What's wrong?
I'm going.
Where?
To the Russian front.
I'm leaving tomorrow.
Because of candelabra?
No.
No, no.
Everybody's needed on the Eastern Front,
to defend the Fatherland.
- Good luck. - Do you...
Do you think I could be assigned
to the castle at Kaltenborn?
Yes. I'll write you a letter.
Uh...
What about the horse?
Keep it.
Kein schöner Land in Dieser Zeit
Als hier Das uns're weit und breit
Wo wir uns finden wohl unter Linden
Zur AbenDzeit
Wo wir uns finden wohl unter Linden
Zur AbenDzeit
So you worked for the Reich Field Marshal?
Yes, sir. For 2 years.
You see, ordinarily
We only have pure Germans here.
But with so many men
going to the front at the moment, perhaps...
something temporary
could be arranged for you.
We'll have to give you a proper outfit, huh?
Are you familiar with
the rank insignia of our corps?
No, sir. I'm afraid not.
Well...
you are expected to salute all S.S. Officers
from the rank of Haupttruppführer,
who has 2 stars and 2 stripes.
Here.
A Scharführer... one star and 2 stripes...
You don't salute, and you don't salute
an Oberscharführer above 2 stars.
Above that you have Untersturmführer
with 3 stars,
whom, of course, you have to salute.
3 stars and 4 stripes for the Hauptsturmführer.
Yes, that's right.
4 stars for the Sturmbannführer.
On the left side, the Obersturmbannführer...
that's me.
You have 4 stars and 2 stripes.
And the Standartenführer with this sign on the left.
Sieg heil!
Sieg!
You'll have to go to the villages
to get the food for the boys.
Apples, potatoes, anything.
At that age, boys are always hungry.
You'll have to be tough.
People keep too much for themselves.
Certainly we do need more
Potatoes, apples, cherries...
How many boys stay here?
About 200.
In this room.
Our guard is away at the front.
For the time being, you can use his bed.
And through the night,
you'll have to keep the fire going.
Dinner is at 7:00.
This school
felt nothing like St. Christopher's.
This school felt like home.
Stop.
Stille gestanden!
Wait!
Abel, wait for dinner.
Hut!
Professor Blattchen, mein Herren.
Sitzen.
Abel!
Hier!
Where shall I put this?
Over there.
Here?
Yes. Careful.
French.
Yes, sir.
I'm Professor Doktor Obersturmbannführer Otto Blattchen.
Open it.
Goldfish.
Yeah.
Carassius Auratus.
Next exercise...
What nonsense.
Physical education... it can never work.
Whatever happens happens in our own genes.
When are we going to admit it?
Carassius Auratus.
The masterpiece of Chinese biology.
If Aryans could create a goldfish like this,
can you imagine what Germans might be able to create?
Aah.
Good night, boys.
Good night, Abel.
Danke schon.
They were from Marienburg
and were using the holiday
to bicycle through the forest and lakes of Masuria.
I told them about Kaltenborn...
about the castle, the lake, the shooting stands,
the boats and the guns and the exciting life there.
I invited them to dinner and to spend the night
with hundreds of boys their own age.
Did you bring us these boys?
Abel!
Heil.
Heil!
This is excellent, Abel.
Welcome. Hello.
Hello.
Welcome.
You showed initiative.
Welcome. Hello.
In fact, I think I'm going to make this
your regular job here.
'Cause you like the boys, don't you?
Yes, sir, very much.
Yes. And the boys like you.
Excellent.
You see, here's our problem.
We have such a wonderful school,
and all the best families in Germany
are proud to have their children come here,
but the common people,
especially the peasants here,
you see, they are so crude and uneducated
that they don't want their children
to attend our school.
They even hide them from us.
Bravo, Abel.
Now we want to give everyone the benefit of the Reich.
And that's why I want you to help us, Abel.
You yourself are an ordinary fellow.
So it's simply ideal.
All right, my boy?
I'm relying on you.
Cover the entire countryside.
And don't worry about insisting when you have to.
Just bring me the boys.
Jawohl.
He called me an ordinary fellow.
Because he does not know
that I am emerging from the mists of time.
Mommy!
That's why there is something magical in my nature.
Yes, yes, I smelt them, too.
How old is your little boy?
Oh, no, no, no, no.
Don't go in. Don't be scared.
At first I inspired fear in people.
Guten tag.
But soon they were to recognize
my secret affinity with children.
They looked up to me, they respected me...
Mommy, who is the man?
And they entrusted me with their boys.
And I was happy with my new mission.
Splendid.
Absolutely splendid.
Perfectly!
Don't change a thing.
Typical of the pure Nordic.
The nose...
Is leptorrhinian.
Neck...
Leptorrhinian.
By this point,
I ought to be able to guess his blood type.
Rhesus positive.
I bet you!
Mmm...
A pure odor.
Smell him.
Do you know
that I can spot a black or a Semite
with my eyes closed,
just because of the essence they secrete.
There's an unmistakable impurity about their smell
you can't fail to notice.
Slow reactions.
Not very bright.
But solid.
Don't worry.
Brightness is not a characteristic
of the German race.
We don't want brightness.
People say, "Oh...
"so-and-so is so bright.
He has such a clear mind. "
No.
We mistrust
this brightness, this clarity.
Let the new African races cultivate brightness.
Our sources are in darkness.
That is what drives us
to unparalleled creativity.
Wagner...
Nietzsche...
Bruckner.
7 boys I brought back from the lake in a single catch,
but now, as my list grows longer and longer,
I have to pick them up one by one
in the villages and forests.
Young boys are so...
bold and courageous.
No living creatures are as noble or as beautiful,
and yet so heartbreakingly awkward.
I love nothing like I love the young boys.
What a privilege to gather them all
in a castle they can call their own.
Mostly they trust me.
But sometimes they don't.
And then I can feel the part of me
that is made of stone.
Hard and pitiless.
I force them to come with me.
Anything goes.
You bring anything you run into.
Nothing but eastern characteristics.
Short, pale,
testicles...
poorly hung.
What do you want me to do with him?
Get out.
Now.
Uh-oh.
Where are you off to?
Home.
Home?
What's going on?
Nothing. Go.
Are you insane?
We can't disqualify anyone now.
Look at him. A marvelous physique.
Blond as can be.
So what?
Genetically, he's worthless.
We are here to train these boys.
We create men here.
This is a crucible of men.
That's all it is.
For you, too, my boy.
The world is wide open. Come on.
One day, he won't let us stand.
One day, he'll betray us.
Because his deceitfulness is endemic.
It's inscribed in his genes.
A race is something homogeneous.
It's coherent and pure.
There can't be a nation...
mixing the races leads to disasters.
Look at the Americans.
A stupid country which no amount of education
can save.
We can make a champion out of a lad like him.
With his miserable upbringing, he never had a chance yet.
You see, the Bolsheviks, too,
think that education is the key,
and you are just like them.
So then, if you fail to treat every rat
like a prize racehorse,
that's a social injustice.
And they think you can take any pig from the pen
and educate him
until he becomes a greyhound.
It's utterly absurd.
Enough!
Rubbish.
All right, Colonel, that's enough.
I'm in charge here and we're keeping the boy.
Thank you.
That's OK.
Nice work, Abel.
Keep it up. Come on.
Hier!
"A warning to all mothers:
"Beware of The Ogre.
"An ogre is roaming through our neighborhood
"stealing our children.
"Don't listen to his promises or threats.
"Teach the children to hide from him.
"If The Ogre takes your child,
you will never see it again. "
My God.
"The Ogre. "
Go.
Take it to Raufeisen.
An ogre. Ha ha.
An ogre!
Are we in a fairy tale?
We're surrounded by traitors.
This has a Jewish stink about it.
Can't you smell it?
It just means that you have to work harder.
Our school must still remain the best.
I count on you.
Mesmerizing ritual.
Songs and torches.
Hard to resist.
You are quite intoxicated by it, are you?
The flames, the flags.
There's a picture.
Quite overwhelming for a simple mind.
Look at him.
His father was a grocer in Leipzig.
He stands there in his uniform
as if he were selling sardines.
Heil!
- Sieg... - Heil.
- Sieg... - Hmm.
Heil!
Come.
Come. I'll show you.
Hermann von Kaltenborn.
They say the oak trees bowed down as he passed.
The night before the battle in which he would die
the Virgin Mary appeared to him
and told him his place in heaven was ready.
Hmm.
And there...
he baptized 10,000 Prussians in a single day.
These men are giants.
Oh, they...
felt the hot sun of the Crusades on their faces.
They were chaste.
Obedient.
No wealth,
no possessions,
no women.
No women.
They would flagellate themselves
before they put on their breastplates
and went into battle!
No.
Today, my castle is bristling with flags
that aren't mine.
A tottering spider...
ready to devour us.
He utterly repels me.
Every year, hundreds of thousands
of young men volunteer to fight the enemy.
Youth is at the forefront of our movement.
Youth is the very soul of our resistance.
Like your ancestors,
the Knights of the Teutonic Order,
you will fight the barbarians at the gate of the Reich.
- Lothar. - You have the honor...
and the good fortune
to be on your way east.
And cradled in your hands,
you will bring us back victory.
Lothar.
And now, my young heroes,
listen carefully to me.
From this day forward,
you no longer have a mother, a father,
or a family.
From now on, you belong to the Führer.
You have been given to him.
Sieg...
Heil!
- Heil! - Sieg...
Kehrt!
We're most proud to add you to our ranks.
Welcome, Lothar.
Charge!
It's the famous Krupp 88.
It's almost a shame that there are no planes to fire them at.
Fire.
A tank is deaf and half-blind.
You can hear it, but it can't hear you.
It's hard for you to see it all
because of the way it jolts up and down.
Also, it has big blind spots
here and here,
and it's almost totally blind
when you're right up close to it.
So, don't be afraid of tanks.
Just the opposite. Go right up to them.
Because that's when they are the least dangerous.
All right?
Crouch down...
Here, let me help you.
OK.
All right?
Can you carry it?
There's your helmet.
Thank you.
OK?
- Let me. - All right?
What?
Let me do it.
Wait for me, Hans.
Ready? Fire.
Traitors.
Horrible.
What is it, sir?
A bomb. At the Führer's headquarters.
No!
The ambulance!
Lothar, can you hear me?
Lothar. Help!
Help!
Hurry up!
Hurry up! Here!
It's all right. I'll take him.
I'll take him home.
I'll take you home.
Take it away.
Touch my hand.
Let go.
Take me away.
Let go.
Help.
Take it away.
Help.
Mommy.
- Heil Hitler. - Heil Hitler.
You swine.
Traitor.
Scum.
Fake nobility and a fake tradition.
That's not Germany.
I wish I'd turned you in a long time ago.
I had the strongest suspicion.
Exposing young men to filth like that.
You should set an example.
You're part of the conspiracy,
Like all these so-called aristocrats.
I'll be with you in a moment.
Please.
Excuse me.
He won't require any more water.
Bathing wouldn't cleanse him.
He must be given a horrible death.
Hanged with a piano wire.
We'll clean the army of all such elements,
up to the highest ranks.
The Führer was protected.
Thank God death wouldn't take him.
Can't you do anything?
We tried, but it failed.
This whole beautiful country
to which we've given our souls
is utterly doomed.
It's going to be wiped out of human memory.
Our entire heritage,
even our name.
Our ancestors' names.
Wiped out! All wiped out!
No idea... Come here.
Take this...
Right up here.
Thank you.
My advice to you is to leave immediately.
With all the chaos,
no one will stop you.
Thank you.
But I...
I can't leave the children.
No.
Go. Go now.
Don't stay. This castle is going to be destroyed.
Everything is going to be destroyed.
Even the children.
It's, uh, my diary.
Would you please keep it for me?
It's, uh...
my life is in it.
Uh, no... part of my life.
Thank you. Keep it.
Ah, it's not important.
Excuse me.
I have to go.
Periodically, the oldest boys were sent to fight at the front,
which was no longer far away.
This time, Raufeisen went along with them.
Frau Netta and I remained in charge of the younger ones.
Ooh!
Yaah!
We still played,
but the nights have grown longer and colder
and the food even more scarce.
And the boys grow younger and younger.
Good night, boys.
Good night, Abel.
Excellent.
This...
And this will do.
Bring it outside. My mission calls me west.
They're expecting me in Berchtesgaden.
I have to report about my results.
Soldiers!
Your blood is our most priceless gold.
Some of it may have to return to the earth.
You should take pride.
Blood and earth belong together.
The soil has to be drenched with blood.
Blood is fertilizing the earth.
New generations will rise from it.
But this is my horse.
Yours? Nothing is yours.
You're a prisoner, Abel.
A K.G.
- Sieg... - Heil!
Sieg...
Heil!
- Heil! - Sieg...
"This whole beautiful country
"to which we've given our souls
"is utterly doomed.
Wiped out of human memory. "
"These people started a fire,
"and now their own house is going to burn down.
"It's going to be destroyed.
Absolutely everything is going to be destroyed. "
"Even the children. "
Along the few narrow roads
in the frozen cold of winter,
I discovered refugees
from all nationalities fleeing.
The Russians must be nearby.
It's a wild confusion...
With German soldiers making for the front
or retreating back to the west among the civilians.
Oh, Alf.
You're all right, you know.
You're not hurt? You're not hurt?
I'll take you... I'll take you...
Take you away, yeah?
Abel! Abel!
Abel.
What the hell are you doing here?
Come with us.
Soviets keep marching,
Fritz kaput!
Where are you going?
We are helping them to track back to the west.
So they have to keep marching.
Fritz kaput!
Come with us, really. Everybody's on his own now.
Come with us, Abel!
I can't. L... I...
I have to stay with the children.
- Ha ha! - Children?
Children?
Good luck!
Soon, I was about to discover that at night, too,
there were people on the roads.
They only walk by night.
I saw them in the moonlight.
Some say... these are the dead
Risen from the grave all over the east.
But I know who they are.
They are from the camps.
There were camps everywhere.
Death camps.
Nobody was to know.
But I've seen them.
Marching.
Floating in their pajamas.
Who's there?!
It's me... Abel.
Who is there?
Let me in.
It's me... Abel.
Hinei ma tov umanaim
Shevet Achim gam Yachad
Hinei ma tov umanai...
...Im, shevet Achim gam Yachad
I sang when I got there.
I always sing.
They liked my voice,
the S.S. Officers in the Iager.
They made me sing.
"Sing, Ephraim, sing. "
Hinei ma tov umanaim
Shevet Achim gam yachad
Where... where are your parents?
Gas...
oven.
Many, many people.
All gas.
Oven. Dead.
Abel!
Shh.
Abel! Are you there?
Where are you?
I'll come back, but you stay up here.
Stay... stay quiet, now.
You hear?
My fate had led me so gently,
so carefully so long.
I had trusted her totally.
I had always followed her.
But what if all that time
I had been following nothing?
What if there was nothing there
and I was alone?
What had I done?
What am I to do with all the children
I've collected here?
What about all those bodies strewn around?
Some in groups,
Some in brotherly embraces.
Whole rows, as if mowed down
by one machine-gun volley.
Get your coats and sweaters
and blankets, too.
Why?
And all the food you can find.
What's up?
- Leaving? - We're leaving.
They told us nothing but lies.
There'll be no victory.
All the officers are gone already.
Even Raufeisen hasn't been seen for days.
He's fighting the Russians at the border.
The Russians have already crossed the border.
They could be here any moment.
We could go into the forests or the lakes,
take our canoes. I know a cabin in the woods.
We could... we could hide there
Until they... they send reinforcements.
You speak like a traitor.
No, I'm not a traitor.
But we can't stop the Russians.
We are the forefront of the Fatherland.
When the moment comes,
the Führer will put his secret weapon to good use.
We'll hit them from above and from below.
We'll crush the Bolsheviks like cockroaches.
We must attack at the right moment.
When the... when the Führer decides that...
Whoever has the will to win can't lose.
And we have pledged our lives to the Führer.
We will never surrender.
We... we could hide our weapons,
and if we're... if we're caught...
Only rats would leave like this.
All of Germany's looking at us.
No army ever took our castle.
Throughout the century it held its ground
and so will we.
Listen, if we're caught, we say that we were on...
Victory will be ours!
...a school expedition.
Sieg heil!
Sieg heil. Please.
Sieg heil, but we must hurry.
You'll all be killed.
Like... like Lothar.
They'll... they'll... they'll burn you.
You're... you're just children.
You'll never see your parents again.
Parents?
We have no parents.
We belong to the Führer.
Still gestanden!
Kompanie kehrt!
Kompanie marsch!
We're leaving right now.
Everyone.
Abel!
Traitors should be hanged.
He's just a Frenchman.
Yes. He isn't even one of us.
Help me.
Close the gate!
Close all the exits!
Man the machine guns!
Get the mortar ready!
Position men on the main tower!
The time has come.
The castle is now on alert.
The enemy is nearly here
and he is bringing us back victory!
We will fight them!
We beat them! We kill them!
The castle will never surrender!
Never!
- Heil! - Sieg...
To your battle stations, boys!
Hurry up! Hurry up!
Abel, what happened to you?
Let's see.
No.
I've got to clean your wound.
Abel, listen.
Some tanks. Russian tanks.
Go now! Go now!
Who are you?
Abel?
What are you doing here?
Who's that?
A Jewish child?
There's a Jewish child here, in our castle?
Nyet! Nyet! You'll be fine!
Nyet! Nyet!
You'll be fine!
Stay down!
Down!
Take cover!
Surrender!
The fortress is surrounded!
Don't shoot! It's a school!
We surrender!
Don't shoot!
Surrender!
Don't shoot! There are only children here!
You are surrounded!
Don't shoot! We surrender!
- Don't shoot! - Kaput!
Don't shoot. There are only children here!
Abel! No!
Don't shoot! We surrender!
Stupid idiot!
You must surrender!
Ohh...
Don't hit the school! Don't shoot!
Achtung! Feuer!
It's jammed! It's jammed!
No!
Ach!
Ephraim!
Come. Let's go.
No, not now. Come. Come!
Hey, let me finish my...
- Hey! - Come on.
Hapurim, hapurim...
...ha yeladim
No! No!
No!
Hanukkah...
Don't shoot! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!
Don't shoot! Don't shoot!
Don't shoot! He is friend!
Don't shoot! Don't shoot!
He's a French prisoner.
Don't shoot!
Aah!
Aah...
Go, go, and do not look back!
Go, Abel!
Don't look back.
Go!
Don't look back!
Do not look back, Abel.
Hinei ma tov umanaim
Shevet Achim gam Yachad
Hinei ma tov umanaim
Shevet Achim gam yachad
Abel, stop!
You can't do that!
Forget it!
Abel, you can make it.
Go, go.
Please. Go, Abel.
The boy is so heavy.
Whenever I begin to let myself sink In the frozen mud,
I... I...
remember a story.
Once upon a time that...
Our priest had told us in school.
Once upon a time there was a...
a sailor who was in this storm at sea.
He was afraid to die a sinner,
and he took upon his shoulders
a young boy...
and hoped that by saving the young boy,
he would save himself.
That the...
the child's innocence would serve as a recommendation to God's favor.
So he told us...
remember always
You are under the sign of St. Christopher.
You are a child-bearer.
Hinei ma tov...
Remember, as long as you carry a child...
you will be able to avoid harm
by taking shelter under the mantle of innocence.
And you will go through rivers...
and you will go through tempests...
and you will go through even the flames of sin...
and then...