Original subtitles

Very eIegant.

Nobody wouId think you're working here.

You Iook Iike a madame.

Finished?

Finished.

Then off you go, my IoveIies.

STEFAN ZWEIG - FAREWELL TO EUROPE

Let's see where he's sitting.

Here he is. - Good afternoon.

CouId we get a tabIe for the books?

Bring a tabIe, pIease.

Who is she again? - She's that...

That writer...

Oh, I know.

Her husband is the founder of SuI America.

Lagorotti. - Lagorotti, that's it.

He's sitting here.

...stiII too dependent on the gIobaI market price for coffee.

When it rises, BraziI fIourishes.

But when it faIIs... - I see.

IncredibIe. - Is it to your Iiking?

You know what Vespucci said

when he arrived in the Bay of Rio in 1 502?

No.

"If paradise exists on Earth,

it cannot be very far from here."

Very good.

Dr. Zweig. PIease...

A photograph with Minister Soares and our president's daughters.

With pIeasure.

Thank you.

Monsieur Zweig, couId you sign the book? - Of course.

By the way, tomorrow I wiII have the pIeasure of meeting your father.

Oh yes.

You are meeting our president?

I hope he behaves himseIf.

Mr. Zweig, perhaps the two Miss Vargases

wouId aIso Iike a book. - Of course.

Let's find you a book. - LoveIy.

Very kind of you. - My pIeasure.

How are you?

May I introduce you to the Chairman of the Academia BrasiIeira de Letras?

Monsieur de Souza, I had the pIeasure yesterday.

The pIeasure is aII mine.

And we wiII see each other in Buenos Aires.

My wife. - Nice to meet you.

My pIeasure.

CIaudio, how are you?

See you Iater. - Thank you.

WouId you sign mine too? - Of course.

Thank you. - My pIeasure.

Your attention pIease.

On behaIf of the BraziIian Foreign Ministry,

and in honor of our guest, Dr. Stefan Zweig,

a warm weIcome to you aII.

Your works arrived here Iong before you.

They can be found on dispIay in our bookshops,

on the sheIves of our Iiving rooms

and especiaIIy in our hearts.

That is the onIy expIanation for the more than 2,000 peopIe

who attended your reading yesterday.

Our thanks go to your pubIisher, Mr. Abrahão Koogan,

who persuaded you to stop by

on your way to the writer's congress in Buenos Aires.

But I won't keep you any Ionger, we're aII hungry,

and the horse race is not going to wait for us.

Esteemed Foreign Minister Soares, Iadies and gentIemen.

As some of you may know, I no Ionger Iive in my homeIand.

I am no Ionger abIe to pubIish my books in Germany,

and it seems to me that during these Iast days in BraziI,

I have encountered more friendship than normaIIy in years.

PIease.

Thank you very much.

But...

But apart from the personaI joys your country has given me,

apart from its beauty,

its daring architecture...

there is an even more powerfuI impression

that I wouId Iike to share with you.

Every nation, in every generation,

and therefore ours too,

must find an answer to the most simpIe and vitaI question of aII:

How do we achieve a peacefuI coexistence in today's worId

despite aII our differences

in race,

cIass

and reIigion?

And it seems to me that BraziI has found an answer,

even though not onIy its vegetation but aIso its popuIation

are more diverse in coIor than in Europe.

Since my arrivaI in the Bay of Rio,

it has seemed to me

Iike a vision of the future.

Thank you.

Buenos Aires, Argentina September 1 936

Excuse me.

Make way, pIease.

Señor Zweig?

Excuse me, gentIemen.

Señor, wouId you sign my book?

Señor Zweig, a photograph, pIease.

A photograph.

Señor Zweig, pIease Iook this way, at the camera.

A photograph, pIease.

Once more, pIease.

Monsieur Zweig, this way, pIease.

Mr. Brainin! - I was afraid you'd forgotten me.

My coIIeagues are upstairs.

I'II have your coat checked. - Thank you.

How is your father? - Fine.

He's writing and transIating. His work means more than his grandchiIdren.

ExceIIent. How oId is he?

Mid-80s? - Yes.

AII I can say is: BeIarus. He wiII outIive us aII.

This way, pIease.

Dr. Zweig...

Ah, Mr. Leivick.

Good morning. - How do you do?

Señor Oppenheimer.

Señor SadIer, yes? - I'm impressed.

AdoIfo Hirsch, aIso a founder of the Refugee Aid.

I am honored.

I am honored to heIp.

Your work is far more important than ours, right?

Like the interview Mr. Brainin needs to whisk me away to.

Off you go. See you at your reading tomorrow evening.

Looking forward to it.

Promote it weII so we can reaIIy cash in! - You jest. We soId out Iong ago.

Did you know that, aside from PaIestine and the USA,

Buenos Aires is taking in the most emigrants?

Because you can stiII enter without going through transit countries.

So, here we are.

FinaIIy!

PIease, take a seat here.

My pIeasure. - Señor Zweig.

The pIeasure is aII mine.

Martinez, La Prensa. - Nice to meet you.

Water, Dr. Zweig?

Coffee, pIease.

Impressive.

A singIe-Iens refIex camera. And where does it come from?

Germany.

You've aIso been to Germany? - No.

Just to a good schooI. May I?

So we can speak German? - My German ends with the menu.

Then Iet's get started, gentIemen.

Dr. Zweig, what poIiticaI significance can a writers' congress have?

In these ten days 80 writers from 50 nations wiII come together.

An enormous inteIIectuaI potentiaI.

Even if the PEN CIub is a smaII organization in the materiaI sense.

Compare us to a tiny passenger ship

weaving between battIeships, destroyers and aircraft carriers

across the Seven Seas.

But the fIag that we raise is of immense significance.

It stands for freedom of thought, freedom of expression,

and internationaI understanding.

It is the white fIag.

And today, more than ever, I am its IoyaI bearer.

On August 26th... - Excuse me.

Señor Zweig, you and your coIIeague EmiI Ludwig

are the onIy representatives of German Iiterature at this congress.

What do you think about the Iatest events in Germany?

I haven't been to Germany for four years.

But you foIIow the events,

you're in contact with peopIe who Ieft Germany?

PeopIe who have Ieft Germany or onIy go to visit

cannot reaIIy know what's happening there.

Whether new aIIiances are forming that may turn everything upside down.

I just spent ten days in BraziI.

I couIdn't say if the peopIe are satisfied with President Vargas,

even if that was my impression.

You can't compare HitIer's Germany with a moderate government...

GentIemen!

CaIm down. One at a time.

Mr. Brainin, pIease.

The 8th Nuremberg RaIIy begins today.

I know that, Mr. Brainin.

What is your question?

Ten days ago, on August 26th, it was announced

that miIitary service in Germany wiII be increased to two years.

They waited untiI the end of the OIympics to make the announcement.

Certain concIusions can be drawn from this.

That is correct.

What concIusions do you draw, Dr. Zweig?

Predictions about Germany are impossibIe.

Every prediction has turned out to be faIse.

I wiII not make any predictions.

Dr. Zweig,

I Iove your works,

and I Iove the German Ianguage.

WouId you agree when I say

that Germany is preparing for war

and is on the path to barbarism?

I read the papers as you do, and I'm tormented.

But we who cannot be radicaI

shouId not Iet ourseIves descend to the inteIIectuaI IeveI of our adversaries.

I wiII not speak out against Germany.

I wouId never speak out against any country.

And I'II make no exceptions.

So poIitics wiII have to get by without your voice?

And, by consequence, aIso the victims of poIitics?

The congress wiII discuss the function of the writer in society.

What, in your opinion, is his function?

The inteIIectuaI shouId devote himseIf to his works.

That is his most powerfuI tooI.

I'm starting to hate poIitics, because it's becoming the opposite of justice,

because it betrays the word with the sIogan.

To be an inteIIectuaI means to be just,

to summon up an understanding for one's counterpart and adversaries.

An artist can create works with poIiticaI dimensions,

but cannot suppIy the masses with poIiticaI sIogans.

My personaI artistic strength derives from the positive.

I can onIy write for something.

I cannot attack. I cannot write out of hatred.

And if...

If my siIence is a sign of weakness, I'm afraid I must Iive with that stigma.

WerfeI wrote about the Armenian RevoIt of 1 91 5.

And our current poIiticaI situation gives the book an expIosiveness

that is frankIy a godsend for its pubIisher.

I aIIow myseIf to say so,

after seeing WerfeI's shock at the fate of the Armenian orphans.

They were the cataIyst for that noveI.

His book wouId never have unfoIded such power

if he had used the chiIdren onIy to write about AdoIf HitIer.

Can that book be compared to your Erasmus of Rotterdam?

I wouId be pIeased if it were.

Today Europe is caught between fascism and democracy.

Back then, it was divided by CathoIicism and Protestantism.

Erasmus put himseIf between the two fronts and tried to unite the worId.

And we who beIieve in a future Europe

shouId remember that first European,

that ardent advocate of peace.

Even though he faiIed.

So you beIieve that a peacefuI Europe is possibIe?

Yes.

I beIieve in a free Europe.

I beIieve that borders and passports wiII one day be history.

But I doubt we'II Iive to experience it.

My pessimism regarding the immediate future was unfortunateIy aIways justified.

I can onIy invest my hope in the Iarger movements that span centuries.

But for me, and thus unfortunateIy for you, too,

they wiII come too Iate.

I apoIogize, but Monsieur Zweig is required at the assembIy that is about to begin.

GentIemen, thank you for Iistening. - Thank you.

I'II see you out.

Monsieur Aita, where is...

On the Ieft, the second door. - Thank you.

Señor Aita, where is he? - On his way. He's aImost here.

Signore Marinetti, good morning. - Good morning, Signore DuhameI.

Signore Ungaretti. - Good morning.

Mr. Brainin.

Dr. Zweig.

I see it as my duty to pressure you.

I am determined not to Iet you go

before I get a printabIe condemnation of the HitIer regime.

Mr. Brainin, we're an ocean away.

And that compeIs me to remain siIent?

I know what is going on in Germany.

You misunderstand me.

You and I are not onIy far away,

for the moment, we are among the few who have nothing to fear.

Excuse me. Good morning.

That's why we shouId avoid poIemics.

I wiII not pass judgment on the other side of the worId

in a room fuII of Iike-minded peopIe.

It wouId be obscene

and meaningIessIy fade away.

Every gesture of resistance which is void of either risk or impact

is nothing but a cry for recognition.

I reaIIy have to go now.

I'm stiII considering that magazine I toId you about in New York.

The best works by contemporary Jews,

scientists, writers...

No poIemics, just inteIIectuaI quaIity.

That couId be an answer to the aIIeged "Aryan superiority".

You think you couId fight a dictatorship Iike that?

We are reaIIy Iate now.

Heard the Iatest? The congress won't even agree to a statement condemning Franco.

Instead it wiII express its sympathy to "aII the peopIe of Spain".

Isn't that scandaIous?

You don't Iet up, do you?

I came from New York just for this interview.

I'm Jewish.

So is he.

But it's his voice that counts, not mine.

Next to Thomas Mann, he is the most read German writer,

yet he refuses to take a stand.

He defends his independence.

His isIand as an artist.

No, he's a coward.

SeIf-centered and timid.

Mr. Brainin, you are going too far.

The opposite is true, Mr. Martinez:

You don't go far enough.

There are no isIands Ieft. Do you see what I mean?

There is no independence Ieft.

Hurry up! - I can't run than quickIy.

His isIand fIooded Iong ago.

And one day soon he'II have to swim in one direction or the other.

...but perhaps there are great Nazi writers.

Who are they?

The man who has reached the top of the new Iiterary hierarchy,

a man named BIunck, president of the Reich Chamber of CuIture,

has just pubIished a book cIaiming that the Americas

were not discovered by a Spaniard or a Genoese,

as you may have assumed untiI now,

but by a particuIar Dietrich Penning,

a Dane of Germanic descent.

I'm afraid, you'II have to repIace your IoveIy CoIumbus monument

with a monument for Penning now.

But even more exciting is the Jesus issue.

How to avoid the fact that he was a Jew?

Oh, that's easy:

Another German professor, Franz von Wendrin,

has proven that Jesus was "in fact" Aryan, and born in MeckIenburg.

You see how degenerate Kant's descendants have become.

NearIy aII of Goethe's books have been banned from schooIs.

Can an internationaI writers' congress remain indifferent to such matters?

The "spoken notion"

is the reason we have aII gathered here:

the freedom to think it,

the freedom to express it,

in equaIity and fraternity for aII mankind.

A maxim as simpIe and as great

as the word "human dignity".

A maxim that every dictatorship denies,

as it wouId otherwise cease to be a dictatorship.

Germany, as we aII know,

Ieft the PEN's internationaI community

aIready in November 1 933.

I was warned not to mention that eviI word "war".

Again and again, we writers are being invited

to stay within this inteIIectuaI Garden of Eden.

And yes, I wouId aIso prefer to Iinger

in the bIessed discussion between America and Asia,

as represented here yesterday by two beautifuI Iadies.

My compIiments, Señora Ocampo,

chairwoman of the Argentine PEN CIub.

And Madame Sophia Wadia,

deIegate from faraway India.

But I must,

to my deep regret,

address you with more substantiaI and bitter words:

From one congress to the next,

we witness how the number of censored countries

is increasing.

ShouId we be abIe to meet again before the war,

this number wiII have increased again.

Where is the Iine between Iiterature and poIitics?

Is it possibIe that not aII of us in this convention haII

are of the same opinion about war?

I speak up, because I feeI it is my duty to warn you.

The fate of German-Ianguage writers couId be your fate tomorrow.

When in a hundred years an historian

mentions a congress of thinkers and artists

that took pIace in 1 936,

he wiII no Ionger be abIe to cIaim

that this congress remained siIent in the face of those dangers

that threatened the inteIIect and the servants of the inteIIect.

Thank you for your attention.

Ladies and gentIemen...

I don't beIieve we're mixing with the dangerous worId of poIitics

when I propose to honor

aII those German-Ianguage writers who have been forced into exiIe,

forced to Iive in a foreign country or have been imprisoned

in a concentration camp.

We think of...

Let us reaffirm our brotherIy, profoundIy heart-feIt sympathy,

and send them courage

and hope.

Before the discussion is continued with Mr. Figueiredo's speech

we wiII hear the transIation of Mr. Ludwig's speech.

FirstIy in Spanish, then in French.

Esteemed deIegates, I have the honor of speaking to you on behaIf of the exiIed...

WouId you Iike to attend Madame Ocampo's private banquet?

I have to confirm by noon.

One afternoon in May in 1 933,

I had the honor of sharing the fate of my most esteemed contemporaries

on a certain pyre.

I took up my pIace between Heinrich Heine and Spinoza.

Bahia Province, BraziI January 1 941

...quite different

depending on the region.

They can Iive for 20 years,

but here they usuaIIy Iast five.

The sugar cane here can Iive for five years.

We cut it off just above the ground,

the staIk. The stump wiII sprout again.

And then it takes 1 2 months for them to Iook Iike this.

They cut the staIk and it takes...

1 2? - 1 2.

1 2 months untiI it's fuIIy grown.

And how... - Yes?

How do you pIant them?

That's the easiest part.

We use shoots from the Iower section.

They shouId have two to four knots.

The staIk shouId have four knots.

You put the shoots in the ground, so they are IightIy covered by soiI.

You put the staIks in the ground.

Do you know how many shoots we pIant per hectare?

He asks if you know how many shoots they pIant per hectare.

No. No idea.

About 20,000, I'd say.

RemarkabIe!

Here. Try it.

It's edibIe.

You have to chew it. It's sweet.

Very sweet.

DeIicious. Very sweet.

What did I teII you?

Do you know how many pounds of sugar cane a good worker can harvest a day?

He certainIy wouIdn't work here for Iong.

Give it another try.

WeII, perhaps...

I have no idea.

Stefan,

heIp me, I'm making a fooI of myseIf.

Vitor, are you aII right? - Everything's fine. Don't worry.

Go ahead, I'II get Señor Zweig.

Señor Zweig!

Begone!

Does the Senhora aIso have chiIdren?

No. I don't have chiIdren.

I have seven.

The oIdest is 1 7 years oId.

The youngest is two and a haIf.

We... traveI a Iot.

It's... difficuIt with chiIdren.

Where do you Iive?

For five months... we've been traveIing.

Three months Rio, Argentina, Uruguay, VenezueIa.

My husband hoIds speeches... does readings.

We have a house in EngIand, but...

the war...

That's why we have to...

Ieave.

Is the Senhora EngIish? - No, no. German.

But for six years...

no Ionger in Germany.

Why?

The war.

We are Jews.

DifficuIt...

Many peopIe...

Many peopIe are...

There is no war here.

You're young. Perhaps you'II have chiIdren here.

What's wrong with him?

Sorry, Señora Zweig.

We're very Iate.

Where were you?

I wrote the teIegram to Cata's daughter on behaIf of Eisemann.

It's the most inappropriate moment, but I don't know who eIse to turn to.

We'II caII Hanna and Manfred to say we'II be in New York to Iook after Eva.

We reaIIy mustn't miss that pIane.

Oh no, Vitor! - I'm fine.

You're fine? - Yes, thank you.

Go straight ahead!

Everything there?

Passports, BraziIian residence permits,

pIane tickets,

visas,

fingerprints, photographs,

speech invitations.

Tomorrow we'II get the Iuggage tickets, the Iuggage insurance,

and the customs certificate.

Where are we going to get changed? In New York it's minus 1 5.

Vitor,

can't we drive directIy to Recife?

No, that's impossibIe.

It's a five-hour drive, pIus the fIights.

PIease, don't do that to me.

You know that the mayor wanted to weIcome you at the town haII.

He agreed to move it aII to the fazenda.

He'II kiII me if we don't come.

Not a day goes by without a reception.

So many peopIe every time, it's too much.

But Dos Santos knows my father... - Can we send a teIegram from the fazenda?

I don't know.

It's about a visa for a friend from London. It's important!

Cuba's ambassador had promised it,

but he suddenIy died.

Now we must ask his daughter.

Perhaps I couId taIk to de Souza about a BraziIian visa.

BraziI stopped issuing visas to Jews.

Is that true?

We wiII find someone to send the teIegram from Cachoeira.

I'II see to it.

Good. It's off to the mayor's reception we go.

SeriousIy, I have no idea how we shouId do it.

Tomorrow, BeIem-Trinidad, six and a haIf hours,

Trinidad-Miami, nine and a haIf hours.

Then Miami-New York, another nine hours.

But we can't access our Iuggage.

It's either our winter coats now, or we freeze in New York.

A IoveIy sight: me in my tropicaI suit in the New York snow.

I was pIanning my cIown show in New York.

Minus 1 5 in a thin tropicaI suit.

Dr. Zweig goes to New York in his tropicaI suit! At minus 1 5!

What? Who? - They're here aIready.

Put your jacket on, Bernardo.

Oh my God.

Are we too earIy? - No idea.

Stay there for a moment, I'II be right back.

Wait a minute!

No, no, no! Don't give me that "wait a minute!"

None of that "Bernardo!" Not now.

Vitor, come! Vitor!

I said: at the town haII...

Poor man.

I hope he doesn't have a heart attack.

Far too Iate. HaIf the guests... Look at this mess.

If we don't move, they might forget about us.

Senhor. How do you do?

We thought you might Iike a pick-me-up in this heat.

It's aImost unbearabIe.

Does he understand us at aII?

Thank you so much, that is very kind of you.

He says "thank you"!

This is a speciaIty from Bahia, homemade.

WiII we cause even more troubIe if we get out?

If we want to get to Recife today, we have no other choice.

CIaudia!

Look how beautifuI she is! How do you do?

Senhor!

Bernardo, you are the mayor.

You can do this.

Don't eat it aII at once... - It isn't that bad.

Someone has to teII you, right?

Because it's the truth.

No, not there.

Oh, pIease! This can't be...

CaIm down, Bernardo. Take a deep breath.

WouId you sign your book?

Nobody understands women Iike you do.

Get out of the way.

My dear Senhora Zeig.

Dr. Zeig.

You find me grief-stricken. I am terribIy sorry to weIcome you Iike this.

Oh no, I beg you.

We are extremeIy gratefuI to you for weIcoming us.

We wouId gIadIy have visited you at your town haII, but...

At the town haII.

We have to catch our pIane in Recife

and it's wonderfuI that you...

The bus broke down.

It had a fIat tire.

The guests won't make it.

The bus had a fIat tire. The other guests won't make it.

PIease, don't you worry. It doesn't matter where I am.

BraziI is the most beautifuI experience I can imagine.

We have aIready seen and experienced such wonderfuI things here.

We attended the washing of the church, the Lavagem do Bon Fim.

Europe may be rich in history, but BraziI is the Iand of the future.

A whoIe town washing their church, dancing and ceIebrating.

It was very beautifuI.

Yes, the washing of the church, Bernardo. - Very beautifuI...

Very beautifuI.

Senhor Dos Santos, a photograph, pIease. May I?

Of course, Pedro. CIaudia?

Ready.

Go ahead!

That's it. - One more.

Perfect. Just one more.

Done. Thank you.

And now, pIease aIIow me to address a few words to you.

PIease do.

Have a seat, pIease.

PIease. - PIease...

Vitor!

The teIegram. - Yes.

There are two.

The addresses are here. - AII right.

Maria wiII take the first car to Cachoeira and send them.

Come.

Dr. Zweig's teIegrams. They're urgent.

Thank you.

CIaudia!

"BraziI,

it is the Iand of the future."

These words I just heard from the mouth

of the greatest writer of our time,

who wrote so impressiveIy

about Erasmus,

Maria Stuart, and Fouché.

We have the great honor of weIcoming

Stefan Zeig and his honorabIe wife.

PIease come over here.

WeIcome, Senhora Zeig.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

You are weIcome.

We aII know:

In Europe, war is being waged. And that is terribIe.

But despite aII the horror

that every singIe war causes,

I have succeeded today in finding some positive in it:

This January 1 8th, 1 941 ,

wiII go down in the annaIs of Cachoeira.

Because our sugar cane, our homeIand,

wiII be immortaIized in a book about BraziI by Stefan Zeig.

How wonderfuI! WonderfuI!

That is why...

we wouId aIso Iike to give you a present,

a present from your homeIand,

a musicaI memory, if you wiII.

UntiI peace returns to your country

and enabIes you and your honorabIe wife to return safeIy

to Austria.

Because, as an oId BraziIian saying goes:

"He who has no country shaII have no future."

Music!

Vitor, the fIowers are heavy.

Thank you.

New York City, USA January 1 941

I don't beIieve it.

What did you say?

Stefan?

It reaIIy is Landsberg.

EmiI Landsberg, wouId you beIieve that?

A man who detests my work, who harmed me every way he couId.

Now, don't exaggerate.

I invite him to a preview of "Jeremias",

because I'm stupid enough to ask his opinion,

and he shares it with aII of Vienna before the opening night.

That's haIf a Iifetime ago. - So what?

Did he ever apoIogize? Or even mention it in this Ietter?

And he wants me, of aII peopIe, to get him a US visa?

EmiI Landsberg?

He never knew "aII of Vienna".

UnIike you.

And I doubt that has changed.

Or he wouIdn't have to humbIe himseIf to ask you, of aII peopIe, for heIp.

Every visa requires an affidavit.

And that is no Ionger something you ask a distant acquaintance for.

I can't beIieve I'm having to justify myseIf.

And I can't beIieve that you actuaIIy reproach

someone in Landsberg's situation for a 25 year oId insuIt.

Someone in Landsberg's situation?

Everyone Ieft in Europe is in Landsberg's situation.

What in God's name do you ask from me? - Nothing.

Lucka, MasereeI, the UIImanns, Berta, they aII need heIp.

That's just the Ietters you gave me.

Ben's coming now. How big is the piIe of Ietters sent to my pubIisher?

I've been in New York for four days. What can I do?

PeopIe are asking you for heIp, because you can afford it.

Because you're a man of infIuence.

Know how hard it was to get Landauer and Landshoff Argentine visas?

At every stop in South America, I sat up aII night writing Ietters, begging.

I pestered the Cuban ambassador's daughter,

at her father's funeraI for Eisemann!

AII those ambassadors: Chermont, MeIIo Franco...

they puII strings for me.

And I have to ask myseIf, is there a singIe invitation I can turn down? - Nonsense!

No, I onIy have transit papers myseIf. I'm onIy "toIerated".

You aren't begging for them.

You ask what's necessary, Iike everyone eIse. Erika Mann,

Hermann Kesten... - Can I stamp a speciaI visa myseIf?

Every ambassador is doing me a personaI favor.

Then they parade me from reception to reception.

Because they stiII think I'm a worId-famous writer. But I was buried Iong ago.

Just two Iegs sticking out of the ground. - Fine.

I don't know Chermont and MeIIo Franco, but it cIearIy seems they want to heIp.

Without you, they wouIdn't know who to heIp.

What makes you think you're pestering them?

What makes me think that?

I don't think that. I know it.

Because it's aII too much, it's out of proportion.

HaIf a continent wouId fIee to a different one if they couId.

I know that. I don't Iive on the moon.

But you're not aIone here.

Perhaps you were in South America, but here...

Take Maggie Shapiro.

She stayed with us once during the SaIzburg FestivaI

and for the Iast six weeks, she has insisted we stay here in her apartment.

I have no idea where she's staying herseIf!

Here in New York there's a growing number of peopIe who want to heIp...

I need to get out of the city, I want to Iive in secIusion in the country.

Your birthday, right?

Not quite.

No?

That was our summer ceIebration after you married me.

Just for two peopIe Iike the UIImanns, you need 7,000 doIIars as guarantee.

Who wouId grant that kind of money?

You can ask a friend once, just Iike I asked ShoIem Asch for you.

But acquaintances? Who?

I was in South America for four months. Who can I turn to?

I'm counting every cent myseIf.

Yes, not every cent, but every quarter.

Things are Iost, in EngIand as weII.

90 percent of everything I owned has been destroyed.

It'd work with MasereeI and FriedenthaI. They'd be abIe to Iook after themseIves.

But Lucka? He's in his mid-sixties and is yet to pubIish a singIe book.

The UIImanns are coming with just the shirts on their backs.

Then the affidavit wiII take effect,

and we'II have to pay for years.

From Rieger and Victor...

I haven't heard a thing.

I send money to Victor, not knowing if he's stiII aIive.

I can't go on Iike this.

I need a break from visas and affidavits.

Why can't you accept that?

I have to work. I wrote to you from Rio, pIeading.

What are you trying to teII me?

I accept it.

I accept aII of your needs.

I don't teII anybody which hoteI you're in,

or that you're here at aII, and since when.

I haven't even toId Zuckmayer.

I accept that even I have to wait a week to meet you.

After not seeing each other for nine months.

After crossing the Pyrenees on foot.

Nine months, Stefan.

The Iongest we've been apart since we've known each other.

The Iongest months in my Iife.

So fuII of fear and anguish

that I became a different person.

You don't know how often I thought that I'd never see my chiIdren again.

How often we struggIed separateIy to puII through,

that one of them might not make it.

You don't know how often I asked myseIf

if I'd ever see you again. - Yes, I do know that.

No, you don't know, Stefan.

You don't know what it's Iike to be on the quay in MarseiIIe with 2000 peopIe

and to be on EIeanor RooseveIt's Iist, thanks to you. Among the chosen few.

JuIien and Lucienne waved from afar.

God onIy knows where they are now.

I couIdn't even say goodbye. It was too crowded.

PIease, caIm down.

The train station in Paris was so crowded,

you couIdn't even put your bag on the ground.

AIix wanted to return to Rue de GreneIIe.

We were a hair's breadth from going back.

And that very evening, the Gestapo came by.

Not in Croissy, on Rue de GreneIIe.

We saved our skin, time and again.

And then this eIevator at the embassy opens and there you are.

By coincidence,

in the middIe of New York, one of seven miIIion peopIe...

You, of aII peopIe.

And you teII me...

I shouIdn't see you for a week,

so you can recover from South America.

And I accept it.

I wait untiI yesterday to caII you.

But these Ietters from peopIe asking for your heIp,

I can't spare you those.

They were sent to me because nobody has your address.

If you want to rid yourseIf of them,

you'II have to do it yourseIf.

Fritzi...

That'II be Lotte.

Oh yes, of course. Then open it yourseIf.

You have to press the buzzer.

Schuschu!

He made it aII the way to New York.

AIix. - The keys are in my pocket, but...

We'II catch our death out here.

Come, Schuschu.

So good to see you again, safe and sound.

Yes.

AIix!

Coming!

I couIdn't find MariIIenschnaps, Mom. I even went to the Essex Street Market.

You're crazy.

Want some coffee?

It's so sIippery out there, Mom.

Come, Schuschu.

My God, there's stiII more.

Give them to me... AIix, you're Iike my father.

Someone asks for a pound of appIes and you bring a crate.

Want to give him this? - What is it?

What's this? Schuschu, what's this?

Sausage.

And where is Madame?

She's Iooking after her IittIe niece.

She'II be here shortIy. If the trains are stiII running.

WeII?

What do I have here?

I'm going to pick up Herbert.

You're going to CoIumbia in this weather?

You shouIdn't be running after him.

I'm picking up my husband from work. See you around.

Oh, yes.

You're married Iadies now.

Yes, just before Herbert and KarI went to miIitary camp.

I hope I'II get to meet him.

CertainIy.

Without you he wouIdn't even be here. None of us wouId.

Who can be sure?

Besides, you know Herbert from when he was this big.

I know AIix's husband from when he was this big?

Yes, of course. Herbert.

Schuschu! - Get away!

I wrote to you about him.

The son of the Stoercks who died in that avaIanche.

He Iived with us for haIf a year, don't you remember?

That wiId boy who kept hurting himseIf? - ExactIy.

AII right...

Go in there.

Down.

I'II take a piece for Herbert.

Wrap it up. There's paper in the kitchen.

StiII Iike when she was 1 5.

You underestimate her, Stefan.

You've aIways underestimated my daughters.

You did it before we married, and stiII do after our divorce.

When it was cIear that Suse and I couIdn't return from France,

AIix cIeared out the SaIzburg house in no time.

She packed everything up and stored it away.

The first editions you dedicated to me, your Ietters, photographs.

Without AIix, absoIuteIy nothing wouId have been saved.

And then she packed my favorite things in her backpack.

Nobody was aIIowed to heIp her carry it. Quite the opposite.

For the waiIing AIma WerfeI she Iugged a suitcase of MahIer's music.

Are you even Iistening?

Are you worried?

Worried about what?

Lotte.

No.

Then what's wrong?

I keep thinking about JuIien and Lucienne.

The nightmare you described. AII those peopIe...

Why weren't they on the Iist?

We don't know for certain.

I see them in their summer house.

Our Iast outing to Picpus.

To the eviI nuns.

They weren't eviI. We disturbed them on a Sunday.

They treated us Iike a pack of thieves.

Those two...

Then I see them in that crush of peopIe in MarseiIIe,

Iike two Iost chiIdren.

I'm sorry, Stefan,

I just bIurted it out... - No, no.

On the contrary.

It's just...

this magnitude...

this horrific magnitude.

I think of Roth often now.

So do I .

Scheyer is probabIy on the other side, too.

Rieger, Victor...

Maybe they're aII dead.

Sometimes I envy them.

Can I do anything for you?

It is so good to see you.

WouId you Iike some coffee?

My Iiver is bIack enough for today.

Cake?

I'd Iove a IittIe chamber.

A tabIe for writing.

I won't come out, and you won't Iet anyone in.

Let me in, Schuschu.

There, there.

Hi there, mother-in-Iaw. - HeIIo, KarI.

Look, Mom. We met at the front door.

HeIIo, Mrs. Zweig.

HeIIo...

Mrs. Zweig.

HeIIo, Lotte. Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you, too. - Come in.

These are for you.

Dr. Zweig, KarI HoeIIer.

It is an honor. - Not so formaI. Nice to meet you.

In this coId weather...

...a bit of coIor aIways heIps.

How's your IittIe niece?

The home is run with Ioving care. - Nice to hear that.

The Schaeffers' home is a godsend. They're educated, upstanding peopIe.

Yes, they... - Schuschu, it's your own fauIt.

Off you go.

The Schaeffers are doing their best. - But?

And they're Lutherans! - That's a godsend?

They Ieft Germany out of protest, not necessity.

Coffee, everyone? - Yes. Add some hot water.

Eva is homesick.

She's onIy 1 1 and hardIy eats a thing.

Or tea, perhaps? - Make her a fenneI tea.

Tea with rum, that wouId be perfect now.

KarI!

You can't just...

Excuse me, the pIace Iooks terribIe. - Don't be siIIy.

It's how a "honeymoon suite" shouId Iook. - Yes.

Our honeymoon suite...

We didn't think we wouId find anything suitabIe in New York.

But when we saw this pIace... - To heck with the WaIdorf Astoria.

"On one of the coIdest nights of the year.

Our European air is not just turning coId,

but aIso suffocating,

and I'd Iike nothing better than to up sticks tomorrow.

But, may the miIIer's joy be wandering,

what if there's no pIace for him to go?"

I didn't want to interrupt. - You didn't.

"Pure necessity seizes us by the coIIar.

And now that it's tugging at that notorious Iast shirt on my back,

I catch myseIf thinking

that there might be a reason for aII that has happened to us.

Then we couId caII it fate and surrender to it,

we couId pIace our hands on our Iaps or above our heads,

and accept what comes,

and the whoIe struggIe wouId come to an end.

Even if I try..."

I'II get it.

"I am unabIe to recognize the sIightest reason for any of this

on the poIiticaI horizon.

So I must continue the unequaI battIe against our persecutors,

against poverty, negIect

and, most difficuIt of aII, against my pride and my seIf-esteem.

Thus, I stand before you as a beggar, asking for heIp.

Ehrenstein."

You're right, Fritzi.

What is my work,

what is anything compared to this reaIity?

Who is Ehrenstein?

An oId friend.

Give that to me.

I didn't congratuIate you on your marriage.

Doesn't matter. I didn't congratuIate you either.

No, I ... I wouIdn't expect that.

I'm happy for you.

And for Stefan.

ReaIIy.

Everything aII right? - Everything's aII right, thank you.

That's the man who heIped us.

Won't you take a seat?

Ben couId write an invitation to JuIien.

Then they'd get on the Iist. - TeII him then.

GIass of water?

Go get a damp toweI.

Thanks, but it won't heIp.

This radiator air is poison for asthma.

New York is poison, Iike London.

And aIso coming from the tropics to minus 20 degrees.

I have...

a mission here... what I must give...

bread... and saIt.

"For weII-being,

for settIe...

settIe...

...ness?

SettIedness. - SettIedness!

For commune... communaIity."

Anybody mind if I put it on? - Of course not.

That's why peopIe Iike to come to you.

Interesting.

Sorry?

You have to heIp me

dig up my Iost memories for my seIf-portrayaI.

You're writing an autobiography?

I just had it repaired.

I think it wiII be a decent book.

The German and French versions couId be printed in BraziI.

And the EngIish version? Is CasseI doing it?

The bookbinder's was bombed.

What? And your house in Bath?

The BaIzac's stiII there, 2,000 pages of notes.

But Stefan... - You don't get the probIem.

How can I get 40 books and aII my notes past the censors?

Try! - There's aIways a way.

Hanna couId send it, Eva's mother. - ExactIy.

PetropoIis, BraziI November 1 941

Mr. Zweig?

Dr. Zweig!

Dr. Zweig!

I thought it was you.

Excuse me...

PIease heIp me.

Is everything aII right?

Wait, I'II come down to you.

Mr. Feder!

What are you doing here?

I wanted to catch the bus to Rio. Erna and I are moving here in three days.

ReaIIy? - Yes.

Forgot my gIasses, fooI that I am. I have to go back.

We'II be neighbors. WonderfuI!

How nice to see you. How are you?

Nice to see you too.

So you Iive here in this neighborhood?

Not exactIy. A bit further on. I was just...

Remember what Simon said when you moved to Paris?

"The entire Kurfürstendamm is pouring over Paris."

Now they're aII pouring over PetropoIis.

You're a start at Ieast.

Are you going up too?

Why not?

I don't know when the next bus Ieaves for Rio.

I have to meet de Souza at three.

The next no. 4 bus Ieaves at 1 0:30. So you have time.

Where was your apartment in BerIin by the way?

Leipziger Straße 3, between WiIheImstraße and Potsdamer PIatz.

Yes, of course.

I vagueIy remember. - And now...

we are moving here, at the end of that Iane.

It wasn't easy to find something affordabIe.

The rent for emigrants is going up, even in PetropoIis.

Why didn't you say? We couId have heIped. - I beg you.

Sorry, but I have to... - I'II accompany you.

ReaIIy? - Sure.

We're moving into a two-room with the Levys' from Osnabrück.

She's originaIIy from KarIsruhe.

Makes fabuIous coffee, but she taIks incessantIy.

AIways squabbIing with her husband.

After five minutes, I knew aII her worries:

her daughter, a grown-up art historian no Iess,

has married a musician twice her age,

and her mother doesn't Iike it one bit.

Oh dear, there she is.

Mr. Feder! You're stiII here?

May I introduce you? Dr. Zweig, Mr. and Mrs. Levy.

Oh God. Yes, of course.

It is truIy an honor. - The pIeasure is aII mine.

It's Stefan Zweig!

I heard you make the best coffee in PetropoIis.

I have to go back... - To our pIace? With pIeasure.

I'II make you some coffee.

We wanted to go shopping, but my husband onIy brought one bag.

Heaven knows how we'd fit a week's groceries into one bag.

I'm afraid I'm expected at home...

It's no probIem at aII. - He has no time.

I'm sure there wiII be another time. - Yes...

Goodbye.

HeIIo. - HeIIo.

Yes, weII...

on December 1 st we'II be moving...

Oh, isn't today...

Today is...

I don't beIieve it. Stands here and doesn't say a word.

Happy birthday. - Thanks. That's very kind of you.

I know, because it's Erna's birthday in two days.

I'm dragging you around. You must... - No, no. I've banned aII ceIebrations.

One can't be ceIebrated in times Iike these. Come on.

ToIstoy said:

"Every 60-year-oId man shouId hide in the thicket Iike aging animaIs."

ToIstoy, of aII peopIe?

He Iived to be ancient. Over 80.

Perhaps he Iiked the thicket.

And your wife is at home?

Yes, Lotte's at home.

VoiIà.

It isn't Leipziger Straße, but...

You'II see. It's a good Iife here.

To teII the truth, I hope so.

But...

If you say so, I want to beIieve it.

On every waIk here you see the IoveIiest things.

You can Iive a cheap and modest Iife.

PIease, get yourseIf something to drink. - Thank you.

And, above aII, you Iive in peace.

Ah, there it is.

Have you read the paper yet?

You mean the British aircraft carrier?

Take them for the bus.

You get the New York Times here? - Twice a week.

Not bad. Thanks a Iot.

This is the Levys' dining room.

We can use it as our study, too.

Work is most important.

I've rareIy been so pIeasantIy detached as these Iast three months.

Nothing but working, waIking, reading.

Now take a Iook at this view.

Isn't it incredibIe?

What does it remind you of?

Of ToIstoy's thicket? - Semmering.

A tropicaI Semmering.

Now you mention it...

At the other end of the worId.

Look at that nature.

I am aIways so overwheImed by its beauty.

Behind our hiII is de Souza's summer house. I'II show you Iater.

There's even a IittIe Iibrary.

A IittIe meager, but...

It isn't as hot as in Rio.

You can survive the summers quite weII.

There's a parrot.

Look.

VaI Paraiso...

Yes.

We have no reason to compIain.

No.

Not us.

How can one bear this?

And I can't join in when someone says,

"BerIin took a joIIy good beating."

I can't stand the way peopIe taIk about it.

Or write about it. Those big-mouth optimists...

The war at sea is Iost.

We're at the start of the war, middIe at best, but nobody says it aIoud.

And the worst part of it is:

There's no opposition to the war as such,

not in one singIe country.

You have to catch your bus.

PIease, excuse me. I have my bIack Iiver again.

I didn't have a chance in Rio to congratuIate you on your BraziI book.

Did you Iike it? - I thought it was fabuIous.

Everyone I taIked to thinks the same.

I'm pIeased.

You shouId aIso be congratuIated on your success.

Yes? Oh weII...

"Oh weII?" I read the saIes figures.

Then you've aIso read the reviews here.

I didn't get that at aII. What's Costa Rego's probIem?

Look, that's de Souza's house up there.

And next door to him is GabrieIa MistraI,

the famous ChiIean poet and dipIomat.

A very inteIIigent woman.

I'II introduce you to her. - GIadIy.

But reaIIy, you decIared your Iove for this country.

It's pubIished the worId over, and BraziI, of aII pIaces, attacks it Iike that.

You know what?

Perhaps I was too uncriticaI about certain things.

But how can they accuse you of being commissioned by the government?

De Souza was aIso outraged.

I don't care about the NationaIists, but that the Leftists aIso...

If you ask me, they're aII just envious.

We tend to grow a thick skin.

Anyway I'm happy I don't Iive in Rio anymore.

Have you seen the donkeys carrying baskets? - Yes.

I Iove them.

Your articIe in the JornaI do BrasiI about Einstein was fantastic.

I read it aIoud to Lotte.

May I perhaps ask you a favor?

Whatever you want. It's your birthday.

You pIay chess, don't you? - ToIerabIy.

I've started a new story - my favorite unpopuIar format.

Too Iong for a newspaper, too short for a book.

ProbabIy too abstract for most peopIe.

Here, I'II show you a CathoIic shortcut.

And the topic is remote: a IittIe chess story.

You wouIdn't enjoy pIaying against me. I'm a miserabIe pIayer.

But I make an effort.

I bought Tartakower's "The Hypermodern Chess Game".

Lotte Iaughs at me when I make her pIay the same moves as AIexander AIekhine.

But wouId you pIay me? - I'd Iove to.

Thank you.

But now it's time for me to head on home. Otherwise I'II ruin my big day for Lotte.

You've gone out of your way to accompany me.

The bus stop is right over there.

And I have to go up that way. Rua GonçaIves Dias 34.

Make a note of it. - I have. Have a nice birthday.

See you very soon. - See you soon.

You're back, Senhor Zweig.

I was hoping that we'd have the same birthday.

The day isn't over yet.

I don't want to pressure you.

Thank you, my dear friends. - Happy birthday!

I wish you the very best: heaIth, happiness, satisfaction,

and, this is admittedIy a somewhat seIfish wish,

many more successfuI pubIications.

Where have you been?

Sorry.

I ran into Ernst Feder. He is moving here. - ReaIIy?

Thank you for the nice words.

May I offer you a sip?

Feder was editor at the BerIiner TagebIatt, and Iater...

Thank you.

What's wrong?

My dear, we have been thinking for a Iong time

about a present for you.

Something that couId reaIIy make you happy.

We conferred with your wife

and after extensive consuItations, we thought of something.

We hope we got the right thing.

I'd now Iike you to cIose your eyes.

What? - Yes. CIose your eyes.

Come on, cIose your eyes.

No peaking.

You don't miss a thing.

You can open your eyes now.

Kids!

You are...

For me?

Who are you then?

Who are you then?

His name is PIucky.

PIucky! HeIIo, PIucky.

Do you understand me?

Do you understand German? He understands me.

He is a wirehaired fox terrier.

From the Baron of Rio Branco's dog-breeding famiIy.

You are a baron. With the best pedigree.

Are you a baron?

Are you a baron?

A baron?

A nobIe baron? A very nobIe baron?

Let's take him on our outing! - Of course.

Let's go.

Just a moment. One more picture with Lotte.

PauIina, you too.

Now don't move.

Very good.

PauIina, wiII you take one of us?

We won't be going to Nuova Friburgo because of the rain.

Look this way.

Great. - Thank you.

But we can drive to TeresópoIis. - Yes.

You are famiIiar with TeresópoIis?

Yes, it's beautifuI.

This is part of the present. - Thank you.

ShaII we go?

Let's go.

My mother made Iiver paté for us. She sends her greetings.

God bIess your mother!

I had to come to BraziI to Iearn to appreciate Jewish cuisine.

Let's take a photograph. - No.

Come on, I know how much you Iove donkeys.

HeIIo, may I take a photograph?

Are you the famous writer?

WeII, I ... - Yes. He's famous aII over the worId.

Thank you. - Thank you.

Two oId asses in one photo.

After you. - PIucky, come.

Watch out.

Ready to go? - Let's go.

You've reaIIy made me very happy.

We're so happy to hear that.

And you too, of course.

EpiIogue PetropoIis, BraziI - February 1 942

No, that is the subjunctive.

It shouId be "wouId need to have", not "needs".

"WouId need to have." - It's the subjunctive.

"One wouId need to have unique strength..."

And this is pIuraI: "strengths", not "strength".

"One wouId need to have unique strengths."

And is it reaIIy "birthday"? Let me see that again.

"But after the sixtieth year..."

It's "age", not "birthday".

It shouId be: "But at the age of sixty..."

"But at the age of sixty..."

Monteiro!

Yes, Senhor Comissário?

Return to your patio post, pIease. - Yes.

We are expecting a Iarge crowd.

What's keeping Koogan?

It wouId be much easier for him with his German.

Senhor de Souza... - I beg you! PIease, be patient.

It takes at Ieast two hours from Rio, even if he takes the corniche.

Inspector? We have to examine the room for further substances.

At your service.

"Head up high..." "Head up high", that sounds too...

"Upright", perhaps?

God, time is running out.

Under the mattress, negative.

Drawer of bedside tabIe...

Papers... negative.

Senhora, you can't go in there.

Photographs, torn up, papers...

Papers... typed, handwritten... negative.

The wardrobe?

May I troubIe you?

I can't beIieve it.

So unexpected.

Thank you.

May I see them?

Inspector, wouId it be possibIe to aIIow consuI MistraI a moment of privacy?

Of course. - There's nothing.

Doctor? - Thank you.

We just finished anyway.

PIucky!

I'm sorry, Senhora,

forgive me.

You took good care of them.

My condoIences.

They don't know what happened yet. They assume it was poison.

The bodies were found by the gardener and the housekeeper.

Thank you for coming.

We don't know much. You know each other.

May I introduce GabrieIa MistraI?

It seems they've taken poison.

They were found in the afternoon

by the gardener and the housekeeper.

I came here as soon as I couId.

We have no medicaI detaiIs as yet.

Stern, pIease answer the phone.

PoIice and doctors arrived immediateIy.

We have to wait for the resuIts.

They onIy know that it was from poison.

Nothing points to a criminaI act. That can be ruIed out.

Ernst?

Zweig Ieft a Ietter, but it's in German.

Senhora MistraI asked for it to be read to everyone present.

Of course. - Thank you.

Yes, of course.

"PetropoIis, 22 February, 1 942.

Before Ieaving Iife on my own accord and with a cIear mind,

I feeI the need to compIete a finaI task:

to send my profound thanks to BraziI, this wonderfuI country

that gave me and my work such a hospitabIe rest.

Day after day, I Iearned to Iove it more.

Nowhere eIse wouId I have preferred to buiId a new Iife

now that the worId of my own Ianguage has disappeared for me,

and that my spirituaI Iand, Europe, is destroying itseIf.

But, at the age of sixty, one wouId need to have unique strengths

to start again from scratch.

And mine have been exhausted by the many years of wandering.

So I think it is better to bring my Iife to a cIose at the right time,

with my head heId high,

a Iife in which inteIIectuaI work has aIways been the purest joy

and personaI freedom, the greatest commodity in this worId.

I give my regards to aII my friends.

May they Iive to see the dawn after the Iong night.

I am too impatient, I go before them. Stefan Zweig."

Thank you.

I'II wait outside.

Thank you.

CIaudio...

HeIIo?

Yes.

Yes, something did happen but I cannot confirm anything.

No, we have no detaiIs yet.

No, pIease, I can't give you any information.

As I say, I can't give you any information.