Original subtitles

GERMAN TROOPS SING 'Roter Wedding'

Eden Palace Depositions. - Mm-hm.

The shootings? - I know.

You always say prepare the next case as soon as we've won the last one.

I say that? - You do.

I must learn to relax. So how did you like my summing up?

It was good. - You didn't hear it.

No, but I know it was good. - it was awful.

Well eight men just walked free,

and there's a photographer waiting for you from Anti-Fascist Action in room 42.

Ah already, they were confident...

Yes I have no idea why people invest so much faith in you, Hans.

I have nice teeth and I'm cheap.

Max got paid in tenderloins today - Well that beats, what was it last time?

Tram tickets? - So let's celebrate, he's cooking. - Perfect

He wants us back by 6.

Are you two lost?

I don't mean philosophically. You're obviously that.

We're waiting for someone. - Well you're not meant to be back here.

This isn't for members of the... a... public.

Over there's the exit. Beyond it you discover the street

Don't be late!

# This is how we do it. It's how we do it #

Rudolf I didn't see you. - I hope not

Are you waiting for me? - I am.

Can I ask what about? - I want you to come and have a drink with me.

I'm going home to drink champagne with my friends, Rudolf.

Champagne? I thought you were always broke - We are.

It's about the Eden Palace shootings. That's your next case isn't it?

A quick one.

Take your boys this afternoon.

Tomorrow those boys will be fighting fascists again,

and pretty soon you'll be asked to defend one of them

after he's slotted some wretched Brownshirt - in self-defence.

Or if not you'll be prosecuting a Brownshirt thug on their behalf.

You do this work too? - Isn't it tedious?

It's important.

It's never-ending. How could it not be with all these private armies in Berlin?

23 political murders last year

65 this. Yes? How many more next? A hundred?

A hundred and fifty? Am I being too sully?

Rudolf I've got to go. - This Eden Palace trial...

You want to nail a few more Brownshirts, but what do you really want?

Wouldn't it be fun to cross-examine the man who gives the orders?

Put Goebbels on the stand? - No.

Hitler.

Sir, we're going round again.

Call Hitler as a star witness,

and you can redefine the scope of your trial.

Those gunmen, they're not what's important.

But imagine the Fuhrer on that stand,

and you asking him questions about Brownshirt violence.

It would be the greatest show in Berlin.

His storm-troopers in the dock.

His new pals the rich financiers in the gallery.

Both thinking that they own Hitler

You bring them together in the same room for the first time

gawping at each other like cretins and wondering how the hell they belong in the same party.

And who's Hitler going to be shaking hands with at the end of the day?

It won't be both. It can't be both.

You force him to choose between the big fists and the deep pockets

and therefore you cripple him.

He was in court six months ago. He did well.

In Leipzig, not Berlin.

It was a friendly examination, they let him say what he wanted to say

I know but in Leipzig, he swore on oath that his party turned its back on violence, didn't he?

He said he wanted his men to operate on the right side of the law.

And that should have been the beginning of the scrutiny not the end.

I mean has it stopped Nazi violence round here?

But that's not the main point is it? - That is absolutely the point

No. This is.

What if I can show that in disavowing violence he perjured himself?

I could get him to admit that he lied under oath and that he continues to lie.

Mmm - hmm - Tell me, what would that mean for him?

Prison possibly. Political ban certainly. - Or deportation back to Austria.

Is he even a German citizen yet?

Picture it.

The Perjurer is thrown out of Germany.

Now is the time, Hans

You know a year ago I asked that girl over there what does she think of Hitler.

Do you know what she said? - Who? '

I really have to go.

Listen if you did this, I'll help you.

I've tracked that piece of shit since 1923.

But I'm not as good a barrister as you are. I'm not as quick. I'm not as audacious.

You're humouring me, Rudolf.

Stefan, your lease, my colleague has sorted it out.

You have a Communist to thank.

Heil Margot and Max!

Ah.

BABY CRIES

Should I put on my armour? - We were going to celebrate, remember?

Max sold his beech wood table and we did something good too.

Go and sit down, we saved you some

I had this crazy idea.

Did you Hans? Yes I did actually

He's going to jack everything in and open a sweet shop in Königsberg.

No he's going to learn tenor sax and join the Weintraub syncopators.

I'd like to see him get syncopated - # toot toot tot tot #

I'm going to subpoena Adolf Hitler.

BABY CRIES

That shut you up.

Well obviously we don't know if you're joking now.

No, I'm not joking.

I'm thinking of getting him to testify at the Eden Palace trial.

And this was your idea?

Actually it was Olden's

Hans he's an operator isn't he? - He is shrewd.

He said it was a chance to interrupt the interminable Hitler monologue

Have a dialogue? - Yes

Well in court, that is what it would be.

He, he, he'd have to turn those bizarre thoughts into rational statements.

and I'd be challenging him and pointing out the contradictions.

You want to reason with a crazy man? - Hans finds reason erotic, my love.

He gets a twitch in the trousers every time he hears the word therefore.

It's an idea, you know? Something to consider.

Hitler and his men are hysterics. We've always said that.

You think you can stop an hysteric with a court move?

So how do you stop him? With a satirical cartoon?

You stop Hitler with politics.

I don't know if you've noticed Max, but the Reichstag hasn't met since February.

It may never meet again

All those socialist deputies of yours were still making their points of order

and please Mr Chairmans when 107 Nazis marched into the place

Elected. - What?

You said 'marched'. They were elected.

But elected to destroy parliamentary procedure

to make the Reichstag unworkable, which is what they've done

Our politics has shifted to the streets of Berlin,

which is exactly where the Nazis want it.

BABY CRIES

Why doesn't Olden put him on the stand?

I'm the one doing Eden Palace. - It's because he flattered you.

What's the matter with you? Don't you care that Hitler's winning?

No, no we don't care, do we Max?

When he was put on the stand in Leipzig,

he became a credible figure for the first time in his career.

I've heard both of you say that.

Look, number one this is Berlin not Leipzig.

This is our town he's short of friends here.

Number two, it's not his paid lackey Hans Frank asking the questions this time, it's me.

God knows your brain is a magnificent thing Hans,

but your ego is the size of the Brandenburg Gate.

Yeah, and his judgement is the little fellow walking through it.

This is not about ego. This is about conscience.

Lawyers always confuse the two - Oh, now you're just being a child.

You want to criticise Hitler to his face because it's going to make you feel good.

And look at you, the big anti-fascist who does nothing.

tinkering with his carpentry all day, oblivious to the world.

Pay him in tenderloins. He'll be happy.

BABY CRIES

Pardon?

Oh go and deal with the baby. - What, you mean the other one?

He's your oldest friend Hans.

And he's afraid for you to expose yourself like this.

What do you want friend?

Ah Herr Litten I'm sorry I didn't recognise you

It was here then? - It was here

May I? By all means.

They fired right in at whatever moved, and everyone moved

That's typical of the police.

They were here and gone in about 2 minutes.

They've got automatic weapons now.

They ask and the Lord provides. - The Lord?

Hitler. - Oh yes, we suppose he is the Lord.

Don't be fooled by their shooting style, Herr Litten.

Their instructions are precise enough.

We were lucky to get away with so few casualties.

They will be back.

Thank you for helping me to see.

I love Liszt.

This bit.

I carry a deep sadness of the heart which must now and then break out in sound.

That's what he said.

Did I ever tell you that my godfather was his cousin?

About 25 times.

Sorry.

I know you're going to do it.

Because you're a lawyer and you're addicted to elegant solutions.

I thought you were going to say I was vain again.

And you are reckless.

I must learn how to do that.

I'll go.

I deserve a bash on the head with a hammer.

I came across as the unthinking idiot last night.

Well to be fair you've been working hard on that for a while.

To be honest I doubt the judge will even grant a subpoena.

If he does Margot will help you.

You know that?

I'll help too if I can.

I'll carve you some crutches.

I look at you and Margot and think Germany will be fine. How could it not be?

In 50 years' time you will still be making your furniture.

Beautiful furniture. Known throughout Europe.

The world. - The world. Why not?

and Margot will illuminate that world.

And your brood of children who only know peace and have never even heard of Fascism.

And you Hans? What are you doing in`1980?

Long since retired back to Königsberg.

To that sweet shop.

You'll still have your nose in the law books my friend.

Take a seat Herr Litten. I'll be with you just in a moment.

I'm going to have to go now.

Yes, I'm with the advocate I was telling you about.

Ha ha... that would be something.

No. I promise you that will never happen.

You will sympathise with me when I say that I found this

to be an unexpected development.

You wish to summon the following witness... der-der-der.

...to supply evidence that there is no serious ban on weapons in the Nazi Party etc etc

and that the witness's party formed Roll Commandos to seek out

attack and even kill political opponents etc and that Storm 33...

That is the Brownshirt group to which the defendants belong Your Honour.

I'm sorry

And that Storm 33 is such a Roll Commando.

You wish to have Herr Hitler in my courtroom?

I do Your Honour. It is nothing personal.

You know my feelings about the law and politics Litten

It's very easy to turn a courtroom into the Colosseum - especially these days.

I agree with that.

Good so then you will understand my reluctance.

But Your Honour...

And I also don't think you have thought this proposal through.

This looks like you're fishing to me. - But I...

And I'm also a little discouraged by your own excitability.

You're not a great listener.

I'm sorry your Honour. - Though an exemplary interrupter.

It's a frivolous request Litten. You'll see that when you've calmed down.

Sir, I don't think it is.

The young men I'm prosecuting belong to an organisation

that's led by someone whose attitude to political violence is deeply ambiguous.

I think the Rule of Law would be strengthened

if that leader could, under oath eradicate the ambiguity.

He's already done that at Leipzig

Artful. Litten. You're thinking it's a question of perjury?

That's a serious thing

Not least because you're questioning a man's honour.

I am.

I think he lied to the court in Leipzig.

Admirably honest.

But you need better than this streak of vapour

if you want to demand his presence in my court.

Show me some real evidence that he's been provoking street violence

here in Berlin and perhaps I'll listen'

Thank you.

You have 3 days to find it

Yes. Goebbels was with Hitler. We didn't know that.

And that was September the first...

Ah... You didn't? I see. Well thank you for trying

No joy.

He saw Hitler arrive, he saw him go into the tavern

where the Brownshirts were waiting but no hacks were allowed in.

Are you telling me he didn't sneak round the back

and peer in through a window or something?

He's an investigative reporter for heaven's sake.

Ach. Well someone must know why Hitler came to Berlin

Seven closed meetings over two nights

at a time when he's supposed to be putting clear water between himself and the Brownshirts?

And no one knows what was said? I mean there's absolutely no record?

Sorry Margot but we need something solid

A Brownshirt with a grudge against Hitler.

You know I couldn't place you at first.

Maybe it's because you're not wearing the swastika.

Still I was a bit rude to you wasn't I?

But I never like to see a paramilitary uniform in court.

I'm a bit old-fashioned that way

Berlin though, eh. What a city!

One minute a young man is running with the Fascists.

The next he rounds a corner and suddenly he's coming the other way

with the hammer and sickle

And nobody's quite sure why.

Is he a convert? Or is it just that the soup's better?

It's not the soup is it?

Which means he's either suddenly developed an interest

in the contradictions of capitalism and the leading role of the international proletariat

or he's doing a spot of eavesdropping.

It's alright There's no reason why anyone should know.

Excellent.

You want to help me. and you will, you will.

You are going to put me in touch with Captain Stennes.

Captain Stennes is not somebody I would ever speak to.

He's err. - I know. He's volatile. He scares you.

But I know you can do it. They don't? I do.

Tell him who I am. He'll know my name.

And tell him it's a business proposition.

I said what do you want from this Captain Stennes?

Hans - I'm not quite sure.

Well what might he want from you? - I'm not sure about that either.

What so we're just coming down here on a whim then?

To see how the Brownshirts live?

Six months ago they occupied... Did you see that?

They occupied,

The Brownshirts occupied the Nazi headquarters on Hedemannstrasse

and kicked out Goebbels yes? - Remember

This guy, this Captain Stennes, he did that.

He said he was provoked.

He'd got wind of a purge inside the Nazi party.

What he was going to get the chop?

When Hitler renounced violence last year, Stennes didn't like it.

Elections, party politics, cutting deals - he's against all that.

What he just likes whacking people?

I think we're entering Nazi land.

Hans! Hans!

Hans you could talk Mother Superior into a cabaret

And up onto the stage too.

See those guys were Captain Stennes' guys.

When Hitler crapped on Stennes earlier this year

they followed him out of the party

The men I'm prosecuting? They're Stennes men

So they're not Hitler men?

Well I think they're still Hitler men as well It's complicated. This is it.

So to cut the cabbage Stennes believes in total utter violence,

and doesn't like Hitler because he's too moderate,

and we've come down here to speak with him? - Yes.

Don't worry Max.

If things get unpleasant just brace yourself and look as if you don't have a conscience.

and remember

those Brownshirts may look formidable but they take a club to the gut like anybody else.

We don't have a club.

Not exactly Germanic Knights are they?

No, but nor were the Germanic Knights, probably.

Herr Litten and his friend. - Max

Tell Lothar to come with a bottle of Arignac.

You were made to feel welcome I trust? - We were stopped at a roadblock.

Ha, hate this territory thing. In Berlin. It's so regrettable.

But necessary you will agree.

Come gentlemen, share our dainties, drink our potations.

Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things

making the young and lusty like an eagle.

Please sit.

So, I heard Hitler came here six months ago?

He came here, to Charlottenberg to Neukolm.

He did the whole circuit in Berlin talking to the different Storm sections.

Saying what?

Saying put your guns away Saying be nice to policemen.

I'll give him his due. It's not something these boys wanted to hear.

Many of our lads were starting to have doubts about Hitler.

They thought he was getting too intimate with the industrialists

and the financiers and forgetting them.

Threats were made. - To Hitler?

It's hard for a man who's taken a Commie bullet in his shoulder

to listen to talk of the electoral road, to /national Socialism

however cunningly it is put.

But in the end it was your head that rolled, not Hitler's.

That's why you got in contact with me is it not?

We have a shared interest. Eden Palace is an - opportunity.

Do you not think? Do I?

Come on Litten, stop looking at the uniform.

Treat me like a man with a brain that works.

Say what you want. Today we can be friends

I think we are both disgusted by what happened at Leipzig.

Your Fuhrer's repudiation of violence.

The hypocrisy of the man. If I may be so bold?

Hypocrisy? I could stomach that.

It was his sincerity that worried me.

But Josef Goebbels personally assured me

there was nothing sincere about Hitler's oath at all.

You know in the trial

you should describe my boys as men of conscience.

They are political men like you and I.

Let the court know you think they fall within the provisions

of paragraph 20 of the legal code.

If I do that Captain Stennes' men will get shorter sentences

and an easier time in prison.

Should you convict. - Oh I think we both know I'll convict.

And in return?

He'll be able to suggest a political source for their violent actions.

Hitler? - No. Hitler's butler.

I would like to do as you say.

But you need me. Isn't that so?

I may subpoena you. - You should

It would be better for me if were to come. Reluctantly.

So that is what I will do.

I won't go out of my way to help you attack the Fuhrer.

but it may become interesting if you were to ask me the right questions.

I wouldn't want you to attack your Fuhrer.

I want you to embrace him.

I know you do.

I believe we have an understanding.

You want your Adolf Hitler back - I think we can achieve that.

I will remind you that the accused are Stief

and his Nazi colleagues and not Herr Hitler.

He is your witness not your quarry.

You may think him a bad mam, you may think him a hypocritical man.

But we don't have a law against hypocrisy.

I'm interested in the crime not a man's morals.

Don't over-reach yourself.

Herr Hitler.

Sir I am authorised by the Criminal Court of Berlin

to deliver this document on behalf of private prosecutor Hans Litten.

It's a court subpoena.

Failure to comply with the summons will result...

Yes, we know. Go away.

I shall require your signature, sir.

Ah, the great explorer returns

Have you discovered an enchanted forest? - No

An unknown city then where men are the size of trees

and everybody speaks backwards. - No

What do we call a man with a beard? - A beaver

This beaver here. Do you see him? This beaver has come from Berlin.

He's come to annoy us and spoil our picnic.

He wants me to lose my nerve and scream and stamp my feet.

But that would be silly, wouldn't it? What shall we say to this beaver?

LAUGHTER

My friend wants to know When are you going to shave your chin?

Well done Dieter.

You realise that in 24 hours all of Germany will know what you've just done.

Imagine the forces that will buffet that courtroom.

You need to prepare Hans, like you've never prepared before - I plan to.

You will bring politics into that room. So will the man who you have subpoenaed.

And the judge will be unable to stop either of you.

Yes, but I am a man of the law - You and I both.

But get beyond the letter

touch the spirit.

Don't let the Judge bind you with procedure. There are bigger things at stake.

You think I should cut corners? No I think you should be daring. That's all

Public opinion will be on your side.

Germany's moderate soul is your ally.

You must lean into the bends and feel it with you.

HITLER SPEECH ON THE RADIO

You know that thing called expenditure?

and that other thing called income? - Huh

Expenditure's winning. Easily winning.

I thought we had a rule about him Hans, you're not listening to me

Anti-fascists have no money.

We won't get that man on the stand at all if we don't pay our debts very soon.

The court will simply revoke your licence. - I know. I know.

So what's the big plan?

You need to get your father to extend the loan.

He's in town this weekend with mother. I'll talk to him.

Tell him you're defending democracy. - Well he's no fan of Weimar I'm afraid.

To him it's all atonal music and flat roofs.

- Bauhaus chairs the rumba, Otto Dix, negro jazz, Jewish self-assertion.

Well remind him it's about life and liberty as well.

I will. I will.

We were shooting duck last week with the Schoenhausens in Pomerania,

And Otto You remember Otto? Herr Bonhof's son.

He's just opened a medical practice in the Old Town. It's doing very well.

He inherited all his uncle's patients. - Yes, but it's doing very well.

Father, I'd like to talk about extending the loan - Mmm.

What is this? An olive? Whatever next?

I was talking about the loan. -I think we need to stop the loan.

It's a bad time to do that - You're not a student any more.

I know you're living like a student. But you're not one. Not anymore.

Father it's not that the practice is short of work.

I know that. - It's got too much work.

I'm busy with cases all the time.

I've got the Eden Palace case, and that's going to be a big trial.

Do you think I don't read the papers?

You've never followed my career - It's become impossible not to, Hams

I just about managed it when you started working for the Communists.

Red Front-Fighters League.

It became a little more difficult when you filed against the police.

Rector. Your son in Berlin has indicted the Chief of Police.

But, you've subpoenaed Adolf Hitler!

That's been pretty hard to overlook.

You like Hitler now?

Of course not. The man is uncouth - I'm waiting for the but.

But thirty-two political parties.

The squabbling. The faction-fighting. The perpetual disagreements.

You mean the democracy. - Well there you are.

Is it for Germany?

As for your Hitler, Office will tame him - and people want a strong man.

That and is very strange there. - Hans

The but, the and he has become a linguistic critic.

Well I can't work out whether you're arguing for Hitler or against him

We are against him. - Maybe he's not so bad.

People in Germany want order not freedom. - Oh that argument.

You sing your Ode to Liberty.

Just remember it doesn't keep your prole friends warm in winter.

And now we see how far the termites have spread and how well they have dined.

You are pathetic.

You're busy protecting everybody and you never protect yourself.

We gave you the most precious thing a Jew could have in Germany - a baptism.

and what did you do? Piss in the water

Hans - That was a disgusting thing to say.

It was.

I was talking about what you said. and what he said.

He's been having difficulties in Königsberg We have our Nazis too.

They have discovered his father's name on the table of honour in the synagogue.

He feels vulnerable Hans. Is he wrong?

You want me to give up?

I don't believe you can.

Well do we have a fight in us? - We do. We do.

I think that's meant to be somebody boxing - Max Schmeling eat your heart out.

Oh Herr Rudolf. You're the only one of us who's actually seen the ogre.

How should Hans fight the big fight?

He should remember Hitler is two men.

No-one loves the excitement of the hour like Hitler.

Yet his eyes are also fixed on the next one thousand years.

and what he can't do

what Hans must make him do

is take account of what happened yesterday and what's going to happen tomorrow.

Put him in the time-frame that normal people live in - Yes

And stop normal people from treating time like he does.

But you've seen him speak. He does entrance people

It's true.

Everyone goes through the same emotions.

For minutes you say what a comedian, what a comedian.

Then you see his wholehearted sincerity.

The speeches are sinfully long

a cataract of hateful words as he tries to make you think with your blood.

But he's appealing.

No, no he is. He projects an image of deep suffering

under intolerable wrongs - a man with a grievance against the universe,

a martyr if you will.

That is the self-pitying nature of Fascism.

You will see he exists in a permanent state of being offended.

Forever showing his wounds. Contradict him and he will bleed.

and you are bound to contradict him Hans. - But this is your ground not his.

He won't have the oompah band warming the crowd up, or the light show.

That is your opportunity.

He won't be allowed his favourite forms of speech,

the dissertation and the tirade.

But don't we want the tirade? To actually see him froth at the mouth?

No. Do not open a demagogue's auction Hans.

Interrupt him.

Try and make yourself a real pain in the arse - Try?

You'll be able to say things in this courtroom

that would bring a club smashing into your skull if you ventured them at a public meeting.

Imagine if that happened right in front of the judge.

Thanks.

It would prove the point.

To our valiant friend Hans Tomorrow let's see him smash fascism.

Father isn't there.

He has chosen sides Hans.

The court shall rise.

Summon the accused.

I am opening today's hearing in the criminal proceedings against Stief

and his colleagues before the bench of District Court Number Three.

Two witnesses have been summoned by the private prosecutor.

I will point out in advance that any kind of demonstration

or excitement will be dealt with ruthlessly.

I call upon the private prosecutor.

My purpose in calling the next witness is to prove that no serious ban on weapons exists

within the Nazi party to which these men belong.

That indeed Roll Commandos or raiding parties

have been formed expressly to organise violent attacks on

and murder of their political opponents.

Storm 33 to which these men belong, being just such a Roll Commando

and their attack on the Eden Palace dance hall

being just such a premeditated act of political violence.

I hope to show that the next witness was in full knowledge of this strategy and approved it

and that the policy of his party in Berlin is to bring disorder to the streets.

The witness's name? - Adolf Hitler

I call on witness Adolf Hitler.

The court calls witness Hitler

Heil Hitler -I have forbidden that.

I least expected the defendants to ignore me.

If that happens again, you'll be in contempt of court.

You may be seated.

As you wish.

Please tell us your name, occupation and place of residence

I am Adolf Hitler. I live in Munich.

and by profession I am a writer

Are you related by blood to the accused?

That is to say by family.

No.

I would ask you to be mindful how you answer the questions

in case you may incriminate yourself.

You will be asked to swear an oath at the close of your testimony.

Herr Litten your witness.

Herr Hitler Do you know of Storm 33?

No.

You've not heard of this elite Roll Commando?

We have no Roll Commandos.

Their formation would be in breach of party rules - I see.

So there are no bombs, grenades, carbines, or weapons of any kind in the browmshirts.

The Brownshirts?

Of course that is how your enemies - most people - refer to them

But for the benefit of the court I can use your term.

Sturmabteilung, SA... So The SA then?

Do they have weapons? - If they do I have no knowledge of them.

But it is possible that in defending the Party against the terrorists of the left

there might have been occasions when weapons of self-defence were used.

But no Roll Commandos dedicated to attacking their political enemies?

None.

You would know about them if they existed?

I would.

You know everything that happens in your party.

I am its leader - Of course.

and as its leader your authority in the party is unchallenged?

It is.

And the obedience you demand is absolute?

Yes. That absolute obedience is what I demand.

So, no Roll Commandos.

Yet in this article in The Peoples Observer dated April 4th this year,

you refer explicitly to the Roll Commandos of a Captain Stennes.

the leader of the SA in Berlin.

You say he has achieved nothing more than a few wretched Roll Commandos.

In that article I also renounced violence

and complained that Stennes was trying to force me from the legal path.

Quite.

You reject political violence, as you also did at the Leipzig trial six months ago,

yet you simultaneously ridicule Captain Stennes with whom you have fallen out

for the pitiful number of Roll Commandos created on his watch.

Not only have you heard of Roll Commandos

You appear to want more. Is that not the case?

Lawyer's trick.

I beg your pardon? - A typical trick.

His kind trade in cunning and deception.

That is a complaint about me, or perhaps my entire profession?

But it is not an answer.

Herr Hitler. Please answer the question.

At Leipzig I made an oath to operate inside the law.

My appearance in this court is therefore a waste of time.

You did make such an oath but here you effectively scoffed at it.

Is that not so? - One moment your honour?

A war veteran would not be so confused over language as this lawyer is.

Roll Commando is a term we used on the Western Front.

Squads of 10 or more soldiers were ordered to roll down an enemy trench.

It was dangerous work. Heroic work.

Thank you for the fascinating history lesson, Herr Hitler.

But I feel we are still dancing around the edges of the problem here.

We are dancing? - In a manner of speaking.

The SA's under strict orders to refrain from physically assaulting opponents

In an emergency an individual SA man, in the course of being hunted down

and fearing of his life, may cross the line between defence and attack.

Almost every night in this town SA men are attacked by Red Murderers.

I ask you to refrain from using that term.

It is important to know what happened and why blood is spilt.

When we first marched through Berlin in 1927

people threw flowers from their windows to greet us.

With the plant-pots still attached I believe.

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

Herr Hitler.

Herr Hitler, let me ask you this what is the purpose of this SA?

It is the party's sports section. It gives classes in self-defence

Jiu-jitsu.

You might perhaps prefer the witness to supply the answers.

I do not know the entire curriculum. It is possible jiu-jitsu.

And these two men, these students of Jiu-Jitsu,

their vicious attack on the Eden Palace dance hall.

Was that self-defence? - Your Honour.

Yes. That is an inadmissible question

I am aware that these things receive imaginative treatment in the Jew...

in the press.

But to us they are ridiculous.

I wrote in my book, seven years ago

that our objectives would not be reached by bombs and grenades.

but by large mobilised masses...

What Germany requires is a revolution,

which means a mental revolution, a spiritual rebirth

Who are you addressing?

The court.

I believe the court can hear you quite comfortably.

Yes, it can. It's not necessary to shout or to harangue.

You mentioned your book, 'Mein Kampf', published six years ago

Your Honour, I can't see that this publication,

important though it is as a general statement on the party philosophy,

is relevant to this trial.

Herr Hitler apparently does and therefore it's admissible.

You mentioned your book, 'Mein Kampf', published six years ago

and what you also say in this book is that

a free road ought to be given by the state to certain forces

to declare a war of annihilation on Marxism, by which you mean the German labour movement,

And these forces you refer to who require this free road.

Would that be you and your followers?

Answer the question please.

I don't know.

But it is your book.

You also say in the same chapter that so long as the labour movement is alive

your followers have a duty not to worship the idiocy of law and order.

And you call for a final reckoning ' with your enemies and 'the bloodiest civil war'

which you say can give rise to 'a steeled'. Is that word correct?

A steeled and healthy people.

You then conclude, very grandly, that

you do not decide the destinies of a nation with kid gloves.

There then follows a lot of stuff about vipers and vermin and rats

by which of course you mean 'people'

and you say finally that you have talked about this need for a cleansing violence

until your throat was hoarse.

We know. That Throat

Your honour I would point out this book was written

six years before Herr Hitler made his oath at Leipzig.

That is true Herr Litten. We are not concerned here with the distant past.

Well let us turn to something more contemporary then.

In Berlin last year Dr Goebbels said 'The enemy must be mashed to a pulp.'

That is not be taken literally. - It's a metaphor?

It means we will destroy our enemy's organisations completely.

Or do you believe that our SA people are supposed to go into taverns

and mash their opponents into a pulp now?

Again, it's usual for me to ask the questions not you.

But. Yes. That is what we propose happened in the Eden Palace case.

We will destroy the enemy's organisations by mobilising the masses.

But what happens if you can't mobilise the masses?

I do not accept that possibility - Dr Goebbels does.

In the pamphlet Nazi-Soci pages 18 - 19, he answers the specific question.

of what would happen if the Nazis had the street-fighters on their side

but not the majority of the German people.

'We will clench our teeth and prepare ourselves'. He says.

'Then we will march against the state and become revolutionaries in deed.

We will chase the parliament to the devil and base the state

on the strength of German fists.'

I ask you Herr Hitler, Is all that a metaphor as well?

Your Honour, Dr Goebbels can be called to answer this.

It is a meaningless publication. It does not even bear the party symbol.

But is it true you put Goebbels in charge of Berlin operations in 1926?

I cannot remember the date.

It is here, yes, in 1926 according to your own document.

And this was published a year later in 1927.

No party can be measured by the individual statements of one of its members.

But such a prominent member?

Are you saying you have no control over Dr Goebbels either?

Of course I do. - So it is extraordinary, is it not?

That not only did doctor Goebbels escape punishment

for straying from your legal path, but that sweets keep falling into his lap.

The Director of Party Propaganda I think he is now?

That pamphlet means nothing.

It is ancient history. and I have already said it is not endorsed by the party.

He has said that... - Really?

I think we can say you have been speaking out of both corners of your mouth.

One corner speaks to your rich backers the other to your street-fighters.

In public you pose as a man of peace.

In private you ridicule your captains for not being violent enough.

When your men respond by knifing a few more stomachs

you sing hymns to the glories of martial arts and self-defence

and your own writing, with its cargo of poisonous hatred

and its obsession with annihilating the enemy.

Well. All that's 'not to be taken literally'.

You swore an oath at Leipzig where you said essentially, that Hitler is not Hitler.

Today I think we can see he most certainly is.

Very well. I'm calling a short recess.

Herr Litten I assume you are finished with this witness?

After the recess I would like to call Captain Stennes

the former chief of the Berlin SA, but Herr Hitler should stay.

I will need to interrogate him further.

Court is in recess.

Give me a dragon to slay, give me a beanstalk to climb

Hans You want me to get that Goebbels pamphlet verified for you, don't you?

Do. Get a new copy. With a receipt.

Hans, we should talk. - We should, but it's going well isn't it?

I will tighten the noose. He will feel His Royal Highness The Law.

The judge applies the law Hans. and all the punishment is his.

Don't win the argument and lose the judge.

He is nothing like I imagined him.

You have not seen Hitler before?

Only a picture in a newspaper. He looks insignificant doesn't he?

The little hamster beneath his nose - and that pimp's haircut.

But he's not insignificant is he?

No.

Or someone just to be laughed at.

Got it. I got it. From the Nazi stall. and I got the man there to sign it.

Jewish pig.

Hans Litten, a pleasure to meet you

Can I have a word would that be possible?

Help me with this, would you? - If I can.

You know of course that Germany has no colonies in Africa or Asia don't you?

Taken away from us by England and France after the war.

Don't you think that's a shame?

I have no opinion.

Oh but you should, because it's bad luck for you and for people like you. Is it not?

Is it? -I think so.

So what are we to do with all our political prisoners,

when the Fuhrer finally takes the reins in Berlin?

We can't deport them in the classic manner.

We can't send them to the Tropics and forget about them like the French do

There will have to be another way.

Your little whore is looking at me as if she'd like to stick a knife into my neck.

It's very cute.

You have chosen to be Jewish.

and you are under the illusion that it will always be your choice. That's so foolish.

I want to stop you, but it's too late.

You couldn't anyway - I know. You are a law unto yourself.

and so I say again Jewish pig.

The court calls Captain Walter Stennes

Herr Stennes. Do you know of Storm 33? I do.

How well do you know it? - I am its leader.

Is this your man Max? - I prefer not to think of him quite like that.

But he'll do you a favour, won't he?

We hope so.

Were you aware of any plans for Storm 33's attack

on the Eden Palace dance hall before it happened?

I was not.

But can we assume Storm 33 acted according to a plan?

Not necessarily. The Storms are primarily a defensive organisation.

Though associated with violent acts? - Assuredly.

And that fact should not be overlooked by saying for example

that they are organisations dedicated to the study of Jiu-Jitsu.

Certainly not.

Or that hundreds of thousands of Brownshirts provide themselves with battle dress

just to play at being soldiers?

We do not play.

You said the Storms were primarily defensive organisations.

Herr Hitler also referred to self-defence.

Does that mean these groups never go on the attack?

An attack is a kind of defence is it not?

But is it usual for such an attack to be arranged without your knowledge?

It's not usual but it is possible. - How would it be possible?

I mean given the SA's reputation for top-down discipline?

I have pointed out to the party leadership repeatedly

that the discipline of my men has been compromised in the past

by conflicting messages from the top.

You mean your men are confused as to what their role is?

Or whose orders to follow?

Ha.

Be so good as to answer my question please.

Last year Adolf Hitler's position was perfectly clear.

But six months ago at Leipzig he seemed to disown the SA and this is what is confusing.

It seems very clear does it not? Herr Hitler changed his mind.

In fact he was worried that you would steer him away from his new path of legality.

Well is that not so?

I cannot say what was really in Hitler's mind. - I'm not asking you to.

But on January 19th this year, at the SA leaders assembly here in Berlin

Dr Goebbels came to me and ridiculed Hitler's oath at Leipzig.

I must have quiet. Must have quiet.

I would remind you that you are entitled to request Dr Goebbels's presence here as a witness.

but not to waste the court's time by speculating as to his state of mind.

Dr Goebbels instructed you to ignore Hitler's oath?

To continue to ignore it. Yes.

I remind you that you are now under oath. - My oath I take seriously.

But I understand if our leader is more... elastic in a court of Law.

This is now becoming pure speculation. Prosecutor Litten you are teetering.

Do not fall.

You said a moment ago you were confused when Hitler made his oath to legality?

I was not confused. - But many of your troops were?

Yes. until I explained what was happening.

We are not allowed to mention the information given to you by Dr Goebbels

So I'm asking now whether Hitler himself ever explained to you the meaning of his oath.

He did not need to. I understood what it meant.

We trust him.

Heil Hitler

Prosecutor Litten. Order, Order.

Order, Order.

We shall adjourn for lunch.

Prosecutor Litten I wish to see you in camera.

He's wavering. The judge.

He doesn't want to be holding the knife when Hitler's backers get to see his corpse.

The people hang on every word

Didn't I warn you to resist turning this into a trial about Adolf Hitler?

Your Honour, the testimony given by Captain Stennes

is absolutely germane to the trial. - I believe I am still the judge.

Yes sir.

It won't happen again Your Honour. That's what you're meant to say.

Yes, that is what I meant to say

Do not become clever Litten. It is not a trait that's very attractive to Germans

That was not a smart examination. Both of you grinding axes.

That's what it looked like to me.

Stop playing politics and get back to the law.

I understand your concern, but while we anticipated

certain problems in the morning session,

I'm sure in the afternoon we'll set ourselves back on track.

I'm going to go and have a word with my client,

and Herr Ruckmer will be over in a moment.

They're panicking are they?

They're business men they don't panic, They're not keen on what they've seen though.

That's because the Holy Ghost hasn't entered the Fuhrer s body yet

That's the last thing we want. It's a court, it's not Nuremburg

But you're killing him with footnotes. Release him.

Are you mad? Keep them watered.

It's no life for a man is it? - What isn't boss?

Smart asses - pedants. I've met them before

Have you noticed how they become more eloquent the higher the fee?

Have they noticed? - We need to talk, eh, boss.

Turned themselves into a tempest of tears.

Providing that a sufficient number of pennies are placed in the slot.

You should know that better than anyone Frank, you are a lawyer.

It's not an honest profession. - Sir.

Did you see the Jew lawyer? - Litten?

You see him strutting and gurning.

The courtroom positively encourages the charlatan.

and his type are very well suited to it of course. The Hebrew always exaggerates everything.

When he asked you about Leipzig...

As a matter of fact, I could have asked that question better myself.

Twenty times better - I agree. I think you could beautifully.

I have the great gift of distilling even the most complex question down to its base foundation.

But the lawyer is a pedant. Loves to complicate.

Truth is his victim... That should be seen more than it is

but legal superstitions - people cling to them.

That's quite good. You should write that down.

I would have the courts lock-step with the state.

Anything else invites ridicule.

You ask 'What is the problem with the law?'

The problem is the blindfold you see around the figure of Justice.

You know, the Lady.

Why would you apply a blindfold?

It's like a boxer going into the ring with one of his arms tied behind his back.

I'm not backing that boxer. - Exactly.

Herr Hitler

Sir, you don't know me. I am Jewish.

and I have something to show you.

The Battle of Ypres, May 1915. Saxon Grenadiers

So you see, this is my country too.

Good day to you.

'Good day to you.' You too, you fowl disease-ridden sewer-rat.

This society is no better than Jew-riddled Vienna.

It's crawling with them. Who let them breed like this?

Who let them fasten on to us?

Time to clear them out. The whole stinking nest

It's a question of honour.

Can you imagine men achieving the supreme task

with the withered spirits these courts demand?

No you can't. You cannot. It cannot be done.

That lawyer. The clever tongue.

Jabber, jabber, jabber. I will take a knife and cut it out.

Are you ready now Fuhrer?

He's gone, hasn't he?

The Judge.

We knew it might happen It's happened.

Got one eye writing his job application for if Hitler ever gets into power.

Don't help him write it.

You will get no help now. You are on your own.

Lean into the bends

Yes. Lean into the bends.

Germany is with you.

I have now a second copy of the Goebbels pamphlet exhorting

the strength of German fists, which, the court will recall from this morning.

Herr Hitler denied it to be a Nazi party publication.

This copy - with the party symbol clearly embossed on the cover,

was purchased less than an hour ago from the party bookstall on Hedemannstrasse.

Here is the receipt,

and indeed it has been dated and signed by a moonstruck Nazi, I presume,

to my pretty and adorable assistant.

Herr Hitler, you did in fact testify in the morning session

that this text by Dr Goebbels is not endorsed by your party.

It isn't.

But what does it even mean that it is released by our party publisher?

A whole variety of books are released by our publisher.

How can you say there is a call for illegality?

That is an unprovable statement.

How is it possible that the party publisher endorses a book

that is in clear opposition to what you call the party line?

What has this got to do with the case? I don't believe it has anything to do with it.

I can only say that the court. - And I will not tolerate criticism of the court.

Your Honour, I am saying that instructions to Nazi party members

are often given in the form of hints and intimations and that Goebbels...

This is preposterous. An order is an order only when it is an order.

You cannot run an organisation, on nods and winks an...

And innuendo? - You cannot.

This is a matter now of honour. I will not be insulted.

You ask what is our attitude to the constitution?

The constitution describes the theatre of war.

We abide by its rules.

It does not describe the goal.

The goal is a situation where we will write our own constitution.

I have been clear about this to the German people.

Not to this court. - Yes, to this court.

To the eternal Court of History.

We shall obey the law until it is time to rewrite that law.

And then heads will roll is what you said at Leipzig.

What is this? I have made my position clear.

You would prefer to have a policeman with a warrant terrorising your opponents than the mob.

That is all you have said.

Order, Order.

I will personally break you. - You will never get that chance.

Order. Herr Litten to the bench please.

Where are you going with this? - I am merely following him.

This is not an examination about what a man might do.

It is about what a man might have said or will say about the case

that is before us. This is a court of law Litten

We do not gaze into crystal balls here. Please stick to the knowns.

Isn't that naive? - I beg your pardon?

He has threatened you. - He has done no such thing.

He has declared war on the law.

You cannot ignore the violence of what he has just said.

You cannot.

You can only pretend to do so.

You know. You are never more alive than when you are watching somebody die.

Are you saying that these violent men and others like them, are nothing to do with you?

He has already answered that. - They are following your orders.

They are doing what you want them to do.

Herr Hitler, you are not required to answer that question.

I do not need to give orders.

I am here because a hurricane has brought me here.

The next election we turn our 107 in the Reichstag into 200.

That is why we are feared

A little over-exuberance in the ranks will not throw me.

I am my own master.

It is the socialists and the communists who would destroy Germany, not I.

I have a granite-hard commitment to law and order

and I will not be moved on this.

Our destiny is to reshape the German state

and yes - German Law, according to our own principles.

That is the destination to which I am being carried by the German people.

We can make ingenious debating points all day

and we can sit around and watch German culture continue to crumble as we do so.

Or we can give shape

to the tremendous forces which have been unleashed inside Germany

Order, order.

Quiet.

Your Honour, he is making speeches again.

Quiet please.

Herr Litten you have tried the patience of this court too long

This examination is over.

The witness is dismissed.

I swear by Almighty God and Omniscient that I have told the whole truth

concealed nothing and added nothing.

So help me God.

Heil Hitler.

If you will make some room, my client will be happy to make a statement.

What happened there? - I beg your pardon?

I am asking you as a long-standing member of the bar association.

What happened there is that your man over-reached himself.

But he can't help it can he? Such cleverness, such lack of wisdom.

You failed. - For shame Olden

You're getting as emotional as he is.

You exist inside your own little Holbein painting, don't you?

Step outside the frame for once and see Hitler for who he is.

There are war drums in that man's voice.

Yes, I could practically hear the screws rattling around in his head while he was speaking.

But you don't neutralise a man like Hitler, the way your friend wants to.

You don't smash him

You hire him.

I am proud of you dear son.

You've done enough Hans.

Germany is better than its judges. You have exposed him.

You must take care. Not everyone will be glad.

I think not everyone wants to be rescued.

... and enough of these pitiful arguments, these schoolgirl bickerings.

This degenerate mendacious democracy that pits German against German.

We are a spiritual nation

and the people are yearning for something profound to believe in.

My only task is to serve those people.

But that's ridiculous My friend knows that's ridiculous.

Hans. Hans. Speak to them.

That man says we lack belief

That we fritter away our strength by arguing and quarrelling.

Well I am full of belief.

It is the arguments and the quarrels I believe in.

That is what makes a society.

I also believe in a law that sets out the ground-rules for those arguments,

with no one absolutely no one, beyond its reach.

Law is the process whereby a strong man voluntarily imposes restrictions on himself.

Bound by a weapon that he puts into the hand of his weaker brother.

It is what we call civilisation.

The man who has just left does not conceive the law

as an instrument to protect his brother, but as a tool to destroy his enemy.

He will want you to live without the law.

and therefore he will want you to live without ideas.

Your very thoughts will make you a criminal.

We don't see you much at court anymore. People have begun to worry about you.

It is you isn't it?

I wonder what it would take to turn this hat of his into a yarmulke.

Please leave me alone.

Up up up up.

It is Litten. Isn't it? You never said yes.

Is this because I?

Because you once threw us out of a court building?

You must think we're very small people.

This is a bit bigger than that.

You want to get involved?

I didn't think so.

How long you reckon you got, Litten?

Pawns are not an inconvenience, Hans.

They are an opportunity.

They're boring.

Hans, Rudolf is here to see you

Why does that sentence always fill me with trepidation?

What's this? - Open it.

Paris.

I assume you have no savings.

You'll find an address of a lodgings in Belleville.

It's run by an old socialist He's helped us before.

You can stay there until you find your feet.

It isn't much but you're not used to much.

Well, thank you Rudolf.

Really, thank you. - It's nothing.

No. No, it is considerable.

But I cannot go.

Give me a single reason why you should stay in Germany

I couldn't leave my mother.

Your mother knows. - So you know?

And you too.

You have all conspired,

behind my back.

You want me gone. - No one wants you gone.

It is too dangerous for you to stay, Hans

They are coming for you. You have to leave.

You have to leave us.

I should not have told you about the stairwell.

It's more than that.

Your name is in the Nazi newspapers everyday Hans.

It has become a swearword.

Leave Germany. Lie low. At least let this thing cool off.

I can feel a lawyer's speech coming on.

No, I'll spare you that.

I failed. - You didn't fail Hans.

You showed the court what he's like.

No, he walked out of that building to cheers, Margot

He turned the courtroom into a stage, and I didn't want him to do that.

No. No.

I let him puff out his chest and display his plumage

You did everything you could.

And now Germany seems to love him.

That's why you need to go.

That's why I have to stay.