(CLATTERING)
(GRUNTING)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(GRUNTING)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(GRUNTS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(RATTLING)
(CLATTERING)
(RATTLING)
(DEVICE TICKING)
(RATTLING)
(GROANS)
(DEVICE TICKING)
(CLICKING)
(RATTLING)
(SCRAPING)
(GRUNTING)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(BREATHING RAGGEDLY)
(GROANING)
THE FÜHRER'S TABLE
- (TRAIN WHISTLING) - (RUMBLING)
MUNICH, NOVEMBER 8,1939
We welcome our Führer with three cheers.
(CHANTING)
I give the floor to the Führer.
Fellow party comrades!
Fellow Germans!
I have come to you for only a few hours,
to evoke in your midst
the memory of a day...
FOG! AIRPLANE UNABLE TO START!
...which was of great importance for us,
for our movement, and for the German people.
If, during the four years from 1919 to 1923,
the National Socialist Movement was able to grow to such an extent
that it succeeded, for the first time,
in mobilizing the entire nation in a stirring event,
then this was due to the general state Germany found itself in.
KONSTANZ, LAKE CONSTANCE
A terrible catastrophe had befallen our country and our people.
What forced Germany to succumb at the time
were the lies of our adversaries.
GERMAN-SWISS BORDER
The lies told by the same men who are lying again today.
However, everyone must understand that they are not sacrificing any more
than all the others sacrificed before them.
We are also aware
of how much destiny has assisted us
and enabled us to do so much.
It let us forge our plans in the right way
and blessed their successful outcome.
SOLDER: (IN ENGLISH) Hello.
- (GUN CLICKS) - (IN GERMAN) Where are you going?
I'm looking for an old friend.
Feuchtelhuber of the Konstanz Folklore Society.
I used to be a member there.
None of us know whether they will suffer.
What our women sacrifice to bear the nation's children,
our men sacrifice by defending the country.
We National Socialists have always been fighters.
Now the great moment has come to prove ourselves as fighters.
No one but us can be victorious.
(AUDIENCE CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)
PASS
HITLER: That Mr. Churchill doesn't think so,
I shall put down to his old age.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
HITLER: Others didn't believe it either,
they will be told by Churchill, by Chamberlain...
RED FRONT
Why are you wearing that badge?
Out of support.
The Red Front is an illegal organization.
HITLER: ...if we hadn't been drawn into it by England.
England boosted its power through agitation and incitement.
(GATE CLANGING)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(WHISTLING)
(EXPLOSION)
(CAR ENGINE RUNNING)
BERLIN REICH SECURITY MAIN OFFICE
Heinrich, I'd like to join my wife at the opera.
The Reichsführer wants our new figures
submitted to him for the big meeting tomorrow.
What's complicated about listing all detained lunatics?
The clerical task isn't complicated.
But we need to decide whether to include church institutions.
No exceptions. This reflects the Reichsführer's wishes.
The priests will make a fuss.
They'll calm down again.
I'd propose to Himmler that we proceed step by step.
First...
Not now, Bauer!
An attempt on the Führer's life in Munich.
A bomb.
Half the roof is said to have caved in.
SOLDIER: First MG squad, take position!
Second MG squad, take position!
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
(BRAKES SCREECH)
KÖNIGSBRONN, WÜRTTEMBERG
(VEHICLES APPROACHING)
OFFICER: Alight!
Move!
Line formation!
Line up!
- Here's the list. - Thank you.
(GREETING)
My name is Eberle,
I'm the Local Party Leader here. At your service.
(GREETS)
All relatives of one Georg Elser,
last known address, Türkenstraße 59 in Munich,
to report to the square.
What has Georgie done?
You instruct my men.
But the Elsers are harmless.
That's an order!
Yes, sir!
Is this the lot of them?
Yes, Major,
including his former fiancée, Elsa Stephan.
(SIGHS)
The whole lot to Berlin for questioning!
Come!
How dare you? Let go!
Don't, Elsa, or they'll take them, too.
I'll bring them to your mother.
PRESUMED PLACING OF THE BOMB
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
(DOOR OPENS)
These are the corrected lunatic asylum statistics that we're re-submitting.
- Including the church ones? - Yes. The gentlemen are waiting.
(PROJECTOR WHIRRING)
(CLICKS)
Gentlemen,
we cannot afford to make a mistake now,
not even the slightest.
Halt!
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
Heil Hitler, Mr. Elser.
Heil Hitler.
Good day.
Or good day, if you prefer that.
My name is Nebe.
Head of Criminal Police. I'm in charge of your case.
This is the head of the Gestapo, Oberführer Müller.
Elser...
How do you think your wicked assassination attempt ended?
We mourn the death of seven innocent people for which you are responsible.
MÜLLER: Seven men and women,
including a waitress, married with two children.
A marching band flautist, leaving behind a wife and teenage daughter.
NEBE: What did these people do to you?
Who gave you the right to kill them?
Don't you have anything to say to the relatives?
Not a single word?
Do you think the Führer is dead?
MÜLLER: You think you succeeded?
The Führer is alive.
He left the Bürgerbräukeller thirteen minutes before the explosion.
Your assassination attempt failed.
You were carrying bomb schematics when you were arrested.
You spent a lot of time at the Bürgerbräukeller.
Take off your trousers.
I want to see your knees.
Off with your trousers!
I want to see your knees.
Elser...
I'm now giving you your only chance to own up to everything.
You think you know everything already. Shoot me and get it over with.
NEBE: We're not there yet by a long way.
Let's start right at the beginning.
Name? Date of birth?
(GEORG HUMMING)
KONSTANZ, LAKE CONSTANCE 1932
(SINGING) Where we gather
Under the linden trees
At eventide
Where we gather
Under the linden trees
At eventide
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
Many hours we've spent here together
Sitting in a...
- (BRUNHILDE SCREAMS) - (GEORG SCREAMS)
- (GROANS) - (GIGGLING)
(ALL CLAMORING)
(BRUNHILDE LAUGHS)
(GASPS)
You know you'll have to make up for your attack.
Do you love me?
You never commit, do you?
You know I like spending time with you.
(CROWD CHEERING)
Whoo-hoo!
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
(HUMMING)
(CHUCKLES)
(VOCALIZING)
(LAUGHING)
(ALL CHEERING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
And what about Bruni?
Nothing. She's having fun, too.
I'll leave if you want.
Are you crazy?
- (DEVICE TICKING) - (GEORG HUMMING)
I hope no one died.
That stupid old drunkard.
Your father? Is he dead?
He sold another two fields, our best land.
Now I'm supposed to sort things out at home.
KÖNIGSBRONN, WÜRTTEMBERG
(EXPLOSIONS)
The Messerschmitt is worth two.
Georgie Elser is back.
- Hi, Lore. How's the leg? - Same as always.
Will you stay with your folks now?
Looks like it.
- LORE: They need you urgently. - (PANTING)
You have to register within 48 hours, that's now the law.
I won't stay longer than four weeks.
- Still. - All you can think of is supervising.
Hi, Elmar.
My dad says Lore shouldn't act like a big shot,
she's with a Jew from Heidenheim.
Who turned you into a moron all of a sudden?
There, you better give me a hand with this.
Good day.
Are there soldiers at the Konstanz border crossing?
Customs officers, that's enough.
What's in the box? Show me.
There's no show today.
(WATER SLOSHING)
GEORG: Mother?
MARIA: Georg.
At last. (SIGHS)
Come here, my boy.
Thank you for coming.
Where is he?
(FLIES BUZZING)
Come on, no stopping.
Leave the cider alone.
(SPITS)
Damn it!
Keep the blade straight!
If I'm supposed to help you, stop the boozing.
You little shit! That cider was expensive!
I never booze and I'm still alive.
I don't like repeating myself.
Name? Date of birth?
(DOOR CLOSES)
(GRUNTS)
(GROANS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
Name? Date of birth?
(GRUNTS)
(BREATHING RAGGEDLY)
MÜLLER: Name? Date of birth?
(WINCES)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
Name? Date of birth?
(SCREAMING)
(COUGHING)
- (WHIP LASHES) - (GEORG SCREAMS)
Name? Date of birth?
- (WHIP LASHES) - (GEORG SCREAMS)
Name? Date of birth?
- (WHIP LASHES) - (GEORG SCREAMS)
Name? Date of birth?
- (WHIP LASHES) - (GEORG SCREAMS)
Name? Date of birth?
(WHIP LASHES)
Name? Date of birth?
(WHIP LASHES)
Name? Date of birth?
(WHIP LASHES)
(SCREAMING)
(RETCHES)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(RETCHING)
Again.
Name? Date of birth?
Kiss my ass.
MÜLLER: I can't hear you.
(SHOUTS) Kiss my ass!
(WHIRRING)
(SIZZLES)
(SCREAMING)
(CRYING)
(GROANING)
(DOOR CLOSES)
(LOCKS RATTLING)
(GROANING)
(BREATHING RAGGEDLY)
(GROANING)
Send this to Baumann. I want him to order this weed killer from IG Farben.
Very well, Oberführer.
NEBE: I know this breed from the Swabian hills.
They'd rather be beaten to death than give in.
- (DOOR CLOSES) - Shall I tell this to the Reichsführer SS?
There's this breed from the Swabian hills...
That guy is merely a puppet.
Just look at his physiognomy,
his eyes.
He's not some naive idiot. The man knows what he wants.
He may be a country boy, but he's not lacking ideological conviction.
And the evidence is overwhelming.
The Führer doesn't want evidence, he wants a written confession.
Goebbels needs it for the press.
I'll pull out every one of his teeth to make him sign if I have to.
You saw that he won't budge.
Oh, are you telling me how to do my job now?
Your lot should have known about this sooner.
Now where is that list of the arrested relatives?
(GULPS)
I'm asking myself how an ethnic German can hate our Führer so much
to carry out such a despicable attack.
And on November 8th, of all days.
Now look who's joining us, Elser.
Come in!
- (MUSIC PLAYING) - (INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
(GLASSES CLINKING)
Evening, all.
- Ernst, a beer and a kirsch! - Beer and a kirsch, coming up.
No. Erich has had enough. Two orange sodas, please.
ERNST: What's it going to be, Erich? Soda or the usual?
The usual, you dumbass!
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
(APPLAUDING)
(IN ENGLISH) Thank you.
(IN GERMAN) Shall we get some fresh air?
That's Elsa.
She's married.
- Those are the best ones. - (BOTTLES CLINK)
(CHUCKLES)
This seat is taken, Eberle.
We found another dead hare in a sling today.
In the woods, near the Itzelsberg.
- That's above my field. - Piss off, Eberle.
I'll give you a good kicking if the poaching doesn't stop.
(WOMEN LAUGHING)
The dance is called a tango. It's from South America.
- It's very close, almost sinful. - (WOMEN LAUGH)
Watch.
- One... - (GEORG CHUCKLES)
One, two, tango step.
One, two...
(GEORG HUMMING)
(ELSA CHUCKLES)
(HUMMING CONTINUES)
(ELSA GASPS)
(APPLAUDING)
Something like that.
I'm Georgie Elser.
You're Elsa, aren't you?
(SCOFFS)
I'm going back to my Erich.
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
- (THUDS) - (MEN LAUGHING)
Hans, a round, time to celebrate!
So, what was the percentage?
The NSDAP is the biggest party in the Reichstag with 44%.
Come, Lore. Let's go.
The Reds lost. What do you say now?
There you go.
- ELSA: Come on, let's go. - No, I'll finish my drink.
Help yourselves!
MAN: To our Führer.
(CHANTING)
- Quiet, we're playing cards! - ERNST: Hang on.
We'll have no shouting here.
- Who's shouting here? - ERNST: Calm down.
Stay calm.
Calm down. Let's stay calm.
Schurr, you'll be the first to be strung up once we seize power.
SCHURR: And you'll be shot after the revolution.
(MEN SINGING)
(DOOR CLOSES)
Idiots.
- You've been to Konstanz and Switzerland? - Yes.
Did you go to the cinema there?
I saw a picture of Jacqueline Wells in a magazine.
She's so beautiful in Tarzan the Fearless.
They say she's wearing hardly anything in that film.
That would interest you, of course.
(MAN SHOUTS)
(WOMAN SCREAMS)
- (CRASHING) - (INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
(WOMAN YELPS)
Just die, you bastards! Sons of bitches!
Why did you leave?
You've been fighting with the Nazis for years. For what?
Musician! Go home and pray.
Dirty pacifist!
- So what? - Shut up!
You're a coward?
Yes, maybe I am a coward,
because violence has never achieved anything.
(GASPS)
NEBE: Elser, now tell your girl here why you did this.
Did you do this, Georg?
Elsa.
Take her away.
Where are they taking her?
NEBE: That's entirely up to you.
JESUS CHRIST
(GROANING)
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.
Amen.
- Elsa... - Yes?
She has nothing to do with this.
Will you guarantee she won't be harmed?
She's not important to us if we have a confession from you.
If not, it's a different matter.
My word as an officer.
That means nothing to me.
I can't offer more.
All right, then.
It was me.
My name is Elser, Johann Georg.
Born January 4th, 1903.
Let's begin.
Party membership?
None.
And this?
My Red Front badge.
But I was never a Communist Party member.
RED FRONT
- (CYCLE BELL RINGING) - (HORN BLOWING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
(GIGGLING)
- Red Front. - Red Front.
Good that you're with us.
WORKERS VOTE KPD
- Josef! - What?
The H.
- What? - The H.
- Damn! - Add it!
- Or the Browns will say we're idiots. - Come on!
Watch out!
SCHURR: Damn it!
SOLDIER: Stop! Halt!
Site security!
- (DOG BARKING) - (BOYS SHOUTING)
(ALL SINGING)
NEBE: "...I joined the Konstanz Folklore Society."
Just for the companionship?
I didn't join to pick up girls.
You can meet girls anywhere.
And before you ask, I wasn't close to any girl from the society.
Of course there was the occasional...
Why don't you just admit you're a communist?
No, I thought it was enough to vote KPD.
I'm sure you were involved in demonstrations, handing out flyers...
No. I didn't even attend meetings.
It's highly unlikely an apolitical person
would plan and carry out an attack on such a huge scale.
I was a free human being.
Meaning?
You have to do what's right.
If humanity isn't free, everything dies with it.
Am I allowed to write one last letter?
Please, just a few lines to my fiancée and my mother.
Take him away.
MUNICH ASSASSIN CAPTURED
MANDATOR: THE BRITISH SECRET SERVICE
That small-time carpenter is trying to hoodwink us, claiming he acted alone.
Just one man can't construct such a powerful bomb.
Elser insists he carried out the attack on his own.
- There's no evidence... - We won't let criminals call us liars!
The Führer wants us to get him to talk by any means necessary.
He must say who's behind it.
Obergruppenführer, it's becoming clear no one else is pulling the strings here.
You might trigger the Führer's reaction
for being soft and failing when it counts.
(DOOR OPENS)
(DOOR SLAMS SHUT)
NEBE: We don't believe a word of it.
What?
"Without any help I let myself get locked in to the Bürgerbräukeller for 30 nights.
"I wrapped a rag around the rear part of the drill.
"I benefitted from the lavatories automatically flushing every 10 minutes.
"I used the sound to conceal my work,
"then waited another 10 minutes for the flushing to start again."
Correct.
A lowly craftsman like you couldn't build a bomb like that.
Who supplied your material?
For the last time, who were you working for?
All right, I'll tell you.
We only have two telephones in the village.
Churchill called me at the dairy.
The mayor's office would have been a bad idea.
Churchill called and said,
"Elser, build a bomb to blow up Hitler for me, we can't do it on our own."
I can't tell you what didn't happen.
(SCREAMING)
(SHOUTS) Just give me pen and paper and I'll prove it to you!
(GRUNTS)
(GROANS)
MAN: 18, 20...
I'm out.
- Three... - I'm out.
I'll go for diamonds if you don't mind.
WOODWORKER'S UNION OF WÜRTTEMBERG
EBERLE: Heil Hitler, everyone. PATRONS: Heil Hitler.
Hi.
Ah, I see, voluntary disbanding.
Very sensible.
KPD LIST 3
But if you think that the strike fund will disappear with you,
you've got another thing coming.
Listen up, national comrades.
How about attending the Gauleiter's rally in Heidenheim later
instead of playing cards at the pub?
Heil Hitler and good day.
- PATRONS: Heil Hitler. - Good day.
Ernst, the usual combo.
ERNST: Coming up.
Tell your Gauleiter there was another hare caught in a sling.
You can do whatever you like.
But don't complain if it hurts.
That was Elsa.
But let me tell you, Eberle, she won't talk back anytime soon.
Elsa?
ELSA: Leave me alone.
- Why? - I don't want you to see me like this.
(SOBBING)
GEORG: Shh!
What about Erich?
He'll get drunk at the pub. The children are asleep.
You.
(GEORG SIGHS)
It's different with you.
Do you know that?
(CHUCKLES)
When will you be going back to Konstanz?
(SCRAPING)
If the instrument maker pays for the maple wood, we could make it.
Yes, Georg, God willing.
If not, the marshals will come take our house away.
Where do we go then?
I don't know.
I might move in with Elsa.
You shouldn't fool around with married women.
There's no fooling around.
Erich is asking for a lodger because he's hard up.
You're not fooling me. No one around here has any money.
You want to be near that woman.
She has a bastard child and you, too.
Don't get carried away, mother. I'm a bastard myself.
But your father married me.
Elsa made her daughter legitimate, too. So what?
You left Mathilde with your child.
Is that the done thing?
I don't care what the done thing is.
If two people aren't right together, it's misery.
Just look at you and father.
You'll see what this leads to,
always doing exactly the opposite of God's plan.
(CLOCK TICKING)
(DOOR OPENS)
(DOOR CLOSES)
Where else could they be?
We'll find them, don't you worry.
- Halt! Gruppenführer, you'll go there! - Yes, sir!
(ROOSTER CROWING)
Georg, I need your help. Eberle is after me.
Why?
After their last rally, the Nazis arrested all party members.
Come in.
- I knew I'd find you here. - Put your hands up.
EBERLE: What have we here?
We only have orders to go after party members,
but soon it'll be the rest of your Bolshevik scum.
Take him away.
What do you think you're doing?
Is he one of them, too?
He's just a big-mouthed musician.
Go inside. This is none of your business.
All right, then. Let's go.
WITH THE STÜRMER AGAINST JUDAH
(CHURCH BELL RINGING)
HARVEST FESTIVAL 1934
(SINGING) Flim-flum, church scum Flim-flum, church scum
The Führer blows the churches up And all the priests will be strung up
Like your savior on the cross.
Flim-flum, church scum
Beat it, you dirty scoundrels!
Leave it, Leonhard!
(EXPLOSION)
Now they're even blasting things on the Lord's day.
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
(SINGING)
You are welcome. Hello.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Stand closer together.
(CAMERA CLICKS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
(MEN LAUGHING)
NSDAP CINEMA SHOWING THE SHEPHERDS' RUN
Good that you could make it. Have you eaten?
When does it start?
It's about to start.
EBERLE: Listen up, everyone! The screening will start in five minutes' time.
First come, first served.
Let's go, then.
EBERLE: One after another.
Like a farmer eating dumplings.
No, no, Elmar. You have to get in line, too.
Leonhard.
We saved you a space.
I took part in the Shepherds' Run. Maybe I'm in the film.
There's free beer and a sausage stew.
We only have turnip at home, but we're decent people.
So?
You'll have to decide, son.
OFFICER: National comrades, I'll keep it short.
I know you're more excited about the film
than Eberle's speech.
However, today we witness once again
how the Führer brings us technological progress.
Even the most remote parts of the German Reich
will see wealth and comfort.
- That's right. Bravo! - (ALL EXCLAIM)
OFFICER: Within three years, we will all have our own radio set,
connecting us to modern times.
I promise you,
all of the village's streets will be paved and lit.
This is progress.
This is our Führer, Adolf Hitler.
(CHEERING)
And now, our wonderful Shepherds' Run as a motion picture.
Please.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
(PROJECTOR WHIRRING)
ALL: Aw!
(AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS)
(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)
(INAUDIBLE)
Georgie.
You're lucky you can still move freely in the village.
(DOOR LATCH RATTLES)
(DOOR CLOSES)
You claim to have organized your own gunpowder plates.
Where exactly did you get them from?
(SIGHS)
Before deciding on the actual details of my plan,
I used my position at the steel works
to steal a total of 250 pieces of pressed gunpowder.
How do you know it was exactly 250 pieces?
I counted them.
Who else knew about this?
Nobody. The theft was not discovered by the company.
I wrapped the powder in paper and hid it in my wardrobe at home.
And the dynamite?
I stole it from the quarry at night.
What was the name of your boss?
I can't remember.
I only met the man three or four times.
If you don't talk, they can have you shot,
anytime, up there in the yard.
It's true. I'm not covering up for anyone.
Do you really think we won't uncover everything?
No, Mr. Nebe, I don't.
That's why I'm completely honest with you.
- (RAPPING on DOOR) - (DOOR OPENS)
- (KEYS JINGLING) - (LATCH RATTLES)
(TELEGRAPH MACHINE RATTLING)
TELEGRAPH SWISS MINISTRY OF JUSTICE AND POLICE
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
Yeah.
And?
We inquire about a monumental attack
and the Swiss send this.
"The proprietor describes Elser as hard-working.
"It was noted he often left work to go swimming in the afternoons.
"He more than made up for the missing time in the evenings.
"We have no knowledge of Elser's acquaintances."
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
SOLDIER: Take your hands off your face!
GEORG: Dot, dot, comma,
swish,
makes a face round like a dish.
What about the hair?
Hmm.
What about the ears?
CHILD: Iris!
I found something!
(IRIS LAUGHING)
The marshals will come on Monday. We'll have to leave our home.
I sometimes wonder how it would be with you.
You and me together.
You could play in an orchestra.
Maybe in Switzerland.
Or in America, they pay more there.
Are you serious about me, Georgie?
This might be the first time I'm serious about anyone.
I'm pregnant again.
Don't. The children mustn't find out. They talk a lot at home.
I think it's your child.
But I haven't always been able to fend off Erich.
I prayed for the Lord to take the child, regardless of whether it's yours or his.
You mustn't say that, Elsa.
Who will feed the child?
Why can't they let us be how we want?
You have to get a divorce.
Am I supposed to move in with you, now that they're taking your home?
Where will you live now?
(RUMBLING)
Uncle! Mommy says you'll sleep in our basement.
I'm not your uncle. I'm Georgie.
Are you going to paint faces and protect me from the bogeyman?
If he comes, I'll get my accordion and play so terribly that he runs away.
Mommy, Georgie is here.
And, very important, no female visitors. Understood?
CONTRACT OF TENANCY
Your reputation isn't the best, but I must protect mine.
That's why I won't tolerate anything.
So it's free board and lodging until the furniture is finished,
and then 20 a month.
Sign it.
So this is it.
There's a mattress in the other room that you can have.
I'll clean the window for you, Georgie. To make it brighter.
My wife doesn't clean for lodgers.
First we need to oil the hinges.
ERICH: If you can't pay
or you breach the contract, you'll have to move out.
- Understood? - I'll always find work.
(SCOFFS)
Come on! Beat it!
I'M THE BIGGEST PIG AROUND AS I MIX WITH JEWS IN TOWN
But, Lore...
What's all this about?
(CHUCKLES) You can join her if you like.
Get lost!
It's not my birthday.
I bet they wear this in Ulm, or even in Stuttgart.
You're crazy.
Thank you.
Shall I take it up like this? Or maybe even shorter?
Shorter is nice.
But don't wear it when Erich's around.
Don't worry, it's just for you.
What's wrong?
They sat Lore in the square with a sign round her neck.
Because of her boyfriend?
Poor thing.
But there's nothing we can do.
It's getting worse and worse.
Elsa...
(BREATHING RAGGEDLY)
ELSA: It's Schurr!
I can't be seen with people.
Come on in. Hurry.
(LID HISSES)
After the Heuberg concentration camp they sent us to work at satellite camps.
There was at least one death every week.
Where are you working now?
At the steel works.
I get out every two weeks for good behavior, but mustn't see anyone.
Jesus.
(ROOSTER CROWING)
And you? Out of work, being at home at this time?
Self-employed. But it's hard, not being a Nazi.
The steel works are hiring.
But be careful. They toe the party line.
GEORG: There.
ELSA: You do realize we fed a camp inmate?
If the Gestapo come I'll tell the pricks it's my bread, I do what I want with it.
But you're living in our home.
If the Gestapo come, we're all in for it.
DR. HÜBNER: You didn't need so many fuses to detonate the bomb.
GEORG: Correct. I knew two or three gunpowder plates would suffice.
But I thought the extra ones would increase the explosion.
DR. HÜBNER: Why two clockworks in the bomb?
I didn't want to rely on just one clockwork for my plan to succeed.
Matching the 12 combs B of cogwheel A,
I was able to set each clock with its run-time of 14 days
144 hours or 6 days in advance,
accurate within 15 minutes, to the time of the explosion, 21:20,
and activate it.
All of 13 minutes were missing.
How did you build the detonator?
The block with the three inserted and sharpened nails N
hits the bolt U, on which it has been loosely set, before the spring V.
The tips W then hit the cartridges opposite,
thus igniting through the impact on the cartridge primers
the blasting caps Y, inserted at a short distance from them.
The charge detonates.
And?
This ignition head requires a pressure of 35 kilo-pond.
The spring is set to 40 kilo-pond. Everything matches exactly.
This Elser works intuitively and very accurately.
Everybody knows you need pressure to detonate.
Elser must have had instructions.
Technically, he conceived and built the bomb all on his own.
If you know all the parameters, you don't need any help or instructions.
This man knows what he's talking about.
10, 15, 20.
Come here. Get lost! Beat it!
ELSA: You're hurting me.
You're hurting me! (SCREAMS)
(THUDS)
(ELSA GROANING)
- (CLOTH RIPPING) - (ELSA STRUGGLING)
OUR GREETING: "HEIL HITLER!"
Josef!
What's the big secret they're hiding?
I'm not sure yet, it might be molds for ignition heads.
Do you think you can earn your money talking?
Any contact with the forced laborers is prohibited.
MALE ANNOUNCER: (ON RADIO) Workers of the world, unite!
This is Radio Moscow in German on 25m short-wave.
on April 26, 1937, Adolf Hitler ordered his Condor Legion
to bomb the Spanish town of Guernica.
Never before has such a devastating attack on a civilian target area been witnessed.
At least 260 people were shot, tom to pieces or burned to death.
Guernica's destruction is a violation of international law and an important step...
(MUFFLED ANNOUNCEMENTS)
- GEORG: I've had it with this wretched scum. - (MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO)
GEORG: Why do they all follow this gangster?
They're the master race now. They think the Nazis make it better.
Nothing's better.
GERMAN TANKS
(CELEBRATORY MUSIC PLAYING IN MOVIE)
MALE ANNOUNCER: (ON SCREEN) German domination in the air
is not just due to the outstanding aviators of the Luftwaffe,
but also to the tremendous contributions of the aviation industry.
(CHEERING IN MOVIE)
HITLER: As Führer and Chancellor of the German nation and the Reich,
I hereby announce to German history
the accession of my homeland to the German Reich.
JEWS NOT WELCOME VILLAGE OF KÖNIGSBRONN
They want war.
It'll be brutal. They're building tanks as piecework.
Maybe it'll be like Bohemia and Moravia.
With Hitler attacking England and France?
We'll all die and the country with us.
I'm a forced laborer, Georgie.
We really ought to do something.
But what? Blow up the Special Unit?
That would only mean dead workers and the Nazis would carry on.
We have to do something else, and soon.
Soon and radical.
Attack the leadership.
You'll need guns or dynamite.
There's dynamite up in the quarry and detonators here in the factory.
- Someone has to stop this madness. - Yes, but not you or me or us.
Hitler must be stopped by other countries, by generals.
We're not strong enough, Georg.
We can't wait till it's too late.
It has to happen.
(CLATTERING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
What's wrong?
I can't stand you doing it with this drunkard.
There's nothing I can do.
- (LOUD CLATTERING) - (DOOR OPENS)
- You filthy whore! - (GASPS)
You slut!
(SCREAMS)
Just one more, you swine, just one more.
I'll kill you.
I'll kill you, both of you.
Both of you.
(SOBBING AND GROANING)
Elsa?
How's the child?
- It's kicking. - Thank God.
What happens now?
This here is over. Just come with me.
Where to? To your mother?
So we all go to heaven?
There's no room for me there.
I now work piece rate. It's better money.
It'll be enough if I repair furniture on the side.
There are cheap flats in Heidenheim now.
Only for Labor Front workers.
Not for you.
ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE OF BERLIN
BÜRGERBRÄU ADDRESS. THE FÜHRER SPEAKS!
THE FÜHRER SPEAKS
BÜRGERBRÄU ADDRESS NOVEMBER 8,1939
TIMETABLE
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
MUNICH 1938
(CLATTERING)
MAN: We checked everything.
(DOOR CLOSES)
(TRAIN RATTLING)
(STEAM HISSES)
(TICKING)
NEBE: A talented worker such as yourself should be a staunch National Socialist.
It's obvious that the Nazis don't support the people.
Today, a carpenter's hourly wage is 68 Pfennigs.
In 1929 it was 1 Mark and 5.
You're not trying to tell us that our Führer isn't looking after workers.
Hitler is bad for Germany.
- Have you gone completely insane? - It's true, though.
He's sending dissenters to concentration camps.
And the Jews are being robbed and tortured just because of their faith.
To cleanse the population.
Your blitzkrieg was a brutal attack.
Poland will be annihilated, Hitler will incorporate it.
That's the law of the strongest.
It's always been like this.
Do you really think there'll be no consequences?
France and England declared war on us on September 3rd.
Soon, a terrible fire will steamroll Germany and destroy everything.
Endless amounts of blood will be shed.
Then the bombs will drop on us, too.
Can't you see what's happening?
You're suffering from paranoia.
GEORG: And what about the victims?
- Hitler always talks about destiny. - (MÜLLER GRUNTS)
So you National Socialists, too, must have a higher law.
And it states, "Thou shalt not kill."
MÜLLER: That's rich, coming from someone who murdered eight innocent people.
Yes, you heard right.
Last night, the injured Schmeidel died as well.
I only wanted to prevent even more bloodshed.
(SCOFFS)
I knew it would not just hit the highest ranks.
But it had to be done.
All right, take this down.
The considerations I undertook
led to the conclusion that conditions in Germany
could only be changed by extinguishing the current leadership.
I said the highest ranks.
Very well, the highest ranks, then.
By this, I mean...
By this, I mean Hitler and all the government.
lam the sole perpetrator.
I procured the necessary means for the attack on my own.
I was working entirely alone.
Correct.
And, funnily enough, nobody would have joined me.
You will regret this, Elser.
Miss Secretary, may I ask you something?
You're not allowed.
I know you're not wholly unmoved.
Please.
I would be grateful if you could pass on my condolences to the relatives,
my heartfelt condolences.
I think about them all day.
And, if possible, tell Elsa and my family that I'm well at the moment.
And that I'm praying for the Lord to protect them.
And that I accept sole responsibility for everything.
Could you pass that on, please?
You can't get any more out of him than the truth.
We make the truth.
You're not normally so soft.
(SOLDIERS SHOUTING IN DISTANCE)
It's from the file. Put it away.
You didn't get it from me.
That'll do for today.
Take him away.
(SOFTLY) Thank you.
(ALL SINGING)
(MOTORBIKE APPROACHING)
(BRAKES SCREECH)
And, what did you have, a boy?
A boy. He's ours.
I can see it.
I already told Erich he'll be called Georg.
- (SIGHS) - He was shouting.
But I signed the midwife's certificate.
You get some rest now.
Stay. Erich has gone drinking.
I have to get to work, Elsa.
(DOOR OPENS)
EXPLOSIVE
(EXPLOSION)
(CAMERA CLICKS)
PHOTOGRAPHER: The prisoner to the left, please,
with the gentlemen at the table.
The Oberführer on the left, please.
If the prisoner could point to the schematic, please.
And if the Oberführer could bend down a little, please.
(CAMERA CLICKS)
(DOOR OPENS)
You stated the Führer was bad for Germany.
That's right.
(SHOUTS) Heil Hitler! Heil the Führer!
Our Führer made Germany great and will lead us on to glory.
He is the greatest leader and won't die until our destiny is fulfilled.
What is a worm like you to do with such a man?
What lunatic has controlled you, you imbecile?
It's like I said.
(GRUNTING)
The Führer demands to know who instigated this fool to act.
Have him hypnotized, drug him, I don't care.
Use any means that our scientists have been working on.
The Führer wants to know who set it up.
He wants to know who's behind this.
His patience has run out.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(MUMBLES)
(STRUGGLING)
(BREATHING RAPIDLY)
- (GASPS) - (NEEDLE CLATTERS)
(GASPS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(GASPS)
(CHOKES)
(MEN LAUGHING)
I could stay with my mother for a while after the divorce.
What do you think?
She'll have the children. There's work in Esslingen.
You can come down from Munich on weekends.
I must know if you really want this, Georgie.
I love you.
- (DOOR OPENS) - (FOOTSTEPS APPROACH)
WOMAN: Elsa...
The boy...
(CHURCH BELLS RINGING)
(DOOR OPENS)
ELSA: Georgie!
Georgie.
So you're off to Munich.
Without a goodbye, just like that.
Don't move.
(CAMERA CLICKS)
So you do have something in Munich.
And it's decided?
It's just for a short while.
I love you, Georgie, but I have no choice.
I can take a lot, but the children are hungry.
I'd give you money, but I need it for Munich.
Elsa, wait for me. Be faithful to me.
I've got something planned.
I can't tell you what, but it's vital, and it'll be fine.
I want to marry you when it's all over.
We'll move to Switzerland with the children.
Think of the dancing.
It's not about dreams.
It's about life, Georgie.
I know you left women before me.
Then I'll just have to be a single mother forever.
MULLER: I can't hear what you're saying.
Tell us the names.
The names.
(MUMBLES)
(HUMMING)
(RADIO STATIC)
(MOANS)
The name! Who provided the cartridges?
- (DEVICE TICKING) - MÜLLER: Who supplied the explosives?
I can't hear you.
You bastard!
(GIGGLES)
(SHRILL MUSIC PLAYS)
MÜLLER: The names, Elser! Tell us the names!
(CHANTING)
GEORG: I did it on my own.
Nobody helped me.
(TICKING)
- I shall try and atone... - (PENCIL SCRATCHING ON PAPER)
...for the bad things that I have done.
NEBE: By doing what?
And how?
By trying to...
By trying to integrate myself into
the national community and work within it.
NEBE: Would you be able to?
I changed my conviction.
NEBE: Because you were arrested.
No.
I'm certain my plan would have succeeded,
if my conviction had been right.
Since it hasn't succeeded,
I'm convinced it wasn't meant to succeed
and that my conviction was wrong.
(TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING)
(DINGS)
...AND THAT MY CONVICTION WAS WRONG. READ, APPROVED AND SIGNED BY...
Take him away.
Can I see a priest?
NEBE: No.
5 YEARS LATER
SPRING 1945
(DOOR OPENS)
BERLIN, PLÖTZENSEE EXECUTION SITE
"The First Senate of the People's Court ruled on March 2nd, 1945.
"The former SS Gruppenführer and Lieutenant General of Police Arthur Nebe
"is of thoroughly flawed character.
"He took part in the conspiracy of July 20th.
"He supported the attempt on the Führer's life,
"and was willing to assist the coup by providing police personnel.
"He is sentenced to death for high treason and will forever be without honor.
"His estate will go to the Reich."
(RECORDER WHIRRING)
(GASPS)
(GRUNTS)
(CHOKES)
(CREAKS)
SPECIAL OCCURRENCES:
NONE
(MUSIC PLAYING)
DACHAU CONCENTRATION CAMP
SPECIAL PRISONER WARD
Nebe was executed a few days ago.
Did you hear me? Nebe's dead.
At Plötzensee.
- How do you know? - From the new inmates, as usual.
They strung up Nebe? Why?
He designated policemen for Stauffenberg to arrest all ministers after the coup.
(CHUCKLES)
So much for the great show trial that Goebbels wanted to put on for you.
It'll soon be over for me, too.
At least you got a few more years out of them.
If only I knew what happened to Elsa.
You keep asking about that woman. How should I know?
With so many people dying.
She's not necessarily dead.
She might be alive, imprisoned somewhere.
There's also good news.
The College of Music for the Disabled has accepted me.
I'll learn how to sing now.
Viennese songs for zither.
As a little thank-you for recommending I try the College of Music.
(PLAYING INSTRUMENT)
(SINGING) You were young
I was young
Now it's all gone
Only the memories
Are all that carries on
You were pretty
I was smart
And so in love
Think back to the places
To the sweetest faces
Just because there's nothing you can place above
Franz, you know about these things.
What's quicker?
Gas, hanging,
or being shot in the neck?
I've been waiting for so long.
It might as well be over quickly.
(SIREN BLARING)
GEORG: ...hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses...
The English reduced Dresden to rubble.
Not one building is left standing.
One hundred thousand civilians killed in one night.
- For thine is the kingdom... - Praying is pointless.
God is in America or in Moscow. He won't hear you.
How can one man fail as horribly as I?
(KEYS JINGLING)
Prisoner Elser,
for interrogation!
MÜLLER: During one of the next terror attacks on Munich or the Dachau area,
Elser will allegedly suffer a fatal accident.
I therefore ask you to secretly liquidate Elser when this situation arises.
Make sure that only very few specially selected personnel know about this.
The incident report filed to rne should read along the lines of,
"On... Following the terror attack on...
"Special prisoner Elser, among others, was fatally injured."
You must destroy this letter once you have taken note and carried this out.
(EXPLOSIONS)
(GUN COCKS)
(GUNSHOT)
A FEW DAYS LATER, ON APRIL 29, 1945,
THE DACHAU CONCENTRATION CAMP WAS LIBERATED.
STARTED BY HITLER, THE SECOND WORLD WAR
CLAIMED AT LEAST 55 MILLION LIVES.
IT TOOK DECADES FOR GERMANY
TO RECOGNIZE GEORG ELSER AS A RESISTANCE FIGHTER.
(HUMMING)
FOLLOWING HER DIVORCE, ELSA WAS MARRIED TWO MORE TIMES.
SHE DIED IN WIESENSTEIG ON OCTOBER 11, 1994.
SHE NEVER GOT OVER GEORG ELSER, THE LOVE OF HER LIFE.
THIS FILM WAS BASED ON HISTORICAL EVENTS.
SOME SCENES FROM GEORG ELSER'S PERSONAL LIFE WERE FICTIONALIZED.