we must believe them when they say that Krenn was present and in charge.
The only logical thing to do is to bring Krenn to trial under suspicion of...
Of having murdered 20 children.
It can be sufficient.
But we haven't got much time.
There is a motion pending in Hamburg
to declare Arnold Krenn unfit for trial for an indefinite period.
(SIGHS)
For reasons of health, of course.
Is Stauffer down as supporting this motion?
Why don't you ask him yourself? You know him.
(SIGHS) Thank you.
But I must warn you, though.
Eckert and Krenn know what's at stake.
They won't be easy at your client.
His chances were bad enough before.
Premeditated aggravated assault is a crime
even if the victim happens to be a murderer.
I call witness Krenn to the stand.
COURT OFFICIAL: Mr. Krenn! MAN 1: Mr. Krenn!
MAN 2: Mr. Krenn!
(PEOPLE MURMURING)
(GAVEL BANGING)
Does the defense have questions for the witness?
GABRIELE: Very few.
I would like to point out to you
that I'll only permit questions directly related to the case.
Mr. Krenn, in your capacity as SS Obersturmfuehrer,
were you in command of the field camp at Bullenhuser Road
on the 20th of April, 1945?
This question has absolutely nothing to do with the present case!
The defense is bent on defaming my client with allegations
and on severely damaging his reputation!
Before I approve the question, tell me its relevance.
On April the 20th, 1945,
the sisters of the defendant, Rachel and Ruth Reichenbach,
were taken from Neuengamme to Bullenhuser Road.
Rachel is among the victims who were killed that night, but Ruth vanished.
The only person who can explain what happened to her is in this room.
Mr. Krenn, where were you on the 20th of April, 1945,
when 20 children were murdered in the camp of which you were in command?
I strongly object against this question. It's absolutely irrelevant!
Witness, answer the question.
Of course I was not there.
In 1965, during questioning, you answered, "I don't know where I was that evening."
The witness stated at the time,
"I was probably in my room on Spaldingstrasse."
It was the 20th of April.
SS were celebrating Adolf Hitler's birthday,
and you mean to tell me that his devoted soldier, Arnold Krenn,
didn't even know where he was on such an occasion?
What do you expect?
The case was closed in 1967 by the Prosecutor's Office,
because it was considered proven
that Mr. Krenn was not at Bullenhuser Road that evening.
Oh, but you will surely agree with me, Professor Eckert,
that the closing of that case did not speak for Mr. Krenn,
but against the prosecutor in charge.
I believe it is the only incidence in our entire jurisprudence that
"I don't know where I was" became a permissible alibi.
In Mr. Krenn's case, it was even deemed proof of innocence.
Mr. Krenn, where were you on the 20th of April, 1945?
I have said it 100 times,
and I refuse to tolerate any more questions on the subject!
I am not the defendant here.
Mr. Reichenbach, you have searched for decades,
spent all your money, traveled halfway around the world,
sat in jail for weeks.
Now, here is the man who probably decided the fate of your sister Ruth.
Ask him if he was there at Bullenhuser Road.
Ask him now.
Ask him.
Mr. Krenn, do you know anything about the fate of Ruth Reichenbach?
I was Commander of the Neuengamme Field Camps, not a damned babysitter!
Lies!
(GAVEL BANGING)
(MAN LAUGHING)
(CHUCKLING)
Do you want to take a break?
No! My client wants an answer from Mr. Krenn!
But obviously decency and courage were never required of the master race.
I demand this trial to be conducted in an orderly manner!
Professor, I am still presiding over this court.
In your capacity as co-counselor,
you will have the opportunity to speak.
Please, take your seats.
(SPEAKING SOFTLY)
Mr. Krenn, allegedly the orders at the time
were to kill the children by giving them poison.
According to statements by witnesses, there was no poison available.
Now,
wouldn't it have been possible to
follow the orders from Berlin to the letter and wait for poison?
ECKERT: This question... British troops were only six kilometers away.
If you had waited, the killings could have been delayed
and you could have saved the children.
This question has nothing to do with the trial.
I would find the answer highly interesting.
But we have to proceed by the law.
"We have to proceed by the law."
That's what the judiciary said 50 years ago.
At the time, innocent people were killed by those words.
And today their murderers go free because of them.
God damn it, we were at war!
In no country on the face of the Earth does a commanding officer
have the right to refuse to carry out an execution order.
In what kind of civilized country
are children condemned to death and executed?
Nowhere on Earth does a commanding officer
have the duty to carry out such an order.
But you must think of the conditions back then.
Those conditions were created by Mr. Krenn and his accomplices.
And even if he goes free because he pretends that
he himself did not order the child killings,
isn't it already an unforgivable crime
that he did nothing to save those children?
He could so easily have done so.
The British were only six kilometers away.
That is 6,000 meters!
It is not a crime not to be a hero.
Shouldn't the gentlemen from the SS finally admit that they were never heroes,
but miserable criminals.
JUDGE: We have to interrupt the questioning of Mr. Krenn.
I've just been informed that a witness is present
who will most probably make a decisive statement.
I propose that we hear her right away.
Please, Mr. Krenn, go and have a seat over there.
(MOUTHING)
She's outside. Your husband brought her here.
I call Ruth Levi to the witness stand.
Brinkmann will have her called as a witness for the prosecution.
It'll be easier that way.
Herbert is over there.
COURT OFFICIAL: Ruth Levi!
(MOUTHING)
JUDGE: Please, come closer.
Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
I swear.
Please tell us your name.
Ruth Levi.
When and where were you born?
On June 2, 1934, in Lodz.
And you live in Spain?
In Toledo, yes. Since 1975.
Ruth?
Yeah.
Ruthi?
Aaron?
Oh, my God.
(GROANS)
(SOBBING)
GABRIELE: I request a recess.
We need to acknowledge that the past stays present
as long as there are wounds to be healed.
JUDGE: Motion granted.
The court is adjourned.
RUTH: We were separated in the camp.
I knew that Rachel was with the children in Barrack 4A,
where they were made sick.
I was put to work in the kitchen.
Sometimes when I had a piece of bread, I brought it to Rachel.
SOLDIER: Get up! You're going on a trip!
(SOLDIER SHOUTING IN GERMAN)
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
(SOLDIER SPEAKING GERMAN)
CHILD: Oh, look, Dr. Florence is there, too!
RUTH: Dr. Florence used to take care of them, and they liked him.
(CHILDREN SCREAMING)
RUTH: No!
Rachel! Rachel! Rachel!
(CRYING) Ruthi!
(GUNSHOT)
(SHOUTS)
(GRUNTS)
Play dead.
Dead!
Good shot. Dead, Obersturmfuehrer.
Load her in!
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
(SHOUTING IN GERMAN)
(WHISPERING) When everyone is gone,
go behind the wooden beams over there.
(CRYING)
RUTH: In the darkness I heard their voices.
Sometimes they cried and sometimes they called.
Rachel thought that I was dead.
One after the other, they hanged them on these hooks.
(RACHEL CRYING)
Rachel, too.
There was nothing I could do to help her.
(SCREAMING)
(SNIFFLES)
I would like to ask permission, after what we've just heard,
to question the witness, Krenn, again.
That will not be possible.
I have just received notification from Hamburg
that Mr. Arnold Krenn has been declared
permanently unfit to stand trial.
There will not be any trial in which Mr. Krenn will have to participate,
neither as witness nor as defendant.
The court is in recess until deliberations are over.
(INDISTINCT MURMURING)
That night, 20 Russian prisoners tried to escape.
Most of them were killed.
Six... Six of them made it.
Vladimir was among those and he took me with him to Russia.
(CRYING) We were told that you were all dead.
And I believed it!
Later on, Vladimir and I got married
and in 1975 we were allowed to emigrate.
Three months ago,
I found out that a memorial had been erected
at the school where they killed Rachel.
So I went there because there is no grave,
and I wrote our names into the list,
like we always used to do when we were children.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(CHUCKLING)
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
What do you expect will be the outcome of the deliberations?
Continuation of the session without the main witness for the prosecution.
Probably a short-term suspended sentence.
Do you expect Reichenbach to be convicted?
He has to be, because he's guilty, and he admitted it.
And Krenn stays free? You think that's right?
Do you?
Thank you. Thank you.
(WOMAN SPEAKING GERMAN OVER PA)
(TINA AND GABRIELE CHUCKLING)
(PROSECUTOR SPEAKING)
Yeah, up to his old tricks again.
(LAUGHING)
MAN 2: Yeah, I thought I saw him in the neighborhood.
MAN 1: Yeah, I heard he was here.
(SIREN WAILING)
(SMACKING LIPS)
Come on, come on.
(CLICKING)
(CROWD APPLAUDING)
I'll go back.
(CHATTERING ON PA)
You lost your wallet.
(SPEAKING YIDDISH)
(SPEAKING YIDDISH)
I can't understand what you're saying.
GABRIELE: Tina! Tina, come here.
Tina, you shouldn't let a stranger kiss you. You understand?
But he's so sad.
Now, you say goodbye to Uncle Walter.
His plane is boarding.
Bye. Bye.
Did I tell you that fairly soon
Pharmaceutical Corporation will be asking you to work more closely with them?
No.
It's not my suggestion, I only supported it.
Your book has made a great impression everywhere.
Thank you.
I don't know what I would have done without you.
As soon as I get back to Hamburg, I'll call you.
Bye.
(SIGHS)
Tina, why are you so unfriendly with him?
I don't like him.
Listen, it is not other people's fault
that your father doesn't want to live with us anymore.
He said it was you who didn't want to live with him.
You'll have to decide then, don't you, who to believe.
Come along. Come.
(SPEAKING HEBREW)
(EXCLAIMS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
(SPEAKING HEBREW)
(GROANING)
(YELLING IN GERMAN)
Are you hurt?
I'll let you know when we've seen a doctor.
Okay, let me help you.
POLICEMAN: Stop! Jochem!
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
(GROANING)
It's all right. You'll be all right.
(CROWD MURMURING)
Thanks for coming.
I heard that after the separation from your husband,
you also left his law office
and now are continuing on your own.
I practice together with Mrs. Moerbler. I couldn't do it alone.
I must say, I'm rather impressed.
Oh, I wish everyone were.
Your daughter,
has she recovered from the scare at the airport?
How do you know about that?
From the criminal charge you brought against the man.
I've never seen such mean, ruthless brutality.
And yet you've dropped your charges.
Why?
My daughter wasn't hurt.
Was that the only reason?
She said she felt sorry for the man.
Why?
The man hasn't spoken since his arrest,
he had no papers on him,
so we don't know his name, nor where he comes from.
He doesn't respond to anything.
And how is his unfortunate victim doing?
The old man is in a hospital in a very sad state.
The assailant has a number tattooed on his arm,
so we have reason to believe
he was a prisoner in a concentration camp.
That doesn't give him the right to attack strangers.
In his cell, they gave him paper and pencil,
hoping that he would write or scribble something,
so they could at least find out what language he speaks.
That's what came out of it.
Hmm.
(CHUCKLES) It's my daughter.
Have you got an explanation for this?
No.
If you'll tell him that you're her mother,
maybe he'll trust you and talk.
Well, he would still notice I don't have much sympathy for him.
Just imagine having been imprisoned for many years
in a German concentration camp,
and, years later, getting arrested in the same country.
With his kind of behavior, he would have been arrested in any country.
But this is Germany.
If we should assign counsel to him,
I would prefer someone who could handle the case with care.
Mr. Brinkmann,
I will not handle a case where a guilty conscience over the past
weighs heavier than the prevailing law. No.
I didn't mean it that way.
Still.
Before you refuse, try to talk to him.
Please.
My name is Gabriele Freund.
I am the mother of this girl.
Please, sit down.
Sit down!
GABRIELE: I would like to help you.
Can you understand me?
But you just understood what I said.
Please, sit down.
I would like to talk to him alone. Mmm-mmm.
I'm a lawyer.
But not his. Sorry, too dangerous.
Please, talk to me. Otherwise I can't help you.
The old man you assaulted is not doing well.
There is a danger that his health will be affected forever.
Which means that you will be accused of aggravated assault.
He's had a heart attack and multiple contusions.
If you agree, I will visit him,
bring flowers in your name and tell him you're sorry.
(GROANING)
The guy is sick.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
He understands every word.
I've never seen a tattooed number like that.
The guards say he doesn't react to anything.
Except when one of them tries to look at the number on his arm,
then he fights like a madman.
Well, what happens now?
We have to request a psychiatric evaluation.
That is only permissible if a defense lawyer has been appointed for him.
We are familiar with the code of criminal procedure.
Would you like to take the case?
I don't know.
(SIGHS)
Can't you read?
I have to speak to Mr. Krenn.
That's impossible. What do you want?
I'd like to ask him if he's certain
he doesn't know the man who attacked him.
Who are you?
We already have a lawyer.
Professor Eckert.
Get in touch with him.
(PHONE RINGING)
Gabriele Freund.
No, Claudia. Tina is visiting her father today.
Yes, I'll tell her. Mmm-hmm. Bye.
(RINGING)
Freund.
(CLICKS TONGUE)
Why all of a sudden?
You absolutely wanted her until Monday evening,
and she was looking forward to it.
(BELL RINGING)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
She's coming in.
Tina, hurry up.
Your mother's already here.
Wait for me.
Why didn't you take my nameplate off?
(GROANS)
Your nameplate.
Oh, it broke.
Well, you always have liked broken things.
Why's the new one hiding from me?
Are you ashamed of her?
Haven't you told her we're divorced yet?
You know, Tina does not look so well.
What is the matter with her?
How would you feel if you were shuffled around
like a stage prop all the time?
Well, you're the one who decides when she can come to visit.
And why does it always have to be at the most inconvenient times?
GABRIELE: Well, don't take her then.
But I want to take her. And I want custody.
Don't try it.
Mmm.
Herbert!
How can you find out what someone did during the Nazi era?
What about the Privacy Act? Never heard of it?
I'm asking for your help.
Oh.
What's his name? His name is Arnold Krenn.
Professor Eckert is his lawyer.
Eckert?
Don't get involved with Eckert.
He'll eat you alive.
I think you just convinced me to take the case.
Thank you.
(CAR DOOR CLOSES)
(CAR STARTING)
(CAR PULLING AWAY)
ECKERT: Just the case you had to select to open your new practice.
GABRIELE: I was court appointed.
You could have refused.
If your client drops the charges, the case wouldn't have to go to trial.
My client doesn't know this man, has never seen him.
So why should he drop the charges?
Even if he's fully compensated for the damages?
Do you have any idea who this man is?
Where he comes from?
What his financial situation is?
No.
You don't seem to know what you're getting into.
My client lives in Hamburg.
His wife has to live for weeks in a Frankfurt hotel.
Mr. Krenn was on his way to Montevideo
for a family celebration. Now he's in a hospital.
He may never see his family again.
Not even a lot of money can compensate him for that loss.
The man is obviously sick.
(CHUCKLES) Oh, no.
You can't get away with it that easily.
I won't permit it.
Do you know that he probably was a prisoner
in a German concentration camp?
For that he has my deepest sympathy.
But in this case, my client is the victim and he, the assailant.
Is it really as simple as all that?
It must be, dear colleague.
The law is valid for all equally.
When my client was the victim,
there was no such equality.
I am not responsible for the Third Reich.
(CHUCKLING)
What is your main concern?
You insist on a trial,
and you insist that my client stays in prison until then.
As soon as Mr. X reveals his identity
and provides sufficient bail,
the detention order will be lifted.
What time is it?
(SIGHING) Your father is always late, Tina, you know that.
He's got a lot to do.
So do you.
Tina, will you tell your father that I need to know...
Know what?
His papers have been found.
Somebody mailed his passport to the Lost and Found Office.
Aaron Reichenbach.
Ecuadorian national, born 1930 in Lodz, Poland.
(CAR HONKING)
Daddy!
TINA: I'm coming!
When are you coming to pick me up?
GABRIELE: Sunday evening.
Monday morning.
Monday morning. Okay.
Be good.
Oh, Tina! Your things!
(CHUCKLES)
PHYSICIAN: He broke the window of his cell
and cut his wrists with the glass.
He's lost a lot of blood, but he'll make it.
GABRIELE: Hello?
Mr. Reichenbach.
He's been tranquilized.
Did he say anything?
He just says "Krenn" over and over. Nothing else.
Are you sure he's saying "Krenn"?
Sure I'm sure.
It's been driving me crazy.
GABRIELE: Krenn is the name of the man he attacked.
That means he knows him. He knew what he was doing.
PHYSICIAN: He's not crazy.
What is he, then?
He won't talk to us.
Did he say so?
PHYSICIAN: No. Not even that.
(GRUNTING)
Mr. Reichenbach has lived in Quito since 1948.
He has a small apartment there.
He has no relatives.
His father immigrated in 1939,
died 15 years ago.
Aaron Reichenbach works as a dental technician.
He makes good money, but not very much,
but good.
He took leave for an important visit to Europe,
but no one knows what was so important about it.
Unfortunately, I can't tell you any more.
That's all there is in the letter.
Hmm. Thank you.
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
Who is Krenn?
The man he attacked.
Where is he? Back home in Hamburg.
He's well again.
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
PHYSICIAN: Please, help him.
But how?
How?
(DOOR BUZZING)
(GABRIELE AND TINA LAUGHING)
They set the trial date for the Reichenbach case. What?
The trial date has been set for the Reichenbach case.
When?
In two weeks. On the 23rd.
Oh, God.
The prosecutor has submitted a medical certificate
that he'll be able to stand trial by then.
(SIGHS)
(GABRIELE MUTTERING)
(MAN CHATTERING ON TV)
Look here.
Not now, Tina.
(RINGING)
Hello.
Hello?
Hello.
(RATTLING)
Now, what was it you wanted to show me?
He looks just as sad here.
Oh.
GABRIELE: He was in Hamburg.
She has to be in school at 8:00.
She'll tell you when you're to pick her up.
Okay.
How can I do this? I have to work.
(SCOFFS)
Just do like I do.
Drive there and pick her up.
What's so damn important about Hamburg?
I have to find out why someone with very little money
flies all the way from Ecuador to Germany
and then, although he's probably been a peaceful citizen until then,
assaults an old man, seemingly without reason.
(SIGHING) Let me give you a piece of advice.
Oh, no, those days are over.
I make my own mistakes now.
Well, now, you're crazy. No one else would even touch this case.
I can't let the man down.
He's probably got no one but me.
But it's not of your doing. It's not your fault.
Someone's got to be responsible.
If you blow this out of proportion,
you could hurt this man's chances.
Most judges are allergic to the Nazi era.
The best thing then would be for the case not to go to trial.
How?
Eckert could... Eckert can't do anything.
His client wants the Jew punished.
"The Jew." Did Eckert say that?
Listen to me. Now, listen.
Thanks. But no thanks.
(CAR DOOR CLOSES)
(CAR STARTING)
(CAR PULLING AWAY)
Don't you ever take a break?
(CLEARS THROAT)
Chance has brought us together,
and I think we should use the time wisely.
You disappeared so suddenly last time.
There was nothing else to discuss.
I hear people praise your quick wit and fear your sharp tongue.
Have you changed your point of view in our case?
We live under the rule of law.
To me it's an open and shut case.
Not the way I see it.
In light of your client's past, the sentence will be mild.
Why does Mr. Krenn insist on taking this case to court?
(LAUGHING) Hopefully, you're not losing sleep over this case.
I'm giving it some thought, yes.
You shouldn't.
I've heard you're going to be nominated for a high position with
Pharmaceutical Corporation as their legal counsel.
You shouldn't put it at risk because of such a trivial case.
What do you mean?
May I give you some advice, madam?
When they call you to a board meeting,
you ought to go well-prepared
and not preoccupied with trivialities.
I am not going to forget this conversation.
KLAUS: I remember it well.
The passenger got out and looked at the people, sort of weird.
He didn't look at the cat, just the people.
Hmm.
And he had tears in his eyes.
And then? Did you take him to the airport?
No. He suddenly wanted to go to an old school.
What did he do there?
Nothing.
It was at least 10 minutes.
He just stood here and didn't move.
Then things couldn't go fast enough for him.
He promised me 10 extra marks
if we managed to make the flight to Frankfurt.
The 9:30 flight?
Exactly.
He thanked me and apologized like a little kid.
Somehow, I felt sorry for the guy.
What language did he speak?
A funny mixture of English and German.
And he understood you?
Easily.
What else did he say?
Nothing.
Any names? Where he came from? Where he was going?
Not a word.
Did he have any luggage?
No.
(CHILDREN SHOUTING)
Maybe he went to school here.
No. He probably grew up in Poland.
(CHUCKLES) Oh, yeah.
Otherwise, he would have spoken German better.
Although I don't agree with the reason you're here,
I'm delighted you've come to Hamburg.
(CHUCKLES)
I have the feeling I saw something today I didn't want to see.
What did you see?
Oh, I don't know.
I don't think I saw anything,
but I have the feeling I should have seen something.
You have to get off this case.
If I asked you to examine this man...
I'm an internist, not a psychiatrist.
I'm not qualified for this case.
Are you advising me?
Your client doesn't want to talk.
That's his privilege and you have to respect it.
But because of it, you don't have a basis for a defense.
From an ethical point of view,
you can't proceed with the case precisely for that reason.
Do you know anything about a school on the Bullenhuser Road?
WOMAN ON PA: Professor Stauffer, please.
If it's really important to you,
I'll look into it right away.
I'll be back.
Excuse me. Gabriele Freund. I'm expecting someone.
Yes, he's here. He is?
Thank you.
Good morning. Good morning.
I remember that I picked your man up
from a small pension called Norma. Yeah.
I went there last night after I met with you,
and found out that Mr. Reichenbach's suitcase is still there.
They also had a record of one phone call he made to Mr. Paessler.
This is Mr. Paessler, the journalist.
Is this the man?
Yes. Aaron Reichenbach.
I really do thank you.
You're welcome.
Georg Paessler. I'm pleased to meet you.
Gabriele Freund.
I got to know him quite well.
He was always calm and collected
even when I couldn't have been.
I admired him a lot.
GABRIELE: Did he speak German?
Some. I have a feeling he understands everything,
but he either speaks German poorly,
or, well, he simply doesn't want to.
Now, tell me anything that could help me with his defense.
His father was a journalist, who was working on a book in South America
when Hitler marched into Poland in September of 1939.
Aaron Reichenbach lived in the Polish town of Lodz
with his mother and his two sisters, Ruth and Rachel.
He's Jewish. Yeah, he's Jewish.
They were living in the ghetto until the summer of 1940,
then they were separated.
So, Aaron and Ruth stayed together.
And how old were they then?
They were four, six and 10. Yeah.
In Auschwitz, they saw Rachel again.
In the fall of 1944, the two sisters were suddenly taken away.
Nobody told him why or where to.
Aaron survived and found his father
after years of searching in Ecuador.
He had to tell him that the mother had died in Birkenau.
He said his father went out like a candle when he heard the news.
He wasn't ill, he just died.
Aaron remained a poor man,
because everything he earned he's invested in the search for his sisters.
(EXCLAIMS)
It's a distressing story.
But, uh, I can't expect the judge to weigh the pain of the past
against a severe assault in the present, to acquit him.
If you're one of those people who think the past should finally be left alone,
frankly I don't know what you want from me.
Excuse me, I never said that.
I know that tone of voice.
Now, do you want to help him, or don't you?
What do you expect?
Facts.
Facts?
Facts you can have.
Come with me.
Just try to imagine the Neuengamme concentration camp.
Where are we?
Here. About here.
Most likely more than 50,000 people were killed there.
In the fall of 1944,
20 Jewish children between the age of five and 12,
were taken from Auschwitz to the Neuengamme camp.
They were to be used for medical experiments.
Among them Rachel Reichenbach.
A so-called doctor inserted a rubber hose
down the throat of some of the children
and poured live tubercle bacillus into their lungs.
(EXHALES)
Shortly after that, the children came down with a high fever.
Their bodies were all covered with scars and sores.
At this stage their auxiliary glands were removed to be examined.
By April 20th, 1945,
British troops had already taken over half of Hamburg.
They were just six kilometers away from the children.
That evening, the children were taken to
the Spaldingstrasse field camp
and from there to the schoolhouse on Bullenhuser Road.
This is where the children were kept that evening.
During the night, they were taken out, one by one,
and hanged in there.
The next day the corpses were picked up and taken to Neuengamme for cremation.
All traces were extinguished,
all files destroyed.
But a Danish doctor had noted down the names of the children
and gave them to the Swedish Red Cross.
One of the names was Rachel Reichenbach.
We discovered this list only a few years ago
and sent out a multilingual poster all over the world.
That's how, after 40 years,
Aaron Reichenbach found out how his sister Rachel had died.
He scraped together every cent he had just to come all the way
from Ecuador to see her grave.
There is no grave.
(SIGHS)
Come here.
Oh, I lost it.
Here.
Did he write this? Yes.
It means Rachel, Aaron and Ruth.
Their father taught them very early on how to read and write.
He gave the various letters little faces
to make learning more enjoyable.
GABRIELE: And this, what does it say?
(SPEAKING HEBREW)
That's, uh, "Hear my cry, O God."
"Hear my cry, O God."
(SIGHS)
What does Krenn have to do with all this?
I'll show you something. Come with me.
SS Obersturmfuehrer Arnold Krenn was commanding officer
of the field camps in Hamburg during that time.
(QUIETLY EXCLAIMS)
(SIGHS)
It can't be true.
I can't believe it.
Yeah, it is beyond belief.
But it is true.
In 1946, a British military court condemned to death
the SS people involved and had them executed.
Arnold Krenn, like so many others, had gone underground in time.
And he was never tried?
Not for that.
But that's impossible!
(SCOFFS)
The investigation was closed in 1967
because the prosecutor supposedly didn't have sufficient evidence
to file a case against Krenn.
(SCOFFS)
In the past few years, at the request of the victims' families,
the investigation has been reopened.
So far, without results.
(EXCLAIMS)
(LOW INDISTINCT CHATTERS)
Many years after the war,
the children here found out what had happened in their school.
They planted this rose garden to keep the memory alive.
Unless I really want to hurt Aaron Reichenbach,
I cannot bring any of this up in court.
The prosecutor is going to describe it as an act
of premeditated revenge!
What am I to do?
He left his suitcase and a pension here.
He didn't tell you that he was going to Frankfurt.
I'm supposed to defend him and he doesn't even speak to me.
Would you talk if you sat in prison, expecting to be sent back to Auschwitz?
In 40 years, someone must have told him that Auschwitz no longer exists!
For many survivors, it will always be part of the present.
They tell themselves rationally that the camps no longer exist,
but when they close their eyes, they're still there.
The trial is tomorrow. How can I help him?
This is everything we have on Krenn.
(EXHALES)
Thank you.
What for?
For wanting to help him.
Oh, there she is.
(LAUGHS)
(EXCLAIMING DELIGHTEDLY)
I have to go. I'm flying to Berlin.
I would have liked to talk to you before the trial.
I thought you said those days were over.
(SIGHS)
I'm sorry. How did it go?
Why are you asking?
So you can report to Professor Eckert again,
and tell him what the defense is planning?
What do you mean? I mean, what do you mean "again"?
(LAUGHS) Are you trying to tell me that it was a pure coincidence that
he and I were on the same plane yesterday?
Do you really believe...
When is the trial?
Tomorrow at 11:15.
Tell me, what would you have done with her if I had been late?
(LAUGHS) But you weren't.
I'll see you.
TINA: What's the matter?
Please, sit down.
I went to Hamburg and I brought your suitcase back with me.
(SIGHS)
You can understand me. I know that.
Your trial starts in two hours.
Please, tell me why you attacked Mr. Krenn.
Mr. Krenn...
There's a risk that you will be accused
of attempting to murder Mr. Krenn.
I have to know how to respond.
For God's sake, please, tell me something.
(SPEAKING IN GERMAN)
No trust.
HARALD: That's her.
Hello. Let's get it over with quickly and with some decency.
What do you mean by that?
That you don't dispute the charges and we'll waive the hearing of evidence
and plead for a milder sentence.
How about this? You drop the charges
and we'll waive the hearing of evidence.
Is that your final word?
You bet.
KRENN: I heard horrible screams,
felt a very painful blow on the nape of my neck,
and was pushed to the ground from behind.
I realized at once
from the disgusting gibberish, it's a Jew.
(GAVEL POUNDING)
I want to make it clear that this is a case of assault,
and nothing else.
I request that the witness's comments not be restrained.
His thoughts might make us better understand my client's behavior.
I would like to point out that
personally I have nothing against Jews.
This was just dropped off for you.
Any questions?
Just one. Mr. Krenn,
did you know the accused?
No.
SCHUBERT: And you've never seen him before?
Never.
(LAUGHING)
(GAVEL POUNDING)
SCHUBERT: Have it checked out immediately!
Right away, sir.
If you wish, we'll take a break.
No, thank you. The pranksters don't deserve recognition.
You can always arrange such a package yourself.
I shall refrain from responding to that.
I assume the defense wants to question Mr. Krenn.
Is it true that you were an SS guard in Sachsenburg in 1934,
and that you then continued your SS career
through the following concentration camps?
Buchenwald in '38, Natzweiler in '40,
Majdanek death camp in '42, then Ravensbruck,
then Vught in Holland,
and finally Neuengamme, where you assumed command as SS Obersturmfuehrer?
This is a disgraceful attempt to discredit my client!
If I have omitted anything about your SS career,
please correct me.
May I point out
that you may only question the witness with respect to this case.
The accused is sitting over there!
(GAVEL POUNDING)
JUDGE: Please, Mr. Eckert!
Mr. Krenn,
you have a most remarkable history,
working your way up through the most horrible camps.
Are you sure you never met Mr. Reichenbach?
Why don't you help her, Mr. Reichenbach?
Why don't you speak up? What have you got to hide?
You understand us, so why won't you speak?
We have to accept
that those who have endured the hell of concentration camps
may be unable to speak the language of their torturers!
Dear colleague,
the language that obviously causes you such shame
is the language of Goethe, Kleist, Luther,
Thomas Mann and Kurt Tucholsky.
Yes, but he never had the possibility to learn their language.
To him it was the language of Hitler, of Himmler, of Goering,
of Goebbels, of Mengele, of Eichmann!
So let him tell the court then which language he's prepared to speak.
Any language will do, as far as I'm concerned.
The language of humanity will do.
What do you mean by humanity?
Assaulting a stranger?
Should it become accepted behavior in Germany for anyone who's spent
a few days in a concentration camp
to have the right to assault and injure a German citizen?
You are fogging the issues, Professor.
I resent that tone of voice!
Do you believe he'd remain silent
if he had even the slightest justification for assaulting Mr. Krenn?
Mr. Reichenbach.
(SHOUTING) Mr. Reichenbach!
You understand every word! We know that!
Admit your guilt!
Confess to your senseless act!
GABRIELE: I ask the court not to allow my client to be badgered like this.
He's had to take it for years. He's had enough of it.
I'm asking the defendant whether he had met Mr. Krenn personally.
Place, date and time.
Mr. Reichenbach,
did you understand the question?
Have you met Mr. Krenn before?
(WHISPERING)
JUDGE: Please, answer.
Airport.
Did you meet him at any time while in the concentration camps?
(WHISPERING)
JUDGE: Had you heard about him then?
(WHISPERS)
But at the airport, you supposedly shouted, "Stop him! He's a murderer!"
He is a murderer!
(GAVEL POUNDING) This is outrageous!
I insist that you withdraw this allegation and apologize!
I apologize for having called Mr. Krenn a murderer
before a valid judgment has been rendered against him
to justify my statement.
Don't believe, for one moment,
that you're helping your client with these kinds of outbursts.
My client only wanted to prevent
Mr. Krenn from fleeing the country.
(LAUGHS) This is absurd!
Mr. Krenn planned to return in a week.
Professor Eckert,
you know very well that a prosecutor in Hamburg right now
is investigating Mr. Krenn's involvement
in the child killing at Bullenhuser Road.
This investigation,
like all the others, will demonstrate his innocence.
Mr. Krenn has been sentenced earlier
for other crimes committed during the Nazi era.
He was pardoned and granted more than 120,000 marks
in compensation for time spent in prison.
The only reason he is free now is because he was certified unfit for detention.
My client knows that.
So when he justly feared that Mr. Krenn might try to avoid a new investigation,
he went to the airport to prevent him from fleeing.
Well thought out, but far from the truth.
How are you going to explain us, dear colleague,
why, on the day before the assault,
the accused forced his way into the Hamburg home of the witness
and put up a struggle when evicted from the house by a member of the staff.
I can swear to that!
Mr. Reichenbach, is it true?
Were you there?
I was there.
Under these circumstances, the Prosecutor's Office must consider
adding charges pursuant to Paragraph 225
and Paragraph 223a of the Criminal Code.
What did you plan to do in the witness's apartment?
He knows.
Ruthi.
Ruthi.
Ruthi.
(CRYING) Ruthi.
My Malechel.
(CRYING SOFTLY)
Malechel. My Malechel.
I request an adjournment. The accused can...
A defense,
a proper defense is not possible under these circumstances.
ECKERT: We should get this thing over with!
Please take into consideration
the accused has no residence in this country,
and if we adjourn, he will have to go back to jail.
The motion to adjourn is granted.
A date for reconvening will be set in the next few days.
(EXHALES)
This is a disaster! Paragraph 225.
Premeditated assault. He could get two to 10 years!
Did you know that he went to Krenn's house?
No.
Why doesn't he talk to you?
I mean, he must have noticed you want to help him.
Talk. What do you mean talk?
He obviously can't talk.
Don't you see? Only his mind has been crippled.
It's not a visible handicap and therefore not easily recognized.
This is crazy!
He'll be sentenced,
and the man who's responsible for the murder of 20 children will go free!
You could at least have told me you were at Krenn's place.
(CHUCKLES)
Don't you want me to defend you?
I have no money.
You don't need any.
I get paid by the State.
(LAUGHS) It's not the same State anymore.
(SIGHS)
I want to help you.
But you've got to believe me and trust me.
I can imagine that Krenn and his lawyer
would prefer us not to dredge up the past in open court.
So I can talk to his lawyer, and if he agrees,
the prosecutor would drop the charges and you would be set free immediately.
No, no!
No! I no want good from this man.
He no good then to mein Schwester, sister.
(SPEAKING IN GERMAN)
I want tribunal.
Tribunal for him
and tribunal for me, and fair, fair.
You want justice.
Psak din, Psak din for him,
and for me, too.
(SIGHING)
Listen.
If you were a guest at my house,
that would qualify as your residence
and you wouldn't have to stay in prison during the trial.
I would like to invite you to come and stay at my house.
No money.
(EXCLAIMS) Don't worry.
I have two letters here that will please you.
I've got a bit of hate mail, too.
Strangers who were at the trial sent you some money,
so that you can hold on and get justice.
All together it's 1,350 marks.
We are very happy about it.
This should please you as well.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Nail. Nail.
No nail.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Screw.
Scruce.
TINA: (LAUGHS) No, screws.
Scruce.
(GIGGLES)
Screwdriver.
Thank you. Scrucedriver.
(GIGGLING)
TINA: What's a concentration camp?
What is a concentration camp?
(SPEAKING IN GERMAN)
Something not...
Forgive, forget.
(CAR HORN HONKING)
Mommy!
Hello.
May I?
Don't worry about it. They're idiots.
TINA: Mommy!
Mommy, Uncle Stauffer called.
Can't you be any louder?
(BOTH GIGGLING) Can't you be any louder?
I could try.
(LOUD BANGING)
(SHUSHING)
Uncle Stauffer called. He's waiting for you to call him back at the clinic.
He said it was really important.
Okay.
Go on.
Do you do everything Stauffer tells you to?
Well, they give me 10,000 marks for two days work.
Isn't that wonderful?
Well, at least that takes you away from your crazy Nazi hunt.
All I've got to do is to review the documents,
and then make a recommendation at the meeting tomorrow.
Hmm. That's it.
And you're leaving that fanatic alone in your house for two days?
Why don't you take him in? You've got room enough.
I can't send him back to prison.
The law doesn't provide for that.
(CAR ENGINE STARTING)
(CAR DRIVING AWAY)
The building is under some reconstruction.
So, I'm afraid I will have to provide you with a bigger office.
(GABRIELE CHUCKLES)
(DOOR CLOSES)
These are the pleas and the court rulings to date.
Dr. Kurth of our staff has written a legal memorandum
which she'll bring to you in a moment.
Oh, excuse me.
Do you have any questions?
No, not right now.
We'll turn off the phone, so you won't be disturbed
every five minutes by wrong numbers.
If you need a phone, you're welcome to use mine right next door.
I want this phone turned off for today and tomorrow.
You know where to find me.
Thank you. Good luck.
Thank you.
Excuse me! What's wrong?
I have been working at this for eight weeks.
And now you come along, read it,
and tomorrow you will present it single-handedly before the commission.
All because some stockholder has taken you under his wing.
How would you feel in my place?
I know nothing about this.
Well, you do now.
(DOOR CLOSES)
(SIGHS)
Professor Stauffer?
"With respect to enclosed stay of imprisonment,
"I support the request because of health reasons
"for patient Arnold Krenn.
"Professor Walter Stauffer."
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
You could have spared us this disgrace, Mrs. Freund.
What happened? Mr. Reichenbach has been extradited.
The police picked him up.
There was a woman from the Consulate.
She said they are sending him to South America on the next plane!
(WOMAN CHATTERING ON PA)
Mr. Reichenbach, were you told that you were extradited,
or anything about your right to appeal?
Everything was by the book.
Mr. Reichenbach, did you understand everything they told you?
His interpreter is right here. So, what's the problem?
Mrs. Marques,
are you a licensed, court-certified official interpreter in Germany?
No.
GABRIELE: Are you licensed in Ecuador?
No.
Well, in that case, there is no guarantee
that Mr. Reichenbach has been duly informed of his rights.
If you have any questions as to the legal aspects,
please get in touch with the senior prosecutor Mr. Brinkmann.
He is waiting for your call.
Wait here.
Mr. Reichenbach, do you want to stay?
They will probably keep you in custody
until they've ruled on my objection to your deportation.
It may take a while before I can get you out again.
He may stay.
POLICEMAN: Come.
Come.
(PHONE RINGING)
Hello. Freund.
Hello?
MAN: You slut.
(TRZEBINSKI SPEAKING IN GERMAN)
INTERPRETER: It was night.
(SPEAKING IN GERMAN)
INTERPRETER: Krenn was awake and fully dressed.
He seemed as if he was expecting us.
I told him, "There is an order the children must be poisoned,
"but I can't do it.
"Anyway, I have no poison."
Krenn said, "If you're too much of a coward,
"I'll have to do it myself."
BRITISH JUDGE: Were the children anesthetized?
(INTERPRETER SPEAKING IN GERMAN)
(SPEAKING IN GERMAN)
INTERPRETER: Some were asleep, others awake.
Some cried.
Since there was no poison available,
and no gas,
the children were hanged.
(GLASS SHATTERING)
(EXCLAIMS)
What was that?
Come into my bed. Quickly.
Be careful.
What do you expect me to do?
Call the police if someone throws rocks through your window.
I think someone's trying to pressure me.
HERBERT: Not Eckert.
He would never have to stoop that low.
I'm worried about Tina.
Well, then, for God's sakes, drop the case.
Why am I talking to you?
Just tell me you're not interested.
Did I hear my name mentioned?
Someone has thrown rocks through your trial opponent's window.
More importantly, through my daughter's window.
I warn you.
Do not try to make connections which can't be proven.
But you can't guarantee they don't exist.
Here, drink this.
When you're sober, you're okay,
drunk you're quite amusing,
but in-between you're positively intolerable.
Why did you get divorced?
You want to hear my confession?
She's got class. With her, you could get to the very top.
Maybe she will knock you off your pedestal, Herr Professor.
How would you like that?
Do you think that's possible?
Well, is it?
Hardly.
Why don't you drop the charges?
There's nothing to be gained from the old Jew.
Krenn would never go along with it.
Well, convince him.
The hell I will.
I won't lose to a woman.
(DOOR OPENING)
Please, sit down. Sit.
Nothing has been decided yet.
You can still be extradited.
Please, think about it carefully.
You tell me.
The prosecutor may request up to 10 years in prison.
I don't know if our arguments
will be sufficient to successfully defend you.
Even if you are not here,
I promise that I will fight like hell
until Arnold Krenn finally stands trial.
I promise.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
I will stay.
I...
Tina.
(CHUCKLING) Oh.
Well, Tina will be very, very happy.
Thank you.
You know, it was only when I
saw what you wrote on the memorial that I understood
how much this means to you.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Mmm.
"Hear my cry, O God."
No. No, no, no, no.
"God, thy way is holy."
Mr. Paessler had a different translation.
He said it meant, "Hear my cry, O God."
Paessler no Hebrew.
Okay.
(SPEAKING HEBREW)
Mmm-hmm.
If you still believe in him, you should pray.
I will pray. For you.
Gabriele Freund.
Friend.
He bring list from Mr. Paessler.
He prisoner in Neuengamme concentrations camp.
He says, "Children,
"they put children on Lastwagen..."
Truck. Truck.
Ja, ja, ja, truck. They put children on truck.
Ruthi and Rachel, he sees on truck.
Rachel on list, Ruthi not on list...
Why Ruthi not on list?
Krenn. Krenn knows.
"Krenn," he says,
"when you find Krenn, you find Ruthi."
(SIGHING)
(KNOCKING)
(DOOR OPENING)
(CHATTERING ON TV)
(SIGHS)
(EXCLAIMS)
But his is more beautiful.
No. I don't think so.
(DIALING)
Herbert?
Herbert, it's very important.
I have to go to Hamburg tomorrow morning.
I'll drop her off at school.
But I...
(SIGHS)
(PHONE LINE DISCONNECTED)
(SIGHS)
But, Mommy, I could stay alone.
Mrs. Hasold is right downstairs.
GABRIELE: Right... Right there.
Now, what does this mean?
I translated this for you last time.
What does it mean?
(READING HEBREW)
"O God, thy way is holy."
And this means, "Hear my cry, O God."
(READING)
Hear my cry, O God. Yes.
Aaron Reichenbach wrote this one. He knows nothing about this one.
So this was written a long time before he came here.
Yes. And look. Two of the entries are with green ink.
R-A-R, Reichenbach and Hanna Mendel, Berlin.
Maybe Hanna Mendel can tell us who this other person is.
Hanna Mendel, Berlin.
(BUSY TONE)
MAN: ...in your hand or in your mouth.
I'll come right back.
(LINE RINGING)
(RINGING)
(RINGING STOPS)
(RINGING)
Mommy? MAN: Now, my little girl,
it's going to be your turn soon.
(CAR ENGINE RUNNING)
How much have you got?
11.
All right, give me what you have got.
I can go in and get the rest. My...
Daddy! Daddy! Daddy, wait for me.
Daddy!
(PANTING)
(BELL RINGING)
Hello!
Hello! Mrs. Mendel?
WOMAN: Who are you looking for?
I am a lawyer. I'm looking for Hanna Mendel.
It's very important.
She's in Spain, visiting a friend of hers.
When will she be back?
Not for a while.
If you need to get in touch with her,
you can write to her Berlin address.
The mail will be forwarded to Spain.
She won't let anyone have her address.
(WOMAN CHATTERING ON PA)
(LINE RINGING)
Tickets, please. Thank you.
Thank you.
(BUS STOPPING)
(GRUNTS)
(CRYING)
Tina!
(GROANING)
(CRYING) Please don't be mad, Mommy.
Look at me, Tina. Hmm?
I was so scared.
Why were you scared? What happened? Hmm?
HERBERT: Hello?
I just wanted you to know that your daughter was in the hospital.
Thank God Dr. Hoeppner was on duty.
What has happened?
She broke her wrist.
How did it happen?
I don't know. I wasn't there.
You left her alone? How the hell could you leave her alone?
You're asking me why she was alone? You're asking me that?
(PHONE LINE DISCONNECTED)
I have never heard you two have a normal conversation with each other.
(DOORBELL RINGING)
I am so sorry about last night. How is she doing?
(SHUSHING) She's sleeping.
Oh.
Brinkmann was looking for you yesterday.
He wants to see you as soon as possible in his office.
I will stay with her while you're gone.
What does he want? I have no idea.
Herbert, there is one witness who could testify for Aaron.
We can only reach her through a woman in Spain.
Nobody knows her address, only the Federal Post,
and they won't tell.
(SIGHING)
I want to help, Gabriele.
Oh, watch out for Brinkmann.
He was supposed to have been a big wig with the Hitler Youth.
Doesn't he realize the risk?
The charge is now premeditated aggravated assault.
I will ask for his acquittal.
Your real goal is nailing Krenn, isn't it?
I would like to see him charged and brought before a judge, yes.
But he's an old man. What good is it if he has to die in prison?
He was young when he ordered the children murdered!
Why didn't you tell him then, "They're children, what good is it if they are murdered?"
Sorry.
You're right.
It wasn't personal.
Nevertheless, you're right.
And even if Krenn dies, one question remains.
How was it possible that our judicial system
allowed someone like Krenn to slip through time and time again for 45 years?
I wonder whether yourself have asked that question before.
You've consistently defended our government, our legal system.
Keep it up. This country is worth it.
But who will guarantee that it will stay this way
if we don't fight injustice when we see it?
The young people of this nation should know
that not only do actions bear guilt, there are guilty individuals!
Otherwise the young people will be cheated, like I was.
I didn't know.
Because the guilty will never come forward to tell the truth.
They will hide behind their ugliest disguises and the most despicable hypocrisy.
You do believe that Krenn is guilty?
Yes. What is the evidence?
In the trial before the British Military Court in 1946,
four ex-SS men stated that the orders to kill the children came from Berlin.
Later, during the investigation conducted by our prosecuting authorities,
these witnesses were deemed credible
and that was the end of the investigation against Arnold Krenn.
Mrs. Freund, whether we like it or not,
following binding orders is an accepted legal defense.
Four ex-SS officers said that none of them saw the orders from Berlin.
All of them swore that Krenn was in charge that night
and that he was present most of the time.
They were always the same SS men.
The same witnesses?
The same witnesses.
How is that possible?
Were all four witnesses credible in one answer and not in the other?
If we are to believe them when they say that the orders came from Berlin,
then we must believe them when they say that Krenn was present and in charge.
The only logical thing to do is to bring Krenn to trial under suspicion of...
Of having murdered 20 children.
It can be sufficient.
But we haven't got much time.
There is a motion pending in Hamburg
to declare Arnold Krenn unfit for trial for an indefinite period.
(SIGHS)
For reasons of health, of course.
Is Stauffer down as supporting this motion?
Why don't you ask him yourself? You know him.
(SIGHS) Thank you.
But I must warn you, though.
Eckert and Krenn know what's at stake.
They won't be easy at your client.
His chances were bad enough before.
Premeditated aggravated assault is a crime
even if the victim happens to be a murderer.
I call witness Krenn to the stand.
COURT OFFICIAL: Mr. Krenn! MAN 1: Mr. Krenn!
MAN 2: Mr. Krenn!
(PEOPLE MURMURING)
(GAVEL BANGING)
Does the defense have questions for the witness?
GABRIELE: Very few.
I would like to point out to you
that I'll only permit questions directly related to the case.
Mr. Krenn, in your capacity as SS Obersturmfuehrer,
were you in command of the field camp at Bullenhuser Road
on the 20th of April, 1945?
This question has absolutely nothing to do with the present case!
The defense is bent on defaming my client with allegations
and on severely damaging his reputation!
Before I approve the question, tell me its relevance.
On April the 20th, 1945,
the sisters of the defendant, Rachel and Ruth Reichenbach,
were taken from Neuengamme to Bullenhuser Road.
Rachel is among the victims who were killed that night, but Ruth vanished.
The only person who can explain what happened to her is in this room.
Mr. Krenn, where were you on the 20th of April, 1945,
when 20 children were murdered in the camp of which you were in command?
I strongly object against this question. It's absolutely irrelevant!
Witness, answer the question.
Of course I was not there.
In 1965, during questioning, you answered, "I don't know where I was that evening."
The witness stated at the time,
"I was probably in my room on Spaldingstrasse."
It was the 20th of April.
SS were celebrating Adolf Hitler's birthday,
and you mean to tell me that his devoted soldier, Arnold Krenn,
didn't even know where he was on such an occasion?
What do you expect?
The case was closed in 1967 by the Prosecutor's Office,
because it was considered proven
that Mr. Krenn was not at Bullenhuser Road that evening.
Oh, but you will surely agree with me, Professor Eckert,
that the closing of that case did not speak for Mr. Krenn,
but against the prosecutor in charge.
I believe it is the only incidence in our entire jurisprudence that
"I don't know where I was" became a permissible alibi.
In Mr. Krenn's case, it was even deemed proof of innocence.
Mr. Krenn, where were you on the 20th of April, 1945?
I have said it 100 times,
and I refuse to tolerate any more questions on the subject!
I am not the defendant here.
Mr. Reichenbach, you have searched for decades,
spent all your money, traveled halfway around the world,
sat in jail for weeks.
Now, here is the man who probably decided the fate of your sister Ruth.
Ask him if he was there at Bullenhuser Road.
Ask him now.
Ask him.
Mr. Krenn, do you know anything about the fate of Ruth Reichenbach?
I was Commander of the Neuengamme Field Camps, not a damned babysitter!
Lies!
(GAVEL BANGING)
(MAN LAUGHING)
(CHUCKLING)
Do you want to take a break?
No! My client wants an answer from Mr. Krenn!
But obviously decency and courage were never required of the master race.
I demand this trial to be conducted in an orderly manner!
Professor, I am still presiding over this court.
In your capacity as co-counselor,
you will have the opportunity to speak.
Please, take your seats.
(SPEAKING SOFTLY)
Mr. Krenn, allegedly the orders at the time
were to kill the children by giving them poison.
According to statements by witnesses, there was no poison available.
Now,
wouldn't it have been possible to
follow the orders from Berlin to the letter and wait for poison?
ECKERT: This question... British troops were only six kilometers away.
If you had waited, the killings could have been delayed
and you could have saved the children.
This question has nothing to do with the trial.
I would find the answer highly interesting.
But we have to proceed by the law.
"We have to proceed by the law."
That's what the judiciary said 50 years ago.
At the time, innocent people were killed by those words.
And today their murderers go free because of them.
God damn it, we were at war!
In no country on the face of the Earth does a commanding officer
have the right to refuse to carry out an execution order.
In what kind of civilized country
are children condemned to death and executed?
Nowhere on Earth does a commanding officer
have the duty to carry out such an order.
But you must think of the conditions back then.
Those conditions were created by Mr. Krenn and his accomplices.
And even if he goes free because he pretends that
he himself did not order the child killings,
isn't it already an unforgivable crime
that he did nothing to save those children?
He could so easily have done so.
The British were only six kilometers away.
That is 6,000 meters!
It is not a crime not to be a hero.
Shouldn't the gentlemen from the SS finally admit that they were never heroes,
but miserable criminals.
JUDGE: We have to interrupt the questioning of Mr. Krenn.
I've just been informed that a witness is present
who will most probably make a decisive statement.
I propose that we hear her right away.
Please, Mr. Krenn, go and have a seat over there.
(MOUTHING)
She's outside. Your husband brought her here.
I call Ruth Levi to the witness stand.
Brinkmann will have her called as a witness for the prosecution.
It'll be easier that way.
Herbert is over there.
COURT OFFICIAL: Ruth Levi!
(MOUTHING)
JUDGE: Please, come closer.
Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
I swear.
Please tell us your name.
Ruth Levi.
When and where were you born?
On June 2, 1934, in Lodz.
And you live in Spain?
In Toledo, yes. Since 1975.
Ruth?
Yeah.
Ruthi?
Aaron?
Oh, my God.
(GROANS)
(SOBBING)
GABRIELE: I request a recess.
We need to acknowledge that the past stays present
as long as there are wounds to be healed.
JUDGE: Motion granted.
The court is adjourned.
RUTH: We were separated in the camp.
I knew that Rachel was with the children in Barrack 4A,
where they were made sick.
I was put to work in the kitchen.
Sometimes when I had a piece of bread, I brought it to Rachel.
SOLDIER: Get up! You're going on a trip!
(SOLDIER SHOUTING IN GERMAN)
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
(SOLDIER SPEAKING GERMAN)
CHILD: Oh, look, Dr. Florence is there, too!
RUTH: Dr. Florence used to take care of them, and they liked him.
(CHILDREN SCREAMING)
RUTH: No!
Rachel! Rachel! Rachel!
(CRYING) Ruthi!
(GUNSHOT)
(SHOUTS)
(GRUNTS)
Play dead.
Dead!
Good shot. Dead, Obersturmfuehrer.
Load her in!
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
(SHOUTING IN GERMAN)
(WHISPERING) When everyone is gone,
go behind the wooden beams over there.
(CRYING)
RUTH: In the darkness I heard their voices.
Sometimes they cried and sometimes they called.
Rachel thought that I was dead.
One after the other, they hanged them on these hooks.
(RACHEL CRYING)
Rachel, too.
There was nothing I could do to help her.
(SCREAMING)
(SNIFFLES)
I would like to ask permission, after what we've just heard,
to question the witness, Krenn, again.
That will not be possible.
I have just received notification from Hamburg
that Mr. Arnold Krenn has been declared
permanently unfit to stand trial.
There will not be any trial in which Mr. Krenn will have to participate,
neither as witness nor as defendant.
The court is in recess until deliberations are over.
(INDISTINCT MURMURING)
That night, 20 Russian prisoners tried to escape.
Most of them were killed.
Six... Six of them made it.
Vladimir was among those and he took me with him to Russia.
(CRYING) We were told that you were all dead.
And I believed it!
Later on, Vladimir and I got married
and in 1975 we were allowed to emigrate.
Three months ago,
I found out that a memorial had been erected
at the school where they killed Rachel.
So I went there because there is no grave,
and I wrote our names into the list,
like we always used to do when we were children.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(CHUCKLING)
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
What do you expect will be the outcome of the deliberations?
Continuation of the session without the main witness for the prosecution.
Probably a short-term suspended sentence.
Do you expect Reichenbach to be convicted?
He has to be, because he's guilty, and he admitted it.
And Krenn stays free? You think that's right?
Do you?
Thank you. Thank you.
(WOMAN SPEAKING GERMAN OVER PA)
(TINA AND GABRIELE CHUCKLING)
(PROSECUTOR SPEAKING)