The Outer Limits (1995–2002): Season 5, Episode 12 - Tribunal - full transcript
Aaron Zgierski, a lawyer and the son of Holocaust survivors, is investigating the Nazi war criminal who murdered members of his family. He gets help from a mysterious time traveler who is able to procure evidence from Auschwitz in 1944.
Don't worry.
I'll save you
for more important things.
Do you have a problem?
No, commandant rademacher!
I think you do.
I do believe
i see hate in your eyes.
Step forward!
I don't like being here
any more than you,
but killing a jew
before breakfast
is the only solace
of this miserable job.
No, stop!
What was that?
Please spare him,
i beg you!
How touching.
Very well. One corpse
is as good as another.
No! Kill me instead!
Mama!
Mama!
Miriam!
Please, my daughter,
don't make her watch!
No! Mama!
No!
Mama! No! No!
Aah!
No! No!
No! No!
That man!
What are you doing?
Halt!
There is nothing
wrong with your television.
Do not attempt
to adjust the picture.
We are now controlling
the transmission.
We control the horizontal
and the vertical.
We can deluge you
with 1,000 channels
or expand
one single image
to crystal clarity
and beyond.
We can
shape your vision
to anything our imagination
can conceive.
For the next hour,
we will control
all that you see and hear.
You are about to experience
the awe and mystery
which reaches from
the deepest inner mind to...
It is said that
those who ignore the past
are doomed to repeat it,
but what dangers
await those
who cannot forget the past...
those obsessed
with reliving it?
Hello.
Rademacher!
Karl rademacher!
Excuse me?
I know who you are.
You're karl rademacher.
My name is greene.
Robert greene.
Obviously,
you are confusing me
with another man.
What did you call
yourself? A man?
I don't think
you're a man.
Do you need help, robert?
You killed
hundreds of people
with your own hands...
sent thousands
of people off to die.
You're not a man.
You're a monster.
Young man, you are
out of your mind.
You killed my family.
Rademacher, my family.
Miriam zgierski,
hannah zgierski,
those names, do they
mean anything to you?
I never heard
those names in my life.
Leon zgierski
is my father.
How can you
not remember him?
You shot his wife
point blank
at birkenau.
You had his daughter
dragged off
to be gassed.
How can you not
remember those people?
The man is a lunatic.
A lunatic.
He's a war criminal.
Rademacher!
Leave the man alone.
You're not fooling me!
I'm sorry, young man.
I don't know what
you are talking about.
You called me out
of a meeting for this?
Yeah, i want you to see
who i'm investigating.
This man and this man
are the same person.
I'm not gonna
lie to you, aaron.
Without concrete
evidence,
our chances
of putting away
this robert greene
for crimes
he supposedly
committed
half a century ago
are east of slim
and west of not.
I can give you
dozens of examples
of war criminals
who have been convicted
decades after the fact.
Sure, in the countries
where the offenses occurred
or where descendants
of their victims
make up most
of the population.
The best we could
hope to do,
and that presumes that
we can convince a court
that greene
is who you say...
oh, he's rademacher.
I'd stake my life on it.
Can i finish, please?
The best we can do
is to initiate
a denaturalization
procedure.
Claim that he entered
the country back in...
when was it?
'59.
'59, and he entered
based on false statements,
and even then,
we'd have to hope that
the swiss government
would extradite
to germany, poland, israel,
somewhere where there's
a legal apparatus
set up to deal with
these alleged crimes.
Alleged... alleged crimes?
You know what
this bastard did?
I know that you believe
that he murdered
members of your family,
but aaron,
i've gotta tell you,
right there, we could taint
our presentation to the court.
Here's what
rademacher did.
He ran a section
of birkenau
where the nazis
put on a "good face."
They let the families
stay together.
They invited
the red cross in.
You know what he did
the minute
the red cross left?
I can guess.
He had 3,500 people...
men, women,
children...
gassed
in a single day.
If it hadn't been
for some guard
who sent my father
to a labor camp,
i wouldn't be
standing here
talking
to you today.
Before you go
accusing this man,
you'd better have
your ducks in a row.
I hope to god you didn't
do anything more
than take photographs.
Oh, god.
Look, when i got
all this research
from my friend
at immigration,
i didn't believe it,
and then
i started to dig,
and it's lead to one
inescapable fact...
greene
is rademacher.
He had the ss
tattoo removed.
He's got the scars
under his arm.
Oh, there's
100 explanations
for a scar like that.
What about eyewitnesses?
Eyewitnesses?
I've got
6 birkenau survivors
including my father
who can id this man and
say he is rademacher.
You know how reliable
50-year-old memories are?
All right, fine.
I'm gonna
do this by myself.
I'll do it
by myself.
You have not changed
one iota since law school.
Same fire in your belly.
Same stubborn streak.
Just don't bring up
the farm workers sit-in,
because i really
wasn't at my best
in those days.
Gwen, what about you?
It didn't used
to all be politics.
You used to care
about justice,
that was all
you cared about.
No, that's not
all i cared about.
There was that prince
of the irrefutable polemic
i used to be married to.
What a kind way
of calling me
an argumentative
pain in the ass.
You'd better get serious.
You want me to make
a presentation to my boss?
I'm gonna need some
concrete evidence.
I'm not going in there
shooting blanks.
Ok, i'll just keep
digging, all right?
I'm sure you will.
Mr. Zgierski?
We're closed. We open
again tomorrow at 10:00.
I'm nicholas prentice.
I understand
you're interested
in bringing robert greene
to justice.
What do you know
about greene?
Robert greene,
aka karl rademacher.
First lieutenant
in the ss.
Went underground
after the war,
became a farmer,
then a stoker
in an iron mill
in switzerland.
Came to the states
in 1959.
Ran a dry cleaning shop
until his retirement
in '74.
Shall i go on?
How did you get
this information?
Same way you do.
Countless interviews,
meticulous research,
sleepless nights.
You're from
the weisenthal center?
No, no. It's
a privately funded
human rights
organization.
They like to keep
a pretty low profile.
I thought i might
be able to help.
How are you gonna do that?
With evidence, the only
thing that matters.
What is that?
Read the name, aaron.
Where did you get this?
Take my word for it.
This is rademacher's
uniform.
I've gotta
be up early.
Thanks for your time.
Wait a minute.
How do i contact you?
I'll be in touch.
Don't worry.
All right. All right.
I give up.
You're, uh, still losing
to norman, i see.
This man says he can
beat me in his sleep...
i think he just
proved it to me.
Listen, i need
to talk to you.
You're looking strong.
Yeah. At my age,
if you look at all,
you should be grateful.
Listen, dad, yesterday...
I, uh, i saw him.
I actually saw him.
Who?
Der teufel.
The devil.
Rademacher?
Rademacher. I saw him
outside his house.
I even spoke to him.
You're serious?
Yeah, i'm serious.
You don't have
to look so surprised.
I told you
i wouldn't let this go.
My son, the big shot
nazi hunter.
What did he say?
Did he admit who he is?
No, no. He denied
everything,
but listen to me, dad,
sometime soon if you're
feeling strong enough,
i'm gonna have to take
you to see him...
to identify him.
Oh, i don't know
if i could ever look on him.
If you could,
do you think
you could identify him
after all these years?
Mmm.
God give me
a little more life,
and i could never
forget such a face.
Dad, listen to me...
if this comes
to a trial,
or even a deposition,
you're gonna
have to testify.
You're gonna have
to talk about
miriam, dad...
and about your daughter.
No! Miriam!
Mama!
Kill me instead!
No!
God has kept me alive
for some purpose.
I'll do whatever
i have to do.
Ok, as promised.
I bring
the chinese food,
you tell me
what they said.
Sweet and sour pork?
Not exactly kosher, is it?
Yeah, i'm guilty
as charged.
Gwen, what did
forensics say?
You got any soy sauce
in here?
It's in the bag.
Come on, gwen.
Here, look, look,
look yourself.
How's your dad?
Oh, he's as strong
as ever. You're still
his favorite
shikse, you know.
You guys getting along
any better these days?
I don't get this,
i don't understand it.
What does it mean?
It's kind of a mixed bag.
The materials,
the construction,
the identifying labels
all suggest
the uniform is
completely authentic.
Fantastic.
What did i tell you?
They also say that unless
it was vacuum sealed
for 50 years, there's
no way it could be
in the condition
it was in.
Well, couldn't
the collector have taken
pains to preserve it?
Maybe, but regardless
of the authenticity
of the jacket, there's
no dna evidence on it
that could link it
to robert greene.
Well, what
about fingerprints?
There were fingerprints
on the buttons,
but according to the lab,
the original owner's would've
disappeared decades ago.
What they found was
probably the prints
of the man who turned it
over to you.
So, where are we?
Honestly? Same place
we were yesterday...
desperately seeking
evidence.
What have you got?
Thanks.
How did you know
i was here?
I told you. My research
is scrupulous.
Really? Well, the uniform
you gave me was useless.
Don't tell me
that you're giving up?
I'll tell you something.
When i was a kid,
my father used to talk
to me about the war,
you know, about the camp.
All that horror.
You know what i did?
Just nodded my head,
pretended to listen.
In fact, i was
a million miles away.
How can a child
handle all that pain?
In fact, i didn't know
how lucky i was.
Most survivors, they don't
talk to their children at all.
They surround themselves
in a wall of silence.
So it wasn't
until i was an adult
that i unplugged my ears
finally and i listened
for the first time
to what he said,
and nowthat
i've heard it...
now that i've heard it,
i can't close my eyes
and ears ever again,
you understand
what i'm saying to you?
I think
i'll have a drink.
Bring me what
he's having, ok?
You know, my father
even named me
after one of the...
prisoners in the camp.
Who knows? Maybe in
another... life i was...
your father remarried
after the war.
Yeah. Helen, my mother,
was a survivor at birken...
you tell me where
you got that uniform.
Off the back
of a mass murderer.
No, you're preaching
to the choir.
I want to know if you
can get your hands
on any other
potential evidence.
What? Photographs,
handwriting,
blood evidence, dna?
All of the above.
I'll see
what i can do.
I see, and you're
not gonna tell me
how to get in touch
with you, right?
If you want
my help, i'm afraid
it's going to have to
be on my terms.
Good night.
Well, finally,
i've been waiting here
for half an hour.
I've been busy.
With that, your sources?
What's going on?
What are we doing here?
This should answer
all your questions.
What is this?
It's a key to
a safety deposit box,
trustee's bank
of philadelphia.
Robert greene's
safety deposit box?
I didn't say anything
about robert greene.
Well, whose is it?
Your father's.
Now according
to these records,
this was
a dormant account.
Apparently the box
hasn't been accessed
since the day
it was opened.
Could this be right?
May 9, 1948.
48? It's amazing
it still exists.
If you'll just
sign this.
Here, dad.
I'm telling you,
i never had
a safety deposit box
in this bank.
I never even had
an account here.
It was a lot of years ago,
and maybe you...
you forgot, you know?
I don't forget
such things.
All right, are you
gonna sign this or not?
Ok, good. Sorry.
Right there.
Ok. Terrific.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Ok.
Um, go ahead.
Do you want to...
all right, never mind.
Oh, my god.
Gott im himmel.
Please, no! No!
No, don't take her!
No! Please, no!
Hannah!
I wanted you
to see this
exactly as we found it.
Look at this.
It's amazing.
And this razor,
i think, i don't know,
but this could be
dried blood here.
The handkerchief, the stain
on it could be blood.
I don't know.
What do you think?
What do l...
i think it...
i think some people
could say
it's convenient.
I know that the, uh,
timing of this
is a little odd,
but it doesn't make it
any the less real.
Look at it.
I'm trying to be
objective here.
I ask youfor evidence,
and the next minute
you show up
with this box
full of artifacts...
i know.
Documents that haven't
surfaced for 50 years.
Your father
doesn't even know
where they came from.
Yeah, you asked me
for evidence, gwen.
This is evidence,
and now you're giving me
some kind of
third degree on it.
You think i'm tough,
wait'll you hear
greene's defense.
No, that doesn't
matter...
you know, i'm going
very far out on a limb
for you, aaron.
My job is on the line.
The d.a. Thinks
my judgement is clouded
by allegiance to my ex,
and you're still
holding out on me.
No, you see, you know
everything that i know.
I haven't met this man,
this self-appointed
nazi hunter.
Well, what do you think,
that i just made him up?
First rule of combat.
Know the difference
between friend and foe.
I'm on your side, aaron,
just as
i've always been.
They had a sign
on the gates
of auschwitz.
"Arbeit macht
frei."
Heh.
"Work will
set you free."
The cruelest lie
ever told.
There's
only one thing
that can set you
free, aaron.
It's the truth.
Hello?
Hello?
Apparently
the box hasn't been accessed
since the day it was
opened. May 9, 1948.
Dad.
I'm, um...
aaron.
My name is aaron.
Welcome to hell
on earth, aaron.
This is, um...
my daughter hannah.
Say hello,
neshomeleh.
Hello.
You wife,
where's your wife?
Dead. Murdered by
der teufel.
Rademacher.
Achtung!
We will distribute
writing instruments
and paper.
We want you to write
your friends and relatives.
You will tell them
that conditions here
are excellent,
and that the authorities
treat you humanely.
You...
you have something
to say?
No, commandant...
eyes down!
Take him away.
No! Please don't!
I will write the letter
exactly as you wish.
Take him outside.
Shoot him.
No, no, nooo!
No!
Hold him outside.
I'll shoot him
myself.
Anyone else have a comment?
Tomorrow, we'll distribute
fresh clothing.
You will be receiving
visitors...
from the red cross.
When they come,
you will tell them
that you are grateful
to be here,
that you've been given
enough to eat,
and that
you've been afforded
every consideration.
By the way,
we'll be looking
for strong volunteers
for a work detail
in gleiwitz.
The rumor is
if you volunteer
you won't come back.
No, no. You have to be
on that work detail
if you want to live.
You know what he's
gonna do, don't you,
the minute
the red cross leaves?
He'll have
everyone killed.
I put my faith in god.
Mach schnell!
Oh, my god.
Where am i?
What the hell
were you doing?
I didn't imagine that.
That actually happened to me.
Do you have any idea
how dangerous this was?
Explain to me what happened.
I don't understand.
I can't.
Explain it to me!
You won't
understand.
Fine. I take this thing,
i give it to the fbi,
i give it to
the newspapers, they'll...
i have to know
what happened.
You went back in time.
Back to when
the device was set.
March 3, 1944.
But that's impossible.
Is it?
Who are you?
What are you?
I grew up not far
from here,
about a hundred
years from now.
I'm not from
your day, aaron.
I'm a time traveller.
This device
is the means we use
to cross
temporal boundaries.
Humans perfected
time travel
late in
the 21st century.
Why did you pick me?
Why did you pick
rademacher?
Your passion made you
the perfect candidate.
What, you just want to...
if you want to get
a war criminal
why don't you just...
just kill him?
The first rule of
time travel forbids it.
We have a solemn
obligation to minimize
the damage
to the time stream.
The course of history,
the cause and effect
of sequential events.
But if...
you're tampered with all
this evidence you...
you're already changed the...
whatever it is,
the time stream.
Everything i've done
has been tested
for its ripple effect,
vetted, if you will.
We're confined
to those actions
whose consequences
are approved.
Approved.
So if you give me
the evidence to prove
that greene
is rademacher then...
you'll have
the tribunal's blessing.
The documents
are authentic.
Everything from the paper
to the glue
to the inks to the marks
of attrition
date the certificate
to the early forties.
The blood,
the blood evidence?
We got a first pass
at dna markers,
but without a blood
sample from greene,
we have no basis
for comparison.
I've spoken to
mr. Markham, his lawyer,
about a voluntary submission.
The man is on the warpath.
Of course he is.
He's claiming
that it's all part
of an elaborate frame-up.
He's gonna make the case
that you've been engaged
in a no-holds-barred
vendetta
against an innocent
old man.
If he's able to, uh,
to cast doubt
on the evidence,
it could shoot
your theory to hell.
It's not a theory
anymore.
We could go for broke.
We can issue an order
to greene
to show cause why
he shouldn't be deported,
but if we lose, that's it.
Do it.
What's going on?
Aaron, what are you
not telling me?
Well, there's no way
i can expect you
to believe it.
Try me.
I don't know
how to saw this, aaron.
You have to know
how much i wanted
this to work,
how badly
i wanted greene.
Wanted? What do
you mean wanted?
Why are you talking
the past tense,
like you've given up?
You know, don't you?
You know
what's gonna happen.
If you can go back in time,
you can go forward, too,
and you've already
seen the future.
You have to know
we altered the equation
every time
we intervened,
every time we brought
something back.
Yeah, but you just
checked, didn't you?
And you know how
this is going to end.
Whatever it is,
i want to hear it.
With the evidence
closing in on him,
robert greene bought
a one-way ticket
to argentina...
and was never
heard from again.
What are you doing?
Aaron!
What the hell
do you want?
What does it look like?
Is this your idea
of justice,
taking the law into
your own hands?
Desperate times,
desperate measures.
Is it money you want?
I've got some cash
in this suitcase.
You going somewhere, hmm?
Going somewhere?
You feel
very powerful
with a gun
in your hand, huh?
Yeah, just a little bit
more powerful
than all the people
that you killed.
Put it away and go
home, zgierski.
Rademacher!
Turn around.
I want to hear it
from the devil's own lips.
And then you're
going to kill me.
You'll kill
an innocent man.
Aaron.
No.
Get out.
You've already
done your job.
Has it come
to this?
You're damn right
it has.
This man doesn't deserve
to draw another breath.
Is revenge
so important to you?
Can you think of anything
more important?
There's a reason
i came to you,
a reason i travelled
all this way.
We're connected, aaron.
It wasn't just your family
that man murdered.
It was mine.
I'm your great-grandson,
aaron.
Yes, it's true.
If anything happens
to you, then...
i cease to exist.
Put it on.
If you want to live,
you put it on.
No. No, this can't be.
It's a trick,
it's a trick.
Guard, take this man.
He says he doesn't belong.
No, l...
i don't believe this.
L... l...
just... just stop playing
tricks on me.
This is a conspiracy.
What's the problem?
This prisoner, he is
being belligerent.
what is
your name?
This is a nightmare.
It has to be.
I asked you
a question, jew.
I am not a jew.
I despise the jews.
Don't you know
who i am?
I am
karl rademacher.
Shut up, old man!
We are the same man.
Please, let me
prove to you.
I'm a loyal servant
of the reich,
member of the ss.
Heil hitler!
Hmph!
Beg for your life.
I want to hear you beg.
No! No, no, no.
Mein father...
he gave me bicycle,
a green bicycle
when i was 10.
I drove it
into the river.
He beat me.
I... i am you...
50 years from now.
I am you.
Back to work!
All of you!
Aaron, look.
Oh, please, no! No!
No, don't take her!
Take him
to the labor camp!
To the labor camp!
It's all right,
it's all right.
Don't worry.
No! No!
Aaron, you can't
take her!
Don't do this...
let's go now!
I didn't agree
to this!
We're going now!
Do it! Do it now!
Do it! Do it!
Do it! Go, go, go!
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Stay here. Stay here.
You can't stop us.
It's too late. I did
what i had to do.
Of course you did.
I'll speak
to the tribunal.
I'm not gonna pretend
it'll be easy,
but i'll make them
understand.
It's all right,
hannah.
Don't be afraid.
I don't know
why i bother.
Dad?
Huh?
Dad, there's someone
i want you to meet.
My god in heaven...
for a minute i thought...
you see what old age
does to you, huh?
Dad, look.
It's not possible.
It's not.
Neshomeleh!
Neshomeleh!
The wounds of war run deep,
cutting across generations,
but there is always
the hope of healing
so long as there are
souls among us
whose hearts
are more full of love
than hate.
I'll save you
for more important things.
Do you have a problem?
No, commandant rademacher!
I think you do.
I do believe
i see hate in your eyes.
Step forward!
I don't like being here
any more than you,
but killing a jew
before breakfast
is the only solace
of this miserable job.
No, stop!
What was that?
Please spare him,
i beg you!
How touching.
Very well. One corpse
is as good as another.
No! Kill me instead!
Mama!
Mama!
Miriam!
Please, my daughter,
don't make her watch!
No! Mama!
No!
Mama! No! No!
Aah!
No! No!
No! No!
That man!
What are you doing?
Halt!
There is nothing
wrong with your television.
Do not attempt
to adjust the picture.
We are now controlling
the transmission.
We control the horizontal
and the vertical.
We can deluge you
with 1,000 channels
or expand
one single image
to crystal clarity
and beyond.
We can
shape your vision
to anything our imagination
can conceive.
For the next hour,
we will control
all that you see and hear.
You are about to experience
the awe and mystery
which reaches from
the deepest inner mind to...
It is said that
those who ignore the past
are doomed to repeat it,
but what dangers
await those
who cannot forget the past...
those obsessed
with reliving it?
Hello.
Rademacher!
Karl rademacher!
Excuse me?
I know who you are.
You're karl rademacher.
My name is greene.
Robert greene.
Obviously,
you are confusing me
with another man.
What did you call
yourself? A man?
I don't think
you're a man.
Do you need help, robert?
You killed
hundreds of people
with your own hands...
sent thousands
of people off to die.
You're not a man.
You're a monster.
Young man, you are
out of your mind.
You killed my family.
Rademacher, my family.
Miriam zgierski,
hannah zgierski,
those names, do they
mean anything to you?
I never heard
those names in my life.
Leon zgierski
is my father.
How can you
not remember him?
You shot his wife
point blank
at birkenau.
You had his daughter
dragged off
to be gassed.
How can you not
remember those people?
The man is a lunatic.
A lunatic.
He's a war criminal.
Rademacher!
Leave the man alone.
You're not fooling me!
I'm sorry, young man.
I don't know what
you are talking about.
You called me out
of a meeting for this?
Yeah, i want you to see
who i'm investigating.
This man and this man
are the same person.
I'm not gonna
lie to you, aaron.
Without concrete
evidence,
our chances
of putting away
this robert greene
for crimes
he supposedly
committed
half a century ago
are east of slim
and west of not.
I can give you
dozens of examples
of war criminals
who have been convicted
decades after the fact.
Sure, in the countries
where the offenses occurred
or where descendants
of their victims
make up most
of the population.
The best we could
hope to do,
and that presumes that
we can convince a court
that greene
is who you say...
oh, he's rademacher.
I'd stake my life on it.
Can i finish, please?
The best we can do
is to initiate
a denaturalization
procedure.
Claim that he entered
the country back in...
when was it?
'59.
'59, and he entered
based on false statements,
and even then,
we'd have to hope that
the swiss government
would extradite
to germany, poland, israel,
somewhere where there's
a legal apparatus
set up to deal with
these alleged crimes.
Alleged... alleged crimes?
You know what
this bastard did?
I know that you believe
that he murdered
members of your family,
but aaron,
i've gotta tell you,
right there, we could taint
our presentation to the court.
Here's what
rademacher did.
He ran a section
of birkenau
where the nazis
put on a "good face."
They let the families
stay together.
They invited
the red cross in.
You know what he did
the minute
the red cross left?
I can guess.
He had 3,500 people...
men, women,
children...
gassed
in a single day.
If it hadn't been
for some guard
who sent my father
to a labor camp,
i wouldn't be
standing here
talking
to you today.
Before you go
accusing this man,
you'd better have
your ducks in a row.
I hope to god you didn't
do anything more
than take photographs.
Oh, god.
Look, when i got
all this research
from my friend
at immigration,
i didn't believe it,
and then
i started to dig,
and it's lead to one
inescapable fact...
greene
is rademacher.
He had the ss
tattoo removed.
He's got the scars
under his arm.
Oh, there's
100 explanations
for a scar like that.
What about eyewitnesses?
Eyewitnesses?
I've got
6 birkenau survivors
including my father
who can id this man and
say he is rademacher.
You know how reliable
50-year-old memories are?
All right, fine.
I'm gonna
do this by myself.
I'll do it
by myself.
You have not changed
one iota since law school.
Same fire in your belly.
Same stubborn streak.
Just don't bring up
the farm workers sit-in,
because i really
wasn't at my best
in those days.
Gwen, what about you?
It didn't used
to all be politics.
You used to care
about justice,
that was all
you cared about.
No, that's not
all i cared about.
There was that prince
of the irrefutable polemic
i used to be married to.
What a kind way
of calling me
an argumentative
pain in the ass.
You'd better get serious.
You want me to make
a presentation to my boss?
I'm gonna need some
concrete evidence.
I'm not going in there
shooting blanks.
Ok, i'll just keep
digging, all right?
I'm sure you will.
Mr. Zgierski?
We're closed. We open
again tomorrow at 10:00.
I'm nicholas prentice.
I understand
you're interested
in bringing robert greene
to justice.
What do you know
about greene?
Robert greene,
aka karl rademacher.
First lieutenant
in the ss.
Went underground
after the war,
became a farmer,
then a stoker
in an iron mill
in switzerland.
Came to the states
in 1959.
Ran a dry cleaning shop
until his retirement
in '74.
Shall i go on?
How did you get
this information?
Same way you do.
Countless interviews,
meticulous research,
sleepless nights.
You're from
the weisenthal center?
No, no. It's
a privately funded
human rights
organization.
They like to keep
a pretty low profile.
I thought i might
be able to help.
How are you gonna do that?
With evidence, the only
thing that matters.
What is that?
Read the name, aaron.
Where did you get this?
Take my word for it.
This is rademacher's
uniform.
I've gotta
be up early.
Thanks for your time.
Wait a minute.
How do i contact you?
I'll be in touch.
Don't worry.
All right. All right.
I give up.
You're, uh, still losing
to norman, i see.
This man says he can
beat me in his sleep...
i think he just
proved it to me.
Listen, i need
to talk to you.
You're looking strong.
Yeah. At my age,
if you look at all,
you should be grateful.
Listen, dad, yesterday...
I, uh, i saw him.
I actually saw him.
Who?
Der teufel.
The devil.
Rademacher?
Rademacher. I saw him
outside his house.
I even spoke to him.
You're serious?
Yeah, i'm serious.
You don't have
to look so surprised.
I told you
i wouldn't let this go.
My son, the big shot
nazi hunter.
What did he say?
Did he admit who he is?
No, no. He denied
everything,
but listen to me, dad,
sometime soon if you're
feeling strong enough,
i'm gonna have to take
you to see him...
to identify him.
Oh, i don't know
if i could ever look on him.
If you could,
do you think
you could identify him
after all these years?
Mmm.
God give me
a little more life,
and i could never
forget such a face.
Dad, listen to me...
if this comes
to a trial,
or even a deposition,
you're gonna
have to testify.
You're gonna have
to talk about
miriam, dad...
and about your daughter.
No! Miriam!
Mama!
Kill me instead!
No!
God has kept me alive
for some purpose.
I'll do whatever
i have to do.
Ok, as promised.
I bring
the chinese food,
you tell me
what they said.
Sweet and sour pork?
Not exactly kosher, is it?
Yeah, i'm guilty
as charged.
Gwen, what did
forensics say?
You got any soy sauce
in here?
It's in the bag.
Come on, gwen.
Here, look, look,
look yourself.
How's your dad?
Oh, he's as strong
as ever. You're still
his favorite
shikse, you know.
You guys getting along
any better these days?
I don't get this,
i don't understand it.
What does it mean?
It's kind of a mixed bag.
The materials,
the construction,
the identifying labels
all suggest
the uniform is
completely authentic.
Fantastic.
What did i tell you?
They also say that unless
it was vacuum sealed
for 50 years, there's
no way it could be
in the condition
it was in.
Well, couldn't
the collector have taken
pains to preserve it?
Maybe, but regardless
of the authenticity
of the jacket, there's
no dna evidence on it
that could link it
to robert greene.
Well, what
about fingerprints?
There were fingerprints
on the buttons,
but according to the lab,
the original owner's would've
disappeared decades ago.
What they found was
probably the prints
of the man who turned it
over to you.
So, where are we?
Honestly? Same place
we were yesterday...
desperately seeking
evidence.
What have you got?
Thanks.
How did you know
i was here?
I told you. My research
is scrupulous.
Really? Well, the uniform
you gave me was useless.
Don't tell me
that you're giving up?
I'll tell you something.
When i was a kid,
my father used to talk
to me about the war,
you know, about the camp.
All that horror.
You know what i did?
Just nodded my head,
pretended to listen.
In fact, i was
a million miles away.
How can a child
handle all that pain?
In fact, i didn't know
how lucky i was.
Most survivors, they don't
talk to their children at all.
They surround themselves
in a wall of silence.
So it wasn't
until i was an adult
that i unplugged my ears
finally and i listened
for the first time
to what he said,
and nowthat
i've heard it...
now that i've heard it,
i can't close my eyes
and ears ever again,
you understand
what i'm saying to you?
I think
i'll have a drink.
Bring me what
he's having, ok?
You know, my father
even named me
after one of the...
prisoners in the camp.
Who knows? Maybe in
another... life i was...
your father remarried
after the war.
Yeah. Helen, my mother,
was a survivor at birken...
you tell me where
you got that uniform.
Off the back
of a mass murderer.
No, you're preaching
to the choir.
I want to know if you
can get your hands
on any other
potential evidence.
What? Photographs,
handwriting,
blood evidence, dna?
All of the above.
I'll see
what i can do.
I see, and you're
not gonna tell me
how to get in touch
with you, right?
If you want
my help, i'm afraid
it's going to have to
be on my terms.
Good night.
Well, finally,
i've been waiting here
for half an hour.
I've been busy.
With that, your sources?
What's going on?
What are we doing here?
This should answer
all your questions.
What is this?
It's a key to
a safety deposit box,
trustee's bank
of philadelphia.
Robert greene's
safety deposit box?
I didn't say anything
about robert greene.
Well, whose is it?
Your father's.
Now according
to these records,
this was
a dormant account.
Apparently the box
hasn't been accessed
since the day
it was opened.
Could this be right?
May 9, 1948.
48? It's amazing
it still exists.
If you'll just
sign this.
Here, dad.
I'm telling you,
i never had
a safety deposit box
in this bank.
I never even had
an account here.
It was a lot of years ago,
and maybe you...
you forgot, you know?
I don't forget
such things.
All right, are you
gonna sign this or not?
Ok, good. Sorry.
Right there.
Ok. Terrific.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Ok.
Um, go ahead.
Do you want to...
all right, never mind.
Oh, my god.
Gott im himmel.
Please, no! No!
No, don't take her!
No! Please, no!
Hannah!
I wanted you
to see this
exactly as we found it.
Look at this.
It's amazing.
And this razor,
i think, i don't know,
but this could be
dried blood here.
The handkerchief, the stain
on it could be blood.
I don't know.
What do you think?
What do l...
i think it...
i think some people
could say
it's convenient.
I know that the, uh,
timing of this
is a little odd,
but it doesn't make it
any the less real.
Look at it.
I'm trying to be
objective here.
I ask youfor evidence,
and the next minute
you show up
with this box
full of artifacts...
i know.
Documents that haven't
surfaced for 50 years.
Your father
doesn't even know
where they came from.
Yeah, you asked me
for evidence, gwen.
This is evidence,
and now you're giving me
some kind of
third degree on it.
You think i'm tough,
wait'll you hear
greene's defense.
No, that doesn't
matter...
you know, i'm going
very far out on a limb
for you, aaron.
My job is on the line.
The d.a. Thinks
my judgement is clouded
by allegiance to my ex,
and you're still
holding out on me.
No, you see, you know
everything that i know.
I haven't met this man,
this self-appointed
nazi hunter.
Well, what do you think,
that i just made him up?
First rule of combat.
Know the difference
between friend and foe.
I'm on your side, aaron,
just as
i've always been.
They had a sign
on the gates
of auschwitz.
"Arbeit macht
frei."
Heh.
"Work will
set you free."
The cruelest lie
ever told.
There's
only one thing
that can set you
free, aaron.
It's the truth.
Hello?
Hello?
Apparently
the box hasn't been accessed
since the day it was
opened. May 9, 1948.
Dad.
I'm, um...
aaron.
My name is aaron.
Welcome to hell
on earth, aaron.
This is, um...
my daughter hannah.
Say hello,
neshomeleh.
Hello.
You wife,
where's your wife?
Dead. Murdered by
der teufel.
Rademacher.
Achtung!
We will distribute
writing instruments
and paper.
We want you to write
your friends and relatives.
You will tell them
that conditions here
are excellent,
and that the authorities
treat you humanely.
You...
you have something
to say?
No, commandant...
eyes down!
Take him away.
No! Please don't!
I will write the letter
exactly as you wish.
Take him outside.
Shoot him.
No, no, nooo!
No!
Hold him outside.
I'll shoot him
myself.
Anyone else have a comment?
Tomorrow, we'll distribute
fresh clothing.
You will be receiving
visitors...
from the red cross.
When they come,
you will tell them
that you are grateful
to be here,
that you've been given
enough to eat,
and that
you've been afforded
every consideration.
By the way,
we'll be looking
for strong volunteers
for a work detail
in gleiwitz.
The rumor is
if you volunteer
you won't come back.
No, no. You have to be
on that work detail
if you want to live.
You know what he's
gonna do, don't you,
the minute
the red cross leaves?
He'll have
everyone killed.
I put my faith in god.
Mach schnell!
Oh, my god.
Where am i?
What the hell
were you doing?
I didn't imagine that.
That actually happened to me.
Do you have any idea
how dangerous this was?
Explain to me what happened.
I don't understand.
I can't.
Explain it to me!
You won't
understand.
Fine. I take this thing,
i give it to the fbi,
i give it to
the newspapers, they'll...
i have to know
what happened.
You went back in time.
Back to when
the device was set.
March 3, 1944.
But that's impossible.
Is it?
Who are you?
What are you?
I grew up not far
from here,
about a hundred
years from now.
I'm not from
your day, aaron.
I'm a time traveller.
This device
is the means we use
to cross
temporal boundaries.
Humans perfected
time travel
late in
the 21st century.
Why did you pick me?
Why did you pick
rademacher?
Your passion made you
the perfect candidate.
What, you just want to...
if you want to get
a war criminal
why don't you just...
just kill him?
The first rule of
time travel forbids it.
We have a solemn
obligation to minimize
the damage
to the time stream.
The course of history,
the cause and effect
of sequential events.
But if...
you're tampered with all
this evidence you...
you're already changed the...
whatever it is,
the time stream.
Everything i've done
has been tested
for its ripple effect,
vetted, if you will.
We're confined
to those actions
whose consequences
are approved.
Approved.
So if you give me
the evidence to prove
that greene
is rademacher then...
you'll have
the tribunal's blessing.
The documents
are authentic.
Everything from the paper
to the glue
to the inks to the marks
of attrition
date the certificate
to the early forties.
The blood,
the blood evidence?
We got a first pass
at dna markers,
but without a blood
sample from greene,
we have no basis
for comparison.
I've spoken to
mr. Markham, his lawyer,
about a voluntary submission.
The man is on the warpath.
Of course he is.
He's claiming
that it's all part
of an elaborate frame-up.
He's gonna make the case
that you've been engaged
in a no-holds-barred
vendetta
against an innocent
old man.
If he's able to, uh,
to cast doubt
on the evidence,
it could shoot
your theory to hell.
It's not a theory
anymore.
We could go for broke.
We can issue an order
to greene
to show cause why
he shouldn't be deported,
but if we lose, that's it.
Do it.
What's going on?
Aaron, what are you
not telling me?
Well, there's no way
i can expect you
to believe it.
Try me.
I don't know
how to saw this, aaron.
You have to know
how much i wanted
this to work,
how badly
i wanted greene.
Wanted? What do
you mean wanted?
Why are you talking
the past tense,
like you've given up?
You know, don't you?
You know
what's gonna happen.
If you can go back in time,
you can go forward, too,
and you've already
seen the future.
You have to know
we altered the equation
every time
we intervened,
every time we brought
something back.
Yeah, but you just
checked, didn't you?
And you know how
this is going to end.
Whatever it is,
i want to hear it.
With the evidence
closing in on him,
robert greene bought
a one-way ticket
to argentina...
and was never
heard from again.
What are you doing?
Aaron!
What the hell
do you want?
What does it look like?
Is this your idea
of justice,
taking the law into
your own hands?
Desperate times,
desperate measures.
Is it money you want?
I've got some cash
in this suitcase.
You going somewhere, hmm?
Going somewhere?
You feel
very powerful
with a gun
in your hand, huh?
Yeah, just a little bit
more powerful
than all the people
that you killed.
Put it away and go
home, zgierski.
Rademacher!
Turn around.
I want to hear it
from the devil's own lips.
And then you're
going to kill me.
You'll kill
an innocent man.
Aaron.
No.
Get out.
You've already
done your job.
Has it come
to this?
You're damn right
it has.
This man doesn't deserve
to draw another breath.
Is revenge
so important to you?
Can you think of anything
more important?
There's a reason
i came to you,
a reason i travelled
all this way.
We're connected, aaron.
It wasn't just your family
that man murdered.
It was mine.
I'm your great-grandson,
aaron.
Yes, it's true.
If anything happens
to you, then...
i cease to exist.
Put it on.
If you want to live,
you put it on.
No. No, this can't be.
It's a trick,
it's a trick.
Guard, take this man.
He says he doesn't belong.
No, l...
i don't believe this.
L... l...
just... just stop playing
tricks on me.
This is a conspiracy.
What's the problem?
This prisoner, he is
being belligerent.
what is
your name?
This is a nightmare.
It has to be.
I asked you
a question, jew.
I am not a jew.
I despise the jews.
Don't you know
who i am?
I am
karl rademacher.
Shut up, old man!
We are the same man.
Please, let me
prove to you.
I'm a loyal servant
of the reich,
member of the ss.
Heil hitler!
Hmph!
Beg for your life.
I want to hear you beg.
No! No, no, no.
Mein father...
he gave me bicycle,
a green bicycle
when i was 10.
I drove it
into the river.
He beat me.
I... i am you...
50 years from now.
I am you.
Back to work!
All of you!
Aaron, look.
Oh, please, no! No!
No, don't take her!
Take him
to the labor camp!
To the labor camp!
It's all right,
it's all right.
Don't worry.
No! No!
Aaron, you can't
take her!
Don't do this...
let's go now!
I didn't agree
to this!
We're going now!
Do it! Do it now!
Do it! Do it!
Do it! Go, go, go!
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Stay here. Stay here.
You can't stop us.
It's too late. I did
what i had to do.
Of course you did.
I'll speak
to the tribunal.
I'm not gonna pretend
it'll be easy,
but i'll make them
understand.
It's all right,
hannah.
Don't be afraid.
I don't know
why i bother.
Dad?
Huh?
Dad, there's someone
i want you to meet.
My god in heaven...
for a minute i thought...
you see what old age
does to you, huh?
Dad, look.
It's not possible.
It's not.
Neshomeleh!
Neshomeleh!
The wounds of war run deep,
cutting across generations,
but there is always
the hope of healing
so long as there are
souls among us
whose hearts
are more full of love
than hate.