Original subtitles

MAN: Come. Come, now.

You are finished.

What is it? What have I done?

Shut up!

SIGHS

MAN: Maybe we can go this way.

You might see her.

The best I can do.

Come.

BREATHES HEAVILY

WOMAN: Pick that up!

Back to work!

What the fuck?

BABY CRYING

Come on. Don't frighten the children.

Inside.

SIGHS

I'm right here.

You know it.

KNOCKING

Mr. Sokolov.

Call me Lali.

Um, so, my colleague Rosa,

who plays tennis with Susan, who went to school with Gary...

She said that, um, you're looking for someone

to write your life story?

Yes.

She said you were

in a concentration camp in World War Two.

LALI: Yes.

In Poland. Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Uh, well...

I'm Heather Morris.

I'm married. I, I have, um... three kids.

Almost grown up.

I've worked at Clayton Hospital for almost 15 years

but I've always wanted to write.

I've completed two six-week courses in writing.

The first, Introduction to Technical Writing,

and the second, Memoir and Biography, so...

Do you want to ask me anything?

Are you Jewish?

No, uh...

No, I'm...

Church of England, sort of.

Perhaps you need someone who is.

No.

No, I don't.

I haven't got long.

Right. Is it an hour today?

Oh, no.

I am old. I haven't got long.

Oh, to live!

LALI LAUGHS

-LALI: That's it. -Okay.

LALI: Have a wafer.

Thank you.

Okay.

It starts in Slovakia.

It's 1942.

You want to write this down?

Mm.

I think I'd just like to listen.

Okay.

So, this is a love story.

♪ Let me ride through the wide ♪

♪ Open country that I love ♪

♪ Don't fence me in ♪

SHE LAUGHS AND SINGS

MAN SHOUTS OUT

SHOUTING AND GROANING

Wait here.

SHOUTING AND GROANING

Hey. Hey! Enough! Stop this!

MAN WHIMPERS

Boris?

You know him?

I went to school with him.

Hey, I...

I'm just here with my girl.

You know there is a curfew for you.

Sorry, sir. We didn't keep track of the time.

Does your father know you're out with a Jewish boy?

LALI GRUNTS

SOLDIER GROANS

You poor fuck.

BORIS: Come on.

He's not worth it.

SOLDIER CHUCKLES

BORIS: Let him have his last bit of fun.

LALI: Every day, there were new laws for us.

Curfew, you can't ride a bike, you can't shop here...

Can't be on a tram.

I had made this town my home.

Now, if you were Jewish,

it became a place you were not welcome anymore.

-Please. -Thank you.

-Take them. -Thank you.

Take them all.

Thanks.

When the war is over, you will get your jobs back.

We will be here for you.

At Schön.

Good luck.

-MAN: Thank you, Mr. Pavlic. -WOMAN: Thank you.

LALI SIGHS

Thank you.

No, no.

Thank you.

GASPS

SHE CHUCKLES

There's a bar I know,

which you enter from the street, and you go down the stairs.

It's very smoky. It's very crowded.

But I know the waiter,

and he'll take us to a reserved table.

Well, a coffee and a cherry liqueur would be nice.

-Is there a show? -Of course.

Tonight, for one night only, Josephine Baker.

SHE CHUCKLES

Was there someone special in the city?

There were girls, but...

No one as special as you.

SHE CHUCKLES

Oh yes.

Everybody is talking about this.

Sasha said her brother's going,

and his wife said she's going too.

"To aid the war effort,

and to provide training

for members of the Slovak Jewish community,

the government of Slovakia

has requested one person from each Jewish household

register for work duty

at their local office."

And it's this Tuesday we have to go.

I'll go. I'm the oldest.

-Papa needs to be here. -No, I'll go.

MAX: Lali, I've decided.

You have a wife. And a family.

And Papa, you're--

If I can trust you boys to take the cart, I will go.

But I think the Prince of Bratislava here

has better things to do.

THEY LAUGH

It'll be good for me.

I've been getting soft, living in the city.

I don't want any of you to go.

Lali.

What have you heard?

Just, uh...

Lots of rumors.

HE LAUGHS

That's all.

SS GUARD: The train is leaving for Poprad now.

If you are travelling, then you must board now.

Read the books first, and then my notes.

Write to me with your thoughts.

-Hey, it's good to see you. -Good to see you.

-Hi, Lali. -LALI: Hi, how are you?

That's a good place to stop.

HEATHER: Thank you.

It's a great love story, isn't it?

HE LAUGHS

But I have good things to tell you as well.

I believe you.

And good things take time.

That's true.

SHE SIGHS

Thursday?

Thursday.

Goodnight, Lali.

♪ JOSEPHINE BAKER: DANS MON VILLAGE ♪

SS GUARD: The train is leaving for Poprad now.

If you are travelling, you must board now.

Turn around, Lali.

Turn around.

What would I say?

If I could say anything to you now?

I will be happy, Mamma.

I will find love.

Mamma...

Mamma.

Oh, you're back.

I said I'd come.

-I didn't scare you off? -No, not yet.

Same blouse as before.

Oh yes, this is my hospital uniform.

I wear it to work.

Come in.

SS GUARD: Papers ready. Keep in line.

Hey. What are you doing?

What's it to you?

LALI CHUCKLES

SS GUARD: Keep your luggage with you.

What are you laughing at?

You.

Late for an appointment?

SS GUARD: Come on, keep moving.

Where are we going?

Poland.

SS GUARD: Keep moving forward!

I hear they'll train you as a mechanic.

Fixing cars, engines...

TRAIN PULLS IN

Hey, I know that guy.

SS GUARD: The train's arriving.

This way. Come on, move.

Hey. Boris.

Lali. What are you doing here?

Getting on the train.

Listen to me!

Get out of here. Run as far away as you can.

Run.

He knew.

And he told me.

Did you know why he was telling you to run?

LALI: No.

There were rumors about the work camps, but, uh...

Who could believe them?

And that day, guards were all around.

I can't run.

-Keep moving. - SS GUARD: Keep moving forward!

I'm sorry, I cannot travel in this carriage.

There is shit in there.

THEY GASP AND MUTTER

Move into the carriages.

SS GUARD: Quickly into the carriages.

-Are you alright? -Papers ready for inspection.

SS GUARD: Fill every carriage. Come on.

-Move! -SS GUARD: Keep moving.

-There's space in this one here. -SS GUARD: Move!

Move forward.

PEOPLE SOBBING AND COUGHING

LALI BREATHES HEAVILY

SS GUARD: Out!

-Go, go, go. -SS GUARD: Out! Go!

-Leave it here! -SS GUARD: Go, go, go!

Get out of the train! Hurry up!

Get in line.

Leave your luggage here. Go!

Keep moving! Follow the others.

Get in line and leave your luggage here.

Keep moving.

Out!

Keep moving. Get out of the train.

Excuse me.

When do we get these back?

SS GUARD: Leave your luggage here. Get in line.

-Move out of the train! -SS GUARD: Come on, quickly.

Keep moving!

WORK SETS YOU FREE

SS GUARD: Halt!

Welcome to Auschwitz.

The gates you just walked through say,

"Work will make you free."

So work hard.

You will be processed here,

and then you will be taken to your new home.

Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

Women this way, men over here. Thank you.

Move along.

SS GUARD: Shoes off!

Clothes off!

Put your clothes and shoes in a pile.

SS GUARD: Take your clothes off!

Hurry up.

Keep going. Keep moving!

You will be processed and given a uniform.

Take your clothes off.

Keep moving!

Take your clothes off.

Now!

MAN WINCES

HE BREATHES HEAVILY

I can't do this.

SS GUARD: Don't turn around.

It's alright.

SS GUARD: Keep going!

SS GUARD: Keep moving.

-Don't slow down the queue. -SS GUARD: Take them off.

Lali.

-Come on. - SS GUARD: Keep moving.

LALI: Go on, Aaron.

Aaron!

SS GUARD: Why are you standing there?

AARON BREATHES HEAVILY

Good man.

LALI BREATHES HEAVILY

WORK SETS YOU FREE

SS GUARD: Move, move.

MEN COUGHING AND CHATTING

PRISONER: We treat our cows better than this.

Moo!

LALI LAUGHS

MEN LAUGH AND MOO

MEN CHATTER INDISTINCTLY

KRAUSS: Shit, Baretzki. Why did we come this way?

It was a shortcut, for fuck's sake.

KRAUSS: They fucking stink.

FOUR GUNSHOTS

KRAUSS: Baretzki. Fucking hell.

Night shift sucks.

PANTS

He just randomly shot them?

LALI: Yes.

Our lives were not important to them.

This is what happened there.

This is part of it.

If you don't want to hear these things...

No. I, I do. I...

I understand.

Lali?

Are you alright, Lali?

I'm alright.

BARETZKI: Hey, old man.

That was me that night?

I'm not so sure you remember it right.

Get fucked.

DRUM BANGING

CONRAD: Get up!

Get to the latrines.

Line up outside.

BANGING CONTINUES

Get up. Move it.

LALI: This is what it was every morning.

CONRAD: Caps off.

LALI: It was the hardest part of the day.

Every time I opened my eyes,

and I am still there.

At night, you sleep and you forget.

But morning...

Get up!

-LALI: Here again, again. -CONRAD: Let's go!

Get up.

CONRAD: Outside. Get to the latrines. Line up.

DRUM BANGING

Hurry it up.

SS GUARD: Bring it over here.

There. To him.

I need nails.

Two packets.

You.

Get them for him.

It's huge.

Here. Hold it steady for me.

Full weight.

You aren't a prisoner?

I'm a builder. This is a job.

The smell...?

They can't bury the bodies fast enough.

Then they lined us up and, and shot them in front of us.

AARON BREATHES HEAVILY

It was completely random.

It could have been me.

THEY BOTH BREATHE HEAVILY

I-I can't die in here, Lali.

I've never had sex, you know.

M-My girlfriend and I, we just kissed.

LALI BREATHES HEAVILY

A-Are you okay?

LALI GRUNTS

Yes.

Just cold.

Lali. Lali.

Shh.

I'll be okay.

Hm. He doesn't look well, does he?

Maybe the death cart for you.

I'm fine.

What would it cost to let him stay in bed?

You could suck my cock.

Hm.

I can't remember his name, uh...

That block elder.

He was a brute. In prison for murder. Cuckoo.

Karl, maybe.

So you were telling me about when you got sick.

LALI: Typhus, that's right.

So, Aaron.

Aaron is only 17, right?

What he did for me that day...

SS GUARD: Back in line!

MEN CLAMORING

Back in line!

PRISONER: Fuck off!

SS GUARD: Animals!

SS GUARD: Back in line! Now!

Back!

Get back.

THEY PANT

Is he alive?

Uh, yes.

Fight this, Lali.

Fight it.

Lali. My boy.

What are you doing in bed?

You have to get up.

Mamma.

SARAH: Come on.

You need to drink some water and get up.

PANTS

GRUNTS

PANTS

GRUNTS

PANTS

You're looking good.

I am Pepan.

I gave you that number.

I saw those boys...

risk themselves to save you.

I know men like you.

There is more prisoners coming.

A lot more.

I will train you.

You would be away from those... work gangs.

You would, uh, move out of those filthy bunks.

You would get more food.

Tattoo people?

Mm.

That's not something I can do.

Hm.

I'm giving you a chance to survive this place.

Not a fucking career opportunity.

CONRAD: Caps off!

Caps on.

PRISONER GROANS

SS GUARD: Move.

Get up!

PRISONER GRUNTS

I was 26.

And I wanted to live.

Pepan offered me a way.

And I took it.

BARETZKI: 32407.

LALI: Yes, Blockführer.

The new tattooist.

I am now in charge of you.

If you behave yourself, all will be well.

How old are you?

I'm 26.

How old are you?

Go fuck yourself, that's how old I am.

Follow me, cunt.

SS GUARDS SHOUTING

BARETZKI: I will be here for you at dawn.

Blockführer?

Can I sleep in my old barracks?

You're working for the SS now.

You will need protection, trust me.

SS GUARD SHOUTS

Hard and fast, Lali. Come on!

It's worse if you're gentle.

SS GUARD: Keep the line moving!

I'm sorry.

I need to get back to my old barracks.

Go now. Be quick.

If you have that bag with you,

it tells anyone you work for the Political Department.

And watch out.

Just because you're working for them

doesn't mean they won't shoot you.

I'm not working for them.

Is that for me?

Hi, Lali.

Hey.

Bakery is open, boys.

Where's Aaron?

He was taken.

They took him away this afternoon.

His number was on the selection list.

He's gone.

What?

That makes no sense. He wasn't sick.

What happened?

He's gone.

This is the story.

And he didn't come back.

I never saw Aaron again.

He was sent to the gas chamber.

HEATHER: I'm sorry.

He was the same age as my daughter.

Why did they take him, Lali?

I don't remember.

MEN CHATTERING

Bakery is open, boys.

It's the Nazis' new dog.

Where's Aaron?

They took him away this afternoon.

What?

But...

But he wasn't sick.

What happened?

There was a selection.

Your number was on the list, you weren't here.

So this block elder changed your number to Aaron's number

and they took Aaron.

Instead of you.

Dog.

TOMAS: This is the story.

We didn't come back.

Aaron.

He didn't come back.

Martin.

He didn't come back.

Lali.

He came back.

Lali came back.

BABY CRYING

What have I done?

I don't understand.

You need a reason?

You think you're special?

SS GUARD: ...a very busy day.

You will soon have a shower.

And after the shower, there will be coffee and rolls.

MAN: What about our stuff?

Come on. Don't frighten the children.

Inside.

Ah. We got in a little late.

A little job.

Admin-type job.

LAUGHS

Your face.

BARETZKI SIGHS

Look at these two numbers.

These are the same number.

You did these?

This one is an eight.

The other is a three.

You are now the only Jew who walked into this place

and also walked out.

BARETZKI LAUGHS

LALI: They murdered millions.

That's what Auschwitz was.

That was its purpose.

LALI SIGHS

It was a terrible place, Heather.

Not just for what was done to us, but...

what it made us into.

But I found something there.

Someone.

Today, the sky, you see the sky...

Blue.

It was blue like that just when I met her.

PEPAN: These women need redoing. They know what to expect.

Women are strong, Lali.

Think about your mother.

How strong she is.

WOMAN SOBBING

[WHISPERS] I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

SS GUARD: Move forward! Now!

What are you saying, when you are doing this?

Are you praying?

I'm saying I'm sorry.

Your eyes.

Are they blue?

LALI: Sometimes.

Today?

Today, they look like the sky.

Is there a problem?

No. Uh...

I'm just getting some more ink.

Can I get mine in pink this time?

LAUGHS

I'm sorry.

This'll be over soon.

SHE CRIES SOFTLY