"Specify any valuables in your possession,
in particular savings in German or foreign currency, furs, jewelry..."
"In connection with your forthcoming evacuation to the East,
you will be asked to list your assets in full.
If violated... strict measures will be enforced by the State Police."
Father says that everything's in order.
How can it be in order to be deported to the East?
For God's sake, what are you doing?
You're crazy!
- You'll get us all in jail. - I'm not finished.
Cioma.
Mother.
I want to stay here.
I want to live.
IN OCTOBER 1941,
EUROPEAN JEWS STARTED TO BE DEPORTED
TO EXTERMINATION CAMPS.
160,000 JEWS STILL LIVING IN BERLIN WERE TO BE BROUGHT TO THE EAST.
ABOUT 7,000 RESISTED AND WENT INTO HIDING.
THIS IS THE STORY OF FOUR OF THEM.
THE INVISIBLES WE WANT TO LIVE
DEPORTATION CENTER SYNAGOGUE LEVETZOWSTRASSE
People were sitting very peacefully.
I remember I imagined clean...
CIOMA SCHÖNHAUS WENT INTO HIDING IN 1942 AT THE AGE OF 20
...wooden barracks.
I thought the Jewish workers lived there
and would leave for some workplace.
That is the image I had.
Martin Israel Cohen.
The silence was only broken
by this announcer.
Who roared,
Martin Israel Cohen.
It was like...
the rooster in the...
fairytale of the Town Musicians of Bremen,
who crows so loud,
because he wants to show he is not yet ready for the cooking pot.
Records office!
Suddenly, it was...
Cioma Israel Schönhaus.
Well, then it was me.
Cioma Israel Schönhaus.
Employment office!
I realize that Jews who do important forced labor are not deported.
Got all your papers?
Perhaps this is a way out?
Last place of work?
Gustav Genschov, machine gun factory.
Any pay checks owing?
Actually, it must say that the company reclaimed me.
Does it not say I'm exempt?
That they need me for the work?
Gustav Genschov machine gun factory.
I'm one of the fastest, 180 barrels an hour.
Why must I go to a camp alone?
Why can't I stay with my aunt? I want to stay here!
Let me stay here!
You can go.
So, you can go.
Where?
To the factory. You are exempt.
Can we leave him here alone?
Of course he stays here. Maybe...
Maybe he can save us.
- Come. - I have my case here.
Can we please say goodbye to our son?
Cioma, can you please mail this?
It's for my colleagues.
I couldn't even say goodbye properly.
And then I forgot to mail it. How stupid of me.
That's enough.
Don't forget, promise me.
I see my parents disappear.
I don't know where they will be taken.
Maybe I will never see them again.
Shall we?
We all had records, even American ones. And to those we danced.
RUTH GUMPEL, NÉE ARNDT, WENT INTO HIDING IN 1942 AT THE AGE OF 20
None of us had ever had dance lessons.
A part of our youth disappeared, we didn't experience it.
We haven't been able to go to the dance hall for a while.
Sometimes we meet privately to listen to music and dance.
Why did your brother not bring you here before?
Today we're at Bruno's. He's my brother Jochen's best friend.
Jochen's here with his girlfriend Ellen and me.
The harsher the laws became against Jews,
the more we played with the idea
of going into hiding.
My brother had heard
that young people had done it.
Two colleagues got their letters yesterday.
They're going into hiding.
We called that 'dashing off'.
He spoke to my parents about it and they refused it immediately.
You know what father is like.
What if someone else speaks to him?
Who?
What about Mrs Gehre?
Why not ask the Gehres first?
Well, that...
that's something my father accepted.
I asked if you would speak to us, Mrs Gehre,
because my children insisted and they won't leave me alone.
I told them that it's hopeless.
There are four of us.
Jochen has a girlfriend, Ellen.
And Ellen's mother is there too...
It's impossible to hide so many people.
As a doctor, I know so many people here
I can't even be on the street five minutes.
It's impossible.
And no one can say how long it will last.
But even if...
We would be relying on others the whole time.
For everything. How would that work?
Doctor! My husband and I have never forgotten
how you saved our daughter when she was ill.
We will do everything we can to help you and your family.
We have a small room behind the kitchen. Big enough for a camp bed.
You can stay until the war is over.
We'll find something for Ruth, Jochen and your wife.
I still felt a bit uncertain.
You didn't know what would happen while we were in hiding.
- Got everything? - It's all here.
We didn't think about how long it would last.
If we'd thought about it, we probably wouldn't have done it.
For us young ones, it was only half as bad as for my parents.
Until then, until we were in hiding,
we had lived together.
- Father's reading lamp. - It's here.
- The other bag? - We've got everything.
Now, all at once, my parents didn't know where we were,
and they did not know what we were doing during the day.
We were out there somewhere.
It must have been a very difficult situation for my parents.
Anyone got on?
When the schools were closed,
I was conscripted, as it was called...
EUGEN FRIEDE WAS HIDDEN BY HIS NON-JEWISH STEPFATHER
...to the Jewish cemetery.
So I can only see Helga on the weekend,
when I'm free from forced labor.
I don't believe my eyes. What are you doing on the bus?
- I have a permit. - A permit? Then show it, now!
"...has a special permit to use the bus,
since his work is over seven kilometers away."
You could get it for 7 kilometers. Less than that, you had to walk.
It doesn't say anything about sitting though.
And then it sometimes happened that somebody
gave me a packet of cigarettes,
even though I didn't smoke at the time.
That was not the point.
The aim was simply to show that they did not agree.
Most people do not even know what we are banned from doing.
We are not allowed to own radios, bicycles have been taken.
Even pets have to be given up.
I knew about these guys with hats and leather coats.
I knew it was a Gestapo official.
You haven't sewn your star on properly.
- Name? - Eugen Friede.
Eugen Israel Friede!
Eugen Israel Friede.
Address?
28, Belle-Allianz-Straße. In Kreuzberg.
Just be careful.
And sew your star on,
damn Jewish brat.
I ran back to my mother, who then sewed the star on, crying.
My father said:
We can't risk keeping him here. It's too dangerous for him to stay.
They'll come for him in a couple of days.
Maybe even tomorrow.
But we can't leave him... alone.
He's only 16.
I'm the only one in the family that has to wear the star.
Do you think it's easy for me to send him away?
Julius is my stepfather, and not a Jew.
So my mother doesn't have to wear the star.
Here.
I sewed it back on.
Come, try it on.
I'll find someone to take you in.
Yes, that was the day of my...
it was the day that I became illegal.
Maybe it's just for a few days.
IN FEBRUARY 1943, ALL JEWISH FORCED LABORERS STILL LIVING IN BERLIN
WERE ROUNDED UP AND DEPORTED IN THE SO-CALLED 'FACTORY ACTION'.
I lived with a
family who took me in after my mother died...
HANNI LEVY, NÉE WEISSENBERG, WENT INTO HIDING AT THE AGE OF 17
...so I did not go to the orphanage.
And this family was deported before me.
I was not on the list, so I could stay in the apartment.
I had to be in the factory, where I sewed parachutes.
But the silk threads gave me a bad rash.
I was glad to be treated by a doctor,
though he was no longer allowed to treat Jews.
Open up! Secret State Police. Open up!
And then there was a knock.
You have to stay calm.
If there's a knock on the door, you have to open it.
That is normal.
It's something I had never considered before.
Open up! Secret State Police!
It was clear that I had to get out of the house.
I waited until it was all quiet.
I can't bring anything with me. Just my handbag and a coat.
I don't know if I was scared or not.
I just had this will to live.
That's what you can call it.
A Christian friend of my mother's took me in.
But I could only stay a couple of nights.
When I arrived, the first thing I did was take off my star.
But I remember that I didn't dare destroy my papers straight away.
We must be careful...
the neighbor.
But how it would work out with food and so on,
I had no idea, absolutely no idea.
That's how it is when you're 17.
I blocked out my parents.
I was alone.
I came back to the apartment
and had the idea of selling everything.
Before the Gestapo has the same idea.
How did you do it?
- What? - You're still here.
- I'm indispensable. - But how long will we still be needed?
I made the mistake of showing Manfred my fake passport.
And then he showed me the documents.
Clearly, I wasn't the only one planning to vanish.
The photo must be changed. He's in hiding.
He needs something to get back on the street.
Can you do that?
Almost the entire house has been cleared.
I am no longer safe in our flat.
The Gestapo could come at any time.
I try to stay quiet.
I try to plan my next steps.
Then I had the idea of the accommodation office.
First, I took off that yellow thing. I went to the station without the star.
I'll be called up soon.
The woman at the counter wasn't listening.
Next!
She just said, "Here's a list of 20 addresses. Next!"
And then I could go.
I thought, is it that easy?
You didn't have to say your name or show a pass to get the list.
To me Berlin is like a huge moving station of men
who have to enter their regiments and need a room for a few nights.
You have to arrive late so you don't have to register till next day.
By which time I'm gone.
Yes, coming!
Just then a blond Valkyrie...
I'm here for the room.
She looked at me. I told my story.
Uncle from Cologne, bombed.
Unfortunately, my uncle was bombed. May I?
I have to go back to the army in a few days,
so my parents gave him my room
and I need to find somewhere to stay for a few days.
Then she says, unmoved, "Horst!"
Horst! There's someone for the room.
Horst comes out, sweaty.
You could still see the mark of his army cap.
Sturmführer. My uncle was bombed in Cologne.
I'm called up in a few days so he's in my room.
- Put your case here. - All right.
What about police registration?
Damn it.
It's already 7.30 pm.
- Do it first thing tomorrow. - Of course.
Do you see?
If everyone were as sensible as this young man,
we would have much less trouble with the bombed-out.
Father took me to friends.
All I know is that they are communists and have no children.
But the worst thing is: now I can't see Helga anymore.
I couldn't even say goodbye to her.
Not only that you don't know the people,
but after a little while...
you noticed that they were scared
and didn't want me there.
Everything is a mess again. Where did you learn that?
I felt very uncomfortable.
Get away from the window! I don't want anyone to see you.
After a fortnight, they said they had a visitor
and couldn't keep me anymore.
But they were communists,
they sent me to other comrades.
That was my big stroke of luck.
I stay with a friend of my mother's, but I have to be out in the morning.
My mother and brother stay with Mrs Léfèvre,
another former patient of my father's.
I went and spent the day there.
And that was actually quite nice.
Even though we have to be quiet all day and there is no heating,
it is much better than walking around outside.
We pass the time playing games.
After a couple of days, we can tell who is coming and going.
The man from the third floor.
H...
Jochen's cough is worse.
Don't peek!
What will we do with this beautiful brown hair?
Dye it, please.
I had to change.
She wants it blond.
A haircut and a new style.
My niece.
We tried to make me look different, it took three evenings.
How blond do you want?
Other women also go blond for reasons of vanity or fashion.
Yes, yes.
Beauty knows no pain.
We won't achieve that in one sitting.
You'll need to come again tomorrow and the day after.
Same time?
Yes.
What's your name?
Hanni.
Just Hanni?
Hannelore.
Hannelore. Last name?
Winkler.
Hannelore Winkler.
H and W, like my own initials, so I couldn't go wrong there.
But I had trouble finding my real name again later.
The moment I had a new name and new look,
I became someone else.
Something fell off me.
Heil Hitler. Becker, Office for Bomb Damage. May I?
Suddenly, there was an order
that if you had a large apartment,
with a certain number of rooms,
you had to take in people whose houses had been bombed.
I want to check the size of your apartment.
Could you come back? I have an appointment.
- How many rooms? - Three.
Living room.
- Bedroom? - Wait!
Let me just check if I made the bed.
Do you live with your husband?
My husband died in action.
My condolences.
Enough space for a whole family.
This is my bedroom.
- What was that? - Come look at my daughter's room.
You could put beds here too, that makes five.
Please sign here.
We'll be in touch soon.
Then we heard that the room would be given
to these other people who had been bombed.
That meant we had lost this hiding place.
Sorry for being late. I've come about the room.
Good evening. The accommodation office sent me.
Heil Hitler, Mrs Anker. I've come about the room.
Thank you.
And so it went on, about twenty times,
until...
a very kind...
Good evening.
...plump woman, like a farmer's wife.
Are you Mrs Schirrmacher?
She looked at me kindly, and said yes, come in.
- Come in. - Thank you.
That smells good.
- So your uncle stays in your room. - Yes.
Here's the room.
- You've lived at home till now? - Yes.
And you get your food stamps at home?
Yes.
Then you are still registered at home?
Of course.
And why should I register you a second time?
If I don't do it, I will save the tax.
I won't register you.
I could hug her.
It's clean and it must stay so.
I have finally found a place I can stay.
Here is the news.
First the time:
at the sound of the gong it will be 5 pm.
From the High Command...
The boy's here.
...the Bolsheviks yesterday strengthened their position against the German line.
Yeah, yeah.
The Horns are against Hitler and immediately agreed to take me in.
Friede.
They had a big garden,
a detached house,
a nice lamp store,
radios and lamps,
and a daughter.
This is Ruth. Say hello, Ruth.
- Hello. - Hello.
I immediately feel like I will stay here until the war is over.
The daughter was...
She liked flirting.
That was clear from the start.
And to be honest,
Helga quickly faded into the background.
She wasn't on my mind as much.
Here you are.
Mrs Horn, Mr Horn.
You don't know how grateful
my wife and I are that Eugen can live with you.
Our pleasure.
From the people who I forged passes for,
I get an address in upper class Grunewald,
where I go to meet a certain Dr. Kaufmann.
Did you see anyone following you?
It was a very nice villa, traditional.
The wealthy Berlin home of a senior civil servant
in the Accounting Office of the Reich.
Hello. Nice to meet you.
We've seen the military documents you did.
A good job. Where did you learn?
- I went to art school. - He did. We checked.
Here.
What do you find funny about a document
that can save someone's life?
I'm sorry, it's just the job title.
She doesn't look like a maid, does she?
Do you have tools?
Yes, I do. From my training. I also have an eyelet machine.
Good, Schönhaus.
So...
Then we began to work together.
He gave me three or four passes to start.
When he was pleased with them, I got more every Friday,
around 20 passes.
I stay with a woman, but I disappear during the day.
I go where there are lots of people.
No one notices me on Kurfürstendamm.
I hope.
As long as I still had my name and my appearance,
I had to duck.
Now I had to learn not to duck. You have to learn that.
To look and move like everyone else, not to be scared,
and so on.
I mustn't appear nervous.
Nobody could harm me...
because I wasn't officially there.
Hello, young lady.
- You seem to like that film. - I don't know yet.
I forced myself to react differently.
Would you see a film with me?
And maybe exaggerate things.
No, thank you. My fiancée is coming.
A pity. Goodbye.
I got used to scanning my surroundings.
Wherever I am, my eyes wander, looking at every face,
just in case, God forbid, I see someone I recognize.
I behave like everyone else,
but I watch carefully, to see if someone recognizes me.
Two sodas please.
- Hello, Hanni. - Hello, Mrs Berger.
I brought you something. It stings a little.
Thanks.
Some money for you. You need to go to the hairdresser's soon, right?
I thought I was the only one.
I never thought that others were doing the same.
It was dark, of course, because of the bombings.
And that was actually an advantage.
Because...
First, because very few people, if anyone at all, were on the streets.
And if they were, they wouldn't be able to recognize you.
Father.
We live hour by hour, day by day.
And Jochen, how is he?
Jochen has found something. In a workshop.
He can work there, too.
Not far from here.
- Mother? - With a woman in Wedding.
Since a few days ago.
I don't know where Bruno is.
He's been gone a couple of days.
- Maybe they... - Bruno is a smart boy.
He won't be caught easily.
Frau Gehre sends some food.
And above all else, there was the matter of food.
That was a terrible...
That was the worst, we didn't have enough to eat.
No one had enough.
Everybody was always hungry.
We never ate enough.
No one. Neither those of us in hiding nor the ones helping us.
It was a terrible situation.
Maybe I can work, too.
- In a small store. - In a store?
Yes, but only after it closes.
I could clean.
They wouldn't ask questions.
It will be alright, Father. Don't worry.
- Yes. - Look after yourself.
Just a minute.
You really like staying in.
I've made coffee. Do you want to drink a cup with me?
That's why you spend so much time in your room.
Yeah, it's...
More of a pastime. After work.
- A hobby? - Yes.
Professionally, I do technical drawings.
I'm curious to know what drawings you do, professionally,
that it's so important you're in Berlin.
But I'm just glad to have such a tidy lodger like you.
But I did something...
that helped me,
to win over my landlady.
I made my own bed.
Just as I used to at home.
So she didn't really have to do anything for me.
For he's a jolly good fellow!
For he's a jolly good fellow,
which nobody can deny!
Wait, wait! Eugen take a photo!
Even my father comes when it's Mr Horn's birthday.
I pictured illegality and being in hiding differently.
Smile!
We had everything we needed to eat. We were never hungry.
And Mrs Horn had everything we needed for food,
even without having to get ration stamps.
It was really good. It was a really good life.
For a while.
Good work.
And you were quick.
Two more passports for you.
Is that the man who just left?
It's not good to know more than necessary.
Only a few people can hold their tongue
when their fingers are in a door jamb and the door is slammed.
Understand?
Here. Your payment.
Food ration stamps. Two sets per pass.
Don't get caught reselling them on a dark corner.
Your work is of utmost importance.
- I hope you know that. - Of course.
I have to move again.
Now I'm with Ellen, who has a small attic room at a friend's.
What are you sewing?
After we'd been there a while...
we started to feel closed in.
She said, "Okay, why don't we go to the cinema?"
There were a lot of war widows at that time. We wouldn't be noticed.
You're not serious?
It's perfect camouflage.
Hello, two please.
- Here you go. - Thank you.
Going to the cinema has several advantages.
The newsreels are not encouraging, but it is always nicely heated.
And for two hours, you can feel safe and unobserved in the dark.
Almost.
Is it free?
The soldier next to you looked at you.
Not as if he liked you, but as if he thought,
they're very young to be widows.
That was the funniest thing.
We saw the funny side to so many situations.
We're convinced that that really helped us.
Ellen?
Ellen Lewinsky, is it you?
Who was that?
Stella.
Stella?
Yes, we heard that there were Jewish informers
who worked for the Gestapo.
Different names came up.
One was Stella Goldschlag, who knew Ellen.
Did you work with her?
She was in the next department. I saw her a couple of times.
Mother said she heard that Stella informed for the Gestapo.
She walks around, looking for those in hiding.
And as a reward, the Gestapo said that,
in the case of Stella,
they would take care of her parents, that her parents would not be deported...
Of course, despite that, they were taken away afterwards.
THE GESTAPO BLACKMAILED STELLA GOLDSCHLAG
AND A FURTHER 20 JEWISH BERLINERS TO CATCH THOSE IN HIDING.
Sometimes I go for lunch on Kurfürstendamm,
where you can still get something decent without stamps.
I meet my friend Ludwig Lichtwitz there.
- Two cups of coffee, please. - He's a Jew, too, and in hiding.
He sells my stamps for me.
Ludwig has all sorts of connections.
I think I have something. A workshop.
Not far from here. Lots of traffic, lots of people, safe.
That's it.
Ludwig Lichtwitz was friends with a chauffeur at the Afghan Embassy.
And the chauffeur officially rented the shop
in the name of the Afghan Embassy.
He told the landlord the embassy needs to store stuff.
No one asks who goes in and out.
- No catch? - No catch.
There was a third guy.
That's Werner.
Werner Scharff.
A famous figure in the history of illegality.
- A Jewish community electrician. - But that's gone?
Some of us are still there.
They need them to do everything.
The Jewish community was taken over by the Gestapo.
But because Scharff knew all the wires and electrical contacts,
they took him with them.
You're the artist who always has food stamps?
- You heard right. - Don't worry.
I won't disturb you.
The people in the house saw us coming and going.
If anyone sticks their nose in.
If anyone asked, "What are you doing here?"
We would say, "War secrets, we can't say."
That's how we stayed safe in the house.
It actually looked very normal
and that's how it worked.
- Bit short. - Looks good.
The family that took me in has been informed on.
A young man stayed there from time to time.
A deserter.
I can't sleep there anymore.
My finger is throbbing more and more.
I don't know what I should do anymore.
Hello?
Who's in there?
Everything okay?
I'm coming. I was feeling unwell.
What took you so long?
Are you okay?
I'm fine now.
We don't want any trouble, understand?
But worse than my finger and the endless fatigue,
is the feeling that I'm going crazy, because I have nobody to speak to.
I always had the feeling,
that someone was protecting me.
Maybe it was my father, I don't know. It was just a feeling.
I don't know what it was.
See? It starts to appear.
Wait, it's not ready.
Can't you keep your mouth shut?
What should I do? I just said we had a guest.
Asked if they could sell me a little more.
You shouldn't talk so much.
I said nothing.
So why did the butcher ask if we were hiding a Jewish boy?
That was the moment I knew I had to disappear.
Do you know what it could mean for us?
The wife was hysterical, "Call your father, he must come pick you up!"
The boy has to go.
The good days at the Horns are over.
We're waiting for a man to take me away from Berlin.
Winkler came one afternoon.
This is Mr Winkler.
He looked me up and down and said,
"Pack your bag, we're going to Luckenwalde."
It's 45 minutes by train. Stay behind me.
It was the first time I'd been outside
for a long, long time.
I was scared.
Remember, at that time,
there were no men of my age,
not wearing uniform.
Someone like me, dressed as a civilian, was really unusual.
There was the train ride.
The fear of an inspection.
I avoided looking people in the eye.
Winkler sat quietly and read his newspaper.
I sat in another corner.
We were deliberately separate and it was good,
all the way to Luckenwalde.
So you're Eugen?
- I'm Horst. - Hello, Horst.
- Do you play football? - Yeah.
Please stand next to each other.
His son, who had my build,
was a year younger than me, Horst,
and his daughter, Ruth.
You can wear Horst's uniform. Then you can go out.
That's your cousin, Eugen.
Four people lived in a small two-room apartment.
Two rooms.
And still they took me in.
Good evening, Eugen. It's good to have you.
Thank you.
Finally, I have a place I can work in peace.
With every pass,
there was more of a risk.
Do you need that?
I have to say, I enjoyed it. It excited me.
I had the feeling that it...
Work had never been more fun for me.
Kaufmann and Helene Jacobs were supplied by obliging Berliners
who reported their passes as lost.
Real documents, with which I can make no mistakes,
changing photos and reproducing stamps.
I'll also need papers soon.
I've heard that our time is up.
The Association will be dissolved. The last one turns off the light.
One of the Gestapo told me.
Nice of him, right?
If they want to stop me, they'll deal with my friend here.
I won't be caught by the pigs.
We've lost our place again and spent the night on the streets.
There was snow and ice all the time, cold.
And often, when I had nowhere to stay,
I walked around the streets until morning,
until I could go into an apartment or somewhere.
It's all a bit of a blur.
This image of it being winter
is so clear.
I can still feel it.
You know?
Empty stomach, no idea when the next hot meal would come.
No idea, not even a cup of coffee.
And...
no idea where you would stay.
Mom, which uncle is Eugen's father?
Finish your homework.
She questioned her mother all the time. Who is he? Why is he here?
He's here all day and he's not my cousin.
I want to know who that is.
Her mother took her aside and said:
Eugen is a Jewish boy, who we need to hide.
Why must we hide him? If the Nazis find him, they'll kill him.
We don't want that.
This was a time when many children betrayed their own parents.
They were taught to.
In the Hitler Youth, when they realized
that their parents disagreed with the Nazi policies.
Something awful happened once.
Do you know where the paper is I put here?
Ludwig.
Where is the paper that was on the table?
The paper?
I used it for the furnace.
Are you crazy?
There were about 20 passes inside.
How should I explain that to Dr. Kaufmann?
Tell me what you want, but I don't believe you.
One card on the black market
would cost a couple of thousand Deutschmark,
and you burnt it.
That's a fortune.
What will I tell the people waiting for their cards?
It's life and death.
Are you sure you didn't do anything else with the cards?
I swear, Mrs Jacobs. On my parents' lives.
I truly looked up to Kaufmann.
When you see someone look at you
so contemptuously,
that's very unpleasant.
Cioma, I don't know if you planned it or not,
but we need your help and...
I hope we're not making a mistake by trusting you.
Heil Hitler.
You can put your things over there.
It's great it worked so quickly. There's a lot to do. It's a big place.
We got here through people that Ellen knew.
My husband.
Hello, ladies.
- Wehlen. - Hello.
He knew that we were Jews, he knew we were in hiding,
but he didn't know our names.
You are?
- Lieselotte. - Marianne.
Lieselotte.
Hans, turn the radio off.
Hopefully they'll do something about the bombers.
One hardly gets any sleep.
He and his wife said that we could clean.
And boy did we clean,
and look after the children.
These are our kids. Come here.
This is our eldest, Hilde.
And this is Fritzi.
Wehlen.
He knew who we were and didn't say anything.
And he protected us.
He really protected us.
And we also got fabulous food,
it was an ideal situation.
ON 19TH JUNE 1943,
REICH MINISTER OF PROPAGANDA JOSEPH GOEBBELS,
DECLARED BERLIN FREE OF JEWS.
The work for Kaufmann brings in a lot of money.
With the food stamps I sell, I can fulfil a childhood dream.
I bought a used sailboat.
Ludwig said it was crazy to buy a sailboat.
It's dangerous enough on land, I'm not coming on your boat.
But I found...
it gave me strength.
The sailboat.
I went to the cinema. I'm not sure what the film was.
I noticed that the seat next to me was empty.
Then the movie was over. It was a romance or something.
Beg your pardon.
May I ask if you would like to go for a walk with me?
Yes, well, I...
I just got my call-up.
I'll be a soldier in three days.
Firstly, that moved me a bit.
Secondly, I had nothing else to do.
- Do you live nearby? - No, I live in Tempelhof.
With your parents?
With friends of my mother's.
And why do you always go to the movies here?
How do you know that?
My mother told me you go to the cinema nearly every day.
The woman at the box office was his mother.
And there was an usher.
And he had asked the usher not to fill the seat.
You're smart.
He probably had other intentions, but I don't know.
Hanni.
I wanted to ask you,
if you could visit my mother.
You want me to visit your mother?
Yes.
My father is already very old.
She has nobody else.
So she would have somebody to talk to, you could say.
As I have to go now,
I don't want her to feel alone.
Okay.
Werner is in hiding now too.
With the right papers,
you feel pretty safe outside or when controlled.
- Wait. I'll call if the coast is clear. - Okay.
It becomes dangerous if someone recognizes you.
He wasn't paying attention and was on the phone.
And when he was done and was leaving...
Who have we here?
They said, "You're coming with us." And he was arrested.
Can't you let me go, Hans?
They will beat him into saying where he has been staying.
We'll have to be sure that the coast is clear.
Clearly, he was holding up during the interrogation and did not betray us.
Because of the bombings,
the woman and the children were evacuated.
That meant that Mr Wehlen was alone in the apartment again.
My dear Colonel Wehlen.
I'm always surprised by what you have to offer.
Why should only our staff in Paris be allowed to live like kings?
He had everything. Everything.
Excellent food.
He was very active on the black market,
but on a large scale, not just small things.
It's not just your wine that's the best.
Gentlemen, ham from Bayonne.
Matured for six months, top quality.
We always had these parties,
and Ellen and I cooked what was there,
and then had to serve it.
As slim as a doe.
All the men were drunk, too.
So we had to be very nimble on our feet.
And such pretty dark eyes, like a Jew.
I thought no Jews were left in Berlin.
These girls are from good families.
I trust you will appreciate them the same as this wine,
a Chateau Batailley.
From our beautiful Bordeaux.
Cheers!
- To the Führer. - To the Führer.
Cioma?
We know each other.
From school.
Stella, yes, yes.
Yes, it was a very nice moment when I met her on Kurfürstendamm.
I said, "Hello, Stella."
"Want to get something to drink?" She said, "Yes."
I would have liked to be her boyfriend,
but I wasn't as attractive as the other guys.
She always had a group of boys around her.
You seem to be doing well.
I wanted to talk to you then.
At school.
I put my hand on hers.
And she didn't pull away.
I thought, wow, that's good.
Stella?
Shall I show you my illegal room?
I wanted to show her my room at Mrs Schirrmacher's.
She said, "Yes."
You're really crazy.
Come.
We can go by bus, it's only two stops.
Aren't you making a mistake?
I feel that an angel must have intervened.
Yes.
You're right.
This was a declaration of love from her.
The fact she said, aren't you making a mistake?
Because...
she usually did betray people.
One, two, three, four, five. Out.
A friend sends us. Is your husband there?
Come on in.
Whenever it rang, I went into the Winkler's bedroom.
There was a niche between the wall and the wardrobe.
I always went in and pulled over a coat-stand.
Come in.
My husband is coming.
Take a seat.
Mr Winkler?
We got your address from Günter Samuel.
- We were with him in Theresienstadt. - You escaped?
Yes, we walked the whole way. At night.
As far as I know,
only three people succeeded in getting out of this camp alive.
Among them, Werner Scharff and his girlfriend Fancia Grün.
That's Eugen.
A Jewish boy we're hiding here.
Frida, make some food for them. They must be starving.
We sat at the table
and then he told us,
Werner Scharff,
what he knew.
That was the first time I had heard
what they were doing to Jews.
They're all killed.
The next day they're all dead.
They're gassed. In their thousands.
What am I saying? Tens of thousands. Hundreds of thousands.
He told us straight away that Jews were killed.
And that millions of Jews were gassed,
were burnt.
I couldn't imagine it.
I said, "Why?"
"Everything has been taken from them, why kill them?"
Yes, because the Nazis have their world view
that Jews are to blame for all evil in the world
and that they must be killed.
That is their... their world view.
Excuse me.
We're closing now.
Didn't you see the film yesterday?
- Yes. - But it's not that great.
Mrs Kolzer?
How do you know...
I spoke with your son. We went for a walk.
Then I said,
"I'm a Jew, I'm being persecuted and I don't know..."
I don't know where I can sleep.
Then she said, "Come with me."
Wait here.
I'm just closing up.
If someone asks... you are my sister's daughter, my niece.
You have to remember,
these two people
lived very modestly.
Then this stranger turns up and, out of the goodness of their hearts...
She's sleeping.
...they give her a home.
Let's get the camp bed.
And took care of her.
But I only realized that later.
The only thing I realized, was that I could sleep in peace.
And that I had met people again who were actually people.
Right. Done.
- What's up? - My bag. Have you seen my bag?
Yes. I used it to fuel the furnace this morning.
Damn. Everything was in there. Wallet, money, passes.
- You left your bag somewhere? - I think I left it on the train.
Kaufmann.
Good, I'll wait, thanks.
His superior was a Dr. Popitz.
One of those who were executed later, on July 20.
He immediately telephoned Popitz and said, I need urgent information.
Is there anything on Schönhaus?
Sure? A warrant?
Yes, thank you.
Schönhaus...
They're searching for you. Don't set foot outside.
There's a warrant with the latest photo from your passport.
It's unbelievable.
Now you're vindicated, Schönhaus.
Seeing how carelessly you look after your stuff...
Now I believe
that the papers were burnt in the stove.
We need to find a new place for you to stay.
Jacobs.
Mr Winkler is looking for accommodation for the two Theresienstadt refugees.
Surprisingly, Scharff does not want to hide in Luckenwalde like me.
He has other plans.
It's only half an hour from Zoo station.
Madness. He's really quite a crazy man who...
feels no fear.
- What if someone recognizes you? - What should I do? Hide until it's over?
Look. It's small, but it types like a big one.
From the very first day...
he said, "You must do something against the Nazis."
Hiding Jews is all well and good, but it isn't enough.
- I thought... - I said we wanted to do something.
Then he came up with ideas, what he imagined...
How to build a resistance group, how resistance could look.
- You heard what Werner said. - So what?
It was dangerous saying that with the kids.
Otherwise, nothing happens.
We were to make leaflets in the form of a chain letter.
We must make leaflets.
With the aim of informing the public about
the actual course of the war.
That the war is long lost
and the Nazi murderers are only trying to save their own skins!
If only they knew! They must be told with this appeal!
I was excited. Hans Winkler was excited.
The only one who was realistic was Aunt Frieda.
You're putting ideas into my husband's head.
You're all crazy.
Werner didn't make that up.
The one who put this idea into his head will get us into a mess.
Listen.
German citizens,
the Führer and his commanders
lead the hopeless struggle only to extend their own lives.
- How does it sound? - Good.
If they find out about this they'll hang us all.
Dr. Kaufmann arranged a new accommodation for me.
To get there, I have no choice but to take the bus.
Because of the wanted posters everywhere,
we travel late at night to Helene Jacobs,
where I'll be safe.
I hope.
Is that your bag?
Are you together?
- What's it to you? - Take it easy, boy.
Take it real easy.
And I thought, who is this guy?
An elderly detective,
experiencing for the first time in his official career,
what it is to have a wanted criminal in front of him.
And I thought, this is the end.
You're not getting out of this.
And right then, Ludwig stood up
and so did the man.
What would he do?
He would either wait behind the stairs...
or he would arrest Ludwig.
What was I to do?
I went down the stairs slowly, without making a noise.
And then I waited until the bus went round a bend
and slowed down, and I jumped off.
Ludwig came ten minutes later.
He was really hard-nosed.
I said, "What was up with that guy?"
"He was under the stairs."
Winkler got a printing machine from a friend.
He also wants to help distribute the leaflets.
The landlord of the station pub took Werner and Fancia in.
Werner's girlfriend can even work with him at the bar.
They even have a name: "Community for Peace and Development."
I think this was the unique thing about that organization:
they were all simple, completely innocent,
and very courageous people making a huge effort.
This will wake them up.
There were no other groups who managed to send thousands...
Addresses all over Germany.
...of letters all over the country.
We'll put the letters in normal Berlin mailboxes.
- I got it from the district court. - It was a mail franking stamp.
We didn't even pay postage for the chain letters.
The fastest way to the recipient with our punctual Deutsche Post.
Winkler went into Berlin with Ruth, his 11-year-old daughter,
and put the things in the mailboxes.
Until his wife had enough, and said:
"Aren't you worried that something will happen to the child?"
- Are you crazy? - Don't worry, Frieda.
No one will stop us in Berlin if I'm with a child carrying her satchel.
Put it on.
Look. It's perfect. Believe me.
Cioma.
We thank you, Lord. We pray for those without food,
who are hungry and don't know what they will eat tomorrow. Amen.
Amen.
The terrible thing was the noise of the planes.
You were scared that...
You lived on the fifth floor.
Ludwig went to the lake and brought all the ropes from the boat
and we hung them on the heater. I always imagined
that if a bomb hit and only the stairwell was destroyed,
but the facade was still standing, I could lower myself down.
I never had to, thank God.
With so many bombings, maybe the army postal service is delayed.
Maybe the letter never came.
Her husband died. And now she's worried her son could be gone, too.
Nothing has happened to him. Otherwise someone would have already come.
And then we began living together, alone.
Like mother and daughter.
The son was away at war.
And we supported one another.
There's not much left.
For two more times. Then it's over.
There's no more at the pharmacy.
The war can't last much longer.
England calling.
Next the headlines.
And so it went on, until one day there was a phone call.
Jacobs.
From a Mr Hallermann.
Looking for Dr. Kaufmann.
I don't know where Kaufmann is.
Yes, can it not wait till morning?
Fine.
A friend of Kaufmann's. I have to go.
- What if it's a trap? - Yes, maybe it is.
But if I don't go, they'll come here.
If I'm not back in two hours, then...
Later I found out, she went there...
and Hallermann was waiting with two detectives and said, "That's her".
Helene was arrested.
When Helene didn't appear by five the next morning,
I left her apartment and went to the workshop for the last time.
I left a document there
that I have prepared for this possibility.
A military pass, stating I am a soldier on home leave.
I have a crazy plan.
I will cycle through Germany
and try to cross the border into Switzerland.
IN MARCH 1944, THE US ARMY AIR FORCE
BEGAN THEIR FIRST DAYTIME BOMBINGS OF BERLIN.
FROM THEN ON, BOMBS FALL AT ANY TIME.
There were thousands of planes flying over Luckenwalde daily,
B52 bombers, huge formations of them.
It was always a joy,
to see these silverfish in the sky.
You knew it could not last much longer.
My parents are here, too.
My father is meant to be in the Volkssturm.
If something happened, he would not be able to protect my mother,
and she would be sent to a camp.
So, they hide in Luckenwalde,
where Winkler has found an attic room.
The boy no longer listens to me.
Julius, tell him to help me.
Eugen, come and help me.
What are these tablets?
Who knows.
Just in case.
The war is almost over, Dad.
I think it was the 3rd February. There was a big bombing raid.
I was alone in the house, at Wehlen's.
There was no one else there.
We never thought that the bombs would hit us.
It wasn't meant for us, it was meant for the Germans...
But when a raid actually happened, it was not wonderful.
You had conflicting feelings.
Obviously, we wanted them to be bombed.
Of course.
I wanted to go home, to the factory.
I started out, I began running.
The worst thing was, the closer I got to the center,
the more damage I saw.
Bombed out houses,
dead horses on the street,
dead people.
It was so terrible.
And I ran for maybe two hours.
It was so awful.
And then I arrived and nothing had happened on that street.
Not at Köhler's or at Gehre's.
My brother is still in the factory in Kreuzberg,
where he can sleep as well.
My mother and Ellen can spend the day there, too.
- Who is it? - Me.
My brother and the others didn't know if I was all right.
They had the bombings and didn't know if it was the same at Wehlen's.
So it was a marvelous reunion.
For all of us it was...
We all remember it very well.
Our group has been betrayed.
Hans Winkler and Werner Scharff were arrested.
My parents and I hope that the Gestapo won't find us.
On 11th December, someone knocked on the door.
Open up!
Anytime we heard noise on the stairs, I hid in the wardrobe.
I could see what was going on through a tiny crack,
and I watched as the two men...
Gestapo.
...acted like they were going to catch a whole group of partisans.
Where is the boy?
- Leave my husband. - Shut up!
Where is the boy?
Suddenly, one of them tore open the wardrobe door.
He noticed one was missing.
They knew we were there. They knew everything.
Come on!
I remember them slapping me. I also remember, I wanted...
to pack my important things.
You don't need a toothbrush where you're going.
Move it!
I'm in the former Jewish hospital in Berlin,
which the Gestapo has turned into its last deportation center.
This is where all the Jews still caught in the city are taken.
My mother was taken to Theresienstadt on one of the last transports.
My father took his pills and died on the night of our arrest.
I'm still here because they need me for the trial
being brought against Winkler and the others.
I never once thought I would not get out of this.
I was always convinced
that I would get out.
Somehow I would get out of there.
I can only explain that maybe it had to do with our age,
and with the idea that I did not do any harm, I did not kill anyone,
they will be... Somehow I will get out of this mess.
We can't work at Wehlen's anymore, but we can stay in the workshop.
The owner, Mr Köhler, told his employees not to ask questions,
as we had a secret war mission.
I'll tell the others
that you have a special assignment from Hitler
and...
It will be okay.
Who's there?
Bruno!
Come here.
How did you know we were here?
At first Mrs Gehre wouldn't say anything...
Bruno can stay too.
In the chaos, which spreads ever further, nobody cares.
If only the war were over.
Why, I don't know,
but after a while I end up in a Gestapo basement
and now I'm really scared.
It was a dungeon like I'd never seen before.
The people there wore heavy iron shackles on their hands and feet.
Over and over, one of us is taken out
and never comes back.
- Is there still a German among you pigs? - Here.
Stand up.
- Name? - Eugen Friede.
Eugen Israel Friede.
Come with me.
Then he grabbed me by the collar and pushed me forwards.
He opened the door and kicked my butt. Then I was out.
I was on Große Hamburger Straße.
I don't know how long I've been in the basement, but it's a special day.
It's the 23rd April 1945, my 19th birthday.
I had to hide for another couple of days,
until the Russians finally arrived.
After surviving nearly two years,
we're afraid of being buried in the shelter
just before the end of the war.
In April 1945, there were constant bomb raids and shooting,
so you couldn't leave the shelter anymore.
There was nothing to eat.
But we could get water from a pump on Naunynstraße,
around the corner from Oranienstraße.
I'm going to fetch water.
Any men down here?
Jochen and Bruno were in a coal cellar.
They couldn't be seen.
It was dangerous to go out, with everything flying around.
I had a bucket in my hand and went around the corner
and I saw the pump.
But there were two Russian soldiers.
I didn't know what was happening.
Russian soldiers. Were they really here?
I ran back to the cellar
and I said, "The Russians are here!"
The Russians are here! The war is over!
We didn't know what we should do.
The other women, the Germans, began crying.
"For God's sake, what will happen to us now?"
My mother immediately tore the seam from her coat.
Before we went into hiding,
she had put all of our Jewish papers in there.
And then a Russian soldier came in with a gun
and he looked as if he was about to shoot us, and my mother said,
"No, no, we are Jewish!"
He didn't understand and he left again.
The Russian army had so much to avenge.
I'm a Jew.
German woman!
- Not a German woman. Jew. - German woman!
No one believed me. You're not a Jew.
Hitler killed all the Jews
and you're blond, so definitely not a Jew.
We'll come back tonight.
We'll come tonight.
I didn't wait for them to come.
I have to escape again.
But this time I am not alone and our path leads to freedom.
And then my brother and Bruno stood in the factory yard.
Two or three days later, I don't know.
Then a soldier pointed his gun right at the guys.
Don't shoot! We're Jews.
Jews are all dead. Hitler killed them all.
No, we are Jews. We hid here.
Jews, huh?
If you're Jews, then say the Sh'ma Yisrael.
That is the prayer that every Jewish person knows,
even if they're not religious.
Do it!
It turned out, he was a Jewish officer in the Russian army.
We had no idea there were Jewish soldiers.
OF THE 7,000 JEWS HIDDEN IN BERLIN, 1,500 SURVIVED.
MANY OF THOSE HELPING THE SURVIVORS WERE HONORED
AS "RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE PEOPLE" IN YAD VASHEM.
THIS AWARD FOR PEOPLE WHO RISKED THEIR LIVES
TO SAVE JEWS WAS ALSO GIVEN TO:
ANNI AND MAX GEHRE, HANS AND FRIDA WINKLER, MAX AND CLARA KÖHLER, ELFRIEDE AND GRETE MOST, VIKTORIA KOLZER, HELENE JACOBS.
HANNI LÉVY WAS IDENTIFIED FROM A RED CROSS LIST BY A RELATIVE
WHO BROUGHT HER TO PARIS IN 1946, SHE STILL LIVES THERE TODAY
AS THE GREAT GRANDMOTHER OF A LARGE FAMILY.
People condemned me.
You would think I would be full of anger and hate,
but I'm not.
I could not be.
And do you know that I only found out much later
what I had escaped from, months after the war?
EUGEN FRIEDE SURVIVED THE LAST DAYS OF WAR IN BERLIN.
HE EMIGRATED TO CANADA, BUT RETURNED.
TODAY HE LIVES IN KRONBERG IM TAUNUS AS A HAPPY GREAT-GRANDFATHER.
If anyone in the world had asked:
"Can you imagine that Germans
would kill millions of innocent people?"
Nobody would have said yes. They'd say it was absurd.
Completely insane.
Yes, it is... complete insanity.
It's not... It's unbelievable, it's just very hard to grasp.
There's a huge difference between not liking Jews and gassing them.
That's something... It's impossible to understand.
We'll probably never understand that.
RUTH ARNDT AND BRUNO GUMPEL MARRIED IN SEPTEMBER 1945
AND EMIGRATED TO THE USA.
THEY HAD TWO CHILDREN AND FIVE GRANDCHILDREN.
RUTH DIED IN 2012 IN SAN FRANCISCO.
Above all, when I talk about our saviors,
it has always been very important for us
when we talked at colleges
and schools in America,
to emphasize that there were other Germans who were our saviors.
We always named them and...
Most of them didn't know about this.
CIOMA SCHÖNHAUS MANAGED TO ESCAPE TO SWITZERLAND BY BICYCLE.
HE LIVED THERE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2015.
HE LEFT FOUR CHILDREN.
I think of the words of that rabbi:
"If you have saved one man...
you have saved the whole world."
And that person is Helene Jacobs.
She represents...
to me...
all Germans.
And she was once asked,
"Why did you do it?"
She said, "You know, I wanted to save my country."
And I think...
she...
was...
successful.
THE INVISIBLES WE WANT TO LIVE