Original subtitles

[film reel clicking]

♪♪

[chamber clicking]

[indistinct greeting]

[distant conversation echoing]

[man] ...which gives us an opportunity

to study and discuss the questions

of worldwide importance this year of 1936.

Consequently, we must today--

Guards!

Guards!

My name is Stephan Lux.

I am Jewish.

The Jews are being persecuted in Germany

and the world doesn't care. [gasping]

I see no other way to reach people's hearts.

[gun fires, screaming]

[marching band playing]

[people singing in German]

Soon we'll be in England!

[quiet chatter]

[birds chirping]

[distant groaning]

[machines whirring]

Do it.

The real thing.

[tearing] No.

No-- you'll have to come back, Lieutenant Gerstein.

Here.

[laughing]

♪♪

[scattered laughter]

Give here.

[engine whirring loudly]

[Gerstein] We fight typhus and other diseases

by eliminating parasites and purifying the water.

You lay out all clothes, blankets, sheets

in a hermetically-sealed room.

Then from the exterior openings,

you introduce crystals of hydrocyanic acid.

This is the formula.

Do we have to make it ourselves?

No, the institute will supply you with it.

All details are in here.

This is a dangerous product,

so follow with the utmost precision.

Ratios, reaction times, et cetera.

Regarding water...

All water destined to our troops,

must systematically be treated.

[man] What if the water is known to be drinkable, Dr. Gerstein?

It will be even more drinkable after the treatment.

What is drinkable for a Slav may not be for a human being.

[laughing]

[laughing loudly]

Sit down.

We must fight off typhus as effectively

as we are fighting off our enemies on all fronts.

Please continue, Dr. Gerstein.

Let's continue our lecture.

I was just saying that all water destined to our troops

must be systematically--

Did he design this program?

Is he from the Wehrmacht?

The Wehrmact wanted him, but we stole him away,

thanks to his father who is a friend.

...Ready to be delivered to the various fronts.

[people singing in German]

Father.

I'm just back from Vienna.

I got your message.

What happened?

God has recalled our little Berthe.

Come.

This is all that's left of her.

[crying]

What happened?

Was she taken sick?

The letter says a cold, followed by a pulmonary abscess.

Father, why didn't they tell us?

Why?

Why doesn't bring back the dead,

especially in time of war.

She is my niece.

I would have medication for her at the institute.

All my friends at the institute speak highly of your work.

I'm told you are successfully fighting typhus.

I'm doing my best.

I'm serving my country.

An idealist like you belongs in the SS,

even if your wife doesn't agree with me.

Please, excuse us.

[birds chirping]

Place the flower.

Heil! No, come on, don't.

Why not?

Why aren't you in your uniform?

You don't bid farewell to the dead in your work clothes.

Kurt is very upset about Berthe's death.

She was his favorite niece.

How long is Kurt staying this time?

I wish I knew.

And you?

Tell him.

The rumor is there are thousands of cases around the country.

One of my parishioners got two urns

for his handicapped sister and two official letters.

One said it was cardiac arrest, the other pneumonia.

I hear the SS are behind it.

I don't think they deal with killing children.

The SS deal with everything, you know that.

Pastor, my job is cleaning barracks

and purifying the water for our troops.

I do nothing that's in conflict with my conscience and my faith.

If you find out anything, come and see us.

I have nothing to do with anything like that.

Kurt!

Ask questions-- We cannot accept euthanasia.

What will you do?

Protest.

Who will protest?

Every Christian leader shall protest.

[man] May I?

Now what do they want?

The pastor just told me something terrible.

What else should he tell you?

He is a man of the old school.

Next time, tell him spreading misinformation in time of war

is high treason.

♪♪

[man] What is the meaning of this, Monsignor von Galen?

Since you failed to answer my registered letter,

I'm filing a complaint against persons unknown

for the murder of unproductive citizens.

We have the facts, the names of patients,

the names of families and their addresses.

If you do not respond, the Catholic Church

has no other choice than to inform the faithful.

[footfalls retreat]

[car engine puttering]

Thank you.

Papa is back!

Papa is back!

Heil!

A present from France.

What is it?

Well, come and open it up.

Look for yourself.

So, hmm?

How are we coming along?

Kicking.

I think we'll have another lieutenant here.

What's going on?

We're having a hard time with a very,

very difficult arithmetic problem.

A-ha.

I see.

Hello, Mr. Gerstein.

Hello, Mrs. Hinze.

No, no, no, first your homework.

First your homework.

Read the question, okay?

And if you don't find the solution,

you read the question over and over again.

Go ahead.

If it costs 15,000 marks to build one house

for a working-class family and it costs six million marks

to build and run one insane asylum,

how many working-class houses

can you build for the cost of one insane asylum?

[Von Galen] They are thought of as valueless, like a machine

that no longer turns anything out.

Or a lame horse or a cow that no longer yields milk.

If you admit the principle that man has a right

to eliminate his unproductive neighbors--

Does Bishop Von Galen know how many have been eliminated?

Yes.

Thousands and thousands.

Someday, you will be-- we all will be-- unproductive.

And what will happen to our soldiers when they come home

from the war severely wounded, amputees, invalids?

Unproductive.

[typewriters clacking]

[man] This bishops and other pastors don't know a damn thing

about economics or eugenics.

[man] Or about compassion.

I wouldn't mind giving that Von Galen a few private lessons

after we've won the war.

[man] Why not now?

Let's rip off his-- Guard.

We just execute.

Come in.

Gerstein, come in.

Our imminent specialist in matters of purification.

It's all right, Lieutenant.

Tea, coffee, brandy, cakes?

No, thank you.

You're leaving tomorrow to inspect our disinfection units.

On the way back, you'll stop in Poland to supervise

the proper usage of 500 canisters of prussic acid

that we are dispatching to them.

500 canisters?

We are building a vast industrial complex there.

It will be gigantic.

They need a specialist in chemicals.

The Wehrmacht has better specialists than me.

The Wehrmacht's job is to win the war.

Ours is to win the post-war battles.

You haven't been one of us for very long, Lieutenant.

You'll find out that the SS like to stick together.

Right... That well-known human warmth praised

by our Reichsfuuührer Himmler.

[train exhaust hissing]

Thanks for coming.

I'm off on a mission.

So we won.

They backed down.

The operation Compassionate Death was called off.

Oh! I'd like to be informed.

Are you sure? Absolutely.

For good?

They're afraid of public opinion. [train whistle blows]

The army of Jesus has driven back the army of evil.

Inform Superintendent Dr. Dibelius.

Where are you headed? To the east.

[plane zooms past overhead]

[Gerstein] You see how dirty that water is?

It can even be dirtier.

Go.

[distant gunfire]

Come on, go.

All right.

If the pump motor does not work, you have a hand pump.

[laughing]

And if you don't have a hand pump, you use buckets.

[laughing]

If you don't have buckets, you use your helmets, all right?

[laughing]

If you don't have helmets, you are in big trouble.

But you cannot do without this filtering machine.

[engine chugging to life]

[cheering]

All right-- Here we go.

How about you-- A sip?

No-- You, no?

Want some, want to try?

Okay, cheers.

Ah.

Quenches your thirst, you won't get sick,

but it tastes awful.

[laughing, distant gunfire]

[record playing music]

[clapping]

This looks like a lady's garter.

Did you earn the Cross or the garter in battle?

It had to be in close combat.

[laughing]

I won both in a night skirmish.

[laughing]

Which took more guts?

The Cross or the garter?

I was scared on both occasions, but winning the garter,

unfortunately, I didn't draw blood.

[laughing]

You went in there fighting, both times?

You can be sure I did.

I went in there with all I had, sir.

[laughing]

Colonel Gerstein from the hygiene institute.

You've stocked 500 canisters of prussic acid

in a location that has no protection.

Only 500?

There's a lot of vermin between Berlin and Moscow.

With one canister, I can disinfect a whole barracks.

If you get bombed, all life within a kilometer

will be wiped-- We never get bombed here.

They don't bother us.

They leave us alone.

What do you plan to use it for?

Mm... What's this?

Asti Spumonti-- It's Italian.

We didn't conquer half the world

to have to swallow bubbly like this.

Now raise this junk to Herr Gerstein,

who will be joining us.

[dog barking, laughing]

The first visit to one of our camps?

Oh no, of course not.

This one is rather special.

How many?

Around 300.

400 units to be treated.

[whistle blows]

Go.

♪♪

[clattering]

[banging]

♪♪

It's rather horrible.

There aren't 10 people alive

who have seen what you've just saw.

[chatter]

Hey!

[speaking foreign languages]

[Man speaks German]

You don't have a reservation, Captain?

Everything is full.

Kurt.

You're sick?

Captain?

Captain.

You're sick? Yes.

Yes.

Even an SS can get sick.

I'm so sorry.

The Swedish ambassador's also in the corridor.

The whole world is traveling by train.

[man] I'm only the secretary of the Swedish embassy.

Herr Von Rutta.

Could you grant me an interview tomorrow in Berlin?

I have to talk to you.

Why not here?

We're going to spend the night in this corridor.

I've seen something horrifying...

something absolutely horr--

horrifying.

Whole families are being exterminated.

Prisoners of war?

Jews.

They're being exterminated, whole families.

They're undressed, their heads are shorn.

Even the women.

Shorn?

Why shorn?

[man] Close your curtains, please?

Train has light.

The enemy can bomb at night.

Here... Invoices for Zyklon B.

I use it to destroy parasites.

I supply them with it.

And they are using it to...

my papers.

No, I won't need them.

Your government must warn the Americans and the British.

Get them to drop leaflets on Germany.

Once they're informed, the Germans will rise against.

Tell them to act fast.

Every day that goes by-- [train brakes squeaking

[man] We are stopping in a few minutes.

Remain in your place, please.

It's a quick stop.

to let by a train that has priority.

If you want references on me,

you can get them from Auto Dibelius,

the Superintendent of the Protestant Church.

♪♪

Sit down.

Stop them from following me, please.

Sit down.

They need you.

They see you so little.

It's best if you don't know

what I'm about to tell the pastor.

I've discovered something dreadful, Pastor.

The Jews. Not here.

It's unimaginable.

Later, please-- Later.

The Jews aren't being expelled as we thought.

They're being exterminated.

What?

The Jews are being exterminated.

Go in!

I just got back from the camps at Poland.

They're exterminating Jews.

The strongest are pressed into forced labor.

The others, the women and children, are gassed.

I saw it with my own eyes.

The church must alert all Christians.

The first thing you must do is resign from the SS.

I have seen what was not meant to be seen.

There must be a witness.

I shall be the eyes of God in that hell.

This may turn into a disaster for you and your family.

Yes.

We must announce the assassins.

I'm prepared to do with you in today's service,

to testify to what I saw.

[woman] We are ready to begin the service.

We are coming.

There's no doubt.

We must act, but in a thoughtful and responsible manner.

Superintendent Dibelius can advise you.

I believe he officiated at your marriage, didn't he?

Resign from the SS.

Keep out of all this.

We were saying--

you were saying that the Jews were like a foreign body

that had to be expelled,

that we can discriminate against the Jews,

but, but not persecute them.

Suppose mass murder is going on.

What would you suggest me do?

Protest, warn Christians--

That protest may be used as propaganda by our enemies

and we will be accused of treason.

We are war, Gerstein.

When the church protested against the extermination

of mental-- Mercy killings.

Euthanasia.

Not extermination, Gerstein.

Public protests stopped euthanasia.

Let's do the same for the Jews.

Those mental patients were baptized members of our church.

The Jews are-- You are a soldier.

Far from the daily reality of our people.

You are bumped into view of the most true hardships.

You should know that the majority of the faithful

and our pastors are behind Mr. Hitler.

Nobody will protest.

Nobody will even believe you.

♪♪

The Fuuührer and Himmler watched the same test as us.

Our orders are to accelerate the procedure.

The hygiene institute is sending me to the eastern front

to purify the water of our troops.

I can't be part of this.

There's no conflict.

All our installations are in the east.

[man] ...has agreed to those plans.

[man] I'm talking of output, not plans, Herr Pruffer.

We warned you there was a risk of thermal distortion

that in the long run could cause--

[man] They were put into operation on March 22nd.

On the 25th, after processing a convey of 3,000 units,

the oven walls blew out due to overheating.

If you hadn't cut down on costs so much, Colonel Hess--

We provided you with free labor.

Why don't you adapt the mobile model?

Because it needs to be resealed all the time

and tar is rationed.

Lieutenant Gerstein, exploring the destruction of vermin

of all sorts.

We're badly in need of your competence.

I have no competence for this type of operation.

Gerstein's superiors at the hygiene institute

say he is particularly suited to tasks

for which he has no competence.

[laughing]

I am not so sure about that.

This is the new generation of equipment.

It can process 10,000 units per day.

10,000?

But, that's impossible.

It will be necessary.

We have to eliminate 11 to 12 million units in Europe.

The Fuuührer wants it done before 1948.

We'll devote 1949 to dealing with the rest of the world

and in 1950, we will take a sabbatical.

[laughing]

The problem is that during the operation,

the crystals only evaporate partially.

The evaporation starts to resume

when a sight has been cleared,

which slows the work of the cleaning squads.

The crystals only evaporate when they come into contact with air.

You mean as the bodies fall to the ground,

the smother the crystals.

Yes, that's right.

[man] In some cases, the crystals exposed to air

take 40 to 50 minutes to evaporate instead of five or 10.

That slows down production

and prevents us from making accurate estimates.

Two factors could contribute to this:

the poor quality of the product or temperatures that are low.

A greater number will raise the temperature.

That legendary human warmth.

And the fenced columns will protect the crystals.

Your mission is to provide us with high quality crystals

and in great quantity.

My responsibilities are to the hygiene institution.

We'll share you with the institute.

You'll be fulfilling your duties as an SS and as a Christian.

You'll reduce the agony of the units to five minutes

and also speed up our tempo.

[man] Lieutenant?

Professor would be more suitable.

Professor.

How soon will the cleaning squads be able

to operate without gas masks?

Their filters are too expensive.

Two hours.

Two hours?

[Gerstein] Without ventilation, two hours is the minimum.

What kind of ventilation?

How many cubic meters?

1,250 on average.

With a one horsepower blower, you might save one hour.

We'll put in two blowers.

Go back to your sanitation work.

And don't forget your Christian mission of public utility.

The monsignor can't see anyone!

Just for five minutes, it's very important!

I'm telling you, His Eminence is not going to see anyone.

I'm a lieutenant-- Now go and announce me!

Excuse me, I have to talk to you.

I have to speak to you--

[monsignor] What are you doing in here, Officer?

I'm Lieutenant Kurt Gerstein, Excellency.

I have information for the Vatican

of an urgency and importance

that will undoubtedly justify my intrusion.

Lieutenant, I'm shocked by the manner in which you burst in.

I called the police, Excellency.

No, if my superiors learn of my visit--

It's an intrusion, sir.

Excellency, I have a message for the Vatican.

I've been in Poland

at the camps of Auschwitz and Belzec.

Every day, thousands of Jews are being murdered--

Enough!

Get out of here.

Come along, Count.

We cannot listen to any more of this.

I saw everything with my own eyes.

Excellency!

Convoys from all over Europe are arriving

at those factories of death.

Only the Vatican can do something

to stop those atrocities.

Only His Holiness, by alerting world public opinion

and all Christians.

Thank you for being so concerned

about what His Holiness should do.

Are you a Catholic?

[banging]

Excellency.

What I saw haunts me day and night.

Even in death, we can recognize a family.

They die clinging together.

Naked mothers clasp their infants to their breast.

I was told that after death...

they can't be pried apart.

Not even with hooks.

I have no right to be in contact with the German army.

See him out.

You may leave.

Gestapo communication.

An SS defending the Jews.

They think we are idiots.

♪♪

[speaking German]

Excuse me.

Is Baron Von Otter in?

No-- I'm his assistant.

Who are you?

Lieutenant Kurt Gerstein-- He knows me.

He's traveling-- May I help you?

When will he be back?

We don't know. Thank you.

[sirens blaring]

[Gerstein] Berthe!

Papa!

Heil! Hey now, don't do that.

Heil! Now stop it.

Heil! I told you to stop that!

[distant banging and rattling]

I told you to stay there-- Stay!

What is it, dear?

You can't stay in town any longer.

They're bombing all over the country.

That's not what I meant.

I want you to go and live at your parents' home

in Tubingen with the children.

Please let them finish their school year here, mein Liebe.

I said no and I mean no!

[baby crying] You're probably right.

Adelheid, take your brother, go play over there.

[distant explosions, children crying]

Maybe you should tell me.

I want you to leave as soon as possible.

That's all I can say.

Is there another woman?

[sighing]

You... you make me laugh.

You make me laugh.

At least that's one thing I'm still good at.

Who will take care of you?

Mrs. Hinze will do fine.

Is she Jew?

Did she tell you she was?

No.

Someone else tell you? No.

[woman] Come, kinder, come here.

Don't worry about it.

[children singing in German]

[distant gunfire and explosions]

You take everything too seriously.

Don't forget that you have a family.

That's what counts.

More than anything in the world.

[music playing]

Mrs. Hinze?

Could you start packing my things, please?

Yes-- and I'll get the carpenter to come back.

The bombs made it loose again.

Can you drive us to Tubingen?

No.

My father will take you.

I have no time.

There's a big black car outside.

Gerstein, a relief to find you.

Something awful has just happened...

What a fine German family.

[sneezing]

I tried to call you.

You haven't heard? No.

The Fuuührer personal plane exploded on takeoff.

And the Fuuührer was on it?

With Goebbels, Goering and Himmler.

No one survived?

Yes.

Germany.

I got you.

I got you.

I'll report you for spreading false good news.

It was my father's.

It was damaged by some bomb blasts.

My girlfriend's house near here was destroyed.

Only the wall with the portrait of the Fuuührer wasn't damaged.

The Fuuührer's portrait never gets damaged!

Arnulf-- Come on!

Yes, you're right.

You made a very good impression on our colleagues

who are specialists of... Yes, yes, a very good one.

I'm leaving.

Reidstadt-- You're coming with me.

You'll continue on to visit your manufacturer of prussic acid

in Czechoslovakia-- on the way we'll chat.

You are he only person with whom it's still worth talking to.

Why the only one?

Our colleagues have a kind of technical intelligence,

but they're either self-satisfied, drunkards

or degenerates and often all three.

Are your children studying science?

No.

They're too young.

I have a splendid specimen of a Judeo-Bolshevik skull.

A skull!

No-- No.

Kurt.

One is never too young to learn.

I'll show it to them.

To celebrate Darwin's birthday,

the purest Swiss chocolate.

You shouldn't have-- You shouldn't have.

Giving pleasure is my pleasure.

Hmm?

Let's see.

"Man descended from the ape, but the Negroes and the Jews

only got halfway."

Delicious.

Here.

No, no, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Stop it. Gerstein.

Gerstein, learn to control your facial muscles better.

In the SS, as in poker,

your opponents and even your partners

should never be able to read your thoughts.

Or your game.

You think you can read my thoughts?

Like an open book.

That's why I appreciate you.

[baby gurgling]

What a treasure you have there.

Take good care of them.

See you the day after tomorrow in the morning.

At 6:30 sharp.

I can't wait.

[car engine starts]

Gerstein, I'm Ricardo Fontana.

We met at a papal occasion.

I'm a Jesuit.

A Jesuit?

Is that how I should introduce you if that man came back?

That man in the black car?

No, just introduce me as... as a spy for God,

as Kierkegaard would have put it.

Spy for God or for the Vatican?

For the Vatican wouldn't make sense.

What do you want?

I was ashamed of Dibelius's behavior.

What you said upset me and I wish to know more.

And more.

More about what?

If what you said is true,

then the Holy Father must be informed.

But he will ask me for evidence.

The Pope doesn't know what we're doing to the Jews?

With his priests, his parishes, his bishops?

He has the finest intelligence service in the world.

He's only informed when Catholics are persecuted.

He should ask persecuted Catholics

about the persecution of Jews and Gypsies.

Gypsies move around a lot.

And Jews get moved around a lot.

What doesn't the Pope wonder where the deportees are going?

Mr. Gerstein, neither the Pope nor my father,

who is close to him, have much esteem for Mr. Hitler,

but they realize he has succeeded in doing

what nobody else has dared to do--

he defeated Communism in Germany

and now in Russia.

And this man we do not esteem has become a myth.

Your myth is committing acts of barbarity that only the Pope,

the representative of Jesus, can condemn

so that the world and the Germans will know about it.

When the Holy Father is informed of these atrocities,

he will take a firm stand.

But you'll have to tell me everything you know.

It won't be enough to convince him.

Have a seat.

People who betray their own country...

Are always suspect.

[clock chimes ringing]

Some cookies for His Eminence.

He's very angry.

You didn't tell us you would be out.

His Eminence is conferring with a minister

about religious matters.

He authorized me to show you in at any time.

He was counting on your verbal skills.

He's dealing with some very difficult Nazi negotiators.

What's the meeting about?

Always the same thing-- smoothing out the little

differences between us and the authorities of the Reich.

Little differences?

They don't want to pay the taxes allotted to the churches.

May I show you in?

♪♪

[bells tolling]

Oh, Ricardo. Already back?

Do you know where my father is?

How is the charming Mr. Hitler?

He sends his regards.

Your father isn't here today.

Do you know when he'll be back?

[distant conversation]

♪♪

[train whistle blows]

Kurt, I think the Fuuührer made a mistake about the Jews.

Another one of your jokes?

He presented them as very dangerous

because they were so organized internationally right?

Yet, you and I have easy it is to send them up

in a puff of smoke.

Even our lunatics who are wretches

turned out to be defended better.

Our churches-- I'm... a little bit Catholic--

our churches saved the lunatics.

Nobody's come forward for the Jews.

They say American Jews are so powerful,

but Roosevelt hasn't said a word yet.

If the Fuuührer made a mistake, as you said, why continue?

The Fuhrer's mistake was the diagnosis, not the remedy.

We have to get rid of them.

But I think we are lost.

Excuse me?

This idiot is driving around in circles.

Straight ahead-- Straight ahead!

I woke him up.

The Reich needs men like us.

Men who have learned to subdue their consciences,

not those brainless brutes who feel superior

because they were told they were Aryans.

It's magnificent.

Magnificent!

[speaking Italian]

It will be.

Ricardo!

No, no.

No! Ricardo!

The press is interested in your father.

The pope has dedicated the word

to the immaculate heart of the Virgin Mary

to restore peace.

It's a major celebration.

I am presenting it to the press.

Another celebration.

You look tense.

Has Enuncio sent you on a mission?

No, I came of my own initiative.

Your own initiative? Yes.

Jews of Europe are being exterminated.

In every country that Germany has conquered.

We'll finish this tomorrow-- Leave us.

Tomorrow is-- Leave us!

I've come to inform the Holy Father.

The Holy Father doesn't need to be informed.

If he was informed, he would already have condemned

these atrocities.

Calm down, will you.

His Eminence, the Cardinal is here.

Show him in.

Is it all right if he sees you here?

Yes.

From my very own garden.

Thank you-- They are splendid.

Ricardo, my boy.

You look wonderful.

How is that dreadful Mr. Hitler?

Just dreadful.

What news of our American friend?

Due here any minute, Eminence.

Enuncio didn't tell us of your arrival, Ricardo.

It's because I came without him.

It looks like the German army is blocked at Stalingrad.

Eminence, I have secret information

about Hitler's extermination camps.

Well, now.

Here we have a secret agent

who leaves his post

without informing Enuncio.

I think the Holy Father should be informed.

The Holy Father holds Mr. Hitler in very low esteem

and since he signed that infamous pact with that Stalin,

nothing he does will surprise His Holiness.

Consider the time I told the Holy Father

that Hitler had a hidden agenda.

He attacked too late.

And now he is stuck in the Russian winter.

The Holy Father is very concerned.

Hitler must crush Stalin and then sign a peace treaty

with the Americans.

Then all these horrors that are breaking Holy Father's heart

will be over.

The Allies will never sign a peace treaty with Hitler.

In the meantime, Jews are being massacred.

The Holy Father must protest.

He must?

They are being gassed every day.

We've grown accustomed to the Jews' endless moaning.

I hold this information from an SS officer.

Count, your son mingles with the SS?

Do you think this SS was sent by divine providence?

The American gentleman is here.

Welcome.

Count.

This is my son, Ricardo.

Just arrived from Berlin.

Our paths crossed earlier, right?

The pope wouldn't receive me.

He was meeting with some Germans.

I did however meet a great many eminences.

Your Eminence.

Dear friend, here is the reply your government is waiting for.

Wonderful.

I trust this-- Ah, she was a saintly woman.

You didn't know her, Mr. Tittman.

No. Countess Fontana.

She left us too soon.

[train whistle blows]

Something to drink?

Kurt?

I think the two of us make a good team.

It's a pity you can't stay.

Prague has a very beautiful Jewish cemetery.

Ah.

Carry on, Luigi.

Monsignor, this just came.

The pope needs me immediately.

Duty before pleasure.

When will Ambassador Taylor be back?

Not for two months.

We look forward to seeing him again.

Count, Berlin is no longer a pleasant place to live in,

but it's a good school to learn moderation and patience.

We hope Ricardo will go back there as soon as possible.

So, is Berlin punishment or a promotion?

Where does the American government stand

concerning the massive slaughter of Jews?

We've been trying to verify these rumors.

We've asked the Vatican, actually.

And the Vatican, having heard the same rumors,

is asking us to verify.

While you're verifying

10,000 Jews are being exterminated every day.

If you want a chance at being believed,

don't mention that figure.

Say a few hundred.

I can introduce you to someone who has seen

the gas chambers operating with his own eyes.

Ricardo.

Ricardo, our guest came here to have lunch.

Sorry, Father.

At last you have your reply.

It isn't signed.

The pope's advisor gave it to you personally.

That's the signature.

♪♪

Convey our congratulations to SS Lieutenant Kurt Gerstein

for his nomination as head of our sanitary

and technical services.

We are grateful to him for the excellence of his work.

Signed, Heinrich Himmler.

Heil, Hitler! [all others] Heil, Hitler!

As for me, I name you the worst enemy of vermin,

wherever and whatever they are.

I join my congratulations to Himmler's.

Thank you, Reichsfuuührer.

There's an ambulance here waiting your inspection.

It's urgent.

Carry on, we'll be right back.

[clattering and chatter]

And the other front, you are right.

I know the doctor and the others are very pleased with you.

My God, there are leaks.

There are leaks!

Close the doors-- There are leaks!

Put your masks on, all of you!

Put the masks on!

Go!

It's highly toxic-- It's deadly.

Don't look at me like a cow, put your mask on!

Move out the shipment and bury it.

Come on-- Get the car out of here!

I can't smell anything.

I was told to have irritants removed.

Leaks are very hard to detect.

Put your mask on.

Come and push the car out!

Bury that shipment!

I don't want this product

transtransitingitting through here anymore.

Deal with it any way you want, but deal with it.

[deep oxygen breathing]

You know everyone.

You're on leave.

No, convalescing.

This is a nice little Bordeaux.

I was just telling them that there is an SS plan

to exterminate the Jews.

And I've seen it in operation.

In the name of all our strongest members

of Protestant youth groups, I've gathered you here

to discuss what action could be taken--

Evening, Father.

Ah, Himmel

You know everyone.

Armin was wounded on the eastern front.

I hope nothing serious.

No, I'm heading back next week.

Good.

Can I talk to you?

Why didn't you tell me?

You think I'm not concerned?

Luckily my friends in the SS tell me everything.

Everything about everything?

Everything about you.

Congratulations on your promotion-- Good.

I'd rather you had told me.

What are you still doing with that pastor

and these troublemakers?

Father...

have your SS friends ever mentioned

the monstrosities they're hiding from the German people?

Not again.

Our country got back on its feet thanks to Chancellor Hitler.

And thanks to the common people who aren't as fancy

as Mr. Thomas Mann or your friend, the humanistic priest.

They're making us accomplices of a crime

that will doom the German people for all eternity!

Stop listening to British propaganda, please.

Have you ever wondered what happened

to your Jewish acquaintances and colleagues?

Ever wondered what happened to them?

They have been sidelined from public life.

In wartime it's only natural to weed out people

who say they belong to an International,

directed from Moscow one day and New York the next.

What if I told you those people no longer exist?

What exactly did he tell you?

That thousands of Jews are being deported to the east

to be gassed.

He actually witnessed it.

The Jews left for America long ago.

He means Jews from all over Europe.

I knew the SS were a bunch of maniacs, but he tops them all.

They are sent to the camps to work, of course.

What kinds of work needs millions of workers?

Don't work for the salvation of your soul, Kurt,

work for the salvation of our people.

That's what I'm doing, Father!

Night and day.

Once and for all, drop all that sentimental nonsense.

You're lying.

Germans are incapable of such atrocities.

Himmel, please.

Kurt, our struggles against the Nazis are ancient history.

Today, you are in the SS, I am in the Luftwaffe

and our children are being bombed.

Sorry.

Well...

How about you?

I vowed never to raise my arm, never to say Heil.

So far I have succeeded.

Lucky is he who can ignore what can't be changed anymore.

"Die Fledermaus," by Johann Strauss.

Excuse me, Pastor.

I have work to do.

There's still a lot more Jews to gas!

[singing in Latin]

Mercy, Holy Father, for the people of Christ.

Mercy for the Jewish people.

I know the sufferings of the world, Ricardo.

[whispering]

...in the east... trains... extermination camps...

...gas chambers...

My heart bleeds for the victims.

I pray for them.

I pray for you too, my child.

The world is waiting for the representative of Jesus

to lead the way.

There's no need to make a spectacle of yourself.

Somebody had to tell His Holiness.

His Holiness will use fiery language against the Nazi crimes

in his Christmas homily.

You know-- why didn't you tell me?

I'm telling you now!

Thank God!

Thank diplomacy and perseverance.

You must trust your father.

♪♪

[distant shouting]

The crematoriums are overworked.

Why didn't you come and verify them before?

The whole stock has come in contact with air.

It's unusable-- It has to be buried.

Unlike our other deliveries, we always seem to have problems

with your shipments of gas.

The doctor asked me for gas without irritants.

I had so many manufactured on that tone.

There are defects!

It can't be used, it has to be buried.

I can't call everything off.

I will use it.

It won't work.

I told you, it works badly, but it works.

We steal them from corpses

to trade them for vodka.

There's also been talking.

I can't move corpses without drinking.

[gun fires]

What were you two talking about?

He said there were dead bodies screaming

when they were thrown in the ovens.

Move.

[gun fires]

Your Zyklon is taking 60 minutes to work instead of 10.

It's slowing down our rate.

It's getting on our nerves.

They're all stupid thieves.

Heil Hitler.

[all others] Heil Hitler!

First, Berlin congratulates us for our results

and encourages us to increase our efforts.

[murmuring]

Second, we are on the verge of a catastrophe

that could hinder our whole mission.

Transport problems again?

No, no.

Our convoys have priority everywhere.

It concerns the supply of quality-grade Zyklon gas.

Treblinka has run out of stock.

Gerstein, why don't we keep all our supplies in one location?

Because of air raid danger.

None of our camps has ever been bombed.

You can't bomb prison camps.

It's forbidden by the Geneva convention.

[laughing]

Will we ever deal in a rational manner

with these damn supply problems?

Estimates were established on the basis of 10,000

units per day.

10,000 units?

For all the camps?

I am being delivered 6,000 units per day.

[man] So am I!

I can't feed them or house them.

7,000 to 8,000 per day.

My camp is now total chaos.

...being demanded from us.

Some people only fight wars in offices!

And our orders are to accelerate.

They have to give us the means.

All the means.

The Shriver company could supply us with mills to grind them up.

We'll never get out of this.

I'm having nightmares.

Quiet!

Let's have some order here, please.

What do you estimate your needs are?

I don't estimate.

I want huge stocks of Zyklon ready for use

stocked in one place underground.

You may even spend some money if you have to.

Our suppliers will have a hard time keeping up.

Your suppliers, your manufacturers

shout, "Heil Hitler" night and day

while they fill their pockets.

They should watch out.

We can Aryanize the Aryanizers.

[laughing]

Gerhert will take charge of your dealings with them.

He's good at that.

He's also well-connected in Switzerland

and other neutral countries.

I don't want the whole operation to collapse because

of gas shortage and installation problems.

Are those your entire estimates?

Have a look at it.

Where do we stand?

Don't, Gerstein.

I thought it best to wait for you here.

I don't trust the telephone.

The others have to act.

The situation is getting worse.

The Allies must bomb the railroad lines

leading the camps and they must destroy the buildings

used for extermination.

I have informed my government.

You must insist-- Bring it up again.

Those factories of death are working day and night.

You overestimate the power of heads of state.

Our government has been negotiating

with the United States for seven months

to get them to take on 2,000 Jewish children.

They're getting nowhere.

2,000-- That's nothing!

That's a drop in the bucket.

10 times more than that are brought to the camps every day.

I can organize for you and your family--

I found someone to inform the pope.

I'm sure the pope will speak out.

The Allies must be ready to inform the German people.

I will make it known, Mr. Gerstein.

I can obtain passports for you and your family--

No, no, I refuse to leave my country.

I must testify about all this.

♪♪

[laughing]

It is a French dinner for a German Christmas.

I will have a stud farm in Normandy and breed horses.

After our victory.

[man] Victory!

My wife and I--

I've already found a farm in Poland.

Oh no in Poland-- My wife and I hate the cold.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ,yeah?

I'm going to have a Greek island.

What's your dream, Kurt?

I'd like to be a German in Germany.

[laughing]

I'll testify about my wartime experiences.

Unfortunately, you won't be able to tell at all.

Excuse me, please.

[laughing] German in Germany!

He's here.

You're here-- Oh, that's wonderful!

I didn't know you had guests.

Maybe I should leave.

No, no, no, you stay-- You have to translate.

The speech is going to start in a while.

Mrs. Hinze, set up the radio. Okay.

I'll be right back. Okay.

[laughing, coughing]

Was it the promised surprise?

No-- The surprise is coming.

But we have to respect very precise rules.

Germans always respect the rules

as long as they are precise.

No gifts before the singing.

[Singing "Silent Night" in German]

[radio tuner whirring]

[singing]

[Children singing in foreign language on radio]

Has it started?

No-- Any minute now.

[Singing "Silent Night" in German]

[speaks German]

[guests banging on table]

I'll try to get rid of them.

[guests] Gerstein, Gerstein, Gerstein, Gerstein!

What about our surprise?

Come-- Come along.

Here's the surprise.

I thought of a little game for your Christmas presents.

When I blow this whistle...

you'll go into the room.

I'll switch off the lights...

and close the door.

You'll have exactly one minute to go on a treasure hunt.

The second time I blow this whistle,

you'll stop immediately.

Whatever you're holding is yours.

[gasps of surprise]

Hold it!

On your marks, get set&

[blowing whistle]

You know how to amuse idiots.

Why do you make such efforts to be popular?

I'm very attached to our Christmas traditions.

[woman] Oh, who pinched my ass?

[man] It's my Christmas present, my dear.

[blowing whistle]

No, you're not allowed to pick it up.

[Man speaks in Italian on radio]

Our friends like your little presents.

I've got to phone my family.

Excuse me, please.

Family?

The sweetest word in our language.

Give them my best wishes.

Make sure that no one comes in, Mrs. Hinze.

[Man speaks in Italian on radio]

He has appealed to all the peoples of the earth

to let divine laws be the center of gravity of our society.

[Man speaks in Italian on radio]

[translating] This wish, humanity owes it to the infinite multitude

of suffering mothers, widows and orphans

that have been deprived of the light of sustenance

of their lives.

[speaks in Italian]

[all] No!

Gerstein, Gerstein, Gerstein, Gerstein, Gerstein!

What shall I do?

Tell them I'm talking to my children.

Put some music on the Gramophone so that they can dance.

All right.

And Mrs. Hinze, smile at them.

I'll try.

[guests] Gerstein, Gerstein, Gerstein, Gerstein, Gerstein!

[translating] This wish, humanity owes it&

He's talking to his children.

[all] Oh&

Oh, I love it!

&and the millions of non-combatants.

The war in the air that we all have denounced many times,

mankind has, without distinction,

deprived of life,

health, of homes, of heaven,

of charity and prayer.

That's all?

That's all.

He-- He-- he nev...

He never even pronounced the word "Jew"

or "concentration camp."

Can you travel outside Germany?

Yes.

The pope is too protected.

He needs to meet an eye witness.

♪♪

Sir, Washington's still--

The Holy Father is arriving.

Excellency, Washington is still amazed

the pope's Christmas broadcast was so bland.

The lack of any condemnation of Nazi atrocity

threatens the moral leadership of the Holy Father

and faith in the church itself.

You can't condemn Hitler

without condemning Stalin, who's your ally.

You can't compare the two.

We are very pleased to welcome you to the Vatican again.

The greetings and good wishes that President Roosevelt

has so kindly extended to us for the holy season of Christmas

have been a source of particular pleasure for us.

Our heart too is saddened by the thought that once more,

the serene light that radiates from Bethlehem

shines upon a world troubled and bloodied by war.

And no one appreciates more than President Roosevelt

the ceaseless efforts of Your Holiness

to prevent the outbreak of war and to stop it from spreading.

Your Holiness is familiar with President Roosevelt's

tireless efforts to achieve victory, a complete victory.

Your moral help and assistance in this effort

would be highly appreciated by the president.

Ricardo.

Decided to come with the permission of your superiors.

Nothing is denied to your son.

A protege of the pope, you should know that.

The Holy Father likes you.

Only yesterday, he said to me that Berlin will provide you

with excellent diplomatic experience.

Do diplomacy and the gospel belong together?

At Christmas, we waited for his fiery words

against the Nazi crimes.

The pope needs tangible evidence before he commits--

I have an eye witness willing to come and testify.

He's an SS officer.

I have friends for lunch.

If you hold your tongue, you are more than welcome.

Thank you, but I'd rather eat in my room.

I wanted to introduce you to the American ambassador.

Then I'll be glad to join you.

Papa-- Papa!

Arnulf-- Big boy.

Adelheid.

I've got something for you that you'll really like.

What is it? What is it?

Go ahead and take a look.

I was visiting a nearby factory

and I thought I'd make a little side trip to see you.

Are you all right?

Better than yesterday, worse than tomorrow.

Good morning, Pastor.

Good morning, Kurt.

Some little gifts from the Ukraine.

Forgive me.

I've heard awful rumors.

Yes?

About... about Russia.

They say the Marshall of the Reich

surrendered with all his men at the place called Stalingrad.

Have you been listening to the English radio, Pastor?

Me-- God forbid, no.

It's a rumor that's going around.

Propaganda.

Falsehoods, defeatism.

Thank you, Kurt.

You relieved me of a heavy burden.

That's all right-- Goodbye, Pastor.

200,000 dead.

90,000 taken prisoner.

Hitler's harvesting what he's sowing.

And we are the beneficiaries.

200,000 dead?

I can't stay long.

All right, let's go-- Up with it.

Into the house-- Come on.

[man] These words play havoc with our beliefs.

And the church is the victim.

We had a warlike pope, he died.

Then Providence gave us a peace-loving pope

and war broke out.

[laughing]

Oh, Ricardo, how are you?

Ricardo, have a seat.

This is the American ambassador.

My son just arrived from Berlin.

What news from Berlin, Ricardo?

Please, Your Eminence,

an SS officer gave me this map of Poland.

On it, you'll find the names and locations

of the concentration camps.

In red are the numbers of people who are being gassed everyday

and in black, you'll find the estimates.

That's 400,000 in Hungary, 200,000 people in Romania.

80,000 people in Greece.

Yeah, but what can we do about it?

You can negotiate to save them.

Negotiate with the Nazis?

We'll never negotiate with those criminals.

Not to save a million lives?

Only winning the war will save them.

They'll be ashes long before that.

If the Holy Father could intervene personally

with the Nazis and obtain for the Jews to be moved--

It is out of the question!

The Holy Father has to remain neutral

so he can act for peace.

And we'll not act in order to stay neutral.

But if could intervene in the name of Jesus, of our Lord--

Ricardo, if he intervenes,

the Germans will invade the Vatican

and loot everything.

Should we save the Vatican or Christianity?

I mean, if by miracle he was able to save these people,

will your government take these Jews in?

Why would Hitler agree to any of this?

Because it would be a fatal blow to any democracy

weak enough to take in these poor people.

As Goebbels said,

that those who love the Jews have them but naked.

It would cause civil unrest.

The rise of a gigantic wave of anti-Semitism.

Ricardo, your attempt to save those poor wretches

makes you an agent of Goebbels.

How can you say that?

Since his defeat at Stalingrad, Hitler is counting

on our weaknesses to help him beat us.

If we concentrate on saving Jews and slowing down our war effort,

that'll suit him just fine.

May I remind you that while we are eating and talking,

trains are heading for the camps?

May I remind you that our sons are dying on battlefields

to save the free world?

[Monsignor] The world is sick.

Ricardo, my boy.

The charge is made of patience.

Patience, faith and hard work.

In the end, time always proves the church right.

Always.

I think Easter should be on the same date every year.

There are two important days for Christians.

The feast of the Holy Virgin on August the 15th

and Christmas on December the 25th.

Easter doesn't have a fixed date...

[thundering. wind howling]

Ricardo.

Even contrition can become pride.

I feel guilty as a spectator, even more so as a priest.

Your pride and stubbornness are destroying your future.

As long as I can testify to Jesus' love for mankind,

for all mankind, then my future is assured.

Hitler can annihilate us at any moment.

We, the men of God,

and all the Christians of Europe.

What if all the Christians of Europe became Jews for a while,

just until the persecution stopped.

What will the executioners do?

That fact is that on one side, there are the Nazis.

On the other side, the Communists.

The Americans are too far away.

If my friend from Berlin came to Rome,

will you agree to meet with him?

If you think he's worthy of it, yes.

If he's worthy of it,

will you do your best to get him an audience

with the Holy Father?

Yes.

Thank you. Ricardo, Ricardo!

There is life the way it is and life the way it should be.

Unfortunately, we have to live with life the way it is.

Ah, good.

It's been ages.

Get us some drinks.

A lot has happened since we last sat around a campfire.

[Both sing in German]

Please sit down.

[Sing in German]

What can I do for you?

Could you organize a trip to Rome for me?

For you alone or for you and your family?

For me alone.

A return trip?

When do you want to leave?

I don't have the exact date yet.

What do you think of the situation?

I think we were right.

And the coming events will confirm it.

Thank God my poor eyesight landed me

in this sinister place.

Here I can serve my country without renouncing

my convictions of betraying my faith.

[chuckling]

Where did you wind up?

In disinfection.

A vast program.

I will make a top priority pass to you

so you can travel when you want.

Should it be in your name?

Yes, in my name, of course-- Thank you.

In these heroic times, have you acquired some,

some title or some kind of rank?

Lieutenant of the Waffen S.S.

Go to the SS transportation department.

This is a private trip, Karl.

Thanks for your visit.

I suppose you're sending more and more trains to the east.

Goods trains.

Do you know what you're transporting?

Goods.

People too.

Factory workers.

Industry has developed considerably in the east.

Attach a photograph in your SS uniform.

It'll work better.

What if I told you that we are packing

families in livestock cars and sending them

to the slaughterhouse?

Get out of here at once or I'll call the police

or even the Gestapo.

I haven't changed, Karl.

Neither have I.

Those trains are convoys that are leading us to hell.

I'm not in charge of freight.

You supervise train schedules.

I'm doing my best to help my country win this war.

What if you tried to slow down those trains?

Are you going to get out of here, Lieutenant Gerstein,

or would you rather the police showed you out?

Get him out of here.

If you want to reach me, you can find me

at the hygiene institute.

May Christ watch over you and your family.

SS bastard.

♪♪

Yes, sir.

[station announcer speaking Italian]

I must catch the train back tomorrow night.

That's very short.

But I think my father will manage to get the audience.

I found out on the train 400 SS have recently arrived in Rome.

It's a special unit.

The Allies are approaching Naples.

What is this?

Over three million people have been gassed.

Over three million?

These are the invoices and the delivery slips

for the Zyklon gas.

These maps show all the camps, see?

This is exactly what we need to convince them.

[man] There is a German roadblock.

What is this?

♪♪

[man] It is Saturday.

They know that they are all at home.

There's nothing we can do.

♪♪

Gino, what's going on?

Please, Count Fontana, can you put us up for a few days?

Yeah.

Franco, take them to the guest house.

Go, go! Thank you, sir.

They're in your street now.

I know.

Go-- Go!

[soldiers yelling]

The Holy Father got up very early this morning.

He is expecting you.

Ah, Principessa. The Germans are arresting the Jews.

Right here, around the corner.

[bird chirping

No, Sister, no, you must find him.

Please-- Thank you.

Ricardo, tell me.

What?

How come your father's so close to the pope?

It's because of my family.

We are auxiliaries to the pontifical--

Yes?

All right.

Thank you, Sister.

My father is with the pope now.

We have found out they're arresting converts too.

Summon Ambassador Weizsaaäcker immediately.

We demand explanations.

Tell him of our wonder and our sorrow.

No...

Our sorrow and our anger.

Stop, stop, stop.

Monsignor!

Monsignor Rutta.

Ricardo.

Eminence, I was told my father was here.

Yes-- The Count is with the Abbott.

That's Gerstein, a friend.

Eminence.

Is he a convert?

I'm sorry?

It makes no difference,

but we are keeping the two sensibilities apart.

Oh, no, no, Kurt is an Aryan.

We must see my father now.

Fontana is discussing supplies with the Abbot.

[Abbot] We have 56 refugees.

There are 11 children, five Gypsies, three Communists

and 12 elderly people in need of medical care.

I'll send you a doctor, some flour and vegetables.

We are looking for meat and pasta but it's difficult.

There are a lot of refugees.

Your son is here with a friend.

Really?

Kurt Gerstein, my friend.

Delighted to meet you, Count.

Did you manage to get an audience?

Excuse me.

Considering what is going on,

it is unthinkable for the pope to meet with a German,

especially an SS officer.

Um, can we see the cardinal then?

Go see him-- I'll let him know.

Won't you come with us?

No, I can't.

I have to check that all the convents

are taking in these poor people.

This way. Thank you.

[chattering]

What's happening?

I'm afraid they can't let him come in.

You wait here-- I'll get the authorization.

Wait for me here.

It is out of the question!

For an SS who is betraying his country to come in here.

Some betrayals are the last resort of the just.

Ricardo.

We all like you.

The pope, your father, myself.

We understand the distress in your heart.

But it's exhausting us.

And poisoning our existence.

Through there.

You will replace my secretary.

Take notes.

And maybe you will learn something

about how diplomacy works.

In the Vatican, you have the greatest masterpieces

in the world.

And no divisions to defend them.

Mr. Ambassador, I'd be extremely grateful if you'd give orders

that these arrests in Rome cease immediately.

20 days ago, Major Coupler of the SS

demanded 50 kilos of gold for not deporting the Jews.

The Jewish community gave it to them.

And now they're being arrested.

Should we assume that your government

doesn't keep its word?

Alas, alas.

I'm only waiting for you to say,

"Why don't you resign?"

Mr. Weizsacker it is painful for the Holy Father.

Painful beyond belief.

But in Rome, under his very eyes,

so many people are made to suffer

simply because they belong to another race.

What will the Holy See do if it were to go on?

The Holy Father doesn't want to be obliged

to express his disapproval.

Is this an official request from the Holy Father?

It is so he doesn't have to make one.

So far, he has said nothing that the German people

could consider as an act of hostility,

but there are limits.

If the Holy Father found it became necessary to protest,

he would abandon himself for the consequences

to divine providence.

I am told that even converts are being arrested.

Protest, monsignor.

Protest.

[Rolf] Gerstein?

Kurt-- What brings you to Rome?

Rolf, Rolf-- I don't believe it.

Have you come to disinfect the Vatican?

No, I'm looking for a good way to get back to Berlin.

Who's the transportation officer?

Lieutenant Mitzen. Mm-hmm.

Come with me-- I'll introduce you.

It's pretty crowded down there.

Not enough.

The Italians are kosher fascists.

Without them, we'd have twice as many.

All they like to do is steal.

Come along.

Let me introduce you to Mitzen.

What will you do with them all?

Why are we here?

We are converted since three generations.

We have no reason to be here.

Have a safe trip back to Berlin.

Thank you.

More than a thousand will be deported tomorrow night

from the, uh, Tibell--

Tiburtina. Train station.

Nothing can stop this now.

There's still a way to stop it.

What do we know about Monte Cassino.

The Americans are bombing constantly.

The German soldiers are holding out.

Most of the monestary has been destroyed,

especially the south wing.

The library wing.

The library has probably been destroyed.

They have also bombed the chapel.

Mr. Weizsacker assured me that the German army

will never surrender Monte Cassino.

We solicited the American representative

to put an end to the bombings, but there is little hope.

We have received donations from Cardinal Spellman.

and from Latin America.

Holy Father.

A thousand Jews will be deported

unless Your Holiness intercedes.

We view your self with love, Ricardo.

Whoever sides with the persecuted

speaks for our whole office,

but in this matter, only moderation can honor us.

But they will be deported tonight.

If the Holy Father appears at the station,

as he did at San Lorenzo after the American bombing,

the train will not leave.

Ricardo!

Mr. Secretary!

The church has opened all its convents

and monasteries to the oppressed.

Many Jews are under our protection.

The German ambassador has assured us

that the others are being taken to a labor camp.

With the women and children?

It is better than splitting the families.

No, they are being taken away to be murdered.

It is our Christian duty, the duty of the Holy See

to save these one thousand--

Get out of here-- How dare you!

Count, tell your son to stop this nonsense!

Most Holy Father,

with all respect for the dictate of silence,

I beg Your Holiness, in all humility,

to act personally.

In Germany, in Austria,

so many Christians have only asked

to keep up their hopes.

Should we give them yet another burden to bear

when they already endure these terrible bombardments?

At the right moment, we'll intercede so as to restore

universal and equitable peace.

We'll reunite all Christians.

Our prayers, our cries of pain.

Ricardo!

Take it off!

You don't know what you're doing.

This is blasphemy!

On the habit of a servant of Christ?

I'm sorry, Father.

I beg Your Holiness to relieve me of my conscience.

Fontana.

Who would know better than us what it is like to be a father?

It is a crown of thorns.

[child crying]

[dogs barking]

♪♪

The baby is dead.

The priest.

There's a Catholic priest with the Jews.

What?

What?

[woman] Coffee or Schnapps, Captain?

Both.

The doctor hasn't come down yet?

No.

It's too early for him to be awake.

[knocking]

What is it?

They loaded a priest in Rome with the Jews.

He says he's a secretary to the--

Who did that?

Some idiots.

Probably thought it was funny.

I'm scared he may be a Vatican spy.

What for?

To convert Jews during the trip?

To see what we're doing here.

What has he seen here?

Here, nothing-- But he made the trip.

Four days.

In his cattle car, there were eight dead.

Five were children.

What else?

His traveling companions say he's a cousin of the pope.

He denies it.

I think he was deported by mistake.

They all are.

If he's a secretary to the papal

we better liberate him.

Anyhow, he's not a Jew.

I hereby decree that he is a Jew.

You.

Over there.

Your Holiness.

Come, come, come, come.

I hear you're not a Jew.

I'm just like the others.

We need volunteers and priests.

In case someone dies.

The work's hard here, that's our new rule.

We're building whole new industries.

Those are factories of death.

And that smell--

They are pharmaceutical factories.

It's the smell of nitrogen and rubber.

I know what it is.

He came to spy on us.

Your desire to be crucified won't be fulfilled.

I have another project.

You'll learn tolerance.

The church has shown in the past that purification

can be achieved by burning people.

Nazism is just doing the same thing, but on a bigger scale.

In a way, we are the new chosen people.

Amen.

I'm a bit of a Catholic myself.

Not as devout as he is.

Fletcher...

You're falling into sentimentality.

Leave us.

And send me a Kapo for our cleric.

He's very Catholic.

He doesn't like us to talk about religion.

[men singing in German] He's a good soldier though.

[man] Let's have some music!

In six months or a year, we're going to lose this war.

It'll be our turn to hide in the catacombs.

Find a comfortable one for me in Rome

and I'll get you out of here,

a place nobody's ever got out of.

When you're back in Rome,

you can have your testimonial at the bells of St. Peter's.

You're pathetic.

The world already knows.

I know they know, but see for yourself.

Divine anger isn't rumbling from the skies,

nor are Allied bomber planes.

German cities get flattened by air raids,

but here, the heavens are clear and empty.

The heavens are never empty.

Put this man in a sonderkommando.

He's my protégé.

No one is to touch a hair on his head,

a point of his star or a thread of his cassock.

He'll work in the crematoriums.

If God's anywhere here,

that's your best chance of finding Him.

Move.

Get me a convoy.

You need absolute priority, Lieutenant.

Here.

Immediately.

[horse whinnying]

Sorry, Lieutenant.

The convoy behind you has priority.

[men chant in German]

Construction to end in November, December 1945.

Production to start in early 1946.

I'm afraid that, uh-- What are you afraid of?

The quality of manpower they are sending us

is getting worse by the day.

Isn't everything getting worse by the day?

We will be operative in 1946, yes or no?

Of course, yes.

Gerstein?

Come in.

I have to talk to you in private.

Fritzi!

We have to hurry.

Fritzi tried to set him free as soon as he got here.

The doctor put him sonderkommando

and in his castle.

Now he has seen everything.

Papal Enuncio has asked for explanations.

Himmler is afraid of the consequences.

Himmler is afraid?

This priest is expected back in Berlin.

He'll never get to Rome-- It's been taken care of.

Fritzi, you deal with it.

We'll make him sign a statement that he only saw flower beds.

Go to the canteen-- I bring him over.

Tell Berlin...

I had nothing to do with this.

He'll be here in five minutes.

Anything else?

Make sure you tell Berlin I made no mistakes.

Don't worry.

Don't worry.

Corporal, dismissed.

My God.

Your Father was sure you're boarded that train.

I'm getting you out of here.

No.

God lets his children be devoured.

I want to understand why.

Why do you want to sacrifice yourself?

Ricardo.

It's wrong.

It's wrong to sacrifice yourself.

We must leave and let the world know what's going on here.

I can't leave.

I can't leave.

Gerstein!

The world knows everything.

Look at him, he hardly looks like a priest anymore.

Take him away with the others

that he likes so much.

He's a Vatican diplomat.

He's here by mistake.

I'm here by mistake, too.

Go.

It's court martial for you, Gerstein.

For forging letters from Himmler.

You went to Rome to beg for your salvation?

And to think I trusted you.

Up the chimney with him.

You'll get faster to heaven.

I spoke to Himmler over the telephone this morning.

He wants no traces left of those mass graves.

Don't pretend you're surprised.

Tomorrow he'll ask us to dismantle the showers

and the ovens.

He says he's trying to barter the Hungarian Jews,

but nobody's interested.

Did the priest give you any good contacts in Rome?

Yes.

But if you want to use them, you'll have to keep him alive.

Too late.

I figure out a way by myself.

The most glorious page of German history

will never be written.

Is Rome still a pleasant city?

I- I won't leave my country.

They'll hang us, Kurt.

You before me.

Your name is on all those invoices for Zyklon gas.

Go back home.

To the institute, wherever you want.

We don't need your competence any more.

Your god will have a really hard time with you, Gerstein.

Kurt, what is going on?

Sorry, Pastor, I'm in a hurry.

What should we do?

You're home.

I have to leave again.

[Adelheid and Arnulf] Daddy's back-- Papa is back!

[Kurt playing piano and singing]

[boy] Papa?

[singing]

See-- at last you'll find out what I did.

The things I know-- I'll be a witness.

Listen to you-- the S.S.--

I-I have- I have evidence, figures, names.

I'll go-

The Americans will understand.

The French are the closest.

The Americans are far away

and you cannot cross the lines.

There are no more lines.

The front has collapsed.

[man] The pastor told me you are back.

What happened to us, Kurt?

Is everything they say true?

Yes, everything is true.

I knew it.

But will it be ready in time?

What?

The secret weapon.

Yes.

I knew it.

We'll stop them.

Put your uniform back on, son.

Father&

Father, I'm off on a mission.

You can wait right here.

[speaking French]

Keep him there.

Gerstein is not through yet.

Our friend Gerstein is writing

a French version of his report.

Another version?

Yes.

What do you think of him?

He claims to have resisted the policy of atrocities.

He claims he resisted, but he was in it up to here.

I don't believe he's guilty.

His report is a very important document.

These are the first charges against him.

[Gerstein] "It is neither understandable nor excusable that a devout

"Christian such as himself did not do everything in his power

to avoid being involved in such a criminal system."

Captain, the S.S. Gerstein was found hanged in his cell.

Was he hanged or did he hang himself?

I don't know.

I want a written report.

Sir.

Monsignor Hudal?

Yes.

Your friends mentioned the United States to me,

but they are only taking specialists

in chemistry, aviation, physics, biology.

I'm a doctor.

Just a physician.

Then it will have to be Argentina.

There's a boat in six days.

In the meantime, I'll put you up here.

♪♪