All language subtitles for Aus einem deutschen Leben (Theodor Kotulla, 1977).english

DEATH IS MY TRADE

A Film by Theodor Kotulla

Adapted from the novel
'Death is My Trade' by Roberta Merleho

Sound
Manfred Oelschlegel - Hans Pampuch

Edition
Wolfgang Richter - Gabriele Friedrichs

Assistant Director
Inge Richter

Unit Manager
Hans D. Adenacker - Johannes Göbel

Assistant Cameraman
Jürgen Hasenack

Make-up
Gerd Schuberth - Annette Groschupp

Wardrobe
Uta Wilhelm

Set Design
Wolfgang Schünke

Director of Photography
Dieter Naujeck

Production Manager
Fred Ilgner

Producers
Volker Canaris - Nils Nilson

Script and Direction
Theodor Kotulla

A Co-Production
WDR - Cologne, Iduna-Film Munich

We acknowledge help received from
Film Polski, Warsaw,

Management of Governmental Museums
Auschwitz and Birkenau.

1916
Franz Lang wants to go to war.

Company - halt!

Turn!

Put it down and come in.

What're you carrying woman's stuff for?

Why aren't you outside with the others?

The injured are at the station.

At your orders, captain.
I'm not permitted.

Why?

Because I've tried to join our troops
at the front. Three times.

- Name?
- Franz Lang.

- Age?
- I just turned 16.

I was 15 the first time I tried.

Amazing. How far did you get?

To the front, last time.

- And?
- I was interrogated and sent back.

- You weren't under fire?
- No, Captain. Unfortunately not.

Okay.

Get me a cigarette.

Out.

In.

Out.

Franz.

What are you doing?

Franz helped me to a cigarette.

Franz, I told you to clean room 12.

I'm issuing your orders, nobody else.

Miss, Franz won't be cleaning room 12,
not today or tomorrow.

Get somebody else.

I see. May I ask why, Captain?

Because from today
he's part of my rifle company.

Captain, once and for all:
I'm in charge of personnel here.

- Franz, come at once.
- Franz, you're staying.

- Franz.
- You're staying.

Franz!

Permit me, Miss: when's the last time
Miss brushed her hair?

I'm convinced,
Miss will end up going to bed with me.

In this very sick bay.

- Certainly not, Captain.
- Why not? Don't you fancy me?

I do, Captain, but it'd be a sin.

Did you hear, Franz? So young.

A taut body.
Speaks of sin. How foolish.

Now listen, lad.
There's only one sin. Only one.

Namely: not being a good German
and not loving your country to death.

Germany is more than death.

Franz, do you still want to be a soldier?

- Yes, Captain.
- Good.

I'm putting a new company together
once my scratches have healed.

Check in with me. I'll do the rest.

Yes, sir. Many thanks, Captain.

- Listen, lad.
- Yes, Captain.

For me there is but one church,
and its name is… Germany.

The name of my church is Germany.

- Repeat.
- The name of my church is Germany.

- Louder!
- The name of my church is Germany.

- Hello.
- Hello, Franz.

Hello, Franz.

I'll get your food.

Come, sweet Jesus, be our guest
and bless what you given us.

Potatoes again. Potatoes every day!

Now Berta. Our soldiers in the trenches
don't even get potatoes every day.

How would you know?
Were you there?

You know
I tried to get there three times.

Now I'm working in a military hospital.
For Germany.

How about you?
What are you doing for Germany?

- Berte, shame on you.
- Leave it to me, Mother.

What are you doing for Germany?

1917
Franz Lang becomes a hero

All quiet, Captain.

Lang? Becker? Schmitz?

- Good luck, Franz.
- I'll try, Captain.

Well, see you later.

If one of us survives,
he's to return with the machine gun.

Open fire!

Schmitz!

Prepare to fire.

Open fire!

We'll fight later.

We should try to get back.
Our orders aren't clear.

Two of four killed is enough.

The sergeant said to return
the machine gun if there're survivors.

- He said, if there's one survivor.
- You're crazy, boy.

There's no point holding out
until we bite the dust, too.

They don't know
what the sergeant said back there.

Listen. I have a wife and three kids.
You're a kid yourself.

Come on.
I don't want to be torn to pieces.

We're nearly out of ammunition.

Go, if you like.

But I'm staying. So is the machine gun.

Stop your nonsense.

Stop!

Stop your foolishness, idiot.

It's just a scratch, my boy.

They'll make you sergeant, I promise.

1919
Returning from war, Franz finds work

in a factory
thanks to his Comrade Schrader.

Sergeant Franz Lang? Keep working.

And you, Schrader.

Your pile is growing, not shrinking.

You're slowing us all down.

Listen, lad. A word.

Nothing personal,
but it can't go on like this.

Can't you see I can't keep up with you?

I'm falling behind.
And no union can help me then.

- You probably don't know what it means.
- No.

They'll sack me if things don't change.

- Your fist time in a factory?
- Yes.

What does your dad do?

Dad was a clerk. He died before the war.

Where were you before this?

I was in the army.

- You volunteered?
- Sure.

Listen.
From now on you'll have to work slower.

Why? I work as fast as I was told.

- You should know, sir…
- Don't 'sir' me. You're a worker, too.

The worker before you was swell.

Listen. You have to admit, some pieces
require more work than others.

How many do you reckon?

- About every eight to tenth piece.
- Then it's simple:

From tomorrow you let Scherer do
every fourth piece.

Why every fourth?

You want me to fake it?

- That's it, lad. You got it.
- No, I won't do it.

Why won't you?

The comrade before you did it for years.

No problems whatsoever.

- Are you scared of the boss?
- Doesn't scare me.

- Why won't you then?
- Because it's sabotage.

What nonsense.
I've always been a good worker.

I've never sabotaged anything.

This ain't the army.
The boss ain't no general.

Think of the comrades
or you'll never amount to a good worker.

I'm not suggesting sabotage
but solidarity.

So that's it.

We've been cursing Old Karl
for sending us too much work.

But it wasn't Old Karl.

It was little Franz.

Things'll revert to normal tomorrow.

- No way.
- Excuse me?

No way, I said.

They pay us for the work.
It's my duty to do a good job.

What an idiot you are. Think about it.

You do a good job. But the pay is bad.

You toil so the old bastard, the owner
can buy an even fancier Mercedes.

- Even fancier.
- And the sack for Old Karl.

The consequences
of your damn sense of duty.

It won't give me sleepless nights.

I get it.

He sets my task.

- It's my duty to…
- Your what?

It's my damn duty to do it thoroughly.

Old Karl has five children.

- Five!
- That's irrelevant.

You're an arsehole.

You're actually repugnant.

Since I'm repugnant…
I might as well move out.

Really, Franz.
Sometimes I wonder about you.

You got a screw loose.

That's civilian life.

Up to your neck in shit.
And nobody shows you the way.

Decisions are all yours.

Did you sleep well, lad?

Yes, thanks.

It has to work out today.

You used to work faster.

Are you daft?

Do you get a cut of the profits?

- May I, gents?
- Go ahead.

- So you're Franz?
- Yes.

I'm Erich.

Your first job in a factory?

Yes.

- And before that?
- Infantry. Sergeant.

Me, too, by the way.

Lad. Old Karl is a good chump.

We don't want to see him get the sack.

You know exactly who'd be to blame.

So?

- And now?
- It's simple.

Do as he suggested.

I certainly won't.

Dirty little bastard.

Are you crazy?

Let them go. Let them.

- You're dismissed.
- Why?

Actions against colleagues.

- Already?
- The workers' council.

Out there, that's a warning strike.
If we don't dismiss you at once

- the shit hits the fan.
- The boss?

The boss conceded.

There. Your pay.

You think this is the good old days.

- Erich got it in the mouth?
- Indeed.

That Sparticist bastard deserved it.

Something else. Those Reds won't always
be on top and us at the bottom.

Better believe it.

Listen.

See what it got you?

- Shouldn't have got involved.
- Never mind.

It's probably for the better.

1920
Schrader and Franz joined the Freikorps.

Freikorps target workers
who used to strike and armed themselves

to defend the Republic
against the military Kapp-Putsch.

Lieutenant… One of them,
the one with the injured head.

He fought on our side in the Baltic.

I remember his name.

It's Henckel. Henckel with 'ck'.

He was a good soldier.

Led astray
by god-damned Jewish propaganda.

Fuck. And fuck again.

I can't change the order.

Up. Up, I said!

Stop! Don't move!

Henckel!

Forgive me, comrade.

1922
Dissolution of Freikorps.

Schrader died. Franz Lang joins NSDAP,
the 'Nationalist German Workers' Party'.

Come on, boy. I want to see sweat!

Sweat, I said!

- Impossible, is it?
- It's all right.

Five past twelve. The bastard robbed us
of another five minutes.

Silbert, tell the boss
lunch is at noon on the dot.

All right.

The bastard'll pull out his watch
and say, 'Noon on the dot, gentlemen!'

Know what he does? Just before noon
he sets his watch five minutes back.

Eaten enough?

The Lord shouldn't
give Germans stomachs.

Or stomachs that run on sand.

How are you?

Getting better.

I don't get it.
I've never been a weakling.

It's not strength but food.

How long were you unemployed?

A few months.

Come in.

I was in the area and thought,
I'd pop in.

- Careful. It's loaded.
- Safety's off, too.

To be honest, I came
because there's something I don't get.

Why did you pay what you owed me
in a single go?

- I don't like debts.
- You don't say.

Now you have enough to eat two days.
There seven days in a week.

- It's my business.
- True, sir. It's your business.

You were about to top yourself.

- That's my business, too.
- No, it isn't, you bastard.

- And what happens to Germany?
- Germany?

Germany is done for.

You, an old Freikorps man.

Only a Jewish pig would say
Germany's done for.

The war goes on,
with or without uniform.

You are and remain a soldier.

I'm not good with words.
It's written in black on white.

Read it!

Go on, read. Out loud.

"Germany isn't vanquished."

Speak up.

"The war isn't over.
It merely changed from.

The army has been diminished
and the Freikorps dissolved,

but every German,
in or out of uniform, is a soldier.

More than ever we appeal
to his courage and his determination.

We can take part
in the destiny of the Fatherland.

Doubt and defeatism is desertion
in the face of the enemy.

It's every German's duty to fight
and to die for Germany's blood, always."

- Hello.
- What can I do for you?

- I want to enlist.
- Follow me, please.

Did you serve?

Yes, in the infantry.

It's tough times… Fucking republic!

But it'll change. Believe me.

You can be part of it.

Attention!

The new one, please.

- Lang?
- Yes, Obersturmführer, sir.

- Where do you work?
- At Lingenfelser.

- Are your colleagues party members?
- Yes, one of them, I think.

- You know or you think?
- He reads the Völkischer Beobachter.

- Name?
- Siebert.

Hans Siebert.

Western front. Whose command?

Captain Günther. Killed in action.

- Will the Bavarian-
- I see.

Freikorps! Whose command?

First Lieutenant Rossbach.

- The Baltic, the Ruhr and Upper Silesia.
- Siebert is a member.

- I saw action at all three.
- Great.

We'll issue a temporary card.

For now, you're SA Candidate.
Then, if we consider it appropriate,

you'll swear the oath to the Führer
and join the ranks of the SA.

Can't you afford a uniform?

- Unfortunately not.
- Why not?

I was unemployed until a week ago.

Otto?

Get him Heinrich's uniform.

- It won't fit him.
- He can get it taken in.

A Freikorps man has earned the right
to wear Heinrich's uniform.

Your order's to stay with your company.
Let Otto have your address.

He'll get Heinrich's uniform.

A Freikorps man surely has a weapon.

Yes, a Mauser gun.

- Where do you keep it?
- In my straw sack.

Coppers know all about
straw sacks as hiding places.

Otto'll teach you how to hide.

You can trust Otto.

He hid his gun so well,
he can't find it himself.

Petite canaille! Petite canaille!

Attention!

SA Candidate.

The Führer expects
unconditional devotion.

Yes, sir, Obersturmführer.

1923
Landowners in Mecklenburg employed

former Freikorps members,
among them Franz Lang,

as guardsmen against communists.

Where's the boss?

- Pig sty taking inventory.
- Tell him Werner is here.

- Go yourself.
- I don't want to.

He won't be alone.
Be nice and get him, please.

What military secrets
does Rossbach have now?

Freikorps Rossbach has been
officially banned.

Well, yes, on paper.

Remember Kado
who ran off with our till back then?

He's dared to resurface.

- Where is he?
- At the Luisenhof, looking for work.

- How about we introduce you?
- No, too much hassle.

Grab a few guys and beat him up
so he won't come back here.

- But, what about the embezzled money?
- Forget the money.

It's probably all spent.
More importantly,

he switched sides to the Reds
and hung up Lenin's picture.

He needs to leave, you know?

Hey Kadow, are you asleep?

Hello, hello!

Get up, drunk bastard, you.

- I have…
- He's dead drunk!

- Another round.
- No, not again.

- I'm drinking my beer.
- And I'm buying my own schnapps.

I'm buying my own schnapps.

Herman. You're a member
of the German Communist Party.

Do you understand?

- Your KPD party card.
- Let's see!

- Show me.
- Confiscated.

Let's go!

Have fun!

Indeed, it's dark like a cat's arsehole.

- Come on, sweetie.
- Let's go.

Faster, lads, faster!
We don't want to be late.

Are you crazy, you bastard?

Don't play innocent. You know
what's going to happen, rascal, you.

You want to betray what Germans built!

- Communist spies have it coming!
- I ain't one!

- Let him have it.
- Go!

- He's still breathing.
- I'll slit the commie bastard's throat.

Don't, Wiemayer.

Unreliable.

Step aside.

1924
For fear of falling victim

to sectarian violence himself,
one of the culprits reports the murder.

Franz is sentenced
to ten years in prison.

Finished already?
You're breaking all the records.

Get lost with that filth.

Idiot.

- What was the fuss about yesterday?
- An inmate hung himself.

- Why?
- Declined petition for clemency.

How do you know?

- One needs connections.
- One needs to kiss arse.

Shut it!

Quiet, commie pigs!

Stop it!

I've had a bad stomach since I was 11.
Doctor recommends veal.

My mother's ill, too.
Between us, our monthly dole is 60 marks

of which we're paying 24 marks for rent.

Fucking life!

"Ten to 15,000 of those Hebrew
racial impurities, during the war…"

"if we'd gassed them…"

"gassed those Hebrew racial impurities…"

"like 100,000 of our best German workers
had to endure the battlefields,"

"the million-sacrifice at the front
hadn't been in vain."

1928
Franz gets pardoned and released

after five years.
The party provides a job

on the property
of a former colonel in Pomerania.

Lang!

- My office at one on the dot.
- Yes, sir, colonel.

I own a small farm in Marienthal.

It's totally run down.

It's a shithole. Wolves everywhere.

The buildings are in poor shape,
the meadows, too.

It all needs fixing.

- The fields need to be cultivated, see?
- Yes, sir, colonel.

I had you in mind.

These are the conditions:

I'll give you two men,
and you fix everything.

Same pay as now.

If you succeed, you move there…

I'll give you a couple of horses.

At the same time…

I'll provide a sow, chickens and seeds.
There's a field.

Anything you earn, you keep.

The game, too. However…

the moment you move in,
you're off my payroll, understand?

Yes, sir, colonel.

Not a single penny.

The old man awaits you in his office.

Come in.

- Hello, Colonel.
- Take a seat.

You've finished, you say.
The house is finished,

- you can move in.
- Yes, sir, Colonel.

I beg to differ. You haven't finished.

There's something you still have to do.

What, Colonel?

Get married.

- I don't want to marry, Colonel.
- Don't want to marry?

An unmarried tenant?

Who do you think you are?

You wouldn't be one of those…
You're not ill?

- No, Colonel.
- Thank God.

Why won't you marry?

I…

I haven't given it any thought.

Remember this: firstly…

a good German must sire
a new generation.

Secondly: a farm needs a wife. Right?

Right?

Yes, sir, Colonel.

Don't you worry.

I've taken care of it.
I chose Else for you.

- Old Wilhelm's daughter?
- Do you know any other Else?

- She might not be interested in me.
- Sure she will be.

You're both good Germans
who will procreate good Germans.

That's what matters.

Too many Pollacks around here.

Else, come please.

Come in.

- Colonel.
- There you are at last. Come on!

That's Lang, Reichsführer.

- You joined the party in 1922?
- Yes.

- You participated in Kadow's execution?
- Yes.

- You spent 5 years in Brandenburg Jail?
- Yes.

- Western front in the war?
- Yes.

- Highest rank, sergeant?
- Yes.

- Parents deceased?
- Yes.

You're two sisters are married.

- Didn't know they were married.
- The party is well informed.

I'm pleased to tell you
your sisters are married.

I hear you're a good horseman.

I learned as a child.

Brilliant.

You'll organise a local riders' section
within the farmer's association,

which might be taken over by the SS.

Most importantly,
stress the moral training of the men.

They'll have to understand,
that SS men have to be willing

to execute their own mothers
if such an order is given.

Let's sit down.

1934
After an SS meeting,

Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler summons
Unterscharführer Franz Lang.

Unterscharführer Lang?

Unterscharführer Lang,
you participated in Kadow's execution.

Yes, sir, Reichsführer.

- You spent five years at Brandenburg.
- Yes, Reichsführer.

In the war you were at the western front
as sergeant.

Yes, sir.

- Parents deceased.
- Yes.

- I've asked all this before.
- Yes, sir, Reichsführer.

- Do you know where?
- Yes.

- You think, I don't remember.
- Yes, sir, Reichsführer.

That's unjust.

A soldier must never doubt his leaders.

Don't let it happen again.

No, Reichsführer.

We shan't mention it again.

Unterscharführer,
I've had occasion to…

draw conclusions
concerning your SS contributions.

I'll say your activities for our ideals
bear witness to true German exactitude.

Your strength lies in action.

I'm happy to inform you,
your knowledge of prison life

could serve the SS well.

The party is busy setting up
concentration camps in parts of Germany,

with the purpose
of improving criminals though work.

In them, we'll also have to imprison
enemies of the National Socialist State,

to protect them
from their compatriots' outrage.

Here, too,
the purpose is above all educational.

I've decided to

entrust you with an administrative post
in Concentration Camp Dachau for now.

Your family will join you.

A true German family life

is an inestimable foundation
of moral rectitude for every SS member…

employed in a concentration camp.

1934
Franz Lang and his wife Else consider,

whether it's the right thing to do
to accept a job in a concentration camp.

Our situation won't improve
until I'm an officer.

You've always wanted
to become an officer.

Yes.

Why are you hesitating?

It doesn't feel right.

Why not?

A prison is still a prison.
Even for the guards.

So decline.

Would the Reichsführer
hold it against you?

No. He let me choose.

- And you, would you like it?
- No. Not at all.

But don't worry about what I want.

The Reichsführer thinks,

I'd be of most use to the party
as commander of a concentration camp.

Why does he think so?

Because I was an inmate for five years.

You're of use here, too.
You like the work.

That doesn't matter.

If I'm of most use
to the party in a concentration camp…

- I'll have to accept that.
- Maybe you're of more use here.

The Reichsführer doesn't agree.

- We live rent-free?
- Of course.

Heating and food's free,
for me at least.

- And bonuses. You can stay at home.
- That's not important.

- I think you work too hard.
- I don't mind.

In a concentration camp…

do they mistreat the inmates?

Heaven, what gave you that idea?

Those things are impossible
in a National Socialist state.

Concentration camps are purely…
educational.

- You've always wanted to be an officer.
- Yes.

- But not in a camp.
- Okay. Decline, then.

The Reichsführer thinks, I'd be
of most use in a concentration camp.

1941
For a year Sturmbannführer Lang has been

commander
of Concentration Camp Auschwitz.

Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler
summons Lang to Berlin.

Sturmbannführer, I'm happy to tell you
that camp Inspector Goertz

presented an outstanding report
on your activities as Auschwitz commander.

On the other hand, I've been informed…

- you're asking to be sent to the front.
- Yes, sir, Reichsführer.

As you obeying a patriotic impulse?

Or don't you enjoy
your chores in Auschwitz?

- I'm obeying a patriotic impulse.
- Just as I thought.

Obviously a change of position
is unthinkable.

In view of certain projects,
you're indispensable at Auschwitz.

I'm referring to secrets projects
which are indeed state secrets.

A secret matter of the Reich.

Sturmbannführer, I ask you to swear
on your honour as SS Officer,

not to reveal this secret to anyone.

I swear on my honour as SS Officer.

I'll stress that you're obliged
to divulge this secret to nobody.

Not even
your superior Gruppenführer Goertz.

This is no expression
of lacking trust in Goertz.

He'll be informed at a later time
I'll deem adequate.

The Führer ordered the Final Solution
of the Jewish Problem in Europe.

You've been chosen
to bring the task to completion.

You appear surprised.

The termination of Jews isn't
a new concept.

No, Reichsführer. I'm merely surprised,
I'm considered for the task.

I see.

So, one thing after another.

The Führer is all too aware,
if we don't exterminate the Jews now,

they'll exterminate
the German people later.

The question is the following:

Them…

or us.

I chose the Auschwitz camp
as place of execution…

as it lies at the crossroads
of four railways,

which makes it easily accessible.

I chose you
for your organisational skills

and because
of your rare conscientiousness.

You should know there are already
three extermination camps in Poland.

They're not satisfactory, however.
Firstly, they're too small.

Secondly,
their administration isn't good.

Thirdly,
the applied methodology is deficient.

Based on reports
by Treblinka's camp commander,

he was unable to liquidate
more than 80,000 units in six months.

It's a ridiculous result.

In two days Obersturmbannführer Eichmann
shall pay you a visit in Auschwitz,

to inform you of pace and extent
of transports for the next two months.

After his visit,
you'll go to Treblinka Camp,

and submit a constructive critique
of their mediocre methods to me.

And in four weeks' time,
in four weeks exactly…

you'll submit a precise plan
adjusted to the historical task

ahead of you.

Any objections?

No, Reichsführer.

- Any comments?
- No, Reichsführer.

Führer's orders.

Your difficult mission is
the execution of the order.

Yes, sir, Reichsführer.

- Your invention?
- We used the line in Dachau.

Hurray! I'm back

Let's assume a round sum
of 500,000 units for the first 6 months…

That gives me a monthly average
of about 84,000 units.

So, 2,600…

Two-thousand-eight-hundred…

to receive
the special treatment every 24 hours.

It's a huge number.

Mistake. You're forgetting that among
the 500,000 units there're likely to be

many who are fit to work.

They needn't be treated.

I think that's just dodging the issue.

In my experience, on average
inmates are fit for work for a mere

three months.
Then they become incapable.

Assuming a delivery of 5,000 units
contains 2,000 fit to work,

after three months those 2,000
would be returned to me for treatment.

Fair enough. But you'd have gained time.

Until your facility is fully serviceable
the delay works to your advantage.

Besides, you should know
that after the first six months

- the transports will be increased.
- Yes, but…

- it's simply impossible.
- My dear Sturmbannführer,

it was who Napoleon said, in French
the word "impossible" doesn't exist.

Since we've been in power

we've been trying to show the world
it's no German word.

- Obersturmbannführer…
- Yes?

Technically impossible, I meant.

Allow me. The technical side
is solely your task.

My expertise is figures.
My task is purely statistical.

Else, may I present
Obersturmbannführer Eichmann? My wife.

- Hello.
- Hello.

Inmate 4,678 and inmate 9,107
on their way to the sickbay.

- Ask him how he got hurt.
- What happened to you?

He fell down some stairs.

Who did that to you? Oh my God.

Oberscharführer Seifert
and a Rottenführer inside.

Outside a Rottenführer
and five new arrivals.

Dockejowski, Adam. Stole apples at work.

Serjewski, Bruno.
Concealed a pencil stub in his turn-up.

Ilwadceck, Ladislaos.
Caught smoking at work.

Gimanceck, Cerni.
Tried to forward a letter illegally.

Sankowski, Adam.

Removed his golden tooth filling
to swap against bread.

Eight days in darkened cell
without food for all inmates.

Turn!

To the cellars, forward march!

It's a lot of work
to look after so many vases every day.

But like I said,
I couldn't live without flowers.

I'm lucky to have you as gardener.

I consider you quite the artist.
In your own way.

When you've finished, ask Gerd Wieger
to feed you in the kitchen.

For God's sake!

Holy mother of God!

My God!

There were 21 of us.

Love live Poland!

- And us… when?
- Shut up!

Is anybody there?

Anybody else there?

I heard Polish blabbering.

I didn't hear anything.
Never mind. Let's stand guard here.

- Anything else for today?
- No, all good. You can go.

Let's get out.

- We thought this place…
- It's here?

- Yes.
- There, by the tower, left…

This section, then. Can be extended.

Section C and D.

Picture book Right - Wrong
For Concentration Camp Guards

Wrong

Right

Wrong

Right

Yes?

Thanks.

Dad!

- Yep.
- Look, Dad.

I'm a gangster and Brigitte is a Jew.

Dad, Dad!

Brigitte, please go to your rooms.

Else?

Else?

Have you gone crazy?
What's the nonsense with the badges?

The children hassled the dressmaker
for days. Why the big fuss?

The dressmaker! Of course she does
anything the children ask for.

I expected more sense from you than from
the Pollack and her puppy love for kids.

Remove the badges. Right now!

- Setzler?
- Yes.

What's this stuff?

The leftovers from the poison
some company delivered to Auschwitz.

Back then we used it
on vermin in the barracks.

- How do you use it?
- No idea.

Come quick, Setzler.

1942
Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler is shown

how Sturmbannführer Franz Lang

exterminates Jews in Auschwitz.

Listen, everybody.
You're now inside the camp.

It's a place of calm, order
and above all cleanliness.

The building behind you contains
a room with showers.

First, you'll step into changing rooms,
then the shower rooms.

You'll find towels and soap
in the changing rooms.

Leave your clothes in a manner
they can be found easily again.

Act with discipline
and follow the orders of the SS men,

who will lead you inside.

Once you're showered, you'll be given
half a kilo of coffee each.

Go in now, please.

It's a hard, merciless chore,
but it has to be done.

The building is principally correct.
But it's not sufficient.

- Surely you agree, Sturmbannführer.
- Yes, sir, Reichsführer.

"According to the report by the leader
of Amtsgruppe D, Reichsführer SS…

"pursuant his visit
to Concentration Camp Auschwitz…

"SS-Sturmbannführer Franz Lang
has been promoted…

"to SS-Obersturmbannführer
with immediate effect."

1942
Else Lang learns about

the nature
of her husband's work at the camp.

Thanks, I've given up.

Please bear with us a little,
Sturmbannführer. Dinner's nearly ready.

How do you like Auschwitz, madame?

Well, of course.
The smell is unpleasant.

Be assured, in Kulmhof
we suffer from the same inconveniences.

- Your home is extraordinarily pretty.
- Thank you.

- You run a camp, too, Sturmbannführer?
- Yes, but it's much smaller.

Unlike your husband, I don't have
permanent inmates. Mine pass through.

Don't you miss home, madame?

Poland is a grim place.
But it won't be long now, I think.

At our current rate, our men'll reach
the Caucasus in no time.

- Then the war can't drag on.
- This time we'll finish before winter.

- I'm sure of it.
- Two months at most.

What will you do after the war,
Sturmbannführer?

Hopefully,
the camps won't exist for good.

I'll request a farm in the east.

My husband held a tenancy
for Colonel Jeseritz.

- We cultivated land and bred horse.
- Oh, really?

Farming and horse breeding. That's great.
You have several irons in the fire.

The Reich will need colonists
once the Slavs have… disappeared.

How did the Reichsführer phrase it?
German model pioneer of East Territory.

I think, he might have been
referring to you, Obersturmbannführer.

- He said that of my husband?
- Come to think of it, I'm positive.

- The Reichsführer is just.
- How pleased I am for Franz.

He's always so conscientious.
He works so much. Too much.

Yes, at times it's a lot.

Great!

It's a life of Riley for you
in Auschwitz, madame.

Hauptsturmführer Hegemann sends coffee
from France.

Thank you.

Camp life could be so nice.

If it wasn't for all the ugliness.

The worst part of the camp is the ugliness.

I became all too aware of it again
this morning, Obersturmbannführer,

when you showed me
the special treatment.

- All those Jews…
- Excuse the interruption.

Else, be a dear
and pour us the French cognac.

Goes well with coffee.

Almost all of them are ugly.

I had a good look
as they entered the gas chambers.

And after gassing… those naked figures…

Especially the women…

Horrid.

And their positions… common,
some of them… Quite sleazy.

Like a Brueghel painting.

They deserve to die
if only for their ugliness.

- And that stench.
- Please, Sturmbannführer.

My wife doesn't know.

Do you know Brueghel? Brueghel, I mean.

Not the Elder, nor the Other.
Hell Brueghel.

He depicted hell time and again.

Thanks, Else.

Look at that. More of the fine stuff.

Courtesy of Hauptsturmführer Hägemann.

His friends in France.

Lovely country, France.
Have you been in France, madame?

Franz?

So that's it.

That's what you do.

- What are you saying?
- That terrible stench.

- The smoke stacks. I get it now.
- Of course we burn the dead.

Burning corpses isn't new.

- A question of hygiene during outbreaks.
- You're lying.

You're gassing them!

Me, lying?

- How dare you?
- Men, children, women…

So?

- What are you talking about?
- It's you. You're doing this.

- If you think I like it…
- You're killing them.

Else. Keep it down, for God's sake.

Mrs Müller went out.

- The children?
- They're asleep.

Else, you have to understand.

They're unfit for work.

We can't feed them all.

Believe me, for them…

it's much better this way,
rather them starving them to death.

You invented this.

Not I.

I'm not part of this.

It's an order.

- Who gives orders like that?
- The Reichsführer.

Why?

But why?

The Jews are our worst enemies,
you know this.

If we don't exterminate them now,
they'll rub out all Germans.

Nonsense. How could they rub us out
since we're winning the war?

It's an order.

- Why didn't you request a transfer?
- I did. Front service. He declined.

Then you should have refused to obey.

What you're saying is…

- It's dishonourable.
- And this isn't?

A soldier has to obey.

Nothing would've changed.
They'd have demoted and shot me. And?

- You and the children?
- That's irrelevant.

If I'd refused, somebody else
would have replaced me.

At least, it wouldn't have been you!

Else!

It's an order!

An order.

You can't treat me like this.

All I do in the camp is following…

yes, I'm following orders.
I'm not responsible for them.

You can say what you like.
It's you. You're the one doing it.

Please understand. I am…

but a cog in the machine, nothing else.

In an army, whoever gives the order
is responsible. Only him.

Superiors get punished for bad orders,
not whoever carries them out.

Oh, really?

So that's why you obey.

You think if this ends badly
you go Scot-free.

It never crossed my mind.

I find it… inconceivable…

not to obey an order.

I'm physically unable to.

Well, then.

If they ordered you to murder
your son Franz. Would you?

That's madness!

- They'd never order that.
- Why wouldn't they?

They ordered you to murder Jewish kids.
Why not yours, why not our Franz?

That's madness.

The Reichsführer would never order that.

- It's absurd!
- But you're not so sure.

If the Reichsführer ordered you
to murder our Franz, you would do it.

You would do it.

You would do it, I'm telling you.

Naturally.

Blue print for the crematorium.

Mortuary 2

Else?

One, two, three. One, two…

Go, work!

No sleeping here,
you lazy, stupid bastard.

Faster, lazy dogs. One, two, one, two.
Work! Step on it! Go. Hurry it up!

Work, don't idle.

Hey, you. You, too. Go and work.
Come go. Go, go, go!

Hey, you there, you too!

Get up, now. Come on, get up!

What is is?

Go on, keep at it!

Come on, Setzler.
They'll report on the case.

"Despite bad weather, against heavy odds
and with help from all available hands,

"Crematorium II has been completed
albeit with slight issues.

"The ovens were fired up
in the presence of Chief Engineer Prüfer

"of Topf and Sons, Erfurt

"and functioned perfectly. Due to frost,
the mortuary's metal-concrete lid…"

Excuse me.

- Is it the latest?
- After dinner.

- There. Enough?
- Bon appetit.

Say when it's enough.

Commander here.
Hauptscharführer Moll, please.

I have yesterday's figures, Moll.

Did you notice anything?

I know you're busy-

I know you're busy, Moll, that you can't
see everything. You're modest, I know.

But didn't you see you reached
your highest total ever yesterday?

Trust me, in the unlikely event
that I'm wrong,

I'll let you know.
Now, what happened really?

How did you manage
this erstwhile impossible feat?

You don't say.

Due to delays
five transports arrived simultaneously?

In other words, by de-staggering
a certain number of transports

you can easily manage 10,000 a day!

We should have known.

1946
Hiding on a farm in Schleswig-Hostein,

Franz Lang is arrested
by the Allied Forces.

"Franz Lang was born
at the beginning of the century,

"and he symbolises quite exactly

"the violence and fanaticism contained
in half a century of German history."

And misery, Lieutenant Colonel.

- You suffered misery?
- Yes.

Badly.

That's no excuse.
Many others were miserable.

I don't require an excuse.
I merely obeyed.

How do you explain you got that far?

I was chosen
for my organisational skills.

You didn't understand my question.

Are you still convinced of the need
to exterminate all Jews?

No, I'm no longer convinced.

Why not?

Because
the Reichsführer committed suicide.

It proves, he wasn't a leader.

And not being a leader,
he might have lied to me,

when he claimed the extermination
of all Jews was required.

Therefore, if it happened again
you wouldn't do it?

I'd do it again if I was ordered to.

You would act against your conscience,
against your understanding?

Pardon me.
I think you didn't get my point.

My opinion is totally irrelevant.

- It's my duty to obey.
- Not that kind of horrific orders.

Women, children. How could you do it?

So you felt nothing?

- People keep asking me.
- And what's your usual reply?

It's hard to explain.

It was embarrassing at first.

I got over it in time. I had to,
otherwise I couldn't have continued.

You see, I thought of Jews as 'units',
not as human beings.

I concentrated on technical aspects
of my job, like a…

pilot dropping his bombs on a city.

No pilot exterminated an entire people.

But he would if he was given the order
and if it was possible.

- You're free of pangs of conscience.
- I don't need pangs of conscience.

The extermination of Jews may be wrong
but I didn't give the order.

I didn't mean that.

Since your arrest, did you ever think
of the countless people you had killed?

Yes, sometimes.

What do you feel then?

Nothing special.

1946
The Americans hand over Franz Lang

to the Poles
on whose territory Auschwitz lies.

He stands trial in Krakow
(after which he is executed in 1947).

He writes his life's memoirs
in his prison cell.

"The extermination process
in Auschwitz-Birkenau happened thus:

the trains with the Jews
deemed for extermination

ran to the structure on tracks
built specifically for this purpose.

Obersturmbannführer Eichmann's office
informed us of the trains' arrivals.

In order to avoid confusion
with other trains,

they had specific numbers and letters.

Every telegram concerning
these transports was marked,

"to receive special treatment
as per regulations".

Consisting of freight carriages
the trains carried some 2,000 people.

Arriving at the ramp,
the train's personnel and guards,

members of the SS,
had to clear the area.

Only the transport commander remained
for the transfer to the camp commander.

In the absence of a roll-call,
mere headcounts were carried out.

Once unloaded, the prisoners had to pass
two SS-doctors,

to be divided into two groups:
"fit" and "unfit for work".

On average, about 25 % were found
to be fit for work.

They were marched to the camp
to change and to register.

All luggage stayed on the ramp,

to be brought and sorted at Stock Camp
once the "unfit" had gone.

Those "unfit" were separated
into men and women with children.

They were marched to the nearest
available extermination facility.

Those unable to walk and women
with toddlers were driven on lorries.

Once arrived,
they had to undress in rooms

resembling delousing facilities.

The permanent crew of inmates
working in these facilities,

who also slept there,
had no contact with other inmates.

They assisted with the undressing
and encouraged slower ones to hurry.

They told them
to place their belongings carefully,

so they could find them easily
after their bath.

This was designed to calm any doubts.

Once undressed, they moved
into the next room, the gas chambers.

These resembled bathrooms with
shower heads, pipes and water drains.

Then the doors were locked
and the gas was released.

Zyklon B was employed, a hydric acid
that evaporated at once, that is,

it became active
at first contact with oxygen.

The first in-breath dazed them. Then,
depending on weather and size, it took

three to 15 minutes for them to die.

After that, nothing budged.

Half an hour later the doors were opened
and the corpses taken to be incinerated.

Nobody ever survived the chambers
in the years I was there.

The dead women's hair was chopped off.

Inmate dentists removed golden teeth
and rings on behalf on the camp command.

Birkenau consisted of five facilities.

Two large crematoriums that ran on coal.
Capacity 2,000 people every 24 hours.

The gas chamber could kill
up to 2,500 people.

Two smaller facilities with four ovens
could eliminate 1,500 people.

An old farmhouse was rendered airtight
to be used as gas chamber.

Its capacity: about 1,500 people.

The incineration took place in open pits
with wood and was unlimited.

According to my calculations in 24 hours
up to 8,000 people could be burned.