Original subtitles

Symphony No. 5 in C Minor

AIR RAID SIREN

BOMBS EXPLODING

LOW-FLYING AIRCRAFT

Dr Furtwangler, the Reich Minister.

Dr Furtwangler, I apologise for this power failure.

I was so enjoying the performance.

In times like these we need spiritual nourishment.

BOMBS EXPLODING

But I welcome this unexpected opportunity...

...of talking to you.

When you came to the platform tonight, I thought you weren't well.

You looked tired.

Get away from this bombing, away from the war.

You should go abroad.

Yes, you look tired...

...even in this light.

Look at them. Men, women, kids. Boy, did they love him.

Adolf Hitler touched something real deep, savage and barbaric

and it won't go away overnight, it's got to be rooted out.

You know what I think? I think they were all Nazis.

And their leaders, now on trial in Nuremberg,

couldn't have done it alone.

It's these people. They gave all the help that was needed.

That's him. Furtwangler.

Wilhelm Furtwangler.

So, you've never heard of him? - Nope.

You've heard of Arturo Toscanini? - Sure.

He's as big as Toscanini, maybe even bigger.

He's like Bob Hope and Betty Grable rolled into one.

Jeez, and I've never heard of him!

You were in insurance before the war.

Right. A claims assessor.

Conscientious, determined, dogged.

They said I was dogged?

They say when you went on a case, you stayed on it.

We can't take every Nazi in this country to trial, it's impossible.

So we're going for the big boys in industry, education, law and culture.

Like the bandleader?

Well, he's more than that, Steve.

He's a great conductor.

A gifted artist.

But we believe he sold himself to the devil.

Your number one priority is to connect him to the Nazi Party.

Don't be impressed by him. I want our folks to know why we fought.

Find Wilhelm Furtwangler guilty.

He represents all that was rotten in Germany.

Stay put, Steve. There's some other stuff that I'd like you to see here.

Background.

Oh, one thing that maybe a problem.

Our Occupation Authorities in Wiesbaden have a duty

to help these poor unfortunates with their defence.

They keep repeating, "We must be just, we must appear as being just."

I only have one thing to say to fuck'em!

You answer to no one but me. Is that understood?

Show him the film. - Yes, sir.

That is the hand

that dropped the bombs on defenceless Rotterdam, Brussels, Belgrade.

That is the hand that destroyed the cities, villages and homes of Russia.

That is the hand that held the whip over the Polish...

Next reel, please.

...French and Norwegian slaves.

That is the hand that took their food.

Sanitary conditions were so bad

that heavy equipment was brought in to speed the cleaning up.

This was Bergen-Belsen.

Remember men, no fraternisation.

In a Germantown if you bow to a pretty girl or pat a blond child,

you bow to Hitler, you bow to his reign of blood,

you caress the ideology that meant death and destruction.

You never know who is a member of the Nazi Party.

Don't be fooled. Don't fraternise.

Cigarettes, chewing gum?

Cigarettes, chewing gum?

The heating will be fixed by tonight.

Fräulein, this is Major Arnold.

This is your secretary, Fräulein Emmi Straube. Her file is on your desk.

They sent her from Admin. I'll leave you to it.

Do you live here in Berlin? - Yes.

You do shorthand and typing? - Yes.

OK.

Let's see here.

How long were you in the camp for?

Three months.

It says here because of your father?

My father was one of the officers in a plot against Hitler.

They arrested the plotters and their families.

And your mother, too. - She was in Ravensbruck.

And your father was executed?

I'll call you Emmi, you call me Steve, OK?

I've got a list of stuff I'd like you to get for me.

If you need anything, let me know.

Major... - Steve.

There are messages for you.

A Lieutenant David Wills called

from the Allied Kommandatura Cultural Affairs office in Wiesbaden.

I don't know who he is.

Dr Furtwangler has called wanting to know when you wish to see him.

Do you think you can get me any of that?

Oh yes, Major, I have recordings of all his symphonies.

I kept them safe during the bombing. My favourite is the Seventh Symphony.

Mine's the Eleventh.

But he only wrote nine, Major.

I'm kidding, Emmi.

Do you have a record player?

No. Ours was damaged.

What's in those files?

The members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra since 1934

and their questionnaires.

Major, what am I to tell Dr Furtwangler?

You tell him nothing, Emmi.

Just say you know nothing.

We'll keep him waiting while I get acquainted with his case

and with the witnesses and, God help me, with Beethoven.

MARKET HUBBUB

Wo finde ich Grammophone? - Da drueben, gegen ueber.

Yeah.

Lieutenant Wills reporting to Major Arnold, sir.

For Christ's sake, I hate that shit. Cut it out.

I'm very sorry.

I'm Steve Arnold. What's your name? - David Wills. Liaison officer.

Allied Kommandatura Cultural Affairs Committee.

Sounds like fun. So they sent the big guns to check up on me?

Are we recruiting children now? - I guess so, sir.

Don't call me "sir" or I'll make you listen to Beethoven.

Where you from, David?

I was born here. In Leipzig.

I escaped in '36. My parents sent me to my uncle in Philadelphia.

They were to follow, but they delayed and...

Our name was Weill.

It doesn't sound well in English, so my uncle changed it to Wills...

Come in, Emmi. This is your office too.

Emmi, this is Lieutenant David Wills. He's here to watch over us.

I guess you admire musicians? - Some.

Don't .This is a criminal investigation, David.

Musicians, morticians, doctors, lawyers, butchers, clerks.

They're all the same.

We have a duty, a moral duty.

Symphony No. 5

It works!

Hallelujah!

Herr Rudolf Werner.

Sit down, Werner.

I want you to understand why you're here.

This is an investigation into Wilhelm Furtwangler,

former Prussian Privy Councillor, banned from public life

under Control Council Directive No. 24.

He's applied to come before the Tribunal for Artists

of the Denazification Commission.

I'm interested in what he was up to from 1933 to the end of the war.

Understood? - Yes.

Rudolf Otto Werner- wind section since 1936.

What instrument did you play? - First oboe.

Your questionnaire says you were never a member of the Nazi Party.

Absolutely not.

No, I was never a Nazi. I'm a musician.

Slowdown. Fräulein Straube has to take down what you say.

Straube?

Any relation to Colonel Joachim Straube?

My father.

It's an honour to meet you. Your father was a great patriot.

Dr Furtwangler is a great musician. He opposed the Nazis.

Later on, he helped many Jews escape.

But he was a Prussian Privy Councillor?

Hermann Goering just made him his Privy Councillor, no questions asked.

But Dr Furtwangler stood up to him and to Dr Goebbels.

He also conducted for Hitler.

Yes, that's true, but he refused to give the Nazi salute.

In Hitler's presence, that was a brave act.

Brave? To celebrate Hitler's birthday with some heroic piece by Wagner,

but without the Nazi salute? Bravo!

It was Beethoven's Ninth.

Do you really think it was brave?

Didn't he bow to him and shake his hand?

No, no, no, I give you my word. I was never a member of the Nazi Party.

I am in the percussion section. I play the timpani.

They would never have allowed it- my brother was married to a Jewess.

And Goebbels said...

Please take this down carefully, it's important, Fräulein?

Straube. - Straube.

Are you related to Colonel Joachim Straube?

My father.

He was... He was a great hero.

Goebbels, yes, he said, "There's not a single filthy Jew

left in Germany on whose behalf Dr Furtwangler has not intervened."

No-one could have been less of a Nazi.

But this was the guy who conducted for Adolf on his birthday?

He was forced to do that.

He refused to give the Nazi salute. He kept his baton in this hand.

And what about the Nuremberg Rally?

No, we played on the evening before the rally.

The evening before, I see.

Yes, sir, Dr Furtwangler was absolutely clear about this:

politics and art must be kept separate.

Politics and art must be kept separate. I'll remember that.

But see if you can help me with something I just don't understand.

I'd really like to know why all you guys are so crazy about him?

What's his secret?

Well, I can only tell you from my own experience.

Soon after I joined the orchestra,

we rehearsed the Third Symphony of Beethoven.

There are several difficult passages for the timpani,

one particular crescendo.

During the break, I asked how he wanted it played.

He was studying his score. He didn't look up.

He said, "Just watch me."

So, of course, I did. I never stopped watching him.

The moment came

and suddenly he turned to me and our eyes were locked.

There was something in his look that simply demanded the crescendo.

I shall never forget this look. It was a moment of... magic.

Did you ever see Adolf Hitler's eyes when he was making a speech?

I've seen him on films.

Yes.

Was it like looking at Furtwangler?

I don't know what you mean.

When you got to the crescendo.

Do you think an orchestra, 120 or so guys, could be orchestrated?

I guess it's possible.

So, what does the Ruski want?

Colonel Dymshitz has asked specially to see you.

"Dim-shits"?

MURMUR OF CONVERSATION

What are they doing?

They're sorting out some works of art the Nazis stole

from occupied territories- who really owns what?

That's Colonel Dymshitz, on the far side-art historian.

Head of the famous Leningrad Museum of Art, an expert on German culture.

Cette peinture n'appartient pas a Le URSS, mais a la France.

What was that? - The picture belongs to France.

C'est un Braque, qui avec Picasso etait un des pionniers du cubisme.

I know who Georges Braque is.

We can produce the provenance of this Braque.

Hello, Major. I'm Colonel Dymshitz. - Colonel.

So, Major, tell me, have you questioned Dr Furtwangler?

Not yet.

I had two meetings with him. He's a great musician,

maybe the greatest conductor in the world.

His Brahms, Beethoven, Schubert, unequalled.

I'll come to the point. I offered him a very attractive position -

conductor of the Staatsoper Unten den Linden.

He refused.

But I want him. I want him badly and I want your help.

Just a moment, you should have discussed this with me first.

I'm discussing with you now. Major, I want you to drop the investigation,

save everybody time and trouble.

We can't drop a case just like that.

I'll give you another conductor in exchange-

writers, musicians, actors... What do you care?

But I like Furtwangler. He's my favourite conductor.

Mine and Hitler's! He's our favourite conductor.

I click my heels and bow at the same time.

You had a proper upbringing.

That's right. I was raised very strictly. We were very German.

Only speak if you're spoken to.

And don't wave your hands about. - Respect your elders.

No elbows on the table. - Eating is eating and...

Talking is talking.

I think we'd better get on.

Right, so this is going to be very formal too now;

Lieutenant David Wills requests the company

of Fraulein Emmi Straube at dinner, any night she cares.

David, I need to ask you something.

Have you heard this rumour the British found the Hinkel Archive?

Yes. - So, what is it?

The British occupy the building where this guy, Hinkel,

ran the Nazi Ministry of Culture.

It seems they've discovered a secret archive.

What's that mean?

I don't know, but the rumour is Hinkel kept a file on every artist

working in the Third Reich.

Jeez. And you think the British will share it with their Allies?

Major Richards will let us know. - That's big of him.

OK, I better question the next witness.

I bet you a bottle of champagne,

he'll tell us the baton story inside ten minutes.

Five minutes. - It's a bet. Emmi's the witness.

Helmuth Alfred Rode, second violinist since 1935.

What's a second violinist?

Not good enough to be a first violinist.

Good.

According to your questionnaire, you never joined the Nazi Party.

Me? Never. Never.

Everyone now says that,

but in my case it is one hundred percent true. I'm a Catholic.

It would be against my conscience.

Are you interviewing Dr Furtwangler today?

I'll ask the questions, Helmuth.

Excuse me.

He refused to give the Nazi salute when Hitler was in the audience.

The problem was how could he avoid giving the devil's salute

and I said to Dr Furtwangler,

"Why not enter with the baton in your right hand?"

"If you give the salute to Hitler with the baton in your right hand,

it will look like you're going to poke his eyes out."

He was really grateful to me for that.

After the concert, I stole that baton

as a memento of a great act of courage. I still have it.

I should have brought it.

I hope I'm not going too fast for you, Fräulein...?

Straube. - Straube?

Any relation to Colonel Joachim Straube?

My father.

I'm honoured to be in your presence. Your father was a true patriot.

Do you have a question, David?

How did the orchestra react to playing for Hitler's birthday?

We played the evening before.

It was 19th April not the 20th.

Do you know Hans Hinkel?

Do I know Hans Hinkel? - That's what I asked.

Do I know Hans Hinkel?

How about answering the question?

Hans Hinkel was in the Ministry of Culture, how could I know him?

I hear the...

...the British have his archive- records, files.

Do you know what's in this archive? - How could I know?

OK, you can go, Helmuth. Get out.

Symphony No. 5

Wollen Sie? Setzen Sie sich. - Nein, danke.

Furtwangler.

Major! He's here.

Shut the door, Emmi. Sit down. We're going to keep him waiting.

Emmi, get us some coffee.

Don't offer him coffee. Don't even greet him.

Fräulein.

Fräulein, how long am I to be kept waiting?

OK, Emmi. Go get him.

Dr Furtwangler.

I didn't hear anyone invite you to sit down.

Sit there.

I want you to know why you're here. You're banned from public life

under Control Council Directive No. 24.

We're reviewing your case

for the Tribunal for Artists of the Denazification Commission.

Do you understand?

I've been cleared by the Denazification Tribunal in Austria.

What they do in Austria doesn't interest me. OK?

I have your questionnaire here.

Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwangler,

born Berlin, January 1886. Orchestral conductor.

And you say here you were never a member of the Nazi Party.

That is correct.

You were a Prussian Privy Councillor, but not a member of the Party?

I received a telegram from Goering telling me I was a Privy Councillor.

I was given no opportunity to accept or refuse.

After the dreadful attacks of November 1938 on the Jews,

I stopped using the title.

What about Vice President of the Chamber of Music?

You used that title, didn't you?

I suppose that was because Dr Goebbels sent you a telegram,

saying, "Dear Mr Vice President."

I don't think Goebbels sent me a telegram. I was told in a letter.

I don't remember exactly. - They were heaping honours on you.

Privy Councillor, Vice President of the Chamber of Music...

and you weren't in the Party? How do you explain that?

Goering and Goebbels battled for control of German culture.

I was simply a pawn.

I resigned from the Musikkammer,

and from being Musical Director of the Berlin Philharmonic in 1934.

Why did you resign, Dr Furtwangler?

I condemned what they were doing to music,

making distinctions between Jews and non-Jews.

For my part, the only divide in art is between good and bad.

Eventually, Goebbels summoned me.

He said I could leave the country if I wanted to,

but under no condition could I ever return.

I believe you have to fight from the inside not from without.

I asked myself, what is the duty of an artist? To stay or to leave?

Then he demanded I acknowledge Hitler as responsible for cultural policy.

Well, that was a fact and it seemed pointless to deny.

I simply acknowledged that Hitler and his Minister of Culture

were solely responsible for the cultural policy of the Reich.

I had no responsibility whatsoever for their cultural policy.

Art and politics should have nothing to do with each other.

Why conduct at a Nuremberg rally?

I did not conduct at the rally... I conducted on the evening before.

That sounds like the small print in one of our insurance policies.

And what about April 19, 1942? The eve of Hitler's 53rd birthday?

The big celebration. You conducted for Hitler, didn't you?

Was that in keeping with art and politics

having nothing to do with each other?

That was different, I was tricked. - How come?

Could I have a glass of water, please?

Please, Fräulein? - Straube.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I was in Vienna, rehearsing, when Goebbels called

and said I had to conduct at Hitler's birthday.

I'd always managed to wriggle out of such invitations,

pleading previous engagements, illness and so on.

Also, Baldurvon Shirach, who controlled Vienna,

hated Dr Goebbels and would do anything to thwart his wishes.

But this time, Goebbels got to my doctors before me,

they were frightened off, and Von Shirach was threatened.

I had no alternative but to conduct for Hitler.

Believe me, I knew I had compromised and I deeply regret it.

Doesn't sound much of a trick to me. Sounds like you made a deal.

I made no deal. - I don't buy that.

It's the truth.

I hear you helped a lot of Jews to escape. How did you do that?

I don't remember in detail, there were so many.

Did you call someone you knew? - I don't remember.

Let me help you. You picked up the phone and made a call,

"Hi, Adolf?.Wilhelm speaking. Listen, old pal, there's a Jew-boy musician

I want you to help. He needs a permit to get to Paris."

Or maybe you called Goering or Goebbels?

You were in the same shithouse as them.

May I ask a question? - Sure.

When will my case be heard? - Your guess is as good as mine.

I need to work and make my living. I live off the generosity of friends.

Tough! Tough!

Then why is it, that another conductor who was a Party member,

and played the Horst Wessel before his concerts, has been cleared?

While I have to wait and wait and wait?

I don't know. It wasn't my case.

Why did you escape to Switzerland?

What?

Why did you escape to Switzerland just before the war ended?

I learned that the Gestapo was about to arrest me.

Why were they going to arrest you? - I'd written a letter to Goebbels.

It lamented the decline of musical standards due to racial policies.

You didn't complain about the racial policies,

just about the musical standards, is that right?

So, how did you learn that the Gestapo was out to get you?

During an interval at a concert here in Berlin, Albert Speer,

the Minister of Armaments, said to me,

"You look tired, Mr Furtwangler, you should go abroad for a while."

I knew exactly what he meant.

You sure knew a lot of people in high places.

It's true that a lot of people in high places knew me.

You were close to al lot of them.

To Adolf, to Hermann, to Joseph, to Baldur and now, Albert.

So let's hear the truth. Let's come clean.

What was your Party number?

Major, you should do your homework.

You have no idea how stupid your questions are.

David, do you remember I said I had a question for Wilhelm

that he wouldn't be able to answer?

Are you ready for this, Wilhelm? It's a tough one.

Why didn't you get out when Hitler came to power in '33?

Why didn't you leave Germany?

I have a list of names of people in your profession who got out in '33.

Bruno Walter, Arnold Schonberg, Max Reinhardt...

They were Jews, they had to leave. They were right to leave.

I could not leave my country in her deepest misery.

After all, I am German. I stayed in my homeland.

Is that my sin in your eyes?

See, David? He can't answer the question.

I'll ask it again, Wilhelm.

Don't give me any more intellectual bullshit.

PHONE RINGS

Major Arnold's office.

Yes, he is.

It's Major Richards for Lieutenant David Wills.

David Wills here, sir.

You want me to tell him? OK.

Major Richards wants a word.

Why can't he just ask for me? Why does he have to ask for you first?

God-damn British, so correct.

Steve Arnold.

I've had enough of this, I'm leaving.

Dr Furtwangler, please.

It's not advisable.

When I was a child, my father took me to one of your concerts.

You conducted Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

I was deeply moved. And I've loved music ever since.

I was grateful to you. And I've admired you.

How could you serve those criminals?

How many?

Jesus, that's dynamite!

Dr Furtwangler.

Well now. Aren't we all sociable?

I've got to hand it to the British, David. You know what those guys are?

Decent.

Tell me, Dr Furtwangler, do you know Hans Hinkel?

I know of him. A despicable human being.

He was in the Ministry of Culture.

His job was to get rid of Jews in the arts.

You know what else the little creep did? He kept files, 250,000 files.

Do you know what's in them?

No, but I knew he had informers everywhere, even in my orchestra.

Who?

I wasn't told. I just knew. - How?

I was warned. - Who warned you?

Goering because Hinkel was working for Goebbels.

What did Goering say?

He told me one of Goebbels' men was watching me.

He read a report on me, everything I said was quoted.

Oh boy, you're going to love this.

Those files contain the details of every working artist in this country.

Those files will tell us who joined the Party,

who informed and who was helpful.

Name? - David Wills.

Over there.

Fantastic!

The only condition is we have to do the work here.

I want you to collect all the files on the boys in the band.

Have a look at this.

Schubert.

String Quintet Adagio

Bravo! Well played!

Bravo!

Dr Furtwangler. Moving, do you agree?

Whenever I hear Schubert I am moved. Do you agree?

The tempi were a little too correct, but that maybe because of the rain.

Herr Doctor, I understand you have difficulties with the Americans?

I want you to know I am your champion. We can help.

What does he mean by too correct? - I don't know.

Route 66

♪ Oklahoma City is mighty pretty

♪ You'll see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico

♪ Flagstaff, Arizona

♪ Don't forget Winona, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino

♪ Won't you get hip to this timely tip:

♪ When you make that California trip

♪ Get your kicks on Route 66

♪ Now you go through St Louis, Joplin, Missouri

♪ And Oklahoma City is mighty pretty

♪ You see Amarillo

♪ Gallup, New Mexico, Flagstaff, Arizona

♪ Don't forget Winona, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino

♪ Won't you get hip to this timely tip

♪ When you make that California trip

♪ Get your kicks on Route 66 ♪

What's this? The office party?

May I join you?

So, what have you two been up to tonight?

Hey, don't I owe you a bottle of champagne?

David, you're a lucky guy.

I invited Emmi here, but she turned me down.

You must have hidden depth, David.

Route 66

Come on, Emmi, let's dance.

I promised her mother, we have to go.

♪ Travel my way, take the highway that is best

♪ Get your kicks on Route 66

♪ It winds from Chicago to LA

♪ More than two thousand miles all the way

♪ Get your kicks on Route 66 ♪

Don't see me to my door. - I promised your mother.

Well...

...sleep well.

Major, I found this on Helmuth Rode. You remember? The second violinist?

Look, he's Austrian, not German.

PHONE RINGS

It's this that's more important.

WHISTLES

Pssst.

Lieutenant Wills, telephone.

What is this, a railway station?

David Wills. Hello.

Who in Wiesbaden?

Major?

Helmuth.

Guess what I am holding in my hand? Do you like guessing games?

Love 'em. I give up, what you holding in your hand?

It's Dr Furtwangler's baton which I stole.

The one he kept in his right hand? - You remember.

How could I forget?

Show me.

Show you? - Yes, show me.

I want to see you do it. Pretend I'm Adolf.

You have the baton in your right hand, but you give me the salute.

Not here, if anybody should see. - Do it, Helmuth.

Do it right.

You look great doing that.

And you nearly poked my eye out. - Exactly.

Don't worry, it will be our secret.

Mr! Here, Mr!

Great catch, kid.

So you wanted to see me?

You don't usually work on Sunday.

All in the cause of humanity, Helmuth or should I call you 1-0-4-9-3-3-1?

What?

1-0-4-9-3-3-1 or do you mind if I just call you "one"?

You know what I say you are, Helmuth? I say you're a piece of shit.

That bastard!

Who's the bastard, Helmuth? Hinkel?

Why? He promised to remove your file? And what about before that?

What were you a member of in Austria?

I was a member... - Speak up.

I was in the Communist Party.

I was a Communist.

That's what Hinkel had over me.

He knew everything.

That's how he made me cooperate.

I see, he made you cooperate.

And now are you a Communist again?

You don't know what it's like to wake up every morning terrified.

You don't know that!

I would never in my wildest dreams, ever become a second violinist

in the Berlin Philharmonic.

When they got rid of the Jews in the orchestra,

it gave people like me a chance.

Helmuth, have you heard of plea bargaining?

Talk about power, I have the power to give you work

and make your life easier.

Your past won't be mentioned.

But I have to get something in return - that's plea bargaining.

I can give you freedom of movement, freedom to work...

...but I need something in return.

Major, he's a man of genius. - Fuck that, Helmuth.

You want to discuss symbols here? This guy was a frontman.

He was the piper, but he played their tune.

I'm not after small fish, I'm after Moby Dick.

Come on, Helmuth. Hard facts.

Well, the only thing I know is he's an anti-Semite.

Of course. You, too. Like everyone else in this god-damn country.

I've remembered something else. - Yeah?

Furtwangler sent Hitler a birthday telegram.

He did?

One of your people told me. - One of my people?

Yes. A corporal. US Army. A Jew.

He said he'd seen the telegram in the Chancellery.

Son-of-a-gun. We'll find the corporal and we'll find the telegram.

But I need documentary proof.

Do you know of anything like that? - No.

That's why we hated him.

We admired him, but we all hated him

because he didn't have to join the Party.

He didn't have to deliver a report after every trip abroad.

He got everything from them, everything.

He was filthier than any of us Party members.

There's a rumour... I don't know if it's true,

but ask him about Von der Nuell.

Never heard of him, who is he? - A music critic.

He gave Furtwangler awful reviews, but raved about Herbert von Karajan.

Who's he? - A brilliant conductor also.

Von der Nuell called him "The Miracle von Karajan".

Furtwangler was outraged

and they say he had Von der Nuell conscripted into the army.

It also happened to another critic.

Well, true or not, it's not such a bad idea.

Critics give you bad reviews, you send them to the Russian front.

But if you really want to get Furtwangler,

ask him about Herbert von Karajan.

The Miracle Kid. - Yes.

You may notice he can't even utter his name. He refers to him as "K".

And...

Ask him about his private life.

His private life? - Yes.

It's all in here-his women.

Who ordered you to gather information about his private life? Hinkel?

Where do you stand on all this? - On all what?

On Furtwangler?

I don't know.

You represent the US now. We have a moral duty to be just.

Major Arnold also has a moral duty.

Our duty is to help Furtwangler, so I want you to look at this.

These are the Nuremberg trial transcripts.

You understand German, right? - Hm-mn.

That's the evidence of Dahlerus. He's a Swede, a friend of Hermann Goering.

I want you to study it and use it. We'll find you some other stuff too.

We need to build a defence case

based not on feelings,

not on prejudice, but on facts.

Lieutenant Wills. Herr Schlee, timpanist. Herr Romer, cello.

Herr Schmidt, viola. They are willing to help.

We've ordered coffee. I hope you... - Of course.

The whole orchestra will vouch for him.

We need names and addresses of musicians saved by Dr Furtwangler,

people he helped to escape abroad.

Let's go somewhere less public.

To cooperation.

I was in Vienna. I had with me an Austrian chauffeur.

He spent time in the camps.

We were looking at these Viennese cleaning up the bomb damage,

scavenging for rotting food, butt ends, anything.

I said, "To think a million of these people came out to welcome Adolf

on the day he entered the city, a million of 'em, and now look at 'em."

And Max said, "Oh, not these people, Major."

"These people were all at home hiding Jews in their attics."

Do you get the point, Colonel?

The point is they 're all full of shit.

Furtwangler is in a different category.

We're dealing with degenerates here.

Degenerates?

He's a great artist.

That's why he didn't get the hell out of here when he had the chance?

I put that to him, he couldn't answer.

Why didn't he go and do it in America

like that Italian, Toscanini?

Perhaps he believed he could try to preserve some important things

like an orchestra, a school.

Maybe he has an old mother who can't be left alone.

Or brothers, sisters...

Colonel, he had no sisters, no brothers, only a lot of love affairs.

Anyway, Major, why should he leave his country,

his mother tongue, his family, his history, his past, his future?

Just because now suddenly there is a dictatorship? Why?

Number one, if all that turns rotten,

what if they surround the space with barbedwire, Colonel?

Don't talk about things you know nothing about.

He was in a dictatorship.

Art and politics, I heard all about it.

Arts belong to the Party.

If you want to be a conductor, you have to have an orchestra.

You can only get an orchestra if you have contact with a power.

All over the world you need the right contacts

and you have to make compromises.

This is what I'm saying. He must have had Party contacts.

There are good Party members who help and there are dirty non-Party members

who inform on you.

Of course they gave him privileges

and suddenly, Steve, suddenly you notice that they like you,

they honour you and suddenly

you're the director of the best museum in the world, for example.

Which museum?

Museum?

No, I said orchestra, sorry.

Believe me, Steve. Help me, Steve.

You say you answer for someone from high up.

I too, order this from high up... very high up.

We want Furtwangler.

I'll give you in return the whole orchestra, four or five conductors.

I need him, Steve. - No can do.

Let Furtwangler go, please.

I have a duty.

Duty? I'm sorry.

GLASS SMASHES

Duty! Fucking duty!

Trouble is, you Americans want everyone to live like you.

We liberated Berlin, Major, not you!

We have a duty also, to bring back the best of German culture.

I'm going to get that fucking bandleader.

No deal!

No fucking deal.

Then you're going to kill me.

You'll see ruins.

You'll see flowers.

You'll see some mighty pretty scenery.

Don't let it fool you.

You are in enemy country.

The Nazi Party may be gone,

but Nazi thinking, Nazi training and Nazi trickery remain.

Somewhere in this Germany, there are two million ex-Nazi officials.

Out of power, but still in there

and thinking... thinking about next time.

Only yesterday, every business

was part of Hitler's system.

Practically every German was part of the Nazi network.

They believe they were born to be masters. Don't argue.

You are not being sent into Germany as educators.

You are soldiers on guard.

You will observe their local laws, respect their customs and religion.

You will respect property rights. You will not be friendly.

You will be aloof, watchful and suspicious.

Haben Sie Bruckner? - Ja, hab ich.

Die Siebte.

Wie viel? - 200.

I read Furtwangler was asked to lead the New York Philharmonic in '36.

Toscanini suggested it.

He would have become the most celebrated conductor in America.

When he made his decision, he didn't know everything.

Especially not the way people like you do,

who return from exile and feel you have a right to pass judgement.

Because you are blameless, you think you know who deserves forgiveness.

You have no idea how people lived.

When he shook Hitler's hand, was he pleased?

I don't know... but you and I already know that he has saved lives.

In Bruckner's Seventh, do you know where the Adagio begins?

Of course.

Put it on and I'll tell you when to play it.

It is now nine o'clock precisely. I do not intend to be kept waiting.

Don't talk to me like a second violinist.

Go back into the waiting room.

Miss Straube will come get you when I am ready.

Jesus God, who the hell does he think he is?

Who the hell does he think he is?

Would you like some water, Herr Professor?

What is he doing here?

Dr Furtwangler! Come in, come in, sit down.

Take this one, it's more comfortable.

If it's too hot, open your tie.

I wish to say something.

Go ahead, be my guest.

When I last saw you I was unprepared.

In these past weeks, I have thought carefully and I've made some notes.

You have to understand who I am and what I am.

I am a musician and I believe in music.

I am an artist and I believe in art.

Art in general, and music in particular,

has for me mystical powers which nurture man's spiritual needs.

I must confess, however, to being extremely naive.

I insisted for years on the absolute separation of art and politics.

My entire life was devoted to music because-

and this is very important-

because I thought that I could, through music,

do something practical.

And what was that?

To maintain liberty, humanity and justice.

Gee, that's a thing of beauty, honest to God.

I'm going to try to remember that.

Liberty, humanity and justice. Beautiful.

But you said "naive". Are you saying you were wrong?

That art and politics can't be separated?

I believe they should be separated,

but that they weren't, I learned to my cost.

Did you learn that when you sent the telegram? Was that the white flag?

What telegram?

"Happy birthday, dear Adolf." Something like that.

You're on your knees saying,

"OK Adolf, you win. You're the number one man."

What are you talking about?

The birthday greetings you sent to Hitler.

I never sent him any kind of greetings.

Think carefully, Wilhelm.

Not in your name. As Privy Councillor.

This is utterly ridiculous!

Yes, David?

Show Dr Furtwangler the evidence to refresh his memory.

You won't find it because no such telegram exists.

Well, I tried.

You've got to admit I tried.

I thought I might trap you, Wilhelm.

But David here was too quick for me.

Smart move, David.

Smart move.

No, I don't have the telegram, but I know it exists.

And we'll keep looking for it because I believe you sent it.

You're wrong.

Art and politics, art and politics. Let's take a look at that.

You and the Berlin Philharmonic

played in countries the Nazis had conquered.

Are you saying that conducting in occupied territories from 1939 on

wasn't a commercial for Adolf's rule?

We never officially represented the regime abroad.

We performed as a private ensemble. I was a freelance conductor.

You know, you should've written our insurance policies for us.

You've got more exclusion clauses than Double indemnity.

What do you imagine people thought?

The Berlin Philharmonic's run by Dr Goebbels and the Propaganda Ministry,

but Wilhelm's freelance, so art and politics are now entirely separate?

You believed ordinary people thought that?

I have no idea what they thought.

No?

No, because I had only one intention.

My only intention, whatever I did,

was to show that music means more than politics.

Tell me about Von der Nuell.

Von der Nuell?

Yes, Von der Nuell.

Von der Nuell?

How long is this going to go on?

I say the name, then you say it.

I say it, then you say it. We could go on all day.

You know who Von der Nuell is?

Edwin von der Nuell, music critic.

Yes, I know who he is.

Is it true that he gave you bad reviews

and praised the young Von Karajan...

called him a miracle, said he was better than you.

So you had him conscripted into the army and now he's missing?

That's an outrageous lie!

You didn't call your buddy and say,

"God in heaven! Did you see what Von der Nuel lwrote about me,

the greatest conductor?"

"I want him gone."

"He had the nerve to accuse me of not playing modern music."

"Send him to Stalingrad." Is that what you did?

You don't like criticism, do you?

You didn't like hearing someone was better than you.

The name Von der Nuell never came up in talks with Goebbels?

Well, once. He said he had read what this man wrote about me.

What did he say?

"Don't mind him. His job is to criticise, yours is to conduct."

What happened to Von der Nuell? - I have no idea.

You really have no idea?

I'll tell you what happened. He died... in Stalingrad.

I'm sorry.

That young conductor...

What's his name? That Miracle Kid. You know who I mean. Von Karajan!

But you called him something else.

What did you call Von Karajan?

Say it.

I'll say it then, "Little K". Is that right?

You couldn't bear to say his name.

Stop playing games.

Why you should bring up...

Why you should bring up another conductor is beyond my understanding.

I'll tell you why.

We talked about playing for Hitler's birthday

and you said Goebbels got to your doctors, you were tricked.

That's true.

I have a different story to tell. I don't think you were tricked.

Not in the way you describe. I think something else happened.

I've seen the Hinkel archive and records of phone calls,

and putting it all together, this is what I think happened.

I think Goebbels said, "if you won't conduct for Adolf,

we'll get the Miracle Kid,

the guy Von der Nuell thinks is the greatest conductor."

"He's not just willing to conduct, he's offered to sing Happy Birthday."

Admit it. K worried you, didn't he?

He always worried you.

In 1942, he's 34 years old, you're already 56.

Goebbels and Goering keep saying, "If you won't do it, Little K will."

Never mind art and politics

and bullshit about liberty, humanity and justice

because I don't care how great you are,

that's the oldest story in the book.

The ageing Romeo jealous of the young buck.

You didn't leave the country

when you should have because you were frightened that once gone,

you'd be supplanted by the Miracle Kid, the Party's boy twice over.

Flashy, talented Little K.

This is absolute nonsense.

Well, I'm just beginning to develop my theme.

Don't you say that in classical music?

OK, so they played on your insecurity.

That's human, understandable.

But one guy doesn't like Little K as much as he likes you.

The number one man, your pal, Adolf. He thinks you're the greatest.

When he says, "I want Wilhelm for my birthday", they better get you.

So Josef threatens you with K

and it's to hell with the Ninth in Vienna,

I'll give it to Adolf for his birthday in Berlin.

That's the trick they played.

They got you by the balls and they squeezed hard.

Why did you stay? Why did you play for them?

Why were you the flag carrier for their regime?

Jealousy.

Of course, there was a conspiracy against me...

A campaign, even abroad.

Wilhelm, I'm talking about ordinary, everyday reasons,

which is why we'll discuss your private life.

Do you have illegitimate children? - Major, I don't see how...

David! David!

What are you? Counsel for the Defence now?

Did you hear the question?

I have... - What?

I said I have illegitimate children.

I don't know how many.

You like the women, don't you?

Before every concert, you got a woman in your dressing room

and gave her the old conductor's baton?

This is offensive! - You bet!

And irrelevant! - Not so, Counsellor!

Your secretary wasn't just your secretary.

She procured women for you, didn't she? As many as you wanted.

Stop this, please, stop now! - No, I won't stop!

Hitler offered you a beautiful house and bomb shelter.

I refused them both.

But you see what I'm getting at!

You get a house, you're highly paid...

What do you do, stay or leave?

Stay!

That's not a good argument. If Dr Furtwangler did enjoy these...

...privileges, it was of who and what he is.

It's true of any leading artist... - But it doesn't make them saints.

They've still got to getup and piss in the middle of the night.

They can still be vindictive, envious and mean just like you and me.

Well, just like me.

Can't they?

OK, Wilhelm, go home now.

Go home and think about these past 12 years.

I don't understand. - No, that's your problem.

You understand nothing.

We'll call you. Go.

Major? - What?

Your manner.

My manner?

Why don't you go downstairs, get a cup of coffee and calm down?

Now, sir.

What's the matter, Emmi? What's going on with you?

What's wrong?

I'm sorry...

...but I have to leave.

I'll find other work.

You have to get someone else, that's all.

What is this?

I can't do this. It's not right.

What's not right?

I've been...

...questioned by the Gestapo...

...just like that...

just like... just like you question him.

Emmi, stop. I want to show you something.

Let me show you and then if you want to leave, you can.

Please. Please.

His friends, they did this.

And he gave them birthday concerts.

But he had no idea.

A lot of people had no idea.

I... I only...

...realised what was really going on...

...when I got arrested.

If he had no idea, why did the Jews need saving?

This is my question, Emmi, to all Germans.

Why did the Jews need...

...saving in this country? Why?

If people had no idea?

I would like to go now, please.

Embraceable You

♪ I love all the many charms about you

♪ Above all, I want my arms about you

♪ Don't be a naughty baby... ♪

Can I ask you a favour, Major? - Yeah.

When you question him again, could you treat him with more respect?

With more what?

More what?

Major, he may just be the greatest conductor of this century

and that merits respect.

I don't understand a thing about you.

You're a Jew. Are you a Jew?

Yes, I am a Jew.

But first I'm a human being.

A human being. Good! I'm relieved.

I thought you'd say a music-lover.

This man, this great artist,

has made anti-Semitic remarks like you wouldn't believe. I've seen...

Show me somebody who hasn't and I'll show you paradise.

Where are you feelings, David?

Where's your hatred, your disgust?

Where's your fucking outrage, David?

Think of your parents and then think of him conducting

"Happy Birthday, dear Adolf".

I mean...

For Christ's sake, whose side are you on?

Grow up.

Just grow the fuck up.

Come back to work.

May I come in?

You can influence what happens there.

What good can you do by leaving?

If you go, you're giving up.

How will you help Furtwangler or me?

Don't think about leaving.

Stay.

Everybody says what a great benefactor you were to the Jews.

But I have things here you said and wrote. Listen to this.

"The Jew composer Schonberg is admired by the Jewish International."

And what about this?

"Jewish musicians lack a genuine affinity with our music."

"Jewish musicians are good businessmen...

...with few scruples, lacking roots."

Do you deny this?

Those attitudes do not exist in me.

Just answer the question - no explanations.

Speaking to Party members, I used the language, of course I did.

Everyone did.

But it's not me.

Then who is it?

Who was speaking?

Major, maybe we have to balance those things

against his assistance to his Jewish colleagues.

This is a transcript from Nuremberg.

A Swedish man, Birger Dahlerus,

testified in cross-examination that he had met Hermann Goering.

"I first saw Goering embroiled in an argument with Dr Furtwangler,

who was vainly seeking to keep his Jewish concertmaster."

Emmi, pick one of these, any one, and read it out, please.

"Dr Furtwangler risked his life to help anyone who asked him."

"I testify to having seen hundreds of people

lined up outside his dressing room after concerts to ask for his help."

"He never turned anyone away."

"After he heard me play- I am a violinist-

he gave me money because I was unable to feed my family

and then he helped me to escape."

"He helped countless others."

That's only one letter.

How many times have I told you I was in insurance?

You think I can't smell a phoney policy?

He helped Jews, that was just insurance, his cover,

because all the while he was maestro of all he surveyed.

See, Wilhelm, I think you were their boy, their creature.

You were like an advertising slogan.

"This is what we produce- the greatest conductor in the world."

You went along with it.

You didn't need to be a Party member.

I should have asked not for your Party number,

but for your non-Party number.

Just like other well-known artists.

Emmi, put the record on.

Do you know what that is?

Of course I know what it is.

OK, so what is it?

Bruckner's Seventh. The Adagio.

Who's conducting?

I am.

Do you know the last time it was played on these airwaves?

How could I know such a thing?

I'll tell you, then.

The last time this music was played

was after they announced that your pal Hitler had shot himself.

Listen to it.

Did they pick Little K's recording?

Did they pick some other conductor? No, they picked you and why?

Because you represented them so beautifully.

When the devil died

they wanted his bandleader to conduct the funeral march.

You were everything to them.

I have always tried to analyse myself carefully and closely.

Staying here, I believed...

I walked a tightrope between exile and the gallows.

You seem to be blaming me for not having been hanged.

I did not directly oppose the Party.

I told myself it wasn't my job.

If I took any active part in politics I could not have remained here.

But as a musician, I am more than a citizen.

I am a citizen of this country in that eternal sense to which...

...to which the genius of great music testifies.

I know that a single performance

of a great masterpiece is a more vital negation

of the spirit of Buchenwald and Auschwitz than words.

Have you ever smelled burning flesh?

I smelled it four miles away!

Four miles away, I smelled it!

Have you ever seen the gas chambers? The crematoria?

Have you seen the mounds of rotting corpses?

You talk to me about culture, art and music?

Are you putting that in the scales?

Are you setting culture, art and music

against the millions put to death by your pals?

They had orchestras in the camps!

They played Beethoven, Wagner!

The hangmen... played chamber music at home with their families.

I don't understand the German's relationship with music. Why music?

Your pals you could call to save a few Jews

when millions were being annihilated?

Yes! I blame you for not getting hanged!

I blame you for your cowardice!

You strutted and swaggered, you fucking piece of shit.

Kingpin in a shithouse.

You talk to me about walking a tightrope

between exile and the gallows,

and I say to you, lies!

I believe in music, what could I do?

Look around you!

See the country you served!

Look at people who had real courage, who took risks!

Who risked their lives!

Like Emmi's father.

Emmi. Emmi, take your fingers out of your ears.

I'm talking about your father.

My father only joined the plot when he realised

that we could not win the war.

What kind of a world do you want?

What kind of world will you make?

Do you honestly believe that the only reality is the material world?

If so, you will be left with nothing.

Nothing but feculence.

Feculence more foul than that which pervades your nights.

How was I to understand? How was I to know what they were capable of?

No one knew.

I don't want to stay in this country.

Yes, I should have left in 1934.

It would have been better if I'd left.

Get him out of here.

Thank you, Fräulein. You have been most kind.

Sons of bitches.

Major Arnold. Get me General Wallace.

General? About Furtwangler.

I don't know if the case will stand up...

Symphony No. 5 in C Minor

Turn that down. I'm on the phone.

Never mind. Our journalist will do what we tell him.

BEETHOVEN'S SYMPHONY NO. 5 ECHOES IN THE DISTANCE

Turn it off!

We handed Wilhelm Furtwangler over to the authorities.

He was charged with serving the Nazi regime,

with uttering anti-Semitic slurs,

performing at an official Nazi Party function

and with being a Prussian Privy Councillor.

Dr Furtwangler was acquitted.

I didn't nail him. But I sure winged him.

And I know I did the right thing.

Furtwangler resumed his career,

but he was never allowed to conduct in the United States.

He died in 1954.

Little K succeeded him as head of the Berlin Philharmonic.