01x04 - That Better World

[bunniefuu]

[musical swirl]

He's a stubborn one.

Take it off.

[dramatic music]

[Hugo] I'm sorry.

Who's the book for?

Me.

What, you like Shakespeare?

Get up.

Now why should you take all the
blame? You just the paperboy.

Who's writing these?

[Helmuth] I am.

"Indeed the nefarious plan of the Führer

to attack the Soviet Union,

contrary to all agreements

and in spite of the
non-aggression pact..."

You wrote this?

[grunts and coughing]

[knocking]

Here. Let me hear you read this.
I wanna hear you read it.

...if you can.

"Just as tendentious and illusionary

is the Hitler propaganda campaign"...

Speak up.

"...But Hitler and his accomplices know

they must deprive you of your free will,

in order to make submissive,

spineless creatures out of you..."

"...For Hitler knows that we are
beginning to see through him."

"...the suppressor of free nations.

The m*rder*r of millions."

They found this at his
grandmother's house.

Where he was living.

It's a half-finished leaflet.

[solemn music]

How old is he?

He's 17.

- [Karl] What?
- [Rudi] He's been arrested.

I knew this would happen.

I... I... I have a cousin,
Basel, we could leave now,

we could go to Switzerland.

And then what?

We run... you know what
they'll do to our parents?

To everyone?

What are they doing to Helmuth?

He'll outsmart them.

You know Helmuth.

He'll keep his promise.

What do I tell my parents?

We lie.

Don't tell them anything.

It's gonna be alright.

You can sit down.

Sit down.

You wrote them all
by yourself, didn't you?

Yes.

Your birthday is January the 8th.

It's mine as well. January the 8th, 1902.

I'm an old man.

For the past nine months,

I've been looking for a professor of
German literature, or world history.

And this whole time it was you.

A boy.

We were rough on you. Well, we
don't need that anymore, do we?

Alright. [sighs]

We'll talk tomorrow.

Try and get some rest.

[dramatic music swells]

[Julius] Get up!

[hits and grunts]

It's in school today...

For homework we were supposed
to write about Adolf Hitler.

But Hensey didn't do it.

So right before class he hid
in the wardrobe, way in the back.

Did teacher notice?

Yeah, she walked over

and knocked on the door and said,

"Hensey, are you in there?
Or are you somewhere else?"

But then Hensey said,

"I can't be in two places
at the same time, can I?"

That is funny.

I want to go and see him.

I know.

I don't think you should.

They don't have to let you in.

And they don't
have to let you out either.

Before the opening prayer,

I need to inform you that one of our
members has been arrested.

Helmuth Kunkle was taken into custody
by state police on Thursday.

It must be stated that his
treasonous actions are inexcusable.

He has not only violated the law,

but he has broken the Lord's commandments

and betrayed his faith.

Helmuth Kunkle is
therefore excommunicated.

His name has officially been removed
from the records of this church.

Please Father...

I need your help.

...give me strength...

You wrote a poem about Goebbels.

"Porozio stands at the microphone,

entirely unable to bring forth a tone."

How am I going...

Oh, that's not Shakespeare.

Yeah, a little joke here too.

Lets see, Goebbels recently purchased
a massive flock of sheep, why?

So he could keep pulling
the wool over our eyes.

You know any more?

[sigh]

The Führer wants peace...

A piece of Poland.
A piece of Czechoslovakia.

A piece of France.

No?

[laughs to himself]

A friend of mine suffers
from schizophrenia.

Has delusions that he's either

Adolf Hitler or Winston Churchill.

He's his own worst enemy.

[subdued laughter]

Yeah...

You know, my colleauges think
that you had help

putting out these leaflets.

Did you?

There is no one else.

[door opens and closes]

You know, I'm not sure there were others.

There's always others.

Why don't you hold off for today.

And let me keep working on him.

You keep working your way,
I'll keep working my way.

We'll see who wins.

I mean it, let's just hold off for a bit.

Nah, this'll be quick.

I said hold off!

Fine.

[door closes]

[gentle music]

[Edwin] What's your teacher's name again?

Mr. Müeller.

Hmm.

So did your friend,

the one who can't be in
two places at the same time...

[Max] Hensey?

Yeah, Hensey.

He's not still in that wardrobe, is he?

Good, I was worried about that.

[sighs]

What?

I'm sorry.

[footsteps]

I need you to do something for me.

[door opens and closes]

Why?

Why?

Because... because they took my friend.

Salomon. Salomon Schwarz.

Because of a Jew?

Yes... and the truth.

The truth...

Then explain this truth to me:

How does one person cover all
of Hamburg in a single night?

[Edwin] How do I post these in
Hammerbrook, and in Altona,

and up in Eilbeck...
all in a single night.

How do I do that?

I can't be two places at
the same time, now, can I?

I know someone's been helping you.

Who were they?

No one.

- [Helmuth] There’s no...
- No, no, mhmmmm.

The Truth.

The truth?

If we don’t stop Hitler,
he will destroy Germany.

No one is safe.

Not you. Not your family...

No one.

[suspenseful music]

[ominous music]

Who was with you?

No one.

[grunts]

Who was with you?

No one.

[grunts]

Who was with you?

No one.

[grunts]

[Edwin] Your mother, your stepfather.

We met with them...

Now he’s a good Party member and
your mother, she's supportive,

doubt she’d be involved in any of this...

But you never know.

May have to bring her back in,
just to be sure.

Still no one?

[ominous tones]

She doesn’t know anything!

[yells]

[Elli screams]

[Edwin] I wouldn’t have suspected her

but then we found this in her things.

You like opera?

It's typed on your typewriter.

With your signature.

She doesn't know anything.

Oh you’re probably right...

But Julius is going to find out,
I can promise you that.

You don’t have to tell me
who’s been helping you.

Just write down their names.

It's alright.

[Edwin] Doesn't have to be perfect.

[solemn music]

[grunting and crying]

It's devastating, isn't it?

So committed to a cause, only to realize

you've hurt those you love the most...

You were right.

No one is safe.

But you knew that.

And did it anyway.

[door opens and closes]

Send the girl home.

[dramatic music]

What are you looking at?

[door unlocks and opens]

[gentle music]

What happened there?

We got a letter from Gerhard.

Is he alright?

He's fine.

He says he should be home by summer...

...and, you know,
that's what the papers say too.

Things are going well in Russia.

Karl and Rudi?

Not good.

[gentle music continues]

[solemn music]

August 11th.

The Führer's High Court.

They've already transferred him
to prison in Berlin

with Rudy and Karl.

They'll all go on trial there.

August 11th.

So, um, I've been...

[Hans Knie] Sit up. Sit him up!

In court tomorrow,
you'll be in a suit and tie.

Hair combed back,
looking presentable. And...

you’ll read this.

Out loud. Let's hear it.

I, Helmuth...

Hübener...

express my...

My last name isn't Hübener, it's Kunkle.

No, no, it's Hübener now.

You've been officially adopted
by your stepfather.

Hugo Hübener.

Well, having his last name
can only help at this point.

A decorated Lance Corporal?

Well, that's...
that's why I put it in there.

Well, go on.

I, Helmuth Hübener

express my deepest regrets

for the malicious acts
of treason I have com-

You'll have to be more
convincing than that

if you want any leniency
from a judge like Karl Engert.

Little secret.

I've had a nice chat with the judge.

He doesn't want to see
this come to the worst

any more than I do as your attorney.

This is your life we're talking about.

This is treason.

You’re barely seventeen.

Now, Karl on the other hand,
Herr Schnibbe, he's eighteen.

An adult.

[Hans Knie] And a known trouble-maker,

assaulting Hitler Youth
leaders and what not.

You read this statement in court.

Put your heart into it.

Save your skin

and let Karl-Heinz take what's coming.

Now let's try it again, shall we?

Hmm? From the top.

[solemn music]

[background conversations]

[suspenseful music]

[Judge Fikeis] All rise.

The Honorable Head Judge Karl Engert,

Chairman of the Second Senate
of the People’s Court,

representing our Führer, Adolf Hitler,

in the case against Helmuth Hübener,

Karl-Heinz Schnibbe and Rudolf Wobbe.

Heil Hitler.

[crowd] Heil Hitler.

[Judge Fikeis] The accusations
laid before the court are:

preparation to high treason,

aiding and abetting the
enemy in time of w*r,

listening to ill*gal foreign broadcasts,

and the publishing and distribution

of seditious material.

The accused stand before you now,

on this day,
the eleventh of August, 1942.

[Judge Engert] Sit down.

Read it with feeling.

[Judge Engert] These are
leaflets that were written

and distributed by the defendants.

On a typewriter stolen
from their church, the...

hmm, Mormons. That's interesting.

So religious...

and yet, here you are, accused
of committing high treason.

I find that ironic.

Well.

My intent is to determine who
actually instigated this group,

and whether the ring leader wasn’t indeed

the adult of the group, Herr Schnibbe.

For the benefit of the court,

we will read from the treasonous leaflets

that were admittedly distributed

by Herr Schnibbe and his two cohorts.

Let's see.

Found in Hammerbrook, Hamburg,
April 30, 1941.

Do you know the country without freedom?

The country of terror and tyranny?

Yes, you know it well
but are afraid to talk about it.

It is Germany.

Hitler is to blame that hundreds

of thousands wait in vain
for their husbands.

Do you want to tolerate having the

happiness of your life taken from you

and your children cheated out of the

most beautiful years of their lives?

Do you want to tolerate this?

We can still rescue our country from

the abyss to which Hitler has led us.

Make your decision before it's too late.

Well, I think we've
heard more than enough of that.

[Judge Fikeis] We now call to the stand

Criminal Secretary Erwin Müssener

with the Secret State Police, Hamburg.

[Judge Engert] How many of these
leaflets were distributed?

There were twenty-nine separate leaflets

that either we found or were turned in.

Multiple copies of many of them.

But we don't know exactly how
many others remain uncollected.

You believe there were more?

[Edwin] Yes.

A number?

We don’t know. Possibly many more.

I will say that the content
of these leaflets

was extremely well written.

Very persuasive.

None of us were expecting
to find a sixteen year old.

[Judge Engert] Persuasive?

You're saying that the words
of a 16-year-old boy

could sway the German people?

I’m saying, they were well written.

I was looking for a university
professor, someone older.

But we have someone older right here:

Herr Schnibbe. Karl-Heinz.

Karl-Heinz Schnibbe

was not the author of the leaflets.

We found the typewriter,
we know it was used by...

But isn't it likely that this
young man was influenced,

perhaps persuaded by his older friend?

Herr Schnibbe, a known troublemaker?

Isn’t that possible?

[Judge Engert] Kommissar?

I don't know.

[Judge Engert] Excuse me?

- I don't know.
- [Judge Engert] You don't know?

I asked if it’s possible-

Of course it's possible.

That will be all.

[Hans Knie] Your honor.

My client has prepared
a written confession

which demonstrates very clearly

that he was bullied into
this "resistance group"

by his older friend, here, Herr Schnibbe

Bring him forward.

I, Helmuth Hübener,

express my deepest regrets...

[inspirational music]

...I express my deepest regrets...

that Germany has followed a lunatic

into a w*r she cannot win.

[Judge Engert] No, no, no, no.
This is a court of law.

The accused is free to speak.

[Judge Engert] Ah, that's
quite the statement.

Do you really believe that
Germany will lose this w*r?

Absolutely.

Don't you?

And yet, it was only a year ago
when you wrote,

"Never before has Germany
been more homeland to us

than it is now, in this Athenian age,

the dawn of the
National-Socialistic millennium.

And how did we arrive at this
great juncture in history?”

On the backs of the conquered.

That’s how we arrived here.

The power of this Reich is mired
in the blood of the innocent.

In Poland, in France.

Germany's future lies frozen and
dead on the steppes of Russia

so Hitler can have his living space.

Ah yes, the Allies are up
in arms about our living space,

aren't they?

Have you never heard of
British ‘Imperialism’,

or what the Americans call
their ‘Manifest Destiny’?

Hmm?

They’re hypocrites!

It’s exactly the same expansionism

that our Führer has achieved!

What did you think, boy?

You would write some little
leaflet and overthrow the Reich?

I thought...

I would write the Truth...

and let it overthrow the Reich.

The Reich doesn't fear
your little papers.

Then why are we here?

[Judge Engert] It has become so
convenient to accuse the victor.

It’s the very reason Aristotle
said that in the time of w*r,

truth is the first to go.

[Helmuth] You mean Aeschylus.

"In w*r, truth is the first casualty."

He was right.

Hitler says whatever he can
to cover the truth:

That his thirst for power has
cost millions of lives!

Millions of lives. Every German knows

that we're winning this w*r.

You only know what Goebbels
wants you to know!

I know that in my court you will
address me with respect!

Your court? Or Hitler's court?

My court! The Führer's court!
The German people's court!

The people deserve the truth!

- Hitler will stop at nothing!
- Truth is loyalty to the Führer-

He will send Germany into the fires

Shut your mouth! Sit him down!

[Helmuth] ...in order to finish
the crimes he has started!

The people deserve the tru-

[Judge Engert] Not his face!

- Expose him for what he is:
- Shut him up! Shut up!

A reckless mass m*rder-agh!

[music swells]

This court is in recess.
Sentencing will follow.

[gentle music]

[Judge Fikeis] All rise.

In the case against Helmuth Hübener,

Karl-Heinz Schnibbe

and Rudolf Wobbe,

the court pronounces all three
guilty of high treason,

and of aiding and abetting
the enemy in time of w*r.

[Judge Engert] Rudolf Wobbe.

You are hereby sentenced to
five years imprisonment.

Karl-Heinz Schnibbe.

You are hereby sentenced to
ten years imprisonment.

Helmuth Hübener.

For your crimes against the Reich...

the sentence is death...

by beheading.

Any final words from the defendants?

Yes...

[inspirational music]

I am guilty of no crime at all.

I will die, having done nothing wrong...

But your time will come.

The judge will be judged
and truth will prevail.

[inspirational music swells]

[Guard] Rudolf Wobbe.
Karl-Heinz Schnibbe.

Come.

You stay.

One moment. Please.

One day...

this will end.

You will live...

to have a better life...

in a better Germany.

[gentle music]

We did what we could.

Remember me.

[gentle music]

[door unlocks and opens]

[Edwin] You should know,

this was filed on your behalf.

Clemency?

It was denied.

[solemn music]

Thank you.

Will you deliver this for me?

Please?

I was asked to give this to you.

[Helmuth] Mother,

By the time you read this,
I will be gone.

I'm not afraid to die.

My deepest regret is the pain
I have brought to those I love.

I pray God will protect them
and bring them home.

Father in Heaven knows
I have done nothing wrong.

He will be the proper judge
of this matter...

[low rumbles]

[gentle music]

Mother, you always taught me
to believe in a better world.

And this is where my final hopes lie.

Please remember me kindly.

And I love you.

And that we'll see each other again

in that better world.

[“Poor Wayfaring Stranger”
by The Lower Lights, plays]