Original subtitles

COUGHING

ARTILLERY FIRE IN DISTANCE

(Man) I don't like the look of this.

COUGHING

Lieutenant Colonel Mervyn Gonin, 11th Light Field Ambulance.

My papers.

Do any of you speak English?

- Nein! - Colonel, sir!

It's all right.

Lieutenant Sington, sir.

British Second Army, Propaganda and Psychological Warfare Unit.

- Does that mean you speak German? - Yes, sir.

Good. Tell that little turd to let us through.

Offnet sofort das verdammt Tur! Schnell!

Schnell! Schnell!

- Sington, is it? - Yes, sir.

I was under the impression this prison camp had been liberated.

- Correct. - Why is Jerry still armed?

Terms of the local truce, sir. Colonel Johnston will explain.

SHOUTING AND SCREAMING

GUNSHOTS

Some bloody truce!

Probably shooting the prisoners again, sir.

Apparently they've been getting a bit frisky.

Why are the crowds still here?

Colonel Johnston will explain, sir.

Just follow me in.

Oh, and sir...

...whatever you do, don't turn off to the left.

(Sington) Come on, Warren!

COUGHING

ANNOUNCEMENT OVER LOUDSPEAKER

(Gonin) 'l knew no more than that someone had found a concentration camp.'

(Over loudspeaker) I repeat - you are free.

'Soon the whisper went round - they thought there was typhus in it.'

(Over loudspeaker) You are free. Medical help is on its way.

'One learns in war to be surprised at nothing,

'but little did I realise

'that I was about to face the greatest test of my career.'

(Over loudspeaker) I repeat - you are free.

Medical help is on its way.

You are free.

Medical help is on its way.

Come on, move it. There's lots over here to get moving.

It's for stealing potatoes.

Can you believe it,

that this is how the Germans treat their prisoners?

That one's only a child.

Sir, can I have a word?

Sir, you can't imagine what it's like down there.

I was the first one in and I've never seen anything like it.

- Excuse me, Derrick... - I'm sorry, Richard.

I'm afraid even the BBC will have to wait on this one.

Why are the press here?

Well, we feel it could be an important story.

You'll hang for this! You'll fucking hang!

(Gonin) Come on, man.

I can't tell you, sir, the place is like a fucking charnel house.

The dead are everywhere. I mean, corpses just piled up.

God knows how many,

and they're moving.

Lice.

Their bodies are crawling with lice, millions of them.

There was a...

There was a young woman.

Her whole head was moving...

with lice.

COUGHING Sorry, sir...

It's all right, Sington. Just tell me who's in there.

Erm... well, it's hard to tell, sir.

All the records have been destroyed on the orders of Berlin,

but our initial intelligence suggests that the inmates fall into three categories.

A minority are criminals.

Politicals, like Russian POWs and Resistance workers -

French and Belgian.

An awful lot of your people, I'm afraid, Rabbi Hardman.

- That woman I saw... - That's the damnedest thing, sir.

Three-quarters of the prisoners are women.

Jewesses, from Poland,

Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and also Germany,

and their children.

(Gonin) Christ. How many of them are sick?

Um, Johnston has the figures, sir. I think about 4,000.

- Where's he getting his information from? - Jerry MO.

Word is, Colonel Johnston is an expert in this sort of situation.

Well, he's going to need to be if there's typhus.

Is it contained?

Sorry, sir, I'm not a medical man.

- What's all this about? - I haven't the faintest bloody idea.

Entschuldigung.

Guten Tag.

PHONE RINGS

Ja... Ja...

LAUGHTER

I think they're just about ready for us, sir.

Guten Abend.

Prost.

- Sington. - Yes, sir.

How many inmates did you say were in this camp?

I didn't, sir. Colonel Johnston has all the figures.

- Ten, twenty thousand? - I really wouldn't like to say, sir.

- Again, Colonel Johnston... - Has all the figures, yes.

- Brew's up, sir. - Thanks, Warren.

Sir, I think you'll find this is gonna prove quite a challenge for us all.

Well, I wish you luck with it.

We've got an appointment with some tarts in Berlin, haven't we, Warren?

Sir.

EXPLOSION NEARBY

Listen to that. That's where we should be, not stuck in here.

Our lads are gonna need us.

Think they need ya? You've got no idea, mate.

Gentlemen, if you'd like to make your way through into there,

the briefing will start in just a minute. Thank you.

This way, Colonel.

Huh? Oh, yeah.

Gentlemen.

Colonel Johnston will join us as soon as he can, but I'd like to make a start.

He and I have just walked around the horror camp

and, I can tell you, it was a pretty sobering experience.

Now, as you can see,

Bergen-Belsen is divided into two sectors.

Camp Two, which is where we are, is an academy for Hitler's tank corps,

a Panzer training school, no less.

Camp One is home to about 40,000 prisoners,

living in 200 huts built for a hundred each.

In one hut, we found 1,346 people.

That wasn't counting the dead.

There's no sanitation and the camp is scattered with rotting corpses.

We found inmates drinking from a water butt

in which was found floating the body of a dead child.

No food has been distributed for the last two weeks.

We've brought in what rations we can

and distributed fresh drinking water,

but our main concern is the typhus.

And I don't need to tell you that unless we get that under control,

there won't be anyone left who needs feeding.

So our task is enormous,

and as you've probably already noticed, the press are here,

eager to see how we get on with solving this crisis,

and it's important they do.

Their presence will show the world

how the British Army deals with a crisis of this kind.

(Man) Hear, hear.

(Man) That's it, piss off.

Now, ten years ago, the Quetta earthquake

killed 30,000 people in 30 seconds.

All right, that was a natural disaster.

Nevertheless, the British Army's success in pulling out survivors

was hailed as a miracle of rescue work.

And Colonel Johnston was there,

right in the thick of it.

Just like Quetta,

Belsen is a battle against the clock.

'I've seen some sights.

'I thought I could take anything.

'But this... it's unbelievable.

'There's no organisation,

'no food, nothing.

'Half-starved, spiritless and demented.

'These people roaming the camp have been reduced to animal level.

'The task allotted seems totally impossible.'

Aha, the hero of Quetta himself. How are things looking?

Eminently solvable, sir.

(Johnston) Our task is to save as many lives as possible,

as quickly as we can.

We can only achieve that through the evacuation of Camp One.

Now, military government will move any healthy inmates out first

while we establish a receiving hospital here in Camp Two.

Colonel Gonin's ambulance men will liaise with Field Hygiene

to get to grips with the typhus and evacuate the sick.

Sound simple enough?

(Gonin) 'l can give no adequate description of the horror camp

'in which my men and myself were to spend the next month of our lives.

'Corpses lay everywhere,

'some in huge piles, where they had been dumped by other inmates.

'Those who died of disease lay in the huts.

'Victims seemed compelled to go on wandering till they fall down and die.

COUGHING

Bastards!

4,000 sick! They were lying through their Teutonic teeth.

- It's five times that. - We're re-appraising the numbers.

Good, because it's knee deep in bodies

and people are crawling around in their own shit. The stench!

I appreciate the German figures might have been less than exact...

Good morning, Mr. Dimbleby.

How was your tour of the camp?

Incredible. I mean... incredible.

- Any response from Broadcasting House? - Not yet.

But I've filed my report and they'd better broadcast it.

You mean there's a chance they won't?

They just may not believe that a place like this can exist.

They must. I need London to know what we're up against.

Your broadcast might get things moving.

I'll resign if they don't put this out.

You're willing to do that?

Well, let's hope I don't have to.

You realise we've got a full-blown typhus epidemic on our hands?

Where do we start?

20,000 people suffering from one of the most virulent diseases on earth.

Have you seen the medical store?

A couple of rolls of bandages and bloody vitamin pills.

I have, Colonel Gonin.

It's why I've sent urgent requests for more supplies and reinforcements.

Which will take weeks to get here!

Look, this place was never designed to look after the sick

and we're only here because Jerry threatened to let them out

and contaminate the whole countryside,

and they created the problem in the first place!

Why don't we give it back to them?

Let the Krauts clear it up.

(Richard Dimbleby) I have just returned from the Belsen concentration camp,

where for two hours, I drove slowly about the place in a Jeep

with the chief doctor of Second Army.

I find it hard to describe adequately the horrible things

that I have seen and heard,

but here, unadorned, are the facts.

There are 40,000 men, women and children in the camp.

25,600, three-quarters of them women,

are either ill from lack of food or are actually dying of starvation.

In the last few months alone, 30,000 prisoners

have been killed off or allowed to die.

TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACK

- Major Stadler. - Colonel Johnston, good.

I have been meaning to talk to you.

Ein bisschen Ruhe. Danke.

TYPING STOPS

I wanted to ask you if it was your decision

to allow the newsmen and their cameras into the camp?

It was not, but you can hardly be surprised they're here.

- This will look very bad for us. - I imagine it will.

Inge, bitte...

Frau Stadler is making tea for everybody...

English tea. Would you care for some?

We were told by your senior MO that this camp had medical supplies

and that the numbers of sick were limited.

We were misinformed.

In fact, every word of your meticulous statement is a lie.

Would you have agreed to the truce if you had known the real situation?

Yes, and you damn well know it.

The fact is, you allowed the typhus to get out of hand.

It is a real problem, this... Judenfieber.

It's quite evident that before our arrival,

the inmates went without food, drinking water

or sanitation for considerably longer than we were told... What was it?

One month? Two?

Colonel Johnston,

the war is lost.

Germany has lost.

This I admit, even if Berlin will not.

It was always our intention to preserve these Jews at Belsen...

in exchange for our own lives.

So why let them die?

If your aircraft had not bombed our depots and supply lines,

we would have continued to care for them.

Oh, really?

TYPING RESUMES

I don't know how you can eat this stuff.

Gentlemen,

I solemnly swear that when this war is over,

I shall never touch bully beef again.

LAUGHTER

You don't like your food?

You don't want to eat?

You should try being in Camp One. There's no fancy china in there.

- May I? - Yes.

I'm afraid you can't give that to the inmates.

I'm sorry, I don't understand, sir.

It may be doing them more harm than good.

We'll have to find an alternative.

Colonel, all I see around me

are people begging for food...

for a few crumbs, even.

I give what I can.

Now you tell me I must refuse them.

I understand your frustration,

but these rations are for an army on the march.

They're over 3,000 calories. The inmates can't take it.

I have to do something.

Oh, well...

if it kills the rest of them,

we can bugger off to Berlin where we should be.

I've spoken to Hughes. There are no reinforcements.

None of us are going to Berlin.

We're here and we're it.

We're on our own.

Oh, bloody hell!

Good God!

When was that decided?

Sir?

Could you drop me at the gates of Camp One?

OK.

Please, Rabbi, take these,

and thank you for everything you're doing.

Thank you.

(Richard Dimbleby) I passed through the barrier

and found myself in the world of a nightmare.

Dead bodies, some of them in decay, lay strewn about the road

and along the rutted tracks.

On each side of the road were brown wooden huts.

There were faces at the windows -

the bony, emaciated faces of starving women

too weak to come outside...

...propping themselves against the glass

to see the daylight before they died.

And they were dying...

every hour and every minute.

- This way? - Yes.

- You tryin' to shove this up my arse? - Stop your bellyaching, you love it!

Hold up, Cecil. Ladies first.

Danke.

- Don't mention it. - Bitte.

Pleasure's all mine.

Oil What you do that for, you dozy sod?

You know the rules - no fraternising with the enemy.

Typhus is our priority.

Some American from 21 Army Group

has been doing good stuff with typhus in Italy. He's...

KNOCKING ON WINDOW AND SHOUTING

He's on his way, bringing tons of DDT.

(Gonin) How long before he gets here?

We were expecting him yesterday.

Rather depends if Adolf has left him any bridges. Now...

The evacuation of Camp One,

we need an efficient process of identification and selection.

That'll be down to you chaps.

That's easier said than done. What are we supposed to do?

Crawl over the bodies in the dark and write T for typhus on their foreheads?

Sounds good.

SCOFFS

I think Colonel Gonin was joking, sir.

Well, I think it's a good idea. Anyone with T gets evacuated first

and you have the inmate doctors to help.

Seen the size of some of them?

It looks like they've been helping themselves.

You know, I don't think it's for us to judge

how these people have managed their own survival.

(Man) I can't understand what you're saying!

WOMAN LAUGHS

- What are they doing here? - Been a bit of a cock-up, sir.

I'm afraid our transport for the Germans has been delayed.

It will delay the evacuation, for Christ's sake! Why wasn't I told?

- I've been looking for the right moment. - So when are they going?

First thing tomorrow. Military Government has issued a directive.

Military Government couldn't direct piss into a bucket.

So, Colonel, what's the plan?

We'll turn this place into our contamination reception area.

Isn't that right, Fisher?

Yes, sir.

- It's a stable. - It's what's available. Follow me inside.

Right, typhus is caused by lice and louse shit is airborne.

We can't risk it contaminating the hospital,

so welcome to the human laundry.

Now, the sappers tell me we've good drainage.

With a mobile bath unit out the back,

we can pump the hot water straight inside.

We'll run hoses into each stall,

where the patients can be scrubbed and dusted.

I want to process about 40 patients every hour.

I don't have the vehicles to move that many.

Then improvise.

SWEARING IN GERMAN

What's his problem?

Wants us to keep our voices down, seems we're unsettling the horses.

The what?

CHEERING

(Man) About bloody time!

Hope you're feeling strong, Jerry. You got a lot of work to do.

Move it! Come on, fucking move it!

What have they been up to?

Burying the dead.

Was that your idea?

Well, as I said, it's what's available.

Come on, you're not getting out of it...

SS burying the dead is terrific propaganda for us, sir.

London will be very, very pleased.

Remind me again, Derrick,

what was Colonel Johnston's precise involvement at Quetta?

I'm not entirely sure, sir,

but I believe he was essential to the relief operation.

And what's his unit been up to these last few months?

Well, as far as I know, he's been in reserve, sir,

running a small military hospital on the Dutch-German border.

- In reserve? - Yes, sir.

(Woman) This human laundry of yours, Johnny,

you'll staff it with female personnel.

I'm sure many of the women are too apathetic to care, but you know...

for modesty's sake.

Of course, I'll... I'l do my best.

Johnny.

Doctor.

Sorry, how are you, Dr. Bimko?

Good.

I hope the food's to your liking.

So Dr. Bimko,

how long have you been here?

Not so long. Before this, I was in Auschwitz.

Auschwitz? Is it, um...

It's another camp?

Not like here.

It can't be as bad as this.

Auschwitz is a facility built expressly

for the systematic extermination of the enemies of the Third Reich.

Belsen... Belsen is just an overcrowded prison camp.

Auschwitz is a Vernichtungslager. It was designed for death.

How did...

- Did you...? - Avoid the gaskammer?

I am dentist.

I was useful.

My parents...

my sister, my husband - and my little boy - were not.

CLEARS THROAT

Will London see this, Derrick?

I hope so, sir.

For all the good it will do us. We're losing a steady 600 a day.

I spoke to Hardman today.

He absolutely believes it's the thought of evacuation

that keeps the rest of them going.

All we seem to be good at is collecting the dead.

I can't imagine anyone wanting to see this.

I think you're wrong, sir.

I think the whole world will want to see this.

For years to come, I shouldn't wonder.

And I think it's important that they do

and it rather justifies why we've been fighting this damn war.

COUGHING

AEROPLANE ENGINES DRONE OVERHEAD

Die Zeit ist gekommen.

Unsere Pflicht fur den Fuhrer und fur das Vaterland...

What's he saying?

Something about defending the Fatherland.

Not much chance of that from a POW camp.

We're not sending them to a prison camp, sir.

They're going back to the front line.

Good.

Ta-ta, Fritz!

Say hello to Uncle Stalin for us!

Go on, sling your hook.

Right, now we're getting somewhere.

Goodbye, Colonel Johnston.

Major.

Are you returning us to the front line

because it is more expedient?

Goodbye, Major Stadler. Come on!

Let's get these moving!

Move your arse!

Come on, Jerry, get on!

Here we go!

No mirrors, no shiny surfaces, you understand?

Yes, Colonel, we understand, and perhaps we shouldn't cut their hair.

No, unless it's absolutely necessary.

Thank you.

SPEAKS GERMAN

Everything ready?

GENERATOR CUTS OFF

(Johnston) No!

(Man) Do me a favour!

BUCKET CLATTERS

- Get the sappers down here on the double. - What the hell's happening?

Power failure of the generator, sir. Cables been tampered with.

Everything's shut down, including the main boiler.

- So there's no hot water? - No, sir.

Looks like Jerry gave us a leaving present.

(Over radio) 'ETA Camp One, five minutes...

'ETA Camp One, five minutes.'

Johnston to Gonin, Johnston to Gonin, over.

Gonin, acknowledge, over.

'This is Gonin, go ahead, over.'

Abort the evacuation.

Repeat, abort the evacuation.

'Abort?!'

Gonin, acknowledge, over.

'What the hell's happening?'

Just do as I say, Mervyn. Bring the ambulances back.

Out.

Damn!

'The admission of patients to the new hospital

'could have started on the 20th of April,

'but on the previous night,

'the Wehrmacht battalion which had remained behind

'was permitted to return to its own lines

'and we presume it was they who, as a final gesture on the way out,

'cut the water supply to the barracks.

NO SOUNDTRACK ON FILM

I can't. I need another battery, mate.

Where's Johnston?

Colonel's in his office, sir.

Colonel Johnston, why did you cancel the evacuation?

Do you know how difficult it was to get these people ready?

To move the most urgent cases closer to the doors of the hut

and then when we are ready and waiting, no-one came.

No-one was evacuated.

These are the last Jews in Europe and we are letting them die.

- Leslie, that is out of order. - That's what they're saying.

Captain Hardman!

You're an officer in the British Army and I'm your superior.

42% of the prisoners in this camp are non-Jews

and may I remind you of your duty to the men in this command.

All the time you play good shepherd down the road,

- you're neglecting their pastoral needs. - Colonel, if I might...

Shut up, Derrick. Now is not the time for debate.

I suggest you take Captain Hardman outside and get him to calm down.

Yes, sir. Come on, Leslie, for Christ's sake.

I have no authority over Military Government

or the decisions they take.

Fucking delay in transport that gave Jerry the time to discover

they'd been sent back to the front - that's why they sabotaged the water.

Sappers will sort it out.

While another 600 die over night.

We've replaced the bully beef with skimmed milk.

It's four months past it's use-by date.

It's not staying down.

Ah, come on, Mervyn,

let's check the sappers.

Having a sense of deja vu, Derrick?

I have to say, sir, I do not understand why you're using

the German nurses when we have our own Red Cross girls.

Who wouldn't know a bed pan from a flower pot.

No, but at least they're not short on compassion.

And they speak English.

Without inoculation,

this is a virtual death sentence for these Brunhildes.

An offer was made and their superiors turned it down.

Looks like the Germans have something against women

as well as everyone else.

Colonel Gonin's on his way with the first batch, sir. ETA ten minutes.

About bloody time.

I'm fairly confident the spread of typhus can be brought under control.

300 patients are now deloused

and sleeping in clean sheets. Well done.

But we seriously underestimated the level of starvation.

We'll soon reach 5,000 dead.

Our criterion of selection clearly isn't working.

Why not?

Because, Johnny, the inmate doctors only look out for their own -

sick and healthy.

Poles help Poles, Czechs help Czechs.

Suddenly, everyone claims to have typhus.

Of course. What the hell did you expect? It was always a crazy idea,

this letter T on the head.

It's their passport out of there.

If you'd let us treat individuals on a case-by-case basis,

we'd have had hundreds of them out of there.

I'm not interested in saving hundreds, Colonel.

I've thousands of lives to consider. Without a system, there'll be chaos.

Now, I want to institute a criterion of fitness -

a Belsen standard of fitness.

Still based on typhus?

No.

So that was a bloody waste of time, then.

Look, I'm sorry, but it's my men

going into those God-forsaken huts day after day.

(Johnston) If you can walk, you can get food.

If you can get food, you remain another day in the camp.

So the strong ones stay behind until they get sick.

If they can feed themselves, they're not a medical responsibility.

Now, that's enough! Let's pull together on this. Dismissed.

My service record, sir. You asked to see it.

- It was in my suitcase. Sorry. - Appears to be in order.

Keep your papers with you at all times, Nurse McFarlane.

It tells us who you are.

So how much nursing have you and the others done?

Not much, sir. Molly's done a bit at the Royal Free,

but we're all ready to pitch in and we can learn.

That's a great comfort to me because I don't have time to set up a classroom.

Sir, I've driven a truck halfway across Europe to get here.

I'm surprised you made it at all.

I can smell the alcohol on your breath from here.

How very bourgeois of you to mention it, Colonel Johnston.

I acquired a taste for fine wine and whiskey some time ago

and I still possess a very tidy mind.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll report to Sister.

COUGHING

(Man) Come on, mate. Get your tray over here.

Hot tea over here. Come on.

Get your hot tea. Hot fresh tea.

Thank you, Gertrude. Dziekuje.

Dziekuje.

Are you warm enough?

Yeah. Thank you.

Hello, Cecil.

Man, even for a Goy, you look miserable.

What's up?

Nothing.

Don't give me that. What's the matter?

Can't sleep?

Me neither, mate.

I drove down into the camp this morning.

These women come at me. They was everywhere.

On the running board, grabbing at me through the window.

Apples in an orchard, mate.

One of them gets in beside me.

She says... She put her hand on my leg and she says,

"You take me now."

She would have been lovely if she was a...

Well, did you? You wouldn't be the first. Should have had me with you.

How can you say that? You're Jewish, int'ya?

- So? - You're sick.

Just irresistible to women.

So go on, what happened?

Well, I told her... no.

She just ran off.

She left a bundle of rags on the seat next to me.

It was a baby.

A couple of months old.

Been dead for a couple of days.

WOMAN LAUGHS

(Man) What are you laughing at now?

You're off your head, you!

'We began to receive hundreds of patients - all women.

'Most of them appeared to be just nondescript bundles.

'I helped carry some of them in.

'They weighted three to five stone.

'Less than my little brother, aged nine.

Bring 'em down, will you, there, Trev? Can't hang around all day, mate.

FOOTSTEPS

- Hello, I'm Mac. - Morgen.

- Oh. Sind Sie Rotes Kreuz? - Nein, ich bin Krankenschwester.

Haben Sie gearbeitet hier?

Ja, fur ein paar Tage.

- Wie heissen Sie? - Ich bin Lotti.

SCREAMING

- Oh, my God! Jesus! - What's going on?

Stupid German cow! It's a syringe! Idiot!

The SS injected us... Untermenschen... with benzene.

- What? - To make us burn faster in the ovens.

Hada.

No. I just can't work with those people, not any more.

They're from a civilian hospital ten miles away.

They knew nothing of this.

How can they know nothing?

Can they not hear?

The patients in that ward, Johnny,

they have been beaten, starved,

tortured and stripped of their humanity.

They are the last survivors.

They are all we have to stand witness to the horror.

They are all we have left.

I know.

Every day, we discover more.

Benzene!

For the love of Christ.

I will do what I can to help, Johnny.

We will do this together.

Jeremy, Jeremy.

Heute, den 24 April, 1945,

spricht die Chefarztin vom Frauenlager Konzentrationslager Bergen-Belsen.

Oi, oil Careful.

Over here, mate.

- Rabbi? - Oh, God, you made me jump!

What are you up to?

Doing a little bit of street trading.

I heard you'd taken up residence in a latrine.

Well, that's what comes of sharing a Sabbath meal with the inmates.

They offered me their version of gefilte fish.

I could hardly refuse.

- Oh, carefull - Ahl Sorry. What is that?

It's paprika.

You think that's going to feed the 5,000?

It improves the taste.

Ah. In exchange for what?

My friend here was kind enough to give up some of his cigarettes.

Thank you.

You're a resourceful man, Rabbi.

As medicine heals the body,

so faith must heal the soul.

I have plans for a little clinic as well.

Have you indeed?

And what does Colonel Johnston say about that?

Between you and me...

...I think the colonel spreads himself too thin.

He's always so busy in his office.

I've seen you, Leslie,

breaking the rules,

trying to squeeze another patient onto the back of one of my trucks.

That's right, and the Colonel came - he gave me hell, oh, he did.

Well, I don't think you'll hear any more about that.

Padre!

Keep a stiff upper lip.

'God help me.

'I'm small and alone, but I must help them

'and I mustn't waste a moment because every moment,

'another soul dies.

'It was from no morbid desire that I wanted to see the worst that Belsen had to show,

'but to appreciate fully what these people had gone through.

'Contrary to expectations, I was not sick, nor did I burst into tears.

'But what I saw is quite beyond my powers of description.'

Are you all right?

Yes.

Really.

Thank you.

I think perhaps you've earned yourself a drink.

It's a bit early.

I don't drink before four, and never on a match day.

Match day?

I used to play lacrosse.

You weren't a captain, were you?

Well, actually...

Of course you were.

I should have guessed you liked blood sports, Nurse McFarlane.

Don't worry.

There are very relaxed licensing hours in Bergen-Belsen.

- Would you like a...? - Sir.

Sir, Colonel Lipscomb is here.

Excuse me.

- Colonel Lipscomb. - Ah...

- How glad I am to see you. - I'd have been here sooner if I could.

The feeding's become a nightmare. It's something we never anticipated.

Who's he?

He's an expert in nutrition. He's come from India.

Right, Nurse McFarlane,

you're going to help me shift Lipscomb's gear. Come on.

(Lipscomb) What have you given them?

Well, our compo rations were a complete disaster.

It's made them more sick and killed some of them.

Since then, mostly milk, potato soup.

What were the inmates eating before you got here?

God. Anything they could lay their hands on.

Potato peelings, dirt, grass.

It's ironic, but one of the symptoms of typhus is hunger

and yet victims of starvation are incapable of assimilating fats.

But they do need protein,

so skimmed milk is good and something called hydrolysates.

Now, this special compound is called Bengal Famine Mixture.

It was developed by our nutritionist back in '43 and it contains

the right balance of nutrients for victims of severe starvation.

I've ordered several tonnes of it.

You mix it up with water and feed it to them twice a day.

And it will stop them dying?

I hope so.

- You look terrible, Johnny. Are you ill? - Oh, dear.

1,700 dead.

In the last 24 hours.

What? That's three times more than were dying before you arrived.

So we're doing more harm than good?

That's not what I'm saying.

They're not eating, they're riddled with disease and still living in filth.

If I was one of them, I'd give up the ghost as well.

Right, Colonel,

what do we want?

Hm?

I'll show you what we want.

Come with me.

Now, this...

is gonna stop people dying and it's just sitting there

because I don't have the personnel to prepare or distribute it.

My people can do this.

My people can do this!

(Fisher) I told him that this is war.

Desperate times lead to desperate measures.

Now, I'm a radiologist. We've all got to muck in.

She's gorgeous, sir, and her name's Fisher.

I might be able to use her on my ward, sir.

You're not related, are you?

I hope not, sir. If you get my drift?

Yes, unfortunately, Fisher, I do.

What?!

What the hell are you doing?

SPEAKS POLISH

- Damn you! - Johnny?

Tell these selfish bastards to do their job!

SPEAKS POLISH

Johnny, I'm sorry.

'I'd hoped that the internee staff would be capable of taking over.

'It was now obvious, however, that such an arrangement

'would lead to utter chaos within a few days.'

SPEAKS POLISH

'It was doomed from the start.

'As time goes on, my slender resources of reliable staff

'become more and more stretched.

'We're now close to disaster.'

Get rid of this stuff!

Hit me.

Sir, I think the doctor would like you to hit her again.

Again? You're drinking us all under the table, Doctor.

Chin-chin.

How's your clinic, Leslie? Up and running yet?

We've made a start. We have a hut, a dozen beds, two patients to a bed.

It's quite small, really.

The doctors and nurses are all former inmates.

- It's more of a first aid clinic, really. - Splendid.

- Johnston will be pleased to hear that. - Perhaps.

(Dr. Bimko) Hit me.

You're getting the hang of this.

Where is the colonel? I haven't seen him.

Oh.

Doctor.

Have you seen the colonel?

Oh, not since we discussed the distribution of his special formula.

- He's gone AWOL. - So, sir...

He's feeling the pressure, Derek.

He's floundering.

I think Colonel Johnston has underestimated the complexities of Belsen.

I think we all did.

We can't save everybody in that camp. It's not possible.

Johnston's... Johnston's naive to even think it.

We should be lowering our sights,

getting as many of them out of there as we can.

Sir, Colonel Johnston has done this before. He's the expert.

Is he? That was ten years ago.

And where's his unit been whilst we've been at the front?

In reserve.

I think...

he's a pen-pusher.

KNOCK ON DOOR

What is it, Fisher?

- Nothing, sir, I was looking for the colonel. - Well, he's not here.

No, sir. Thank you, sir.

With respect, sir, you really shouldn't worry.

Remember what they said about Quetta.

The Colonel was straight out of Sandhurst. He was younger than what I am now.

LAUGHING

So now we know!

He didn't plan. He didn't organise.

He brought bodies out from under the rubble.

My men have brought bodies out of those stinking huts,

eight hours a day for two weeks.

It doesn't make them bloody miracle-workers.

ENGINE RUMBLES

SHOUTING

GUNFIRE

- Are they ours? - No, Luftwaffe.

Red Cross! Red Cross!

RAPID GUNFIRE

Down! Everybody down!

EXPLOSION

WAILING AND CRYING

GROANING

PLANE ENGINE ROARS

You!

RAPID GUNFIRE

You fucking Kraut bastard, who did you call?

You and your friends set us up.

Give me one good reason not to put a bullet in your fucking head.

- Put the gun down. - Keep out of it, Johnny.

That's an order! Get over here.

We're all giving orders, Johnny,

but nothing's happening.

Nothing's getting done.

We're going backwards!

Excuse me, please.

SPEAKS GERMAN

On the left.

SPEAKS GERMAN

- Kraut, out. - I just wanna help.

- Get out! - We can help.

All right, but I'm watching you.

- Can't stop it, sir, we're losing him. - Come on, lad!

You've been with me since Normandy. Crossed the Rhine together.

He's dead, sir.

He's dead, sir.

WOMAN SOBS

CLATTERING

Ah, padre...

last rites, if you please, any denomination.

Right, Fisher, get those other lads shipped up to the wards.

- I can't do that, sir. - Why not?

I can't. How can I? We've got no...

Where's Johnston?!

He's not here, is he?

Have you noticed, Fisher, that whenever there's a chance

for him to get his hands dirty, the hero of Quetta goes walkabout?

Now you find me some beds for my men. Do you understand me?

Yes, sir!

And we can try Bovril in hot water,

Ovaltine if we've got it.

Forget about the Bovril, Martin. Let's just concentrate on the famine mixture.

Now, you're suggesting I draw up three different scales of diet?

Yes, one of 800 calories,

one of 1,700 and one of 3,000.

Right, so we're all agreed on that?

- Yes? - Yes.

Yes.

You'll have tremendous problems distributing it, of course, I can see that.

Don't you worry abut that. That's my responsibility.

I know, but some of your colleagues...

If you get any flak from any of my team,

you tell Derrick or you bring it straight to me.

Colonel, this isn't India, there's no guarantee it will work here.

Listen...

I'm putting my faith in this magic potion of yours.

- Christ on a bike. - They're so young.

Quickly, mind now.

Name?

- Paton, sir. Alex Paton. - How old are you?

21, sir.

How did you come to be here?

First to by train to Cirencester, then plane to Hanover... Dakotas, actually.

I'm not interested in what bloody aircraft you flew in, Paton!

You know, to be honest, when I asked for additional help,

a bunch of medical students halfway through their training

wasn't exactly what I had in mind.

What I need is experts in hospital administration,

famine relief, psychological rehabilitation.

We've all had basic clinical training...

I'm sure I expect you're all bursting with bright ideas.

Well, you and your Oxbridge pals better listen up,

because there's a world of difference

between the theory and practice of medicine.

Up until now, we're been more like undertakers than doctors.

Only finished burying the backlog of dead three days ago.

Right, now, you were shown a film before you left?

(All) Yes, sir.

- So you know what to expect? - (All) Yes, sir.

No, you bloody don't, because what that film couldn't do

was prepare you for the smell.

We've 27,000 people in an area the size of Green Park.

The stench in the huts is so bad

that our troops can only bear it for ten minutes at a time,

but I'll ask you to be in there for hours.

You have to work your way through the huts bunk by bunk, body by body.

- Can you do that, Paton? - I'll try, sir.

- Can you do it? - Yes, sir, I'll do it.

Good.

And this...

is what you'll be feeding them.

It's going to put new life into them.

So...

I look forward to hearing one of you say,

"Good morning, sir,

"no-one died today."

Right, Colonel Gonin will sort out your transport.

I'm sure we can be of help too, Colonel Johnston.

Training is of the essence here, Nurse McFarlane.

At least these gentleman have some of it. That's enough chat.

07:00 tomorrow, you meet your patients.

Right, then, my lovelies, follow me on the double!

What the hell he playing at, for Christ's Sake?

I didn't come here to wet nurse students,

- or provide him with a bloody taxi service. - Well, quite.

I'm no medical man, but these fellows are trainee doctors.

I'm sure they can be put to better use than feeding the sick.

I don't know what's got into him.

And what he said to you was downright rude, it was uncalled for.

Doesn't matter, he didn't mean it. He's exhausted.

We're all bloody exhausted.

Quite, so come on, have a drink.

That's what I like to see -

a woman who smokes and can hold her drink.

Don't suppose you play poker as well?

Like a pro.

I did mean straight poker, not the other kind.

Oh, that's a pity.

I only play the other kind, so if you like it straight, Mervyn,

you'll have to find someone else to play with.

Cigarette?

Thanks.

Move yourself, Paton, there's a bloody war on.

- What you got there? - Diary, sir.

Thought I'd keep a record for posterity.

That so? Well, make sure you spell the name right - Gonin,

G-O-N-I-N, Gonin, first name, Mervyn.

Warren, leave that nurse alone.

(Man) Load her up, load her up.

Fun's over. Let's start moving, people!

Come on, get a move on!

Get on!

'We were assigned to various huts.

'I decided it was advisable to light a pipe.

'The smell is disgusting.

'The hut was about 30 yards long and about ten yards across.

'There are about 250 women, mostly in rags. About 20 of them can walk.

'At one end, there was a small place which must have been the lavatory,

'but is now a mass of dirt and water and faeces.

'Those who cannot move just empty their bowels where they are

'and add to the confusion.'

Well?

It's completely blocked, sir.

We'll have to flush the whole system all the way back to the sewage farm.

We've also discovered that the system overflow runs into the river,

which supplies all the drinking water to Camp One.

Shit.

Exactly, sir.

Paton. Got to the back of the hut yet?

- Not quite, sir, but we'll get there. - Feeling any effects?

No, sir.

We've been double inoculated and try and keep our mouths covered.

Good.

Sir, we've started case histories for each of the inmates,

pinned them to their bunks.

Case history or the inmate?

Sorry, sir?

CLEARS THROAT

Anyway... more important, how's the famine mixture going down?

Good, sir. We managed to persuade some of them to take it.

Some of them?

Yes, sir.

It's not working, is it?

No, sir.

A lot of them refuse to even try it, sir.

I'm so sorry.

Not your fault.

It will be better tomorrow, sir.

Now we know what we're dealing with.

Where you going now?

To get cleaned up, sir.

Wrong. Come with me.

- Colonel. - Ah, Johnny, glad you're here.

I've got something I think you really ought to see.

Hold on. Paton's being trying out our famine mixture.

- Oh? - Get on with it, Paton.

Yes, sir.

Well... those that took it in the morning seemed all right at first,

but now they're either throwing up or running with diarrhoea again.

- Ah. - Damn it, Martin, this is serious.

Well, of course.

And the worst of it is that...

most of the inmates wouldn't even touch it.

Say they can't eat it.

Why not? It's your bloody panacea. What the hell's it made of?

Essentially, sugar, dried milk, flour, salt and water.

- Is that all? - Yes.

Looks like someone's taken a butcher's knife to it.

Well, it wasn't me, but someone knew what they were after.

Oh, Jesus Christ.

Yes, it's, er... it's an acquired taste.

The kidneys have been removed.

So has the liver.

I don't understand, sir.

Nor do I.

Then I can only imagine neither of you is hungry enough.

GASPS

And I'll tell you something - if you can't persuade people to take the mixture,

there may be a lot more of this.

Well, they've got to get their nutrients from somewhere.

Excuse me.

GROANING

They took more than the liver, you know?

Ears, cheeks... heart.

I'm not judging them, Leslie. How could I?

If I'd been through what they have...

It's not just food they crave.

They're like children -

they hunger for every kind of thing.

It's just terrible.

They won't eat our famine mixture.

Well, it's not familiar, they don't recognise it.

It will give them exactly what they need,

it's been scientifically formulated.

Formulated for who?

Bengalis. These people are Czech.

They're Russian, Hungarian.

They're used to rich, meaty food with a particular flavour.

The mixture's just too sweet.

I find a little bit of paprika makes all the difference.

Oh, yeah, some of them even ask for more.

It's... as simple as that?

Well, none of us can eat if we don't like the taste, Colonel.

Look, maybe the way to save people's lives

is to remind them who they were.

Jesus, what do they think I'm gonna do with that?

What is it you're looking for?

I don't know. Peppers, spices. Anything that will make

the famine mixture taste more like home.

What I don't understand is why Colonel Lipscomb didn't know about all this.

He's supposed to be the bloody expert.

Colonel Lipscomb told me that his speciality is geriatrics.

I'm losing this war, Mac.

I've lost more lives than I've saved.

It's not just you, you know?

There's progress in every little thing we do.

The fit ones, the ones you made stay behind,

they're getting stronger. Paton told me.

And I saw a small miracle today -

a mother and her children walking in the sunshine.

It was... It was normal.

Doesn't that make you feel better?

No.

Well, you should have more faith in yourself, Johnny.

You look lovely.

Not sure it's my colour, actually.

Oh, look, there's Paton.

THEY LAUGH

(Let's not wake him.)

GENTLE SNORING

You all right? No!

Help! help!

CHILD CRIES

- Fisher, I want a postmortem. - Yes, sir. Stretcher.

Where's your miracle now, Mac,

when even the fit begin to die?

CHILD WEEPS

'2,500 of the fit now seriously sick.

'Unless they're accepted at once into hospital,

'they will undoubtedly die.

'The effect on morale would be disastrous.'

I'm afraid, Brigadier, she is not the only one.

Military Government report there are many other similar cases.

All right. What do we know?

Initial blood tests show no sign of typhus or any other disease.

Did this woman ever receive a blood transfusion?

I'm not sure, sir. I'll have to check the records.

Well, do it!

The last thing we want to find out is that she was given contaminated blood.

With respect, Brigadier, I don't think that's possible.

We're very strict about the way blood is administered.

What about this Bengal Famine Mixture? What's in it?

It's all fairly innocuous, sir -

sugar, milk, salt.

No hidden potions that might cause the blood to fail?

Certainly not!

Well, I want it analysed all the same, just to be sure.

Yes, sir.

Christ! Her heart just weighs over 100 grams!

(Lipscomb) A fraction of what it should be.

How long has she been here?

I think she's a transfer, sir.

She could have been in and out of camps for years.

Well, there's your answer, Johnny -

a long and sustained period of starvation

has irrevocably damaged the heart so that it's no longer viable.

That's correct, sir. The stomach, liver, kidneys

all show similar deterioration.

This woman didn't die through lack of our care,

she died because the Germans killed her years ago.

REMONSTRATES IN GERMAN

ALL TALKING AT ONCE

It's very simple. You take this, put it in water and you clean with it.

They won't show up for their shift, they won't clear up their mess,

these "Gott in weiss" refuse to follow your orders.

Get up! Get up!

(Mac) Someone stop him, what's he doing?!

Stop him!

He can't do that!

- Somebody! Will somebody stop him? - He's gonna kill him.

- What. - Colonel Johnston's gonna kill him.

- He's not capable. - Yes, he can, sir.

You never got Colonel Johnston.

You called him a pen-pusher.

He's just as much a soldier as the rest of us

- and he's got the Military Cross to prove it. - What?

Afghanistan, sir, he was only 26. He went out under enemy fire,

pulled a wounded man off the battlefield single-handed.

(Man) For Christ's sake...

For God's sake, Mervyn, get out there and stop him!

(Gonin) Johnny.

Johnny!

Johnny!

Get him down. Get him down!

Johnny...

ENGINE RUMBLES

'Ey up. Want a lift?

Go on, hang on.

- Yep. - Cheers.

(Man) Who are we looking for?

(Mac) He's not in the mess.

(Gonin) Has anybody seen him?

Where the hell is he?

The only buildings left to check are...

the store rooms and block B on the far side.

Right, Paton, Mac, you come with me, we'll check the store rooms.

The rest of you check block B.

No, no idea.

In here, sir.

Johnny.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry about this morning.

Oh, don't apologise. Bastard had it coming.

Paton's got some news for you.

Yes, sir.

In my hut, no-one died today, sir.

(Gonin) Don't think he heard you, Paton.

Colonel,

in my hut, no-one died today.

All still present and correct.

They're eating the famine mixture and keeping it down.

Giving it a flavour they recognise made a real difference.

Then it's working.

Well, maybe.

You know as well as I do there are no big victories here.

It's the little things that count,

like Paton here holding their hands through the night,

or Hada taking their temperature,

or Mac writing down their names,

which villages they come from.

No.

People will be working in Belsen for years after we've gone,

but the point is... we've turned a corner

and even I'm prepared to admit it -

your bloody system's working.

There's something else we want to show you.

SOBBING

(Woman) Oh, God!

(Johnston) Hardman was right.

The way to save people's lives is to remember they're human.

GROWLS AND ROARS

- You look like one of me old girlfriends. - Oh, thanks!

- Nice jam rags, mate. - What's a jam rag?

Sanitary napkin, Cecil. Well done. I'm looking for those.

The women are going to need them before very long.

(Fisher) You got to be joking, ain't ya? They're just skeletons.

Meaning?

Well, they can't. How can they have the painters and decorators in?

We women are tougher than you think, Emmanuel.

It's all part of coming back to life.

Does that mean they're ready to, er, you know...?

- You know - ready for a bit of, er...? - What?

You know, ma'am, a bit of how's-your-father.

Oh...

Cecil, you bring a four-stone woman out of one of those huts

and Emmanuel puts her in a hospital bed, he gives her some basic sustenance.

What do you think her body is desperate for now?

Well...

Well, let me tell you,

there's something magical about women's bodies.

And I don't mean in the way you're thinking.

I've seen it in our patients and it amazes even me,

that when a woman comes back from the brink of death, nature kicks in.

It's life longing for itself.

Or whatever term you'd like to give it.

All right, Fisher? Coping?

Never been so busy, sir. We're going to need to open up another ward.

Get some of Colonel Gonin's men

to help you move the furniture out of the officers' mess.

- You sure, sir? - Absolutely.

That's the spirit. And I hear Harrods has been a great success.

Yes, sir, although some of our customers can be very fussy!

You can usually tell a Russian by the sort of drawers she chooses.

They like them Victorian, sir.

Victorian, eh?

Big, sir.

Mm. I see. Well...

Carry on, Nurse McFarlane.

Oh, I almost forgot. Thought you'd all like to know.

Apparently, the war is over.

'Today sees completion of the major task of hospitalisation.

'The general improvement in the patients since admission

'is marked and satisfying.

'I never cease to be amazed by the remarkable versatility

'displayed by all my officers and nurses at this time.'

(Cecil Warren) Oh, look out! Here comes Mrs. Fisher.

Oh...

- Morgen. - Good morning, Mr. Fisher.

Ah... You know what one woman said to me this morning?

- What? - "Today is the beginning of my life."

- Did you kiss her? - Yes, I bloody did.

(Johnston) Fisher.

I want the store room looking like the Coconut Bar at the Ritz.

You can use this furniture here, we're having a party.

Yes, sir.

Put some coloured shades on the light bulbs, anything to make it look more inviting.

Fancy a bit of a cabaret, sir?

You're in charge, Fisher.

Oh, and, er, tell Lieutenant Sington that I want all the press

assembled in Camp One first thing in the morning.

Yes, sir.

And one other thing - find me a flame-thrower.

'On our recommendation, the horror camp was completely destroyed by fire.

'This was the only possible end to a place

'that had seen so much human misery, degradation and terror.

'I had the satisfaction of directing the flame and pressing the button.'

MUSIC: In The Mood

Blimey, Cecil, how big are your feet?

Never you mind about my feet, mate. Watch where you're putting yours.

Lotti! Where are ya?

Mrs. Fisher!

Oh, come on, lovel

MUMBLES IN GERMAN

COUGHING

(Hardman) What's he saying, Lotti?

He wants to know if there's any redemption for us.

What do you think?

We have lost the war...

...and our country.

But the worst of all is the concentration camps.

There we lost our honour.

'A good German cannot bear his life without honour,

'It doesn't matter that we didn't know.

'We have to bear the blame.'

Johnny.

Brigadier. Mac. How the devil are you?

Having the most wonderful time, aren't we, Brigadier?

Absolutely splendid, thanks to you, Johnny.

Are you hearing what the press are saying, Johnny?

You've created the largest hospital in Europe.

- Would you like to dance? - Love to.

I'm so drunk, Mac... so drunk.

...Da da-da-daa oi! Da da-da-daa oi!

'For the greatest part of the liberated Jews of Bergen-Belsen

'there was no ecstasy, no joy at our liberation.

'We had lost our families,

'our homes.

'We had no place to go,

'nobody to hug.

'Nobody was waiting for us anywhere.

'We had been liberated from death and the fear of death,

'but not from the fear of life.

In 1946,

Hadassah Bimko married Joseph Rosensaft, the leader of the Belsen survivors.

Their son was born at Belsen hospital two years later.

Dr. Bimko-Rosensaft would later become

one of the founders of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Glyn Hughes became godfather to dozens of Belsen babies

and considered the survivors part of his extended family.

In 1945, his improvised medical unit was renamed the Glyn Hughes Hospital.

It still stands today.

Alex Paton qualified in 1948

and became an eminent clinical physician.

He remained good friends with his fellow Belsen students and now lives in Didcot.

Emmanuel Fisher became a famous musician,

conducting the London Jewish Male Choir for 20 years,

leading tours around the world and composing for Hollywood.

But the trauma of his time at Belsen never left him.

Leslie Hardman performed many weddings at Belsen

and remained in touch with his congregation to this day.

He's still a rabbi, now living in north London.

Derrick Sington prepared indictments for the Nuremberg Trials

with the help of his secretary, Gertrude, who he'd met on his first day at Belsen.

They married in 1948 and settled in Neasden.

Mervyn Gonin received the Distinguished Service Order

and returned to general practice in Ipswich.

He died in 1954.

Jean McFarlane followed Johnston's unit from Belsen to his next posting

and then took up the presidency of the English Lacrosse Association.

She adopted a refugee orphan from central Europe, but never married.

James "Johnny" Johnston stayed in the Army for another 30 years.

Promoted Major General, he took command of all Army medical training.

Those who had shared his experience at Belsen, he remained in touch with

for the rest of his life.

OCR: neolone @ KG.