01x07 & 01x08 - Die Liebe der Soldaten - 1944

[bunniefuu]

In the summer of '43,
an English b*mber was shot down...

... and the wreckage ended up
in a meadow near our village...

... Schabbach in the Hunsrück.

It was mentioned in a special report
from the Führer's headquarters.

We all rushed out
to have a look and we took photos.

"We are at w*r
and this is the homefront"...

... Wilfried Wiegand
kept saying to women...

... whose men were at the real front.

Kath stood up to him.

She used to say...

..."If your dad wasrt so old,
he would smack your a*s."

Kath was brave enough.
That's her in the photo.

And next to her, that's her husband,
Mathias, the village blacksmith.

That's a nice family photo
with all the children around them.

That's the Simors house.

It is about 200 years old.
The forge is on the right.

That's Maria,
she saw them all leave home.

First, her husband Paul
who went to America...

... then her sons, Anton and Ernst
went off to w*r when they grew up.

And last Otto,
the father of her son Hermann.

She didn't know where he was.

She didn't even know he was
in the army in a b*mb disposal squad.

That's in November '43.

Maria is going to Kirchberg
to fetch Martha from the station.

Martha is from Hamburg
and was engaged to Anton.

"It is as if Anton sent me a message
through the child in your womb"...

... Maria told Martha.

They got on very well together.

That's a proxy marriage.

Martha, Antors fiancé...

... was married to Anton
while he was at the front.

And the telephone call was filmed
at the front for the newsreel.

How we celebrated in the village!

We were all in Wiegand's parlour
and took photos.

There is the bride on her own
in all of them.

The bride's groom
was only there on the cake.

Then Ernst
flew down in his fighter plane...

... just 5 meters above the village.

He nearly hit the church and dropped
50 red carnations for the bride.

We all ran into the street
waving to him...

... and shouting Ernst, Ernst...

And in the w*r Anton got close
to what he always wanted to be.

He became an assistant cameraman
for the newsreel.

He was always interested in optics.

Sometimes I wondered...

... if the moon
that shines down on Schabbach...

... really is the same moon
that shines over Russia.

Sometimes you just can't imagine it.

SOLDIERS AND LOVE

Come on, Mengershausen.

Let's see
what's left of our Arri camera.

- What's this?
- We were lucky, Captain.

In filming an attack,
we got a direct hit.

- You call that lucky?
- Yes, sir. It ricochetted.

It just missed my left eye
and it went through the magazine.

The camera lens
narrowly missed the assistant's ear.

- What about the film?
- Ruined, sir.

- A day's sh**ting?
- Yes, 120 metres.

Theorist!

Dear Herr Geschrei.

My name's Gschrey, sir.

You are an old sweat.

A good quality for the infantry...

...but a rotten one for art.

Think about it.

You needrt always take your camera
where the mud's flying...

...where they sh**t holes
in your face.

The idea is to get something on film
that moves the heart.

When I'm in the thick of it,
Captain...

...I can't stand aside...

...I share the same conditions
as my comrades.

You use that camera like a g*n.

That's a common error.

Did Dante really enter his Inferno?

Did Bosch see the Garden of
Earthly Delights with his own eyes?

No!

But the divine spark was in them...

...of which you are ignorant,
Herr Geschrei.

"The artist sees things
with his personal inspiration."

Do you know who said that?

Our Doctor Goebbels.
That surprises you, eh?

We're not in Babelsberg, Captain...

...making The White Dream
or The Great Love.

Here people really die.

Wrong.

Not feature films...

...but w*r newsreels are the real art
of the twentieth century.

Our units have shot more
than 2.8 million metres of film.

Over ten years' feature production...

...more than a thousand features.

We manage to imprint the w*r...

...into people's souls
more forcefully...

...than the power of their own eyes
ever could.

We achieve that with our camera...

...if it remains undamaged.

Captain, I can repair it.

I'll manage.

That won't make the world extinct...

Captain, is this the camera position?

I don't know.

Usually he goes on about the camera
not being a g*n.

But today...

We'll use the telephoto lens.

Anton, adjust the lens.

- What's the matter?
- It's jammed.

- What's jammed?
- The iris.

We'll use an 85, then,
while you repair it.

Ready? Camera!

Simon, log it:
60 metres, exterior, day.

Don't send it
with the other material.

Take it at once
to the Intelligence Office.

Which laboratory, sir?

Arnold and Richter, Munich.

Don't forget to seal it properly.

See that?

Blotches, scratches, flashes -
every fault possible...

...but they film
in impossible conditions.

Our processing is not to blame.

The court is now in session.

Chief Inspector...

... tell us how the film
we are going to see was made.

It's terrible.

Ignore the content.
Watch for technical faults.

That's what you are here to learn.

The film aided police investigations.

We reconstructed the crime
in the house of the accused...

... exactly where it happened.

We made use
of the Professor's ability...

... to imitate Crippen.

For the part of Mrs. Cora Crippen
we found an actress...

... who closely resembled
the m*rder*d woman.

We can begin with the projection.

Inspector, please provide
the necessary elucidation.

Silence, please. Please, sit down,
ladies and gentlemen.

On the last evening,
Mrs. Crippen didn't feel well.

The guests had departed.

Mrs. Crippen
had sent the maid to bed.

Dr. Crippen and his wife
were now alone.

Look, Pieritz, that's Schabbach.

Like peacetime.

Yes, Herr Wohlleben,
those were the days.

What a car!

Arert you Jürgen?
You've grown.

Stay here, Pieritz.

Maybe we'll go straight on.

Good day, Frau Simon.

How nice that you've come.

In uniform, too.

Maria! Guess who's here!

I met Ernst.

He recognized me straight away.

The boy's a terrific pilot.

Yes, I know.

I saw him
when he flew over the house.

He dropped a bouquet.

Typical.

Why stand out here?
Go into the kitchen.

I found the way easily,
it's still familiar.

They've got prisoners-of-w*r now,
in Anton Jakob's big room.

We've thirty French prisoners
in the village.

Most of them work at Wilfried's.

You know, at Wiegand's,
the one in the SS.

My brother.

There are no men here at home
any more.

They're doing the work for us now.

But the house, it looks...

...as if I went upstairs
only yesterday.

Nothing's changed.

Only Granny, she's aged.

Where's Grandad?

In bed. He's not very well.

His eyes are bad
and he's fragile now.

Do sit down, Otto.

I thought I'd never see you again.

So did I, Otto.

Ernst told me everything.

I thought
you ought to see him at once.

This is little Hermann, Otto.

Believe it or not,
I knew you'd come.

Here I am.

I am on my way
from Hermeskeil to Koblenz.

It's the first time I've seen
the completed Hunsrück highway.

Already full of potholes,
only six years after we built it.

You can't imagine the traffic
it's seen this last year.

The whole army's travelled across it.

Well, Hermann,
will you shake my hand?

You're not from around here,
I can tell.

I'm from Bochum.

And that's my sister Lotti,
she's from Bochum, too.

Mother's stayed home in Bochum.

She works in a b*mb factory.

Ursel!
It's called a munitions factory.

And Father
sends me postcards from the w*r.

He's in Russia.

He's got a motorbike
and sidecar.

- Know a bonbon factory?
- No, it's called a b*mb factory.

No, a bonbon factory.
Look, I'll explain.

There's a huge factory
in Paderborn...

...with 3,000 little girls
like you...

...sitting in a row
at a conveyor belt.

Every girl has a box of sweets
on her lap...

...but they're all square.

Yes, square.

On the word of command...

...they put the bonbons
in their mouths and suck them.

Because bonbons have to be round.

- Right, Corporal?
- Right!

And when they've sucked the sweets
until they're round...

...on the word of command,
they spit them out.

- Want one?
- No, it's got spit on it!

There's room in the house for you,
we can spend the night here.

That's your room.

We're alright again, eh?
Together, like old times.

Pieritz, just get into your room.

Off with you.

I'm giddy.

This little radio show is presented
by an actress...

... whose name is closely linked...

... in film and radio
with request programmes...

... IIse Werner.

This is a "Thank you"
for our soldiers.

Dear boys, as you know...

... I always answer
soldier's letters first...

... and on many a free afternoon
I invite a soldier to my home.

She can invite me any time.

But you must realize
I can't write long replies...

... or invite you all home.

The whole army would be a bit much.

I read all your letters.

They make me happy, grateful...

... a little proud, often sad.

I will never forget a story...

... one of your comrades
told me recently.

A soldier had taken
his portable gramophone to the front.

Maybe as a talisman...

... maybe to entertain himself
and his friends.

Eat, or your soup will get cold.

Whenever there was a break,
he put on my record...

..."Sing a song if you feel sad".

Once more, the record played.

Once more, you listened to me.

Then the alarm sounded.

My song
faded in the noise of the attack.

- The soldier rushed forward.
- Or backward.

He woke up in hospital.

Thank God,
it could have been nastier.

According to his story,
as he opened his eyes...

... a little melody
that made him smile...

... was still ringing in his ears.

The little woman in his ear.

And how beautifully one of you...

... has told me in words and drawings
about your party to celebrate...

- I wonder what.
- I wonder who.

... the christening...

... of a strapping g*n...

... to whom
you've given the name of Ilse.

Martha, is the baby kicking
inside you?

A bit, now and then.

May I feel?

It just kicked.

Lotti, I've written a poem for you.
Want to hear it?

Yes, Specht.

Two legs prop up my machine-g*n,
and those I must align.

Two legs that ache too much to run,
unfortunately they're mine.

I know two legs so slim and smart,
I'll think of them when we're apart.

And those, my love, are thine.

And when those lovely legs I see,
I think, my darling you.

I think, "Why doesn't my MG
got legs as lovely, too?"

Did you think of me
when you made that up?

Must you go now to your g*n?

At night we can't do anything
with our little g*n.

When you think what a weight of iron
is flying through the air up there.

That's nothing to do
with nature any more.

Iron, steel,
expl*sives and phosphorus.

I've got used to it.

That droning in the dark
every night.

It really makes me drowsy
when I listen to it.

First it gets louder and louder.

Then for a while, it's constant.

Then it gets quieter and quieter...

...and my eyelids just close.

You've such lovely, firm shoulders,
Maria.

Come to bed, Otto,
you'll catch cold.

Often we fell asleep together...

...with my lips on yours.

In the morning,
that's how we woke up.

And your warm feet.

I've never known you with cold feet,
never.

You warmed me, Maria.

In my life,
I've loved three women.

Each time it was different.

Each time it was stronger.

I'll never again love anyone
as I love you.

Sometimes,
I didn't wash for days.

I wanted to sense you
still beside me.

Come to bed, Otto.

All the years without you...

If you were an animal,
what would you be?

You'd have been a swallow.

The most beautiful birds.

They always say when they fly,
"Dear, dear Maria."

I've laughed
when I've thought about your feet.

Do you know you've got flat feet?

Lovely little flat feet.

You've become
much more beautiful than before.

If you could make me so small...

...and stick me
in your apron pocket...

...then we could always
stay together.

So small.

Lie beside me, Otto.

You know, Otto...

...l've lain awake in this bed
for hours...

...and imagined...

...going away...

...to far-away places.

Like in novels...

...where people just go away.

I've never really
been away anywhere.

I really wanted to.

And I've been travelling all around.

The places I've been...

In France, in Brittany,
along the whole Atlantic coast.

I was in Salonika,
in Liège and in Bergen.

I was on the island of Bornolm...

...in Czeslochowa and Brno.

Once I was in Brescia, in Italy.

I liked that best,
that's a U-boat supply base.

And everywhere I felt alone.

People all around me,
and I was alone.

For a while
I woke up every other night...

...because I was crying in my sleep.

They've all gone away from me,
when I think about it.

Paul went away.

Then the two boys when they grew up,
Anton and Ernst.

And you went away, too.

With each of them there
was a different reason...

...you must admit.

Don't be unfair.

You made me go away.

I didn't know what I was doing.

I was just so scared then.

I thought
it was the end of the world.

You know, you and I...

...and then Paul after so many years,
after twelve years.

I waited for him every day.

For twelve years, I was the only one
who believed he was still alive.

They'd all given him up for dead.
His own mother thought he was dead.

They laughed at me
when I said Paul was still alive.

And then, after twelve years,
the letter from America.

At the very moment I was able
to forget him for the first time.

That was happiness.

That was real happiness

while we were building
the Hunsrück highway.

I didn't care that we had
to hide everything from the world.

And then I looked at my hand
on my drawing-board in the hut...

...and I thought...

...this is the hand
that caressed you last night.

I want you to understand me, Otto.

The night before I went to Trier...

...I really believed Paul was dead.

And then I was so scared...

...because I really imagined...

...him drowning...

...going down with the ship
from New York to Hamburg.

And then I was so ashamed
when I was with you in Trier.

I really believed I'd k*lled him.

And that's why I had to go?

I must show you something.

All that belongs
to my mum and grandma.

Because of the bombs, you see.

That's genuine Rosenthal china,
and real linen, real damask.

It's beautiful.

If you take that,
then you must take me, too.

What an idea!

I can't burden myself
with all that in wartime.

Go into the kitchen.

Grandad's so ill and he can't sleep.

Otto, come to bed,
you'll catch cold.

You're shivering.

I thought at that time
I'd die because of you.

Why, I thought, why does this woman
want to be rid of me?

It's like k*lling someone
when you get rid of them.

I did to you what Paul did to me.

Yet that's the very thing
I didn't want to do.

I didn't want to go on living.

Do you know that's why I volunteered
for the b*mb-disposal squad?

Just think, Otto...

...we've had a child.

I can't believe it.
I can't take it in.

For four years I've roamed
as if terminally ill...

...and had no idea.

To think
you can't sense that as a man.

That you don't see it in a dream,
or somehow get a sign.

A child like that is really
a person in his own right.

Do you remember how we all wore
those death's-head rings?

And they scared you.

I remember that as if it were today.

None of you thought anything of it
before the w*r.

Actually,
we never thought much at all.

And you were
as thoughtless as the rest.

I've just thrown the ring away.

After I met Ernst,
I threw it into a crater.

It's lying 1,000 metres down.

It took so long to do that.

I could get a transfer.

The Todt Organization
is taking on everyone they need.

Nobody looks
at the right type of nose anymore.

Away from b*mb-disposal
to the Atlantic Wall.

I'm a good engineer.

Go to sleep.

Asleep already?

Here, Herr Pieritz,
here's something for the journey.

I'll peep at them.

And best wishes to Grandad.
I hope he'll soon be better.

I don't think
you'll see him again, Otto.

Maria,
nothing's going to happen to me.

I meant Grandad.

Where is the little beauty?

Over by the turntable.

Under the goods van?

Tell those soldiers to get away.

Will you defuse it or explode it?
The engine-shed has been cleared.

We'll look first.

- They're just kids.
- Germany's last hope.

A 250-pounder, Herr Wohlleben.

Are you sure, Pieritz?

Could be a triple five.

Herr Wohlleben!
A thirty second fuse, probably.

Let's hope so.
This thing here must be shifted.

We need someone for the turntable.

Turn it,
so we can get at the b*mb.

- Nothing will happen, will it?
- Course not. Come on.

- Really not?
- We're still with you.

More.

Now take cover. Thanks.

It's about time I had a go.

No, Pieritz,
you're still doing theory.

Don't bother me.

In ten minutes
we'll both be over in the café.

I've enough coupons for a hot drink
and they've got good jam tarts.

Go and get the tools.

That alarm's overdoing things a bit,
but that's your business.

Your gloves, Herr Wohlleben.

Are those tattered things
the best you can offer?

Shouldrt I come with you?

No, stay with the grandads
and look after our truck.

- What are you doing here?
- I'm checking this stretch.

Or, rather, I used to check
this stretch of track.

Are you on duty now?

I'm always on duty.

What are you doing here?

Defusing the b*mb.

So that's what a b*mb looks like.

Yes, it's a 250-pounder.

Well, let's get on with it.

Better get back a bit.

Can't I stay here with you?

You've been here
far too long already.

- Then I'll go now.
- Yes.

- Has anything happened to you?
- No. Why?

What's burning?

They jettisoned their bombs.

I was watching from the window.

One of our night-fighters
got through...

...and shot the Tommy in the belly.

The fire's over at Kaisergarten.

Katharina, what was that?

There's a fire at the Kaisergarten.

Specht wrote me
such a lovely poem.

It was about legs.

About his legs.

No, about my legs.

Two legs prop up my machine-g*n,
and those I must align.

Two legs that ache too much to run...

Is he really dead, Grandma?

Yes, Ursel, he's really dead.

The crater's bigger
than the one in Gillweiler.

It's even got water in it.

Jürgen, get over there,
I'll take your picture.

More to the middle.
Mother, Karl, Mäthes-Pat.

Now look into the crater,
it's big enough.

Just look at it.

ENTRY OF AMERICANS
INTO SCHABBACH...

...ON 18TH MARCH, 1945.

H. MUCH AND H. SPECHT
k*lled IN ACTION, 12.3.46

Lucie, where are you?

Lucie,
what have you done to yourself?

I thought when the Yanks come...

Edu, what's up with you?

I had to hand over the Leica.

We must leave the house, too.

- What?
- It's commandeered.

We've just ten minutes to get out.

Leave everything behind?

What do I do now?

What can I take?

Only what we're wearing.

I must wear my fur coat.

The blue, no, the green silk dress.

Rubbish, I'll wear all my dresses
on top of one another.

Wilfried. You've had it now.

My fur coat, too.

Germany, Germany above all!

Wilfried, that's blasphemy,
just pack it in!

Shut up!

Be quiet, you'll get us all k*lled.

We've lost everything
we've built up.

Thank God it's over.

But we werert big shots.

We, too, got nothing
but suffering out of it all.

Look in the mirror.
See what those years have done.

But, Lucie,
I was the mayor of Raunen.

So what?
There always have to be mayors.

- Really?
- Sure.

I must take a look.

Maybe we can get something going
with the Yanks.

Wilfried, you must clear out!

BERLIN
END OF APRIL 1945

Rudolf, it worked,
your message reached me.

They found me.

Yes, look at me.
It really is me, Martina, I'm here.

To think you're in Berlin.

Did you want to see me so much?

Rudolf... in the middle of
the fighting, you want to see me.

I thought you were still
in Allenstein...

...but they are all retreating now.

Yesterday in East Prussia
and today in the capital.

Well, give your Martina a smile.

It's really me.
You're not laughing at all.

Nothing can happen to you here,
with walls on each side...

...you're safe.

I've fixed it with Dr. Globirsch
from Lietzenburger Strasse.

He's owed me a favour for years...

...and I've asked him to come here.

He'll come as soon as things
calm down a bit outside.

He knows the address.
He'll know what to do when he comes.

And now, wait.

I'll stay with you now, Rudolf.

Can you feel that?
Can you feel my hand?

You can feel that, you must feel it.

Is that warm?

Do you feel it getting warm?
Do you feel anything?

What can I do...

...if you can't feel anything?

Do you hear me, Rudolf?

If you can hear me and see me...

...then do nothing
but look and listen and don't stop.

Just keep going, do you hear me?
Here we go.

This is the all-German radio.

Dear soldiers,
dear listeners at home...

... dear friends
beyond our frontiers.

For the last time...

... the fanfare for the German
army's request programme.

We're calling Rudolf Pollack.

He's slightly wounded...

... and lying in 13 Niehburstrasse
in battle-torn Berlin.

Greetings from your comrades in that
ducky bunker at 11 Monsenstrasse...

... and even personal greetings
from our Führer.

Rudolf, he's not dead...

...he's alive, don't think he isn't.

Dear Comrade Pollack.

Contrary to all rumours...

... I can tell you I am alive.

Did you hear, Rudolf?

Dear Comrade Pollack.

We send our greetings...

... and make your wish come true...

... with Ilse Werner and her song
"There'll be an Eternal Spring".

There'll be an eternal spring.

Full of fragrant flowers
and sunshine.

When you come back to me
and kiss me tenderly...

... and always will be mine.

Life will be like fairy-tales.

With you, my charming prince.

THE AMERICAN

SCHABBACH. MAY, 1945.

Hermann, where are you going?

Hermann, what are you doing?
Stay away from that.

Get off!

Did you hear me?

Mama, look what I've got.

What have you found now?

Lotti, look.

No! That's a finger!

You take that back at once!

The other way round, Hermann!

- Do you want to get us into trouble?
- But, Mama, that's a German finger.

You come with me.

That's enough!
Look at the state you're in.

Hermann, that's enough!

But, Mama, it's a German finger.

Lotti, breathe on me.

That smells good.

What's in their petrol...

...that it smells so nice
when they drive by?

Marie-Goot, I'll tell you something,
that's wealth.

Maria, news of Anton.
He's alive!

I don't understand why,
but the letter is from Turkey.

I can give you news,
vouched for by my comrades...

... that your son Anton
is in safety...

... and has reached Turkish soil.

I can't send you any more
information this way, I'm afraid...

... but I'm sure you'll soon
be hearing from your son yourself.

Martha!

Where did you get that?

I just can't get it out of my head.

I no longer know
what Anton looks like.

Martha, we've all aged in the w*r.

SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE

Grandpa!

A policeman!

Don't be scared,
he wants some more snails.

You haven't seen
any German airmen?

No.

I'm homesick.
Do you still remember...

...that spooky shrine in the hedge
between Schabbach and Rhaunen?

At night you always
tried to pass it quickly...

...you whistled aloud.

And in the hedge,
the will-o'-the-wisps hovered.

Your brother Anton,
who never wanted to fly...

...who kept his feet on the ground,
he was never as scared as you.

You always got scared.

I was with you, Ernst...

...when you threw back
your Messerschmidt c*ck-cover.

When you fell through the night
with your parachute...

...a foreign, shadowy earth
coming towards you...

And you didn't know...

...if it was a wood,
a deep ravine or water.

Everything you feared most
as a pilot.

Everything a pilot could crash into
was rushing towards you.

I was with you at the moment...

...when something
tore at your harness...

...with a jolt
that went right through you.

And then you hung in that fir-tree...

...loosing consciousness...

...amid the smell
of blood and resin...

Resin from the French tree
where you'd landed...

For six weeks
you've been on the run.

No power on earth can bring
the Führer back to life.

13TH MAY, 1946. A MONDAY.

You're Paul.

Come here! It's Paul Simors car.
He's come back.

He must have been
the fine gentleman we saw.

Maria must be told
the American is here.

Maria is in the forest, getting wood.

Mama, we're ready.

Then go back to the village
and wait with Granny.

That boy had no childhood.

He's just starting to be a child
now the w*r is over.

Maria, I know Robert
is no longer alive.

Don't be silly,
it all depends on you.

Look, I never stopped believing
when there was no news from Paul.

But I believed.

Just as I believe now
that Ernst and Anton are still alive.

Even if I have no news for ten years,
I'll believe.

It's all we women can do.

I wonder if Lotti's Yank
has brought her some real coffee.

Wouldrt it be nice to come home
to a cup of real coffee?

Lotti is doing very nicely
with the Americans.

They let her wind them
round her little finger.

Just wait till she brings you home
a little black bundle.

Guess what I've got?

Real coffee!

Take your paws off my laundry!

He's here in Schabbach.

- Horst, what are you saying?
- Mama, the American is here!

Come up at once.

Do you still know the poem
you had to learn by heart...

...back before the w*r...

...when Simon Electric Detroit
was going to come the first time?

You still know it, don't you?
Listen.

You don't know me...

You don't know me, I'm only wee,
but all the same, I know your name.

Well, Horst, how does it go on?

Your mother wrote that
especially for you.

I'm only wee doesn't fit now.
I'm not small any more.

Horst, don't be so rebellious.

We can easily rewrite it
for your present age.

You don't know me, but I know you.

No, that doesn't rhyme.

You went from here...

... a long time ago.

Ago...

know...

wee.

That's not bad at all. Wee.

What do you think, Eduard?

- Well, say something.
- Don't shout like that.

Has he really come?

I'd like to see my brother.

But you're not mobile, yet.

No, no, Horst and I...

...we'll go to Schabbach
and invite him to our house.

I've still got a whole film in it.

I've been waiting for this
since 1938.

I've had it since before the w*r.

To think that
the Holy Mother Maria...

...in this dreadful time,
gives us this.

Good thing I hid the lkoflex.

Oh, that's a stroke of luck.

Paul will be so pleased
if I take photos.

Since the w*r ended...

...since I've known
what the Yanks are like...

...they're better than us
in everything.

It wasrt only their wealth
that defeated us.

No, it's something quite different.

That they can go where they like...

...and aren't stuck here
in the Hunsrück.

That's the big world, Eduard...

...that's living.

Do you know that we fit into America
two thousand times?

- No, I don't believe that.
- Well, it's true, though.

Come, Horst, let's get changed.

Drive straight ahead!
Not so fast! Watch out!

We can go right.

Where is Simon Electric Detroit?

Drive up to the Simons',
they've gone there.

We're coming, too.

This is Lucie, Eduard's wife.

How nice of you to introduce us,
Mother.

I'm sorry but Eduard can't travel.

Paul, the boy has got
lung trouble again.

Paul, your brother Eduard,
I mean my husband and I...

...we own the wonderful big villa
that's the headquarters now.

We'd be awfully glad,
since Eduard can't travel...

...well, we'd be glad if you...
may I call you Paul?

You'd do better to tidy the place.

You know, Paul...

...in 1934 you didn't mean
very much to us...

...if I may express it like that.

We had Rosenberg, Frick and Ley...

...for four hours in our house.

We all had no idea
what murderers they were...

...what criminals sat on our chairs.

Isn't that true?

We had absolutely no idea...

...what beasts
we were shaking hands with.

Right, Mother?
We didn't know, did we?

Lucie, Paul doesn't understand
any of that.

He was in America.

Come, Paul, sit down.
Move up, Hermann.

I do understand, Mother.

The n*zi leaders,
the Nuremberg trial.

You see, he understands that.

Our Sergeant says, too...

...it was
in all the American papers...

...who they were, Rosenberg,
Frick and Ley.

They were the very highest of us.

They were like gods, they were.

Now I thank the Lord God in Heaven
that he saved us from them.

Imagine, Paul, if they'd taken
to coming and going in my house.

I'd never get a wink of sleep
nowadays.

To think you're standing here
before me in person.

He's sitting.

He's not standing, Lucie,
he's sitting.

My brother Eduard,
who always went looking for gold...

...what did he do during that time?

It must be said, Eduard was too good,
he had no taste at all for all that.

No, he didn't.

And I'll say one thing...

...although things went
the way they did.

We have no enemies today...

...Eduard and I.

Maria, is that him?
He hasn't changed a bit.

Paul, remember me?

You've got a black chauffeur
and you still remember me.

Marlies is really
a little sweetheart.

Antors daughter,
your grand-daughter.

Your grand-daughter.

Yes, Marlies.

Can we take a look, Maria?

I think it is Paul.

- Who are you?
- Klärchen Sisse, I'm from Herne.

Ernst gave me your address.
Are you his mother?

- But he's missing in France.
- Yes, but he is on his way back.

- He's coming back?
- Yes... I mean no.

Well... I came here to wait for him.

Just slow down a moment.

My son Ernst has sent you.

- And there's no mistake?
- No, he gave me your address.

The Simon family in Schabbach,
Bernkastel District, house 49.

And best wishes to his mother.

And his grandmother
and grandfather.

And to his brother Anton,
if he's back yet.

Our Ernst, Grandma.

Paul, Ernst is alive.

- That's your son.
- Antors brother.

Ernst must get his discharge papers
from Hamburg...

...then go to Schleswig-Holstein.

Then he'll come home.

He said I'd be in good hands
with you.

How am I to manage this?

Where do I put this young woman up?

It's typical of Ernst.

Lotti, Martha, I'm sorry,
but you'll have to share a room now.

Martha, come here.

Take the girl upstairs.

I'm worn out.

Ernst said you'd look after me.

Yes, you are being looked after.

- I'm Lotti.
- I'm Martha.

Was Ernst in the w*r, too?

I never thought the boys
would be in the w*r.

- And where is Anton?
- We must wait, Paul.

As we've waited
all these years for you.

Have you got chocolate for me?

Of course I have
some chocolate for you.

Then there was suddenly
the smell of real coffee.

We needed it for Hamburg,
for the discharge papers...

...so he had lots of it.

- Isn't that dangerous?
- I'll say it is!

Then everything went dark
in the train.

And I heard him telling
about all his aerial battles...

...how he was shot down and how
he made his way through France...

...and I got shivers up my spine.

May I take another slice?

And I was dozing off, I heard him
telling people where he was from...

...and that his family were farmers
living in the Hunsrück.

Schabbach, Bernkastel District.

I'll never forget that.

- Did Ernst really send you here?
- Of course! What an idea!

Where would I have got
the address otherwise?

- Do you bake the bread yourself?
- Yes, in our oven.

You're in good hands here.

That was our house,
Rothenbühl, number seven.

That's what it was like afterwards,
on 12th January 1945.

These were our neighbours
who rescued the injured...

...but my mother was dead.

Is that you?

No, I wasrt there.
I was away on w*r service.

That's my mother.

I feel a bit better now.

There we were in Cologne.

And where is Ernst?

If that man would move his bicycle,
you could see him.

He's behind him.

But they are black-marketeers.

Is Ernst doing that in Cologne?

He got me some silk stockings
from that man there...

...because I needed them.

- That was in Cologne, too.
- It looks like Bochum.

- Just like Hamburg.
- Those are relatives of ours.

That's Hans Söhnker, the film star,
but he's not related to us.

A handsome man.

My father.

He's in Russia, a prisoner-of-w*r.

Here we're in Duisburg,
the big station.

We waited six hours there.

Who's that?

That's my little sister,
but she's dead.

Where is our Ernst now, then?

I don't know. Whatever happens,
I'm to wait for him here.

That's typical of our Ernst.

Ernst, why don't we
visit your family? We're very near.

Oh, not today.

Why not?

Tomorrow we'll be
somewhere farther away.

They just wouldn't understand...

...if I bob up
after such a long time...

...then push off again immediately.

Or is there a woman
waiting there for you?

I don't think so.

I don't see how this route of yours
will get us to Wiesbaden.

Frigga, I know every stone here,
every blade of grass.

Do you like it?

Now recite your poem.

You went from here a long time ago,
but we're with you in joy and woe.

But that's not true.

What are you doing here?

- You're Paul.
- And you're Eduard.

I saw your car outside.

Paul, let me look at you.

"Old boy". That's good.

Now recite it, Horst.

See, Katharina, now you've got
all three home. It's like a miracle.

I can't believe it.

Horst, that's your uncle now.

Dear people of Schabbach.

Dear people of the Hunsrück.

Dear family.

The speech
I am going to make today...

...is the one I wanted
to make in 1939.

I knew the words by heart then.

But then came the w*r,
and I've forgotten them.

The music that was just played...

...is a greeting to you
from the United States and abroad...

...so you also have something
to laugh about.

The grocery store
cost me a few dollars.

And I had to get an old friend...

...in the Air Force out of bed
tonight...

...and he cursed and asked,
"Wort tomorrow do?".

"No, General", I said.

That made you look up, Glasisch.

"Tomorrow won't do...

"...because today is Saturday
and my people can't sleep it off...

"...and I want my Schabbach
to be happy today."

The older ones among you
will remember...

...that in 1923, I was
the first person, far and wide...

...to build a radio.

And it worked.
And that was the beginning.

In the United States...

...like everyone else
I washed dishes for years...

...until in 1934...

...I set up my own factory.

But don't think it was very big.

At first it was tiny...

...no bigger than father's forge
here in Schabbach.

Then it kept getting
bigger and bigger...

...and then I thought of you.

And I said to myself...

..."One day,
when I've made it rich...

"...then I'll go home
and say to you all...

..."Here I am."

Maria... Mother.

We had some difficult hours
back in August 1939.

Paul has already started.

When I was on the ship
in Hamburg...

...and had to wait three days
and four nights.

They wouldn't let me land.

Your Hitler didn't want me,
he wasrt from the Hunsrück.

Then we sailed to Le Havre...

...but the same thing
happened in France.

They wouldn't let us land, either.

And when I went back
to the United States...

...I couldn't imagine all this here
any more, on the ship.

Seven years have passed since then.

And in those seven years
I've kept on thinking...

...about standing here
before you like this.

So, people, open up the cans.

Let everyone eat,
drink and smoke.

And maybe one of you
can make some coffee.

I'm telling you, with the Yanks...

...with the Yanks,
we'll get out of this whole mess.

The dream of my declining years
is to visit America.

The Wild West, that's living.

Or to New York, and spit
from the top of a skyscraper.

And look into the distance.

Up there, one is closer to God.

What are the names
of the forty-eight states?

Pauline, what's the matter?

Eduard, I just thought of Robert
and that he'll never come home again.

But Pauline, you don't know that.

As a woman, you feel it.

No, Eduard, he'll never come back.

Maria, will you dance with me?

Shall we have a dance, too, Lucie?

Isn't that blasphemy,
so soon after the w*r?

No, not today.

You like this, don't you, Paul?

A homecoming after 20 years,
paying everything with dollars.

A pretty daughter-in-law.

A car with a chauffeur.

And everybody applauding.

Paul, this is better
than in peace-time.

What's the matter, Paul?

I'm so cold.

It's summer, Paul.

Just feel.

Your fingers really are cold.

You're not to feel cold, Paul.

But you shouldn't get
any ideas either.

Is Otto between us?

Otto has been dead a long time.

What is it, then?

Twenty years, Paul.

You can't dispel them
just by being cold.

Warm today, isn't it?
Where is Jakoby's carpenter's shop?

On the left. See the door?

Lt. Ernst Simon, 3rd Fighter Squadron
Bitburg, reporting back from action.

My plane was a write-off.

Here are the keys and the logbook.

Simon! Man. You're trying
to take the piss out of me.

- Stand easy, man.
- Colonel.

Simon, the hunt is over.
What do you want here?

I wanted to bring you the logbook
and the keys, and report back.

No stories.
You used to be quite smart.

Now stop this rubbish.

For me the w*r is not over until
I've reported back to you, Colonel.

What plans have you now?

I've got by for 18 months,
from France to here.

I've seen that all a heart
could desire still exists...

...only not where it's needed.

It's just a transport problem.

Colonel, I want to fly again.

The air is no longer ours.

You must get used to that.

But we can't crawl around
on the ground.

How about applying to the Tommies
for work as airmail pilots?

Colonel...

...I thought you and I might...

Simon, I was a soldier,
and as a result...

...l'm now a carpenter's apprentice.

And for the next 99 years...

...we, as Germans,
won't be allowed to fly.

Paul, were you never homesick
in America?

Yes, Mother, often.

What did you do...

...when you had worries
and there was nobody to advise you?

No father, no mother,
no brother, no sister.

I had to learn to help myself,
Mother.

In that cold country,
where they all know what they want...

...isn't that terrible?

But now you're home again.

Come to the kitchen.
I've made a hayseed infusion for you.

Inaling that always helped
your father when he was ill.

Remember, Paul,
when you were so ill as a child?

You had diphtheria and whooping cough
all at once, do you remember?

As I remember, you almost died.

That was on my birthday.

Yes, you were just seven
and you were taken ill.

Doctor Dörr
sat by your bed for four hours...

...and he had the surgical
instruments all lying ready...

...because we all thought
you'd choke, do you remember?

I didn't know about all that.

And then you suddenly said...

..."Now I'm seven years old
and I must die."

That's when Doctor Dörr's eyes
filled with tears, Paul.

I didn't know that.

Come down to the kitchen.

We've got a factory, too,
to make barley coffee.

Those are hayseed from last year.

When we brought them home,
the whole room was full of Americans.

That was a hot summer
when the w*r was over.

Tell us something
about America, Paul.

Is it true there is so much to eat
in America, and so many cars?

Yes, that's no problem.

You were always such a serious,
pale child...

...and you wouldn't drink your milk.

I'll put hot water in it.

It's got to be
as hot as you can bear.

Is your factory in Detroit really
as big as it looks on the letter?

And you have 800 workers?
And you're their boss?

Breathe in through your nose
and breathe out through your mouth.

At Christmas, Paul, do you all sing
Silent Night, Holy Night...

...as we do here?

I can't understand it.
It's almost unbelievable.

Paul, have you got a woman
in America?

I mean, one that looks after you
if you're ill.

But Paul is married.

Marie-Goot,
this doesn't concern you.

If you say so.

Paul, have you a woman?

See, Marie-Goot,
Paul is a normal, healthy man.

The chicks.

- What's the matter with Paul?
- He's ill.

Has he tried hot potatoes?

Glasisch, go to church,
it's Sunday.

Helga, look at these lovely eggs.

Better times will come...

...then the farmers will come to us,
and get nothing.

No luck here, we'll try this way.

Blonde or brunette,
sweet nothing here you'll get.

Black hair or gold,
I'd like you all to hold.

Here comes Glasisch.

He's worked thirty years
in my fields...

...with the cows, too.

He gets his food
and I give him a few marks.

He's a poor devil nowadays.

He's got a nose
like a rotten potato.

Wiegand, your place looks like
a French castle.

Remember?

Gobelin tapestries on the walls,
and a mirror on the floor.

What mirror?
Just think, Glasisch...

...I got this ring
for two sacks of potatoes.

Good swap.
From those townspeople?

Watch out, you idiot.
You'll break it.

Alois, won't you go to the Simons
to see Paul? He is your son-in-law.

As long as Wilfried is in their jail
I'm not going to the American.

That's not Paul's fault.

When a man renounces Germany,
he's no son-in-law of mine.

Yank, go home!

No corned beef!

No chocolate! No women!

No cigarettes!
Go home across the water!

They have my Wilfried
on their conscience.

But Wiegand,
that's not Paul's doing.

When Wifried comes home,
things will be cleared up.

What's Wilfried going to clear up?

For instance, the German cities
all lying in ruins.

- Wilfried is going to clear them up.
- German diligence is invincible.

Pack it in,
we know those slogans.

Marie-Goot, what are you doing?
Put that outside the window.

She's over-roasted the barley coffee.

Further out
or it will blow back in.

Herr Pieritz.

How did you get here?

Good day, Frau Simon...

...I thought your radio
would have the old dial...

...and I've got a new one
with AFN on it...

...so as I was in the district...

I'm sorry just to turn up like this,
but Grandma was so pleased.

Hermann, come,
I've got another chocolate for you.

You know, Paul, Herr Pieritz
was here during the w*r.

No, earlier, when they built
the highway, with Maria's Otto.

He's come from the East Zone.

If you ask me, he's come
to get something to eat...

...or he wouldn't have bothered.

To think you're still alive,
Herr Pieritz.

I knew my way around the house,
as if I'd just come down the stairs.

I'd prefer if you'd leave.

But, Maria, you can't talk
to Herr Pieritz like that.

It's all getting too much
for me, Grandma.

Look what we've got!

What's going on?

A. PIERITZ.
RADIO DIALS AND INSTALLATIONS.

Do you know where you want to go?

That will sort itself out,
but certainly not back to Leipzig.

- But your family?
- There's none left.

I'd better wear my beret, it makes
things easier in the French zone.

What's that, then?

Frau Simon, the clever man
plans ahead.

That's for Day X.

Then we'll really do big business.

Oh, it's always only the others
who do big business.

No, Frau Simon.

This time, we'll be part of it.

I'm through
with theoretical training.

- What do you mean?
- Everything will sort itself out.

Say goodbye to Maria for me.

Come back again some time.

The whole time you've been here
I was determined not to ask you...

...but now I must.

Why did you leave us, Paul?

The children were so lovely.

And me...

Didrt you like me, Paul?

I didn't understand it.

I tried to, but I simply
didn't understand it.

Sometimes I used to think,
"He's not right in the head."

Tell me now, Paul.

I'm not silly. I just want to know.

Or did it have something to do
with a woman?

I just want to understand.

How am I to explain to you?
At that time, here...

You needrt explain anything to me.
Forget it, Paul.

I don't know, Maria.
I really don't know.

Perhaps only that I'm here now
and can help you all.

We don't need any help, Paul.

I don't understand this Germany
any more.

When I see you standing there...

...l'm sure your workers
respect you very much.

And they need me, too.

You can hear the tyres singing.

It's wonderful here in the Hunsrück.

Checkpoint, Paul.

- Those are French.
- They won't do anything to us.

What's he doing
with that woman?

They check everything.

If I hold my hearing aid out,
I might understand them.

French. Yes, they're speaking French.

That's from my factory.
Simon Electric Tone.

With very small valves inside.

Ours are much bigger,
at least this big.

- Say something into it.
- Then you'll burst an eardrum.

Do you understand me, Eduard?

On this very spot
where you're standing...

...Lucie stood
when we came from Berlin.

And I sat here...

...and I couldn't tell her how poor
we were in Schabbach.

Do you understand?

It's a very nice place here.

That's Boppard down there.

I often went there on my bike
to buy parts for my first radio.

In the middle of the inflation,
with Wiegand's dollars.

And then I went along the Rhine,
as far as the "German corner".

It's as though no time
had passed at all.

Koblenz is completely destroyed,
ruins everywhere you look.

It's even worse than Frankfurt
or Cologne.

It's terrible, the w*r.

Maria has become
like a stranger to me.

Mother hasn't changed at all.

But all the others
are like strangers.

I'd forgotten how loudly
they all speak.

The kitchen is always crowded...

...and the house
is much smaller than I remembered.

And everyone is accepted by them...

...everyone who comes in
is accepted by them, just like me.

I understood very well
why you left the village, Paul.

We had nothing.

But now, you've got
a beautiful big house. Really.

Lucie wanted it that way,
before the w*r.

The house means everything
to Lucie.

The American headquarters
will be moved out.

The Major promised me.

Why don't we two take a drive
along the Mosel...

...or to Wiesbaden
in the American Zone...

...and spend a few dollars?

We'll get through all the checkpoints
because you're an American.

You did the right thing,
better than all of us.

Let them say what they like at home.

You simply cleared off.
To think you did that.

Shall we drive on a bit?

Frigga, stop looking across
at those two civilians at the bar.

Ernst, do you know them?

One of them is an uncle of mine.

And the other one,
the fatter one?

I don't know him.
But don't look over there.

She's asked where you're from.

What do they want from us?

Don't let on
you're from the Hunsrück.

- You're from the Hunsrück?
- I'm from Detroit.

What are you drinking?

Paul, I like it here.

- It's like peace-time, in Berlin.
- Were you in such bars there?

- That's where I met Lucie.
- You went dancing with her.

To think there are still such places
as this, when everything is gone.

Paul, are you staying
a few more weeks?

You know, when I'm away from Detroit
for any length of time...

...I start to worry.

They need me there.

And I thought you'd stay
at home with us.

Eduard, life in America...

So you will stay a bit?

Look, Frigga,
I'll show you something.

- Are they real?
- Surprised, eh?

That's my Nibelungen hoard.

This lot took seventeen months
to accumulate.

- What will you do with them?
- That's my treasure for peace-time.

In 99 years,
I'll buy a plane and fly away.

Are you crazy?

Don't look across.
I don't want them to see me.

You're funny. Everybody wants
into the countryside, except you.

Where is Beromünster?
Is it in the Tirol?

10TH MAY, 1947. A SATURDAY.

That's my Papa.

Martha, eat something, too.
Anton won't run away.

He'll stay here now,
won't you, Anton?

I know, Maria.

Marlies, let Papa eat.

Just think.
Anton walked 5,000 kilometres.

That's as far as Paul is going
on the ship.

Another new age.

There was one after the Great w*r...

...and then after the inflation,
and then 1933.

And when they built
the Hunsrück highway in 1938...

...that was a new age,
as new as the road.

And then 1945,
they called that Year Zero...

...and now they write in the papers
about Day X.

Grandma.

There will be a new currency
any day now.

- I got it from a reliable source.
- Did the captain tell you that?

Every time we expect it to be better.

There is no end to these new ages.

Six times in my life,
there's been a new age for me.

Well, it couldn't go on like this.

Then off it goes again,
on tick.

But the main thing
is that Anton is back home.

I'm so tired,
I'm going to lie down for a while.

Maria, when the coffee is ready,
call me.

The coffee is ready.

You know, Joseph, in Koblenz
you must see the "German corner".

It's all destroyed.

Then in Cologne, the cathedral.

And in Remagen, the bridge
is destroyed, you can't cross it.

You must go to Holland, then right.

Joseph, can't you take me
with you to America?

Why does everything has to happen
at the same time?

Robertchen, your uncle is going back
to America now.

- We may never see him again.
- Why is he leaving?

He was just here on a visit.

Are you sad, Mama?

No, I'm just thinking of Papa.

Paul, it's not right to leave when
we haven't yet buried your mother.

I've explained.

There isn't another ship for six
weeks and my permit has expired.

What has expired?

Marie-Goot, my residence permit
has expired.

Oh, I see. And you're going now?

So you have to go.

Leave Paul alone, Marie-Goot.
He knows what he's doing.

We'll get Grandma buried on our own.

I can help you more from over there
than if I stayed here.

Don't say things like that.

Better say goodbye
to Anton again.

Pauline, I wish you all the best.

I'll be ten days on the boat
and I'll be thinking of you.

Now you're leaving properly,
not secretly like before.

I hope things go well
for you in Detroit.

I'll write often.

Robertchen, later on
you'll get a big car, too.

Wouldrt you like that?

Where is Anton, Martha?
Did he go up there?

- No, I think he went there.
- Martha, see if Anton is all right.

You're all upset.
What's the matter?

Anton knows what he's doing.

You must trust him a bit.

He only came home yesterday...

...after 5,000 kilometres on foot.

You've got to realise
what he's been through.

Martha, do me a favour
and look what he's doing.

Do it for me, or I'll have no peace.

- I'm going to set up a factory.
- What are you saying, Anton?

You're setting up a factory?

What with? For that you need capital.

I've got that.

With that thought I left the camp
and it brought me all the way home.

Here in my head, I've my capital
and the decisive idea.

When we were retreating
near Odessa...

...just before I was captured...

...I first hit on the idea,
my invention.

Martha, you probably don't understand
much about optics.

True.

But what's this got to do
with optics?

Why didn't you speak
to your father about it?

It was too soon.

And you can take out a patent on it?

You build a ring of patents around it
to stop anyone getting at my process.

Twenty or thirty patents
are required.

I worked it out as I tramped.

For every idea,
I set myself a destination.

At the Turkish border,
I was on to Patent Sixteen.

At the Golden Horn, I was having
difficulties with Nineteen.

I went back over half a day's
walk until I had the solution.

And, Martha, the most important thing
I noticed when I got here...

...Hunsrück air.

Have you ever consciously
breathed it in?

You're scaring me.

In the next few months,
more people will think I'm crazy.

No, everybody understands.

You've only just come back
from a prisoner-of-w*r camp.

You think I'm crazy?

Right now, the world
is being divided up anew.

Whoever has the imagination
to acquire a kingdom...

...he'll get it, too.

I can't follow this.

What has this
to do with the Hunsrück air?

Nothing at all.

It's free of dust,
ideal for optical manufacturing.

And what's more, it's rich in oxygen,
because of the forests.

A kingdom.

Anton, I'm a bit frightened.

Martha, stick with me,
then the good years will come.

THE AMERICAN