The Man Who Crossed Hitler

THUDDING AGAINST DOOR

SHOTS AND SCREAMS

SHOOTING CONTINUES

Eden Palace! Depositions.

Mm-hm.

The shootings?

I know.

You always say "prepare the next case as soon as we've won the last one".

I say that?

-You do.

-I must learn to relax.

-So how did you like my summing up?

-It was good.

-You didn't hear it.

-No, but I know it was good.

-It was awful.

-Well, eight men walked free. And there's a photographer

-waiting for you from Anti-Fascist Action in Room 42.

-Already! They were confident.

-Yes, I have no idea why people invest so much faith in you, Hans.

-I have nice teeth.

And I'm cheap.

-Max got paid in tenderloins.

-That beats, what was it? Tram tickets.

-So let's celebrate. He's cooking.

-Perfect.

-He wants us back by 6.

Are you two lost? I don't mean philosophically.

-You're obviously that.

-We're waiting for someone.

-You're not meant to be back here.

This isn't for members of the, uh... public. Over there's the exit.

Beyond it you'll discover the street.

Don't be late!

# This is how we do it!

# It's how we do it! #

Rudolf, I didn't see you.

-I hope not.

-Are you waiting for me?

-I am.

-Can I ask what about?

-I want you to have a drink with me.

I'm going home to drink champagne with my friends, Rudolf.

-Champagne! I thought you were always broke.

-We are.

It's the Eden Palace shootings.

That is your next case, isn't it?

A quick one.

Take your boys this afternoon.

Tomorrow those boys will be fighting Fascists again

and soon you'll be asked to defend one of them

-after he's slotted some wretched Brownshirt.

-In self-defence.

Or if not, you'll be prosecuting a Brownshirt thug on their behalf.

-You do this work too.

-Isn't it tedious?

-It's important.

Never-ending! How could it not be with these private armies in Berlin?

23 political murders last year. 65 this. Yes?

How many more next?

100? 150? Am I being too sunny?

Rudolf, I've got to go.

This Eden Palace Trial - you want to nail a few more Brownshirts but what do you really want?

Wouldn't it be fun to cross-examine the man who gives the orders?

Put Goebbels on the stand?

No.

Hitler.

Sir...we're going round again.

Call Hitler as a star witness

and you can redefine the scope of your trial.

Those gunmen... they're not what's important.

Imagine the Fuhrer, on that stand,

and you asking him questions about Brownshirt violence.

It would be the greatest show in Berlin.

His storm-troopers, in the dock.

His new pals, the rich financiers, in the gallery.

Both thinking they own Hitler.

You bring them together in the same room for the first time,

gawping at each other like cretins and wondering how the hell they belong in the same party.

And who's Hitler going to be shaking hands with at the end of the day? It won't be both. It can't be.

You force him to choose between the big fists and the deep pockets.

And therefore you cripple him.

-He was in court six months ago. He did well.

-In Leipzig, not Berlin.

It was a friendly examination. They let him say what he wanted.

I know. But in Leipzig, he swore his party had turned its back on violence.

Said he wanted his men "to operate on the right side of the law".

-That should have been the start of the scrutiny. Has it stopped Nazi violence?

-That's not the point.

-It's absolutely the point.

-No, this is.

What if I can show that in disavowing violence he perjured himself?

-I could get him to admit he lied under oath and continues to lie!

-Hmm.

And tell me, what would that mean for him?

Prison, possibly. A political ban, certainly.

Or deportation, back to Austria. Is he even a German citizen yet?

Picture it.

The perjurer is thrown out of Germany.

Now is the time, Hans.

You know, a year ago I asked that girl over there what did she think of Hitler?

-Do you know what he said?

-"Who?"

I really have to go.

Listen, if you do this, I'll help you.

I've tracked that piece of shit since 1923.

But I'm not as good a barrister as you. I'm not as quick. I'm not as audacious.

You are humouring me, Rudolf.

Stephan...your lease - my colleague has sorted it out.

You have a communist to thank.

"Heil, Margot and Ma..."

Ah.

BABY CRIES

Should I put on my armour?

We were going to celebrate. Remember?

Max sold his beechwood table and we did something good too.

Go sit down. We saved you some.

I had this crazy idea.

"Did you, Hans?" Yes, I did, actually.

He's going to jack everything in and open a sweet shop in Konigsberg.

No, he's going to learn tenor sax and join the Weintraub Syncopators.

Oh, I'd like to see him get syncopated.

SINGS: No oh oh.

I'm going to subpoena Adolf Hitler.

That shut you up.

-We don't know if you're joking, now.

-I'm not joking.

I'm thinking of getting him to testify at the Eden Palace trial.

And this was your idea?

Actually it was Olden's.

Oh, Hans. He's an operator isn't he?

He is shrewd. He said it was a chance

to interrupt the interminable Hitler monologue.

-Have a dialogue?

-Yes.

Well, in court that's what it would be.

He'd have to turn all those bizarre thoughts into rational statements

and I'd be challenging him and pointing up the contradictions.

You want to reason with a crazy man?

Hans finds reason erotic, my love.

-He gets a twitch in the trousers every time he hears "therefore".

-It's an idea. You know?

Something to consider.

Hitler and his men are hysterics. We've always said that.

You think you can stop an hysteric with a court move?

So, how do you stop him? With a satirical cartoon?

-You stop Hitler with politics.

-I don't know if you've noticed, Max,

but the Reichstag hasn't met since February.

It may never meet again.

Those socialist deputies of yours were still making 'points of order'

and 'please Mr Chairman's' when 107 Nazis marched into the place.

-Elected.

-What?

-You said 'marched'. They were elected.

But elected to destroy parliamentary procedure,

to make the Reichstag unworkable, which they've done.

Politics has shifted to the streets of Berlin, Max,

which is exactly where the Nazis want it.

Why doesn't Olden put him on the stand?

-I'm the one doing Eden Palace.

-It's because he flattered you.

What's the matter with you? Don't you care that Hitler's winning?

No, no, we don't care, do we, Max?

When he was put on the stand in Leipzig, he became a credible figure for the first time in his career.

I've heard both of you say that.

Look, one, this is Berlin, not Leipzig. This is our town. He's short on friends here.

Two, it's not his paid lackey Hans Frank asking the questions this time.

-It's me.

-God knows, your brain is magnificent, Hans.

But your ego is the size of the Brandenburg Gate.

His judgement's the man walking through it.

-This is not about ego. This is about conscience.

-Lawyers always confuse the two.

-You're being a child.

You want to criticise Hitler to make you feel good.

Look at you. The big anti-fascist who does nothing.

Tinkering with his carpentry all day, oblivious to the world.

"Pay him in tenderloins. He'll be happy."

Pardon?

BABY CRIES I'll go and deal with the baby.

What, you mean the other one?

He's your oldest friend, Hans...

..and he's afraid for you. To expose yourself like this...

What do you want, friend?

Ah! Herr Litten. I'm sorry, I didn't recognise you.

It was here then?

-It was here.

-May I?

-By all means.

They, er...fired right in at whatever moved...

and everyone moved.

That's typical of the police.

They were here and gone in about 20 minutes.

They've got automatic weapons now?

They ask and the Lord provides.

The Lord?

-Hitler.

-Oh, yes. Well, I suppose, he is the Lord.

Don't be fooled by their shooting style, Herr Litten.

Their instructions are precise enough.

-We were lucky to get away with so few casualties.

-They will be back.

Thank you...for helping me to see.

GENTLE PIANO MUSIC PLAYS

I love Liszt.

This bit.

"I carry a deep sadness of the heart

which must, now and then, break out in sound."

That's what he said.

Did I ever tell you that my godfather was his cousin?

About 25 times.

Sorry.

I know you're going to do it.

Because you're a lawyer and you're addicted to elegant solutions.

I thought you were going to say I was vain again.

And you are reckless.

-I must learn how to do that.

-Mm.

TAPPING

I'll go.

BABY GURGLES

I deserve a bash on the head with a hammer.

I came across as the unthinking idiot last night.

Well, to be fair, you've been working hard on that for a while.

To be honest, I doubt the judge will even grant a subpoena.

If he does, Margot'll help you. You know that?

I'll help too if I can.

I'll carve you some crutches.

I look at you and Margot and think Germany will be fine. How could it not be?

In 50 years' time you'll still be making your furniture.

-Beautiful furniture known throughout Europe.

-The world.

The world! Why not?

And Margot will illuminate that world.

And your brood of children who only know peace and have never even heard of Fascism.

And you, Hans? What are you doing in 1980?

Long since retired back to Konigsberg.

To that sweet shop.

You'll still have your nose in the law books, my friend.

Yes, then a case was...

Take a seat, Herr Litten. I'll be with you in just a moment.

I'm going to have to go, now.

I'm with that advocate I was telling you about.

Well, that, ha-ha, that would be something.

But there's nothing to fear. I promise you that will never happen.

You will sympathise with me when I say that I found this

to be an unexpected development.

You wish "to summon the following witnesses... de-da de-da

"to supply evidence that there is no serious ban

"on weapons in the Nazi Party etc etc,

"and that the witness's party formed Roll Commandos to seek out, attack

"and even kill political opponents etc and that 'Storm 33'..."

That is the Brownshirt group to which the defendants belong, Your Honour.

Sorry.

"And that Storm 33 is such a Roll Commando."

You wish to have Herr Hitler in my courtroom?

I do, Your Honour. It's nothing personal.

You know my feelings about the law and politics, Litten.

It's very easy to turn a courtroom into the Coliseum,

especially these days.

-I agree with that.

-Good! So, then, you'll understand my reluctance.

But, Your Honour...

I also don't think you have thought this proposal through. This looks like you're fishing, to me.

-But I...

-I'm also discouraged by your excitability. You're not a great listener.

-I'm sorry, Your Honour...

-Though an exemplary interrupter.

It's a frivolous request, Litten. You'll see when you've calmed down.

Sir, I don't think it is.

The men I'm prosecuting belong to an organisation led by someone

whose attitude to political violence is deeply ambiguous.

I think the rule of law would be... strengthened

if that leader could, under oath, eradicate the ambiguity.

He's already done that at Leipzig.

Oh. Artful, Litten.

You're thinking it's a question of perjury?

That's a serious thing.

Not least because you're questioning a man's honour.

I am. I think he lied to the court in Leipzig.

Admirably honest.

But you'll need better than this streak of vapour

if you want to demand his presence in my court.

Show me some real evidence

that he's been provoking street violence here in Berlin

and perhaps I'll listen.

Thank you.

You have three days to find it.

Yes. Goebbels was with Hitler?

We didn't know that.

And that was September the 1st?

Ah... You didn't.

Mmm, I see. Well, thank you for trying.

SHE HANGS UP THE PHONE No joy?

He saw Hitler arrive,

he saw him go into the tavern where the Brownshirts were waiting,

but no hacks were allowed in.

He didn't sneak round the back and peer in a window?

He's an investigative reporter, for heaven's sake!

Someone must know why Hitler came to Berlin.

Seven closed meetings over two nights,

when he's meant to be putting clear water between himself and the Brownshirts?

And no-one knows what was said? I mean, there's absolutely no record?

Sorry, Margot, but we need something solid.

Like a Brownshirt with a grudge against Hitler.

You know, I couldn't place you, at first.

Maybe it's because you're not wearing the swastika.

Still, I was a bit rude to you, wasn't I?

But I never like to see a paramilitary uniform in court.

I'm a bit old fashioned that way.

Berlin though, eh? What a city!

One minute, a young man is running with the Fascists.

The next he rounds a corner and suddenly he's coming the other way with a hammer and sickle.

Nobody's quite sure why. Is he a convert?

Or is it just that the soup's better?

It's not the soup, is it?

Which means he's either suddenly developed an interest

in the contradictions of capitalism

and the leading role of the international proletariat, or he's...

..doing a spot of eavesdropping.

It's all right. There's no reason why anyone should know.

Excellent! You want to help me. And you will, you will.

You are going to put me in touch with Captain Stennes.

Captain Stennes is not somebody I would ever speak to. He's, er...

I know. He's volatile. He scares you.

But I know you can do it, don't I? I do.

Tell him who I am. He'll know my name.

And tell him it's a business proposition.

I said, what do you want from this Captain Stennes?

-Hans!

-I'm not quite sure.

-What might he want from you?

I'm not sure about that either.

What? So we're just coming down here on a whim, then? To see how the Brownshirts live?

Six months ago they occupied... Did you see that?

-"They occupied...?"

-The Brownshirts occupied the Nazi headquarters

-on Hedemannstrasse and kicked out Goebbels, yes?

-I remember.

This guy, this Captain Stennes, he did that.

Said he was provoked. Got wind of a purge inside the Nazi party.

What, he was going to get the chop?

When Hitler renounced violence, Stennes didn't like it.

Elections, party politics, cutting deals, he's against all that.

He just likes whacking people?

I think we're entering Nazi land.

Hans! Hans!

Hans, you could talk Mother Superior into a cabaret.

And up onto the stage too.

See, those guys were Captain Stennes's guys.

When Hitler crapped on Stennes, they followed him out of the party.

The men I'm prosecuting? They're Stennes men.

So they're not Hitler men?

Well, I think they're still Hitler men as well. It's...complicated. This is it.

So, to cut the cabbage, Stennes believes in total and utter violence

and doesn't like Hitler because he's too moderate

-and we've come down here to speak with him?

-Yes.

Don't worry. If things get unpleasant, just look like you don't have a conscience.

Remember...those Brownshirts may look formidable

but they take a club to the gut like anybody else.

We don't have a club.

Not exactly Germanic Knights, are they?

No, but nor were the Germanic Knights, probably.

Herr Litten.

-And his friend.

-Max.

Tell Lothar to come with a bottle of Aurignac.

You were made to feel welcome, I trust?

We were stopped at a roadblock.

I hate this territory thing. In Berlin! It's so regrettable.

But necessary, you will agree.

Come, gentlemen, share our dainties, drink our potations.

"Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things,

"making thee young and lusty like an eagle."

Please, sit.

So...

..I heard Hitler came here six months ago?

He came here, to Charlottenberg, to Neukolln.

He did the whole circuit in Berlin

-talking to the different Storm sections.

-Saying what?

Saying, "put your guns away". Saying, "be nice to policemen".

I'll give him his due. It's not something these boys wanted to hear.

Many of our lads were starting to have doubts about Hitler.

Thought he was getting too intimate with industrialists and financiers

and forgetting them. Threats were made.

To Hitler?

It's hard for a man who's taken a Commie bullet in his shoulder

to listen to talk of the "electoral road to national socialism",

however cunningly it is put.

But in the end it was your head that rolled, not Hitler's.

That's why you got in contact with me, is it not?

We have a shared interest.

Eden Palace is an...opportunity. Do you not think?

-Do I?

-Come on, Litten. Stop looking at the uniform.

Treat me like a man with a brain that works.

Say what you want. Today we can be friends.

I think we are both disgusted by what happened at Leipzig.

Your Fuhrer's repudiation of violence. The...

hypocrisy of the man, if I may be so bold?

Hypocrisy? I could stomach that.

It was his sincerity that worried me.

But Josef Goebbels personally assured me

there was nothing sincere about Hitler's oath at all.

You know, in the trial, you should describe my boys as men of conscience.

They are political men, like you and I.

Let the court know you think they fall within

the provisions of paragraph 20 of the legal code.

If I do that, Captain Stennes's men will get shorter sentences and an easier time in prison.

-Should you convict.

-Oh, I think we both know I'll convict.

And in return?

He'll be able to suggest a political source for their violent actions.

Hitler?

No. Hitler's butler.

-I would like to do as you say.

-But you need me.

Isn't that so?

-I may subpoena you.

-You should.

It would be better for me if I were to come...reluctantly.

So that is what I will do.

I won't go out of my way to help you attack the Fuhrer,

but it may become interesting if you were to ask me the right questions.

I wouldn't want you to attack your Fuhrer.

I want you to embrace him.

I know you do.

I believe we have an understanding.

You want your Adolf Hitler back.

I think we can achieve that.

I will remind you that the accused are Stief

and his Nazi colleagues and not Herr Hitler.

He is your witness, not your quarry. You may think him a bad man,

you may think him a hypocritical man.

But we don't have a law against hypocrisy.

I'm interested in the crime, not a man's morals.

Don't over-reach yourself.

Herr Hitler?

Sir, I am authorised by the Criminal Court of Berlin

to deliver this document on behalf of private prosecutor Hans Litten.

It's a court subpoena.

-Failure to comply with the summons will result...

-Yes, we know. Go away.

I shall require your signature, sir.

Ah, the great explorer returns. Have you discovered an enchanted forest?

-No.

-An unknown city then, where men are the size of trees

-and everybody speaks backwards.

-No!

What do we call a man with a beard?

Beaver.

This beaver here, do you see him?

This beaver has come from Berlin.

He's come to annoy us and spoil our picnic.

He wants me to lose my nerve and scream and stamp my feet.

But that would be silly, wouldn't it?

What shall we say to this beaver?

HITLER LAUGHS

My friend wants to know, "When are you going to shave your chin?"

Well done, Dieter.

You realise, in 24 hours

all of Germany will know what you've just done.

Imagine the forces that will buffet that courtroom.

-You need to prepare, Hans, like never before.

-I plan to.

You will bring politics into that room. So will the man who you've subpoenaed.

The judge will be unable to stop either of you.

-Yes, but I am a man of the law.

-You and I both.

But get beyond the letter. Hm? Touch the spirit.

Don't let the judge bind you with procedure. There are bigger things at stake.

-You think I should cut corners?

-No, I think you should be daring, that's all.

Public opinion will be on your side.

Germany's moderate soul is your ally.

You must lean into the bends and feel it with you.

RADIO BROADCASTS HITLER SPEECH

You know that thing called expenditure?

-And that other thing called income?

-Mm-hm.

Expenditure's winning. Easily winning.

I thought we had a rule about him!

Hans! You're not listening to me.

Anti-fascists have no money.

We won't get that man on the stand at all if we don't pay our debts very soon.

-The court will simply revoke your licence.

-I know. I know.

So what's the big plan?

You need to get your father to extend the loan.

He's in town this weekend, with mother. I'll talk to him.

Say you're defending democracy.

Well, he's no fan of Weimar I'm afraid.

To him it's all atonal music and flat roofs.

Bauhaus chairs, the rumba, Otto Dix, negro jazz,

Jewish self-assertion...

-SHOUTS:

-Well, remind him it's about life and liberty as well.

I will. I will.

We were shooting duck last week, with the Schoenhausens in Pomerania.

And Otto. You remember Otto? Herr Bonhof's son.

He's just opened a medical practice in the Old Town.

It's doing very well.

He inherited all his uncle's patients.

Yes, but it's doing very well.

Father, I'd like to talk about extending the loan.

What is this?

An olive?

Whatever next?!

I was talking about the loan.

I think we need to stop the loan.

It's a bad time to do that.

You're not a student any more.

I know you're living like a student but you're not one.

Not any more.

-It's not that the practice is short of work.

-I know.

-It's too much work.

I'm busy with cases. I've got the Eden Palace case - it's a big trial.

Do you think I don't read the papers?

You've never followed my career.

It's become impossible not to, Hans.

I just about managed it when you started working for the Communists.

Red Front Fighters' League.

It became a little more difficult when you filed against the police.

"Rector, your son in Berlin has indicted the chief of police."

But...you've subpoenaed Adolf Hitler?

That's been pretty hard to overlook.

You like Hitler now?

Of course not. The man is uncouth.

I'm waiting for the "but".

But 32 political parties?

The squabbling. The faction-fighting. The perpetual disagreements.

-You mean the democracy?

-Oh, there you are.

Is it for Germany?

As for your Hitler - office will tame him

and people want a strong man.

-That "and" is very strange there.

-Hans!

The "but", the "and". He's become a linguistic critic.

I can't work out whether you're arguing for Hitler or against him.

-We're against him!

-Maybe he's not so bad.

-People in Germany want order, not freedom.

-Oh, that argument!

You sing your ode to liberty.

Just remember, it doesn't keep your prole friends warm in winter.

And now we see how far the termites have spread

and how well they have dined.

You are pathetic.

You're busy protecting everybody and you never protected yourself.

We gave you the most precious thing a Jew could have in Germany -

a baptism.

And what did you do?

Piss in the water.

Hans.

That was a disgusting thing to say.

It was.

I was talking about what you said.

And what he said. He's been having difficulties in Konigsberg.

We have our Nazis too. They've discovered his father's name on the table of honour in the synagogue.

He feels vulnerable, Hans. Is he wrong?

You want me to give up?

I don't believe you can.

Well, do we have a fight in us?

We do. We do!

I think that's meant to be somebody boxing.

Max Schmeling eat your heart out.

So, Herr Rudolf.

You're the only of us who's actually seen the ogre.

How should Hans fight the big fight?

He should remember Hitler is two men.

No man enjoys the excitement of the hour like Hitler,

yet his eyes are also fixed on the next 1,000 years.

And what he can't do...

..what Hans must make him do...

..is take account of what happened yesterday

-and what's going to happen tomorrow.

-Put him in the time-frame normal people live in.

Yes.

And stop normal people from treating time like he does.

But you've seen him speak.

-He does entrance people.

-It's true.

Everyone goes through the same emotion.

For ten minutes you say, "What a comedian. What a comedian!"

Then you see his wholehearted sincerity.

The speeches are sinfully long, a cataract of hateful words,

as he tries to make you think with your blood.

-But he is appealing.

-MAX SCOFFS

No, no, he is.

He projects an image of deep suffering under intolerable wrongs.

A man with a grievance against the universe, a martyr if you will.

That is the self-pitying nature of fascism.

You'll see he exists in a permanent state of being offended. Forever showing his wounds.

Contradict him and he WILL bleed.

And you're bound to contradict him, Hans.

But this is your ground, not his. He won't have the oompah band warming the crowd or the light show.

That's your opportunity!

He's not allowed his favoured speech - dissertation, the tirade.

But don't we want that? To see him froth at the mouth?

No! Do not open a demagogue's auction, Hans. Interrupt him.

-Try and make yourself a real pain in the arse.

-Try?

You'll be able to say things in this court room

that would bring a club smashing into your skull if you ventured them in public.

-Imagine if that happened right in front of the judge.

-Thanks(!)

-It would prove the point.

To our valiant friend, Hans.

Tomorrow let's see him smash fascism.

Father isn't there.

She has chosen sides, Hans.

The court shall rise.

Summon the accused.

I'm opening today's hearing in the criminal proceedings against Stief and his colleagues

before the bench of District Court Number Three.

Two witnesses have been summoned by the private prosecutor.

I point out in advance that any kind of demonstration,

or excitement, will be dealt with ruthlessly.

I call upon the private prosecutor.

My purpose in calling the next witness

is to prove no serious ban on weapons exists within the Nazi party

to which these men belong.

That indeed, Roll Commandos, or raiding parties,

have been formed expressly to organise violent attacks on,

and murder of, their political opponents.

Storm 33, to which these men belong, being just such a Roll Commando,

and their attack on the Eden Palace dance hall

being just such a premeditated act of political violence.

I hope to show that the next witness

was in full knowledge of this strategy and approved it,

and that the policy of his party in Berlin is to bring disorder to the streets.

-The witness's name?

-Adolf Hitler.

I call on witness Adolf Hitler.

The court calls witness Hitler.

Heil Hitler!

I have forbidden that!

I at least expected the defendants to ignore me.

If that happens again, you'll be held in contempt of court.

You may be seated.

As you wish.

Please tell us your name, occupation and place of residence.

I am Adolf Hitler. I live in Munich.

And by profession I am a writer.

Are you related by blood to the accused?

That is to say by family.

No.

I would ask you to be mindful how you answer the questions,

in case you may incriminate yourself.

You will be asked to swear an oath

at the close of your testimony. Herr Litten, your witness.

Herr Hitler, do you know of Storm 33?

No.

-You've not heard of this elite Roll Commando?

-We have no Roll Commandos.

Their formation would be in breach of party rules.

I see.

So there are no bombs, grenades, carbines,

or weapons of any kind in the Brownshirts?

-The "Brownshirts"?

-Of course,

that is how your enemies - most people - refer to them.

But for the benefit of the court,

I can use your term - Sturmabteilung, SA.

So. The SA, then?

Do they have weapons?

If they do I have no knowledge of them,

but it is possible that in defending the Party

against the terrorists of the Left,

there might have been occasions when weapons of self-defence were used.

But no Roll Commandos dedicated to attacking their political enemies?

-None.

-You would know about them if they existed?

-I would.

-You know everything that happens in your party.

-I am its leader.

Of course.

-And as its leader, your authority in the party is unchallenged?

-It is.

And the obedience you demand is absolute?

Yes. Their absolute obedience is what I demand.

So, no Roll Commandos.

Yet in this article, in The People's Observer, dated April 4th this year,

you refer explicitly to the Roll Commandos of a Captain Stennes,

the leader of the SA in Berlin.

You say he has achieved nothing more than "a few wretched Roll Commandos".

In that article I also renounced violence

and complained that Stennes was trying to force me

-from the legal path.

-Quite.

You reject political violence,

as you also did at the Leipzig trial six months ago.

Yet you ridicule Captain Stennes, with whom you have fallen out, for the pitiful number

of Roll Commandos created on his watch.

Not only have you heard of Roll Commandos, you appear to want more.

Is that not the case?

Lawyer's trick.

-I beg your pardon?

-A typical trick.

His kind trade in cunning and deception.

That is a complaint about me,

or perhaps my entire...profession?

But it is not an answer.

Herr Hitler? Please answer the question.

At Leipzig, I made an oath to operate inside the law.

My appearance in this court is therefore a waste of time.

You did make such an oath.

-But here, you effectively scoffed at it. Is that not so?

-One moment, your honour?

A war veteran would not be so confused over language as this lawyer is.

Roll Commando was a term we used on the Western Front.

Squads of 10 or 20 soldiers

were ordered to roll down an enemy trench.

It was dangerous work. Heroic work.

Thank you for the fascinating history lesson, Herr Hitler.

But I feel we are still dancing around the edges of the problem here.

We are dancing?

In a manner of speaking.

The SA is under strict orders

to refrain from physically assaulting opponents.

In an emergency,

an individual SA man,

in the course of being hunted down, and fearing for his life,

may cross the line between defence and attack.

Almost every night in this town, SA men are attacked by Red murderers.

-Please refrain from using that term.

-It's important to know what happened

and why blood is spilt.

When we first marched through Berlin in 1927,

people threw flowers from their windows to greet us.

With plant pots attached, I believe.

LAUGHTER

JUDGE BANGS GAVEL

Herr Hitler...

Herr Hitler, let me ask you this,

what is the purpose of this SA?

It is the party's sports section.

-It gives classes in self-defence.

-Ju-jitsu!

You might perhaps prefer the witness to supply the answers.

I do not know the entire curriculum. It is possible ju-jitsu.

And these two men,

these students of ju-jitsu,

their vicious attack on the Eden Palace dance hall,

was that self-defence?

-Your honour.

-Yes, that is an inadmissible question.

I am aware that these things receive imaginative treatment in the Jew...

in the press.

But to us, they are ridiculous.

I wrote, in my book, seven years ago,

that our objectives would not be reached by bombs and grenades,

but by large mobilised masses.

What Germany requires is a revolution,

which means a mental revolution, a spiritual rebirth.

Who are you addressing?

The court.

I believe the court can hear you quite comfortably.

Yes, it can.

It is not necessary to shout.

Or to harangue.

You mentioned your book, Mein Kampf, published six years ago.

Your honour, I can't see that this publication, important though it is

as a general statement on the party philosophy,

is relevant to this trial.

Herr Hitler apparently does...

and therefore it is admissible.

You mentioned your book, Mein Kampf, published six years ago.

And what you also say in this book is that "a free road"

ought to be given by the State to certain "forces"

to "declare a war of annihilation on Marxism".

By which you mean the German labour movement.

And these "forces" you refer to who require this "free road"?

Would that be you and your followers?

Answer the question, please.

I don't know.

But it is your book!

You also say, in the same chapter, that so long as the labour movement is alive,

your followers have "a duty not to worship the idiocy of law and order".

And you call for "a final reckoning" with your enemy

and the "bloodiest civil war" which you say can give rise to

"a steeled..." is that word correct?

"A steeled and healthy people". You then conclude, very grandly,

that "you do not decide the destinies of a nation with kid gloves".

There follows a lot of stuff about "vipers" and "vermin" and "rats", by which of course you mean "people".

And you say you have talked about this need for a cleansing violence,

"until your throat was hoarse".

We. Know. That. Throat.

Your honour, I would point out this book was written

six years before Herr Hitler made his oath at Leipzig.

That is true, Herr Litten. We are not concerned here

with the distant past.

Well, let us turn to something more contemporary, then.

In Berlin last year,

Dr Goebbels said, "the enemy must be mashed to a pulp".

-That is not be taken literally.

-It is a metaphor?

It means we will destroy our enemy's organisations completely.

Or do you believe that our SA people are supposed to go into taverns

and mash their opponents into a pulp now?

Again, it is usual for me to ask the questions, not you.

But, yes, that is what we propose happened in the Eden Palace case.

We will destroy enemy organisations by mobilising the masses.

But what happens if you can't "mobilise the masses"?

-I do not accept that possibility.

-Dr Goebbels does.

In the pamphlet "Nazi-Sozi", pages 18-19,

he answers the specific question of what would happen

if the Nazis had the street-fighters on their side,

but not the majority of the German people.

"We will clench our teeth and prepare ourselves", he says.

"Then we will march against the State and become revolutionaries in deed.

"We will chase the parliament to the devil

"and base the State on the strength of German fists".

I ask you, Herr Hitler, is all that a metaphor as well?

Your Honour. Dr Goebbels can be called to answer this.

It is a meaningless publication! It does not bear the party symbol.

But is it true you put Goebbels in charge of Berlin operations in 1926?

-I cannot remember the date.

-It is here.

Yes, in 1926, according to your own document.

And this was published a year later, in 1927.

No party can be measured by the individual statements of one of its members.

But such a prominent member?

Are you saying you have no control over Dr Goebbels either?

-Of course I do.

-So it is extraordinary, is it not,

that not only did Dr Goebbels escape punishment

for straying from your legal path,

but that sweets keep falling into his lap.

The Director of Party Propaganda, I think he is now?

That pamphlet means nothing!

It is ancient history.

And I have already said it is not endorsed by the party.

-He has said that.

-Really? I think we can say you have been speaking out of both corners of your mouth.

One corner speaks to rich backers, the other to street-fighters.

In public, you pose as a man of peace.

In private, you ridicule your captains for not being violent enough.

When men respond by knifing more stomachs,

you sing hymns to the glories of martial arts

and self-defence. And your own writing, with its cargo of poisonous hatred

and its obsession with annihilating the enemy,

well, all that's "not to be taken literally".

You swore an oath at Leipzig where you said, essentially, that "Hitler is not Hitler".

Today, I think we can see, he most certainly is.

Very well. I'm calling a short recess. Herr Litten, I assume

you are finished with this witness?

After the recess, I would like to call Captain Stennes, the former leader of the Berlin SA.

But Herr Hitler should stay. I will need to interrogate him further.

< Court is in recess.

-Give me a dragon to slay, give me a beanstalk to climb!

-Hans!

-You want me to get that Goebbels pamphlet verified, don't you?

-I do.

-Get a new copy. With a receipt.

-Hans, we should talk.

-We should.

But it's going well, isn't it? I will tighten the noose.

-He will feel His Royal Highness The Law.

-The judge applies the law, Hans.

And all the punishment is his. Don't win the argument and lose the judge.

-He is nothing like I imagined him.

-You have not seen Hitler before?

Only a picture in a newspaper. He looks insignificant, doesn't he?

-The little hamster beneath his nose.

-And that pimp's haircut!

-But he's not insignificant, is he?

-No.

Or someone just to be laughed at.

I got it. I got it. From the Nazi stall. I got the man to sign it.

-Jewish pig.

-Hans Litten, pleasure to meet you.

Can I have a word, would that be possible?

Help me with this, would you?

If I can.

You know, of course, that Germany has no colonies in Africa or Asia, don't you?

Taken away from us by England and France after the war.

Don't you think that's a shame?

I have no opinion.

No, but you should, because it's bad luck for you and for people like you.

-Is it not?

-Is it?

-I think so.

For what are we to do with our political prisoners when the Fuhrer finally takes the reins in Berlin?

We can't deport them in the classic manner.

We can't send them to the tropics

and forget about them like the French do.

No, there'll have to be another way.

Your little whore is looking at me

as if she'd like to stick a knife into my neck. It's very cute.

You've chosen to be Jewish

and you're under the illusion that it will always be your choice.

That is so foolish. I want to stop you, but it's too late.

-You couldn't anyway.

-I know. You're a law unto yourself.

And so I say again.

Jewish pig.

The court calls Captain Walter Stennes.

Herr Stennes, do you know of Storm 33?

-I do.

-How well do you know it?

-I am it's leader.

-Is this your man, Max?

I prefer not to think of it like that.

But he'll do you a favour won't he?

We hope so.

Were you aware of any plans for Storm 33's attack on the Eden Palace dance hall before it happened?

I was not.

But can we assume Storm 33 acted according to a plan?

Not necessarily. The Storms are primarily a defensive organisation.

-Though associated with violent acts?

-Assuredly.

And that fact should not be overlooked by saying, for example,

that they are organisations dedicated to the study of jiu-jitsu.

Certainly not.

Or that hundreds of thousands of Brownshirts have battle dress just to PLAY at being soldiers?

We do not play.

You said the Storms were "primarily defensive organisations".

Herr Hitler also referred to "self-defence".

Does that mean these groups never go on the attack?

An attack is a kind of defence, is it not?

But is it usual for such an attack to be arranged

without your knowledge?

It is not usual but it is possible.

How would it be possible? I mean, given the SA's reputation for top-down discipline?

I have pointed out to the party leadership, repeatedly,

that the discipline of my men has been compromised,

in the past, by conflicting messages from the top.

You mean your men are confused as to what their role is or whose orders to follow?

Be so good as to answer my question, please.

Last year Adolf Hitler's position was perfectly clear.

But six months ago at Leipzig, he seemed to disown the SA.

This is what is confusing.

It seems very clear, does it not? Herr Hitler changed his mind.

In fact, he was worried that you would steer him away from his new path of legality.

Well, is that not so?

-I cannot say what was really in Hitler's mind.

-I'm not asking you to.

But on January 19th...this year...

..at the SA leaders' assembly, here in Berlin,

Dr Goebbels came to me and ridiculed Hitler's oath at Leipzig.

SHOUTING

I must...I must have quiet!

Must have quiet. I would remind you that you're entitled

to request Dr Goebbels's presence here as a witness,

but not to waste the court's time by speculating as to his state of mind.

Dr Goebbels instructed you to ignore Hitler's oath?

To continue to ignore it, yes.

I remind you that you are now under oath.

My oath I take seriously.

But I understand if our leader is more...elastic in a court of law.

This is now becoming pure speculation.

Prosecutor Litten, you are teetering. Do not fall.

You said a moment ago you were "confused" when Hitler made his oath to legality?

I was not confused.

But many of your troops were?

Yes, until I explained what was happening.

We are not allowed to mention the information given to you by Dr Goebbels,

so I'm asking now whether Hitler himself ever explained to you the meaning of his oath.

He did not need to. I understood what it meant. We trust him.

Heil Hitler!

-CROWD:

-Heil Hitler!

-JUDGE BANGS GAVEL

-Order! Order!

Order! Order!

We shall adjourn for lunch.

Prosecutor Litten, I wish to see you in camera.

He's wavering. The judge. He doesn't want to be holding the knife

when Hitler's backers get to see his corpse.

The people hang on every word.

Didn't I warn you to resist turning this into a trial about Adolf Hitler?

The testimony given by Captain Stennes is germane to the trial.

-I believe I am still the judge.

-Yes, sir.

-"It won't happen again, Your Honour." That's what you should say.

-Yes, that is what I meant to say.

Do not become clever, Litten.

It is not a trait that is very attractive to Germans.

That was not a smart examination. Both of you grinding axes.

That's what it looked like to me.

Stop playing politics and get back to the law.

I understand your concern but while we anticipated certain problems in the morning,

I'm sure in the afternoon we'll set ourselves back on track.

I'm going to go and have a word with my client

and Herr Bruckner will be over in a moment.

-They're panicking, are they?

-They're businessmen, they don't panic.

-Don't like it though.

-The Holy Ghost hasn't entered the Fuhrer, yet.

It's the last thing we want. It's a court. It's not Nuremburg.

You're killing him with footnotes.

-Release him.

-Are you mad? Keep them watered.

-It's no life for a man, is it?

-What isn't, boss?

Smart asses, pedants. I've met them before.

Have you noticed how they become more eloquent the higher the fee?

Have they noticed?

We need to talk, boss.

Turned themselves into a tempest of tears

about finding a sufficient number of pennies to place in the slot.

You should know that better than anyone, Frank. You are a lawyer.

-It's not an honest profession.

-Sir.

-Did you see...erm, the Jew lawyer?

-Litten.

You see him strutting and gurning?

The courtroom positively encourages the charlatan

and his type are very well suited to it, of course, the Hebrew always exaggerates everything.

When he asked you about Leipzig...?

As a matter of fact, I could have asked that question better myself.

-Twenty times better!

-I agree.

I have a great gift of distilling even the most complex question down to its base foundation.

But the lawyer is a pedant. He loves to complicate. Truth is his victim.

That should be seen more than it is but legal superstitions, people cling to them.

That's quite good. You should write that down.

I would have the courts lock-step with the State.

Anything else invites ridicule.

You ask, ""hat is the problem with the law?"

The problem is the blindfold you see around the figure of Justice.

You know the lady?

Why would you apply a blindfold?

It's like a boxer entering a ring with one arm tied behind his back.

-I'm not backing that boxer.

-Exactly.

-Herr Hitler!

Sir, you don't know me. I am Jewish and I have something to show you.

The Battle of Ypres, May 1915. Saxon Grenadiers.

And so you see, this is my country too.

Good day to you.

"Good day to you".

You too, you foul, disease-ridden sewer rat.

This city is no better than Jew-riddled Vienna.

It's crawling with them.

Who let them breed like this?

Who let them fasten on to us?

Time to clear them out. The whole stinking nest.

It is a question of honour.

Can you imagine men achieving the supreme task

with the withered spirits these courts demand?

No, you can't! You cannot! It cannot be done!

That lawyer.

Clever tongue. Jabber, jabber, jabber.

I will take a knife...

..and cut it out.

Are you ready now, Fuhrer?

He's gone, hasn't he? The judge.

We knew it might happen. It's happened.

Got one eye on writing his job application

for if Hitler ever gets into power.

Don't help him write it.

You'll get no help now. You're on your own.

"Lean into the bends".

Yes. Lean into the bends.

Germany is with you.

I have now a second copy

of the Goebbels pamphlet exhorting "the strength of German fists" which, the court recalls

from this morning, Herr Hitler denied to be a Nazi party publication.

This copy, with the party symbol clearly embossed on the cover,

was purchased less than an hour ago

from the party bookstall on Hedemanstrasse.

Here is the receipt and indeed it has been dated and signed,

by a moonstruck Nazi, I presume,. LAUGHTER

"to my pretty and adorable assistant".

Herr Hitler, you did, in fact,

testify in the morning session,

that this text by Dr Goebbels is not endorsed by your party.

It isn't.

But what does it even mean that it is released by our party publisher?

A whole variety of books are released by our publisher.

How can you say there's a call for illegality? That is an unprovable statement.

How is it possible that the party publisher endorses a book

that is in clear opposition to what you call the party line?

What has this to do with the case? I don't believe it has anything to do with it.

-I can only say that the court...

-And I will not tolerate criticism of the court.

Your honour, I am saying that instructions to Nazi party members are often given in the form of hints

-and intimations and that Goebbels...

-This is preposterous!

An order is an order only when it is an order.

You cannot run an organisation on nods and winks and...

-Innuendo?

-You cannot.

This is a matter now of honour.

I will not be insulted. You ask,

"What is our attitude to the Constitution?"

The Constitution describes the theatre of war.

We abide by its rules.

It does not describe the goal.

The goal is a situation where we will write our own Constitution.

-I have been clear about this to the German people.

-Not to this court.

Yes, to this court. To the eternal court of history.

We shall obey the law...

..until it is time to rewrite that law.

And then "heads will roll", is what you said at Leipzig.

What is this?

I have made my position clear.

You'd prefer a policeman with a warrant terrorizing opponents

than the mob. That's all you have said.

-SHOUTING

-Order! Order!

(I will personally break you.)

(You will never get that chance.)

Order. Herr Litten, to the bench, please.

Where are you going with this?

I am merely following him.

This is not an examination about what a man might do.

It is about what a man might have said, or will say,

about the case that is before us.

This is a court of law, Litten. We do not gaze into crystal balls here.

Please, stick to the knowns.

-Isn't that naive?

-I beg your pardon?

-He has threatened you.

-He's done no such thing!

He has declared war on the law. You cannot ignore the violence of what he has just said. You cannot.

You can only pretend to do so.

You know, you are never more alive

than when you're watching somebody die.

Are you saying that these violent men,

and others like them, are nothing to do with you?

-He has already answered that.

-They are following your orders, doing what you want them to do.

You are not required to answer that question.

I do not need to give orders.

I am here because a hurricane has brought me here.

The next election will turn our 107 in the Reichstag into 200.

That is why we are feared.

A little over exuberance in the ranks will not throw me.

I am my own master.

It is the socialists and communists who would destroy Germany, not I.

I have a granite-hard commitment to law and order.

And I will not be moved on this.

Our destiny is to reshape the German state.

And, yes, German law, according to our own principles.

That is the destination to which I am being carried by the German people.

We can make ingenious debating points all day

and we can sit around and watch German culture continue to crumble as we do so.

Or we can give shape to the tremendous forces

which have been unleashed inside Germany.

-APPLAUSE AND SHOUTS

-Order, order!

Quiet!

Your honour, he is making speeches again.

Quiet, please!

Herr Litten, you have tried the patience of this court too long.

This examination is over.

The witness is dismissed.

I swear by Almighty God Omniscient that I have told the whole truth,

concealed nothing and added nothing.

So help me God.

CROWD: Heil Hitler!

If you will make some room, my client will be happy to make a statement.

-What happened there?

-I beg your pardon?

I'm asking as a long-standing member of the bar association.

What happened there is that your man over-reached himself. But he can't help it, can he?

Such cleverness. Such lack of wisdom.

-You failed.

-Oh, for shame, Olden.

You're getting as emotional as he is.

You exist inside your own little Holbein painting, don't you?

Step outside the frame and see Hitler for who he is.

There are war drums in that man's voice.

I could hear the screws rattling in his head when he spoke.

But you don't neutralise Hitler the way your friend wants to.

You don't smash him.

You hire him.

I am proud of you, my dear son.

You've done enough, Hans. Germany is better than its judges.

You've exposed him.

But you must take care. Not everyone will be glad.

I think not everyone wants to be rescued.

And enough of these pitiful arguments,

these schoolgirl bickerings,

this degenerate, mendacious democracy

that pits German against German.

We are a spiritual nation and the people are yearning

for something profound to believe in.

My only task is to serve those people.

But that's ridiculous. My friend knows that's ridiculous. Hans?

Hans, speak to them.

That man says we lack belief.

That we fritter away our strength by arguing and quarrelling.

Well, I am full of belief.

It is the arguments and the quarrels I believe in.

That is what makes a society.

I also believe in a law that sets out the ground-rules for those arguments,

with no-one, absolutely no-one, beyond its reach.

Law is the process whereby a strong man

voluntarily imposes restrictions on himself...

bound by a weapon that he puts into the hand of his weaker brother.

It is what we call civilization.

The man who has just left does not conceive the law as an instrument to protect his brother

but as a tool to destroy his enemy.

He will want you to live without the law.

And therefore he will want you to live without ideas.

Your very thoughts will make you a criminal.

We don't see you much at court any more.

People have begun to worry about you.

It is you, isn't it?

I wonder what it would take

to turn this hat of his into a yarmulke.

Please leave me alone.

Ah bu-bu-bu!

It is Litten, isn't it?

You never said yes.

Is this because I...?

Because you once threw us out of a court building?

You must think we're very small people.

This...it's a bit bigger than that.

You want to get involved?

I didn't think so.

How long you reckon you got, Litten?

Pawns are not an inconvenience, Hans.

They're an opportunity.

They're boring.

Hans, Rudolf is here to see you.

Why does that sentence always fill me with trepidation?

-What's this?

-Open it.

Paris.

I assume you have no savings.

You'll find an address of a lodgings in Belleville.

It's run by an old socialist. He's helped us before.

You can stay there till you find your feet.

It isn't much, but...

you're not used to much.

-Well, thank you, Rudolf. Really, thank you.

-It's nothing.

No, no, it is considerable.

But I cannot go.

Give me a single reason why you should stay in Germany.

I couldn't leave my mother.

-Your mother knows.

-So you know?

And you too?

You have all conspired...

behind my back.

-You want me gone.

-No-one wants you gone.

-It is too dangerous for you to stay, Hans.

They are coming for you. You have to leave.

You have to leave us.

I should not have told you about the stair well.

It's more than that. Your name's in the Nazi newspapers everyday, Hans.

It's become a swearword.

Leave Germany. Lie low. At least let this thing cool off, hm?

I can feel a lawyer's speech coming on.

No, I'll spare you that.

-I failed.

-You didn't fail, Hans.

You showed the court what he's like.

No. He walked out of that building to cheers, Margot.

-He turned the courtroom into a stage and I didn't want him to do that.

-No, no.

I let him...

..puff out his chest and display his plumage.

You did everything you could.

And now Germany seems to love him.

That's why you need to go.

That's why I have to stay.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 2011

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