GERMANY
Let others speak of their disgrace. I speak of my own.
Oh, Germany, pale mother!
How you sit defiled amongst the people.
How you stand out amongst the besmirched.
The poorest of your sons lies struck down.
When his hunger was great,
your other sons raised a hand to him.
This is now well known.
With their hands thus raised, raised against their brother,
they strutted about, insolent, before you and laughed in your face.
This is known.
In your house lies are bawled out.
But the truth must be kept silent,
is that not so?
Why do the oppressors on every side praise you,
whilst the oppressed indict you?
The exploited point their fingers at you,
but the exploiters praise the ways of your household.
Yet at the same time, everyone sees you hiding the hem of your skirt,
which is stained with the blood of your most favoured son.
People laugh, on hearing speeches delivered by your house.
Yet, on seeing you, they grip their knives, as if seeing a murderess
Oh, Germany, pale mother!
What have your sons done to you,
that you sit amongst the people, a mockery or a threat!
Spoken by his daughter, Hanne Hiob
GERMANY, PALE MOTHER
I have no memory of the time before my birth.
No blame can be attached to me for events before my birth.
I didn't exist then.
I began when my father first saw my mother.
Hello, young lady.
Hello, my dear!
Why don't you turn around, dear?
But she's much too thin!
He wasn't the Nazi. That was the other one. His friend.
- Heil Hitler! - Heil Hitler!
Let Hasso at her!
Grab her, Hasso! Grab her!
She didn't even scream.
A German woman.
A real German woman.
With black hair?
Pure Aryan.
All her family are fair.
Seven daughters.
She's the only one with black hair. Seven beautiful sisters.
She didn't say a word.
I'm going to the rowing-club dance with her sister.
She's blonde. Corn-coloured hair.
Like wheat. Like gold.
She's prettier, only she's got black hair.
Look! A dead cat!
I can't stand cats.
Do you think that's unlucky?
Unlucky? Why?
My mother.
I have learnt to be silent, you said.
You taught me to speak.
My mother tongue.
He's still wearing turned-down socks, the old socialist.
We'll soon make short work of them.
You talk so much. I've no idea how you concentrate.
I'm leaving anyway. That'll put a stop to all this bullying.
Have I bullied you?
It depends on how you look at it.
But you're staying, aren't you?
I'm going to devote myself to the Fatherland.
You mean you're going to work for the Party?
Look, that's Germany.
I can cover it with just my thumb.
We shall rule the world.
New York.
Show me that.
Victory or destruction.
I'm backing destruction.
Typical.
My father thinks the same.
He's a socialist, too. No wonder.
At least you're not one.
I don't care.
I just want peace and the girl with the black hair.
I want to live. Surely the Führer can't be against that.
My aunt, your sister, loved the Nazi.
Unhappily.
But this is your love story, Mother and Father.
- Are you in the Party too? - No.
- Your sister is. - Yes.
Can I see you again?
Happy. Perfectly normal.
Only it happened at this time. In this country.
The story of my beginning.
Can I see you again?
- Are you in the Party? - No. When can I see you again?
Why aren't you in the Party?
- Don't know. Can't I see you again? - Your friend's in the Party.
- Can I see you again if I join? - No.
- No what? - No.
No, I shouldn't join, or no, I shouldn't see you again?
Go on, answer my question.
It's important to me.
The most important thing in the world.
Is something the matter with Ulrich?
He was at the Nazi Congress.
So what?
He showed me a photo.
She's the girl for him, he said.
From Nuremberg.
They've secretly got engaged.
You're far too good for Ulrich. He has no brains.
Yes, he has!
Let him go.
It's easy for you to say.
Shall I go back to my bed?
No, you can stay here.
That's coming from the Bernsteins!
- It's Rachel! - No! No!
Let me go!
- Rachel, what's the matter? - Be quiet!
But that's Rachel from my class!
- I thought you were in the Party. - But that's Rachel!
Come to bed. Let's think about Ulrich.
You can be so hard.
Switch the light on.
You've got a new bloke.
Who?
Not the Nazi, the other one.
- I think I'll marry him. - Why?
Stay here with me.
I'm getting too old for this place.
I don't want a Party member, and he's not one of them.
Why not? They're dashing.
Maybe that's why.
Have you got a date with him?
No.
Maybe you won't see him again.
Oh, I will.
Ulrich got married. In Nuremberg.
Today I...
...I developed the photos for his parents.
He looks very dashing in his uniform.
- Dashing? - Yes.
Any objections?
I don't know. Do you have any?
I don't know either.
That's Mr Bernstein, Rachel's father.
What are you waiting for?
Oh, I forgot.
I wanted to carry you over.
It doesn't matter.
Frau Meierholt next door said it was like a film.
Yes.
You were young just like her, Father.
Yet I always remember you looking old,
like when you came back from the war,
then they sent you off to fight.
I can't find the pin.
Let's get undressed.
I cannot imagine your embrace...
or your bodies touching.
You are my parents. I am between you.
I never married.
You taught me not to.
Could you...?
Like so.
At least there's no photo of Hitler above the bed.
What?
Frau Meierholt says we need to have Hitler above the bed.
That way, our children will turn out as they should.
- What's that in aid of? - I thought you didn't want any.
No.
I can't manage it either.
Help me.
- Heil Hitler! - Heil Hitler on your birthday!
Good, huh?
Our gifts are poor by comparison.
Freshly laundered?
I ironed them myself.
What a lot of work!
You know of my many attempts...
Hear that? The Führer wants peace!
But I got this today.
The woman from Nuremberg is here.
Fine!
You can be one of the first!
- Hans's call-up. He's off to Poland. - Let me see it.
I wanted to tell you tomorrow, because it's your birthday today.
You're acting as though it's a bad thing.
It is bad news.
That lovely carpet!
I'll make some more tea.
- Or would you prefer wine? - Wine.
To drink to your health...
Don't look so miserable.
I'll weeds grow apace.
It's because he's not in the Party that they're sending him first.
So Ulrich will stay here?
There are other tasks to be taken care of here.
I wish I could go with you others.
Why didn't you join the Party? You should have joined.
Pull yourself together.
Please pull yourself together.
They sent you to kill,
but you weren't capable of it.
Who is...
my father?
Fatherland.
- Hey, you're blubbing! - You're blubbing!
A German soldier doesn't cry!
- Pull yourself together! - Pull yourself together, man!
I can't.
She looked like my wife. They didn't do us any harm.
Do you think it's any different for us?
Think we enjoy it?
I don't know.
- No, thanks. I don't need them. - Do you do it without them?
Mind you don't catch something!
I love my wife.
LOVE
Mrs Karlssen. Her husband has been killed.
She's going to the cemetery.
They gave him an official burial yesterday.
We sent a wreath too.
Turn off the radio.
Hans is still alive.
The last letter is two weeks old.
I'll weeds grow apace.
Turn the radio off, please.
I've run out of red. I need some more from Duckstein's.
They've gone.
They were Jews.
But they were so old!
They were still Jews, all the same.
I need the red. No one else has it.
You're making that for when Hans comes back.
RESIST, GERMANS! DON'T BUY FROM JEWS!
Hello?
Anyone there?
They've gone. There's no one there.
I need this red. No one else has it.
- I don't suppose you have a key? - The very idea!
I need it to finish my blouse. I want it for when my husband returns.
It is true. I believe you. You didn't want it.
But you didn't stop it either.
I'm reproaching you. But what gives me the right?
What makes me any better? I was just lucky to be born later.
I can't find it.
Then take another colour.
Here's a nice blue. A nice navy.
Blue's much nicer.
- You think so? - Much better.
So now be off with you!
What's the matter?
This is all too fast for me.
You were away so long, and now...
Do you like it?
What?
My blouse.
Have I become so unfamiliar to you?
No.
I don't know...
I've travelled three days, just waiting for this moment.
I can't help it.
You've been with another man.
That Nazi?
- Those swine that stayed at home. - No.
You're lying.
I'm not!
How would I know?
I thought you were as pure as the driven snow.
I haven't touched another woman.
And you?
I really haven't. I haven't so much as looked at another man.
I know that.
I couldn't.
I know that.
I want a child with you.
To have a part of you here when you're away.
That was my beginning.
Don't you want children?
I do.
Yes, if that's what you want.
Why must you go back?
Poland has been defeated.
I have to go to France.
Where in France? Paris?
Mont Saint-Michel.
She looked like my mother.
She looked like Lene.
Look, my wife.
She looks like you.
Shall I line you up too?
Deneuve, Patrice, born 21st February, 1921.
Constant, Annick, born 17th December, 1920.
Jennot, Philippe, born 24th March, 1919.
Duchamp, Jean-Claude, born 7th November, 1920.
Thierry, Michel, born 12th June, 1921.
Bouché, Gilles, born 30th October, 1918.
Marchaud, Jean-Luc, born 1st September, 1919.
Resistance was not Lene's thing.
She learned only to remain silent and obey.
But as the child grew inside her,
her respect for power vanished.
- Hello, Ulrich. - Hello, Lene.
You've certainly landed on your feet.
I invited you here...
because of my friendship...
With Hans.
And my sister.
Don't tell your wife.
No, Lene.
With you too.
A gypsy like you...
Come along, Ulrich.
I'll get to the point.
You were heard singing certain songs recently.
While cleaning the windows.
- I cannot turn a blind eye. - But I didn't mean anything by it.
- Everyone used to sing them. - Not meaning anything is impossible.
Especially with songs like those.
Who grassed me up?
Your former admirer.
The SA man with the dog. Enno Schmidt.
Arsehole!
The man was doing his duty.
What now?
Well...
Listen...
It'd be best if I took a trip.
Let me visit Hans in France.
I'm pregnant.
I have to see him again before the birth or I won't cope.
It's not actually within my power.
What do you mean, "actually"?
That embroidered blouse of yours...
Lydia really liked it.
I see.
I get it.
Sure, she can have it.
It no longer fits me anyway.
- This must remain between you and me. - Of course.
Heil Hitler, Lene.
And so it was that with the Party's consent,
I travelled to France before my birth.
With Lene.
To see my father.
Put the cigarette out.
Helmut, can't you see how much of a pain you're being?
Thank you.
- You don't smoke? - Of course she doesn't.
German women don't smoke.
This is my fiancée.
Let's hope she still is.
I certainly hope so.
You're here!
Both of you.
I have the weekend off.
We'll get a room at a hotel.
- How are you? - Well.
- You made it! Imagine! - Yes.
An island.
In the salty sea.
Too little time to get settled in.
We actually intend to become father, mother, and child.
Leave your hand there.
It likes it like that.
I won't be able to sleep.
That doesn't matter.
It has to get to know you.
But I was with Lene.
And my father was away at war.
And we were three separate people.
- Stay healthy. - Thank you. You too.
Take care.
And I'll see the younger generation when I return.
- Stay healthy. - A strapping boy.
Come along.
- Send everyone my love. - Take care.
- It's coming again. - Nice deep breaths! Don't stop!
Breathe in! Nice deep breaths!
- I can't anymore. - Breathe in! No, breathe in!
Breathe in! The child needs oxygen.
The child is coming.
Don't hold your breath!
Yes, it's slowing down. I can tell.
Deep breaths, so the child can get oxygen.
Almost there now. One more contraction.
Now push with the next contraction. Together, now!
Head on your chest and push!
Not yet. Wait for it.
Now.
- No. - Come along now.
Put both hands here.
Now breathe in, hold your breath, head on your chest and push.
Fine, the head's already there! Come on!
Don't stop! Nice deep breaths!
The head's there.
Don't stop. Nice deep breaths.
One more push!
Here comes the rest. Carry on, Mrs Bach.
Good, good. Relax. It's over.
Now put your legs down and relax.
Legs down or you'll squash the baby.
Heil Hitler! A girl!
A girl!
No strapping boy, then.
This is so strange for me.
As they cut me from you, I fell onto a battlefield.
So much of what I hadn't seen had already been destroyed.
He never comes to any harm.
Heil Hitler.
If you say so.
I trust you're here to do your bit for the war effort.
No, I'm not.
Sorry, Lene. You have to collect money for it.
Since your husband is not in the Party, show willing!
It's the least you can do.
He still hasn't joined? But he wanted to.
- He has no time at the front. - Get a collection box.
Isn't this a nonsense?
Having us go begging around here!
A donation for the war effort?
How about I put this in your box? It's all we have.
Are you hungry?
- Can I help you? - No decent person needs to see that?
- Oh, is that what you are? - It's an of fence against decency, I say.
- A donation for the war effort? - Didn't you hear what I said?
If you must feed your child in public, use a bottle.
It is a question of what is proper.
- A donation for the war effort? - I'm asking you to leave.
Stop it.
Trouser buttons.
These here are trouser buttons.
One, two three, four... At least eight trouser buttons.
People have no shame.
They have no shame.
No, none at all.
You made no effort.
How could you accept buttons for our soldiers freezing in the Russian winter?
- People's homes have been bombed. - Such lack of sacrifice! And defeatism!
That will be the German people's demise. And I'll say this:
They are not worthy of our Führer!
It's 3am. We're rolling east.
Only the stars seem to be awake.
They play their silver light on men who must soon be at the front again.
Each turn of the wheels brings us nearer.
The men are asleep. Our third day travelling.
A cold wind blows, the trucks rattle.
The doors won't shut. Everywhere there's a draught...
Ice on the windows.
A hole in the ice reveals the white, open terrain of the east.
So, here we are, on our long march into the lonely landscape.
These men will have no Christmas.
But their hearts are at home.
Attention! Calling Stalingrad again.
Stalingrad here. The Volga front.
Attention! The Lapland front again.
The Finland barracks here.
Attention! Luftwaffe calling, from the south of France.
We are here in an airfield in the south of France.
The navy again, calling from the south of France.
A lookout on the French Riviera.
This is the front in the Caucasus.
Attention! U-Boat commands in the Atlantic coming in.
A U-boat station in the Atlantic ocean.
Attention! Catania.
The Mediterranean front and Africa here.
Attention: Here is Zakopane.
From the Armed Forces Convalescent Home in the Tatras, we greet...
our comrades at the front.
Please, sing along with this German Christmas carol,
"Silent Night".
All stations join in this spontaneous wish from comrades...
in the Tatras...
They are singing in Finland and the Arctic,
and in the battle region of Vitebsk...
and now we are uniting
Leningrad, Stalingrad,
as well as France,
Catania,
and now Africa...
and now they are all singing...
together with us, this old German carol.
If the enemy thought he could sap our spirit with a few attacks...
He was wrong. They were and are...
completely ready to go to war.
- In Germany we'll no longer speak... - Quiet!
...of lost comforts.
Quiet!
Turn the lights off.
No all-clear!
Have you already heard from your sweetheart?
He wrote from the Eastern Front.
In Russia?
Have a drop of this, love.
Come on, just a drop.
It'll do you good. Never tasted it before?
Have you got lice?
You get used to anything.
Rather have lice and be alive...
...than no lice and be dead.
Don't go and leave our little group, dearie.
Yes, thanks.
Calm down, little soldier.
This was our house.
A pile of bricks.
And that used to be me.
We've only the Berlin relatives now.
We can wait for your father there.
Perhaps he's still alive.
He's got to be alive still.
Do you hear me? He's alive, all right.
He's got to be alive.
After the bomb destroyed the house, you began to perk up.
We only really enjoyed life when we had nothing left.
Off to Berlin we go. In high heels and on foot.
Little Lene the Vagabond and me.
Stop it, or I'll drop the case.
Our silver's in there. It's all we have. We need it.
How do I get to Halensee from here?
- The bus that goes from the zoo. - Where's your family, then?
They've disappeared.
I'm looking for them.
How long have you been looking for them?
Six weeks.
Goodbye.
- I'm looking for the Fritzens. - This is their furniture.
I don't understand. I mean Dr Fritzen, from the Air Ministry.
Yes, that may be him.
Are they moving house in Berlin?
No, they are going to the country.
- What a racket. - Hello.
- Hello, - Who's there?
Oh, it's little Lene!
They were the rich relations.
I couldn't stand them, even then.
I thought we could stay here. Or at least wash.
But we are moving.
But why?
Bertrand's got such a good job. Only Goering's above him.
He's had it with civilisation, wants to move to the country.
Come in anyway.
He's upstairs.
Leave them where they are.
- Serve yourself, Lene. - Heil Hitler, Lene.
She wanted to stay here.
She thinks Hans might turn up here and she wants to see him.
That's all right.
The flat will be empty for a while.
We have a few things still to do in Berlin.
But we're going to a hotel.
Lene can stay here if she wants.
Can't she, dear?
- Isn't someone moving in here? - No. It can't be just anybody.
I'd so like for the baby and I to have a bath.
Go ahead.
The maid's still here.
She'll run you a bath.
Go on, eat some more.
Chew each mouthful thirty-two times.
His old obsession.
Thirty-two times.
Once for each tooth.
Your teeth are OK, better than mine.
Thirty-two times!
Look, another sponge!
So Lene and I loved each other in the bath,
and ﬂew like witches over the roofs.
- Perhaps they'll still come. - Perhaps not.
I'm waiting for my husband.
230th Infantry Regiment. 3rd battalion, 2nd company.
They definitely came this morning.
They're already in the barracks.
I'm sure. They arrived this morning.
I'm waiting for my wife.
She's bound to come. The trains don't run frequently.
Best of luck!
Lene and I, I and Lene in the midst of war.
Is the troop transport here? It arrived this morning.
I'm looking for my husband, 230th Infantry Regiment.
3rd battalion, 2nd company.
No, they didn't arrive.
The man at the station said so.
Well, they're not here.
Heil Hitler!
Shall we go to the zoo?
Yes?
There's a wild water bearer holding court
In the castle above the lake
He wants to win the king's daughter
Pretty young Lilofee
Look!
Look who's here. It's Uncle Bertrand.
Heil Hitler, Lene.
I have filmed you both.
Now I've captured you forever.
A few shots of Berlin before we move to the country.
I can't understand you, Dr Fritzen.
You have close connections with the General Staff
Well, now Germany is winning.
My friend, it is precisely because I'm closely connected to the General Staff.
Our tanks are doing fine,
but let's see what the enemies can do now en masse.
Their resources are many, whilst we have few left.
Is Hans not with you?
No, not yet.
Hans isn't with us yet.
Look!
Yes. They're playing peekaboo.
Close mouth.
My Uncle Bertrand proved to be as enduring as the dinosaurs.
I shall die.
He will become extinct.
He's made of reinforced concrete.
Made in Germany.
Lene!
Off the lights go.
Where can we go?
- I've got two days off. - Two days? That long?
Anna.
Come on, one, two, three.
- Again - Again?
- Hello, stop. - Hello.
- Anna. - Come here!
I want to sing with you in Monte Carlo
Under the palm trees
If you can't see heaven for palm trees
You won't find heaven with me
There. Papa!
What was I supposed to do with a father?
I wanted to be a witch amongst the ruins with Lene.
You're fine here at home.
You can still dance.
Dance with us!
I can't.
I'm not in the mood.
Our house was bombed.
That was in the shelter.
Everything else is gone.
Can you imagine having a baby in an air raid?
The worse it gets, the more I sing.
Not so much for the child as for myself.
You've changed so much.
Do you think so?
And I'm still the same.
Just more worn out.
What was my father to do with me?
I saw how she started to live.
Her struggle to live.
How she raised her head and arms...
...and how she first kneeled...
...and then stood up.
First she could stand, now she walks.
Somehow that was more important than the whole war, for me at least.
We will fight to the very end.
What?
Victory...
...or destruction.
The German people deserve nothing less.
Yes, and Bertrand's leaving the city.
The officials know what's happening.
Don't be taken in by them.
You must live, that's all.
I was jealous of him and he of me.
Here is the Berlin observation post.
We have to get to the shelter.
Not for every little thing. Only when the warning goes.
They're fading again.
Her screaming makes me nervous.
I'll pick her up.
That's what I wanted.
Just what I wanted.
But I didn't want him.
I didn't know him.
Does she have to be in with us all night?
Yes.
The air raids make her agitated.
It's the only way I can calm her down.
I was hoping I could hold you.
Let's get some sleep, Hans.
We're all tired.
A night without an air raid is bliss.
Sleep.
Just sleep.
Let's go to sleep.
You should stop breast-feeding.
But there's nothing else.
But she's eating you up.
Perhaps.
I often think...
...that when she's a young lady,
we'll be old and our faces will show what we went through.
And she'll have forgotten it all.
Sometimes I envy her.
And then I think, she's taking all my strength.
She gets plump and I get thinner.
When I've finished this I'll go.
Yes.
Go to the countryside.
I'll be reassured then.
Saxony, Silesia. It's quiet there.
- Yes. - You can't stay here in Berlin.
I thought we were winning.
How do you know she'll still be alive when it's over?
I don't know.
I just think she will.
I'm off now.
My will is in the envelope in the suitcase.
Goodbye.
He's gone, gone.
We've been billeted here.
It doesn't mean you have to leave.
Where will you go?
Away. To the country. Silesia. Pomerania.
But not like this.
In all the snow and ice.
You need something solid.
I'll give you one of my husband's coats.
Here. Boots.
Look!
You mustn't look too pretty.
There are all sorts out there in the woods.
You'll have a lot of walking to do.
The trains have stopped running in that direction.
Ladybird, ﬂy away home.
After 40 days and nights of marching, with blistered feet,
Lene found out just how far her strength could last
and that she needed nothing more than these two things:
herself and hope.
- Are you Mrs Heyer? - Yes.
Hello, I'm Helene Bach from Berlin. I'm to give you greetings from your brother.
My God, Kurt's alive?
Yes.
He said he thought we might be able to live with you.
Come inside. You're absolutely frozen.
...Robinson...
I'm Crusoe and you're Friday.
I'm being silly: you were born on Wednesday.
Wednesday.
And today is Tuesday, a day for serving.
Take it. It's for you.
It's all yours.
Warsaw?
Are you from Warsaw?
Everything there is damaged.
Everything here is damaged too.
Anna, look.
Lene was good at everything.
I milked the cow myself.
And so I waited with her for spring
and peace.
And both came.
The Russkis are coming!
You, typhus, you understand?
You, typhus.
Understand. Typhus.
You, typhus, child, typhus.
- You Nazi. - I typhus.
Child, typhus, typhus.
- Nazi! - Typhus!
What will we cover ourselves with now?
The dead feel no cold.
They always steal from the poor. Them too.
We've received word from our Führer's headquarters
that our Führer, Adolf Hitler,
died this afternoon.
Ladybird, ﬂy away
Your father's at war
Your mother's in Pomerania
Pomerania's burned down
Ladybird, ﬂy away!
Dönitz, Hitler's successor...
will address the German people.
German men...and women.
Soldiers of the Wehrmacht.
There once lived a miller
who wished to find a husband for his beautiful daughter.
He decided that the first suitable man who asked
could marry his daughter.
And sure enough, a suitor came along, and as he seemed rich,
and the father did not find him wanting, he was promised the daughter.
But she didn't seem to love him as a bride should love her husband.
And whenever she saw him or thought of him...
her heart was heavy.
One day the bridegroom said to his betrothed:
"You have been my betrothed for so long and you have never visited me,"
to which the girl replied, "I don't know where your house is".
He replied: "Deep in the forest.
"You must visit me on Sunday, for I have invited some friends.
"To help you find the way I will scatter the path with ashes."
When the day came for the girl to visit him...
...fear crept over her.
She filled pockets with dried peas and set off.
On the edge of the woods...
...she found the path with ashes and followed it.
As she went along...
...she scattered the peas to her left and to her right.
She walked all day long...
...until she reached the darkest part of the forest.
There stood a lone, strange house...
and the girl was very afraid.
Still, she went into the house. There was no one there.
All was silent.
A voice called suddenly: "Turn around, young lady, turn around!
"You are in the house of a murderer."
And the girl turned around
and saw a bird in a cage.
Once again, the bird called out: "Turn around, young lady!
"You are in the house of a murderer."
The girl ran through every room in the house, but found no one
until she reached the cellar.
An old, old lady sat there, shaking her head.
The girl asked her,
"Madame, do you know if my beloved lives here?"
The old lady began to moan and said,
"My poor child, you are in the house of a murderer.
"You think that you will be his bride, but you're here to be the bride of death.
"Your bridegroom will come back, chop you into little pieces...
"and then cook your body and gobble you up whole!
"You'd never have a chance."
Then the old woman hid the girl behind a big barrel and said,
"When the robbers are asleep we will make good our escape.
"I've waited a long time for this opportunity."
As she finished speaking...
Aren't you hungry?
...the robbers came home, quite drunk.
A young girl was with them.
She moaned and screamed but the robbers ignored her
and gave her three glasses of wine.
White wine, red wine, and yellow.
Her heart stopped beating.
The robbers tore off her clothes,
chopped her body into little pieces, and flavoured them with salt.
A robber found a ring on one of the girl's fingers.
He couldn't pull the ring off, so he chopped the finger off.
The finger fell from the table...
and landed behind the barrel, right on the girl's lap!
The robbers wanted to look for the finger but the old woman said,
"Don't bother with the finger.
"Get some of this good wine down you."
The old woman had secretly put sleeping powder in the wine.
They soon fell asleep.
Then the girl sprang from behind the barrel and ran away.
She was afraid one of the robbers would awake, but God helped her escape...
from the house with the old woman.
The wind had blown the ashes away.
But the peas had sprouted plants.
I want to see!
They were guided, along the way, by the pea shoots
and the moonlight.
The next day she reached the mill.
The girl told her father everything that had happened.
On the wedding day, the robber appeared.
The father had invited all of his acquaintances and relatives.
Each guest had to tell a story, after the meal.
The girl sat perfectly still and silent.
The bridegroom said,
"Don't you have a story to tell?"
She said, "I'll tell you about my dream.
"I walked through a forest until I came to a house.
"There wasn't a soul there, but a bird in a cage called out,
"'Turn back, young lady! You are in the house of a murderer!'
"It was only a dream.
"I went to the cellar of the house.
"An ancient lady sat there shaking her head.
"I asked if my bridegroom lived in the house.
"The old woman replied,
"'You poor child.
"'Your bridegroom lives here.
"'But when he returns, he will kill you
"'and cook you, and gobble you up!'
"It was just a dream I had.
"The old woman hid me behind a barrel...
"...and then the robbers returned.
"They had captured a young maiden.
"They gave her wine to drink.
"White, red, and yellow wine.
"It made her heart stop beating.
"It was only a dream."
The victors are right.
They rob and take women away.
"It was only a dream.
"One robber found a ring on the dead girl's finger.
"He took an axe and chopped the finger off.
"The finger fell from the table and fell into my lap, behind the barrel.
"And here is the finger with the ring."
And saying this, she pulled out the finger and showed it to them.
The robber, now white as chalk, jumped up and ran away.
The guests caught him and handed him over to the police.
And he and his gang were executed for their evil deeds.
Cigarettes for silver?
Thanks. Come on.
Eggs in exchange for cigarettes?
- Eggs for cigarettes? - No, I don't have any.
You're alive!
Yes, silver. Yes.
Two forks, two knives.
A camera.
- Do you have eggs? - Yes.
- Eggs for cigarettes? - Yes.
Anna, an egg!
That was all in ruins, too.
Here is the last military report of the war.
Reporting from headquarters:
Ceasefire on all fronts from midnight.
Fighting has ceased on the general's orders.
There will now be a three-minute break in transmission.
Hans is in Greece?
Yes...
That was always his dream.
Not quite how he'd imagined it.
I can see him standing there, reciting from the "Iliad".
He'll be back soon, then.
- I'm looking forward to it. - Of course.
Of course?
Why wouldn't you?
I don't know.
I've been on my own with the child for so long.
The things they see!
What can we expect from peace?
To begin with, clearing up after the war was fun.
But the houses made from the broken stones were worse than before.
If we'd known that, Lene...
Yes, that's good. But don't take money...
Don't take any of their nonsense!
Is she asleep?
Yes, she is.
At this hour?
It's for us. Three knocks.
- I'm your father. - Really?
- Give him a kiss. - No!
Leave it.
Come. Come with me.
Are you hungry?
I can't.
It doesn't matter.
I...
I can't either.
It's been too long.
Yes.
Too long.
Tomorrow.
Yes.
Tomorrow.
Till we get accustomed to each other.
I must re-accustom myself.
- Good night. - Good night.
I always thought about you.
As did I about you.
There are too many people here.
It's all gradually taking shape.
There are still mines everywhere.
Yes, it's all rubbish.
Ulrich!
My...!
Old friend!
I'm still alive too!
So I see.
De-nazified!
I was never in the Party.
You had the good sense.
More good luck than good judgment, to be honest.
- Yes, the criminals. - Who?
The Nazis, who else?
Oh, I see.
This is my daughter.
Tell your daddy he's very strange.
You're very strange.
No sense of humour.
The return of family life.
War started on the inside, whilst there was peace on the outside.
Write neatly!
- She needs to write neatly. - Leave her be.
The look on your face...
As though you've been struck...
During the war, I always thought about after the war.
Well, now it is after the war and this is what it's like.
You had another man.
No!
I know you did.
- That explains your behaviour. - How dare you!
No, stop! Leave her alone!
I'm exhausted.
Go away. Leave me alone.
And you have to go too.
Hey!
I've been promoted.
Because I wasn't in the Party.
What's the matter?
I don't know.
It came on all of a sudden.
But why?
It's nothing.
We'll go to the doctor's.
Don't move till we get back!
HEINI AND LENE CRY...
It's her teeth. I'll have to extract them all.
No, I don't want that.
Please don't. Please.
Are you the husband?
If I don't, I can't guarantee the paralysis won't spread.
It can affect the whole body,
and then I can't promise anything.
You must do what you think is right.
Life is more important.
You must. I've made some soup. You have to eat.
Mummy!
Lene, this used to be us.
You, me, and the witches.
For what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful.
It's facial paralysis.
Yes, we were right, back then.
It was a bit of risk, but it worked.
I don't see the connection.
The Air Ministry and now the Church.
I studied law and theology.
Simple as that.
It's all right, don't cry. I'll clear it up.
Come along. Don't cry.
I just wonder how you reconcile these things.
I am an administrator. I don't preach from the Bible.
Even though, after all, the Lord our God...
I'm an administrator.
Would you pass me the bottle, please?
Thank you.
You need law for administration.
For my job with the Nazis and also my present job,
it didn't hurt to have studied theology.
I always pondered the metaphysical in my spare time.
It was my hobby, so to speak, and now it is my profession.
Are the ladies going to return?
If not, I think I'll light up.
I'm sensitive to smells.
Little bunny down a hole
Fast asleep
Are you ill, little bunny?
Can you jump no more?
Jump, bunny, jump!
Give...
Give me some.
The Federal Government thinks that West Germany...
It's the worst booze ever.
...must have suitable defences...
It's Maundy Thursday.
...to preserve Europe's cultural values.
The old and ailing winter...
...has headed back to the mountains.
From there it sends forth...
...showers of ice above the green lea.
The sun permits no white to remain, wishing to deck everything with colour.
Everywhere, education and striving...
...stir...
We the German Social Democrats...
Adenauer will fix it.
We'll soon be somebody again.
Ulrich is getting promoted now too.
Imagine, Lene!
A bit later than Hans.
But nonetheless...
Nonetheless...
Nonetheless.
Nonetheless, that was quick...
Old boy!
Ruddy quick.
They can't turn down qualified men.
- You reckon you're qualified? - Yes!
Europe can't be neutral.
Qualified...
Hans, leave it out.
Hans, leave it out!
You can have it all. All of it.
Buried, hidden from the enemy.
I don't need it anymore. I don't want it.
I need love!
Love is what I need!
Love is what I need! Love...
You've got love. You have it. Truly...
I need love.
You've ruined everything for me.
You want to kill me.
I want to kill you.
I've got a test at school tomorrow.
Let the child sleep.
Yes, you just sleep.
I'm perishing.
Please, Mummy, go back to bed. Please.
Back to bed.
Please.
Please, Mummy, go back to bed.
UNCLE ASH AND AUNTIE PETER...
FOURTEEN CHILDREN CALLED INGO AND...
I don't want to live anymore.
Do what you want, I've enough problems.
Ulrich has been promoted again,
whilst I've been forgotten.
I'm the more capable, but...
...no one believes it, least of all you.
I don't want to live anymore.
Neither do I.
Open the door, Mummy.
Please come out.
Come out, please.
I am so alone. Don't leave me alone.
It was a long time before Lene opened the door.
Sometimes I think she's still behind it.
And that I'm still standing outside...
...and she'll never come out to me.
And I must be grown up and alone.
But she is still there.
Lene is still there.
On the one hand, this story is for Lene, and on the other, it is for Anna.