Original subtitles

Previously, on We Were the Lucky Ones...

This city is unstable.

Violence will erupt again.

Jews are being gassed and burned, hundreds at a time.

There are more than three million Jews in Poland alone.

It's time to take up arms and fight.

It is not safe to be here.

I left my family, I can't leave you too.

Felicia, run.

She's so quiet now.

The payments will be as planned and on time.

General Anders is assembling a Polish infantry.

You have been summoned to fight by his side.

I can't carry us by myself anymore, so swallow your shit.

You want me to teach you how to be Catholic?

Show me a few prayers.

After us, Brazil's doors are closed.

The last ones?

Stop dwelling in the past!

"Dear Halina,

"Nineteen months in Rio.

"It feels like years, and also as if time has stopped.

"I write to every place I can think of.

"I like to imagine you with a mountain of my letters.

"You make fun of me for my persistence.

"And one day, a letter from you comes back.

"What updates can I give you?

"My downstairs neighbors still have their screaming fights

"every night at 2:00 a.m. like clockwork,

"followed by the sounds of them making up at 3:00 a.m.

"The model of a happy marriage.

"Were you able to celebrate our birthday?

"Hard to believe my little sister is 26.

Turning 30 without you felt... empty."

"Dear Genek,

"I think of you often as I walk through the streets of Copacabana.

The nightlife here would keep even you on your toes."

"And how is Felicia?

"She must be almost five.

"Does she have your spirit, your drive, Mila?

Or is she quiet and contemplative like Selim?"

"You'd like this job, Jakob.

"You get to sneak off and read during your breaks.

"It's not the most challenging work, but it keeps me busy while I wait

for my work permit to finally come through."

"I try to keep up with what's happening in Europe, Father,

"but it's difficult to absorb

and hard to know what's real."

"I think of you constantly, Mother.

"I try so hard to focus on the good memories, the happy ones.

"But when worry or sadness starts to creep in,

"I hear your voice telling me to breathe,

"to think of a melody...

one note after another."

Nothing today, Addy. I'm sorry.

It's okay, Gabi.

Maybe these will be the magic letters that make it?

Halina, I need my suit from the tailor. My dinner tonight.

In the months I've worked for you, have you ever not had a suit ready

when you needed one?

I also put in your prescription at the pharmacy,

and it will be ready when I return from the tailor.

This will be over soon.

Five weeks is a long time for the Jews to hold out.

But they do not have the resources.

Would you please wrap that in another layer of tissue paper?

I don't want the scent of burning Jews to ruin the lace.

- Was someone here? What's wrong? It's nothing, it's nothing.

Mila sends her love. She snuck this from the bakery.

Uh, Kuba... came all this way to give me a ciasto?

Not quite.

- We have to move. - Again?

Mr. Bartek on the second floor.

He was dragged out of his apartment this morning by his neighbors.

Handed over to the Germans.

- That poor man. - It's getting worse.

The suspicions.

We have to stay ahead of them.

Halina was quick to remind me that if we were willing to separate--

Not an option.

Be careful coming home.

We leave tonight.

It's over, isn't it?

A part of me wants to bring a gun down to the ghetto wall

and just start shooting Germans.

We did what we could.

Thousands fought and died and sacrificed themselves,

all while I oversaw the hem of an Austrian banker's suit.

Wielding a gun is not the only way to fight back.

Page 12.

Twelve, c-can you believe it, Raoul? Twelve.

I say there's a lot of news right now, Addy.

- Oh. - The world's on fire.

Europe is on fire. Europe. There's no fire here.

These people, they look out at the horizon.

They believe there's nothing else beyond it.

- Do any of you read the papers? - Addy--

Do any of you read the papers?

- Do any of you read the papers? Addy.

Jews in Warsaw decided they'd had enough.

They fought back for weeks.

The Germans slaughtered them by the thousands,

burned the ghetto to the ground!

- Where does that show up? Hey.

- Page 12. Hey.

- Twelve. - Hey, you're disturbing people.

Maybe they need to be disturbed.

A million Jews annihilated since the start of the war!

Can't find that headline anywhere in the Rio paper.

Leave... Now.

Come on, go. Addy, don't make me throw you out.

♪ Lovely, never, never change ♪

♪ Keep that breathless charm ♪

♪ Won't you please arrange it 'cause I love you ♪

- ♪ Just the way you look tonight ♪ Addy?

My goodness, is that you?

How's Eliska?

Is that why you're such a mess?

- Still pining for my daughter? - No.

Eliska and I, we were... right for the moment, not beyond it.

Yes, I agree.

- She's seeing someone. - Oh.

Hm, another engineer, an American one.

- Good, I'm-I'm happy for her. - I'm not.

This man, he's a cold fish.

I thought Americans were supposed to be warm and dumb, like dogs.

I think they come in different shapes and sizes.

That's a beautiful Steinway.

Hm, you want to play something for me?

I wouldn't object.

I haven't touched a, a piano in ages.

Why not?

They're dead, Madame Lowbeer.

Who?

My family. They're gone.

You can't possibly know that.

But I can, I do, I know.

I know.

I keep writing to them over and over through the Red Cross,

to our home in Radom, neighbors, friends, embassies,

anyone who might know where they are, but I never hear back.

And lately, it's like I'm writing into a void.

They're dead.

They're dead, all of them.

- I can feel it-- - Stop this, Addy.

- Pull yourself together. - I'm trying.

- I can't. - Of course, you can.

Find a nice girl. You're handsome enough.

- Where are you employed? - A book-binding shop.

Well, we can do better than that.

I'll talk to my brother. He knows everyone in Rio--

It won't matter.

My options are limited without a work permit,

which Vargas makes it almost impossible to get.

He let us in only so he can torture us.

Where is the Addy who demanded we take a fishing boat

across the Strait of Gibraltar?

Nothing is impossible.

Find a way... and stop thinking about your family.

It...

it feels like...

- like giving up. - It's not.

It's moving forward.

Perhaps they're alive.

Perhaps you'll find your way back together someday.

But what kind of man do you want your mother to find?

Move forward.

You'll want to close your eyes.

Hi... Hi.

Smell his head, it's heavenly.

Hello, my little nomad.

Where's my husband?

All I see is this young soldier in front of me.

Wow, look at you in uniform.

My heart is racing. Is that strange?

Hey... Hush.

- No, Papa. - No, no, no, try it.

No, no. Try it.

It's better than the gruel you're used to, I promise.

Huh?

Mm? - It's flavor, Ze!

- Isn't this something else?

Are we alive?

Can this be real?

Feels real. Let's try and trust it.

I don't trust anything anymore.

When you got into the army, I felt I could finally exhale,

and then 18 months being dragged all over this miserable continent like cattle,

and now this beach.

Maybe it's heaven.

Would that be so bad? At least we're together.

True.

If we're already dead, they can't ship you off to war.

Yeah, then we have time, my love.

I have to recuperate before they can send me into battle.

So relax.

Enjoy the free vacation on the dime of the Polish army.

Thank you, General Anders.

- He's a good man. - As it turns out.

I heard he's sympathetic to Jews.

Maybe you don't have to pretend to be Catholic anymore.

- I already learned the prayers. - Please.

You've been "Catholic" for a year and a half,

- and you know three prayers.

Let's not rock the boat.

Besides... what's being a Jew ever gotten us?

Felicia.

Mamasiu?

Felicia... listen to me.

Barbara.

Run!

Barbara.

Do you love Mama?

Mama!

Barbara!

You have to do this by yourself. Like a big girl.

Barbara!

She disturbs the other girls.

Always watching them, as if to imitate them.

And she doesn't respond to "Barbara".

Don't you find that strange?

Every child of the Lord must be given grace.

Surely you agree.

Now, mind the loose step on the way back to your room.

When I am anxious, I cannot eat either.

There, there, my child.

"Be strong and courageous.

"Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged,

for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

- I want my mother. - I know you miss her, my dear...

but she just wants you to be safe.

So, you must remember this, no matter what,

here, you are Barbara.

You must say your prayers.

Hide your sorrow.

No.

There. There.

Ahh.

So...

am I dying?

Not today. You have an ulcer.

Your body has been through so much deprivation,

- it can't handle a caloric intake.

Avoid citrus. Only mild foods.

- Get lots of rest. - Rest?

They're sending me to the front soon.

How can I go to war when I can barely sit up?

I'll fetch you antibiotics and something for the pain.

Don't move.

See? Look at the hands. They're good.

I'm almost done. Okay, good.

Don't worry about it. Just don't worry.

Don't move it. I see it's much better. Don't move it... Alright?

No, no. It's just minor swelling. Nothing to worry about.

Let's bring him some aspirin...

Hey!

Hey! Selim.

Selim!

Genek? Oh my-- - Brother!

I can't believe it! Oh, my God.

Oh, my God! What are you--

- What are you-- - How did you--

- You go first! Huh? Doctor? Doc--

When you were taken in Lvov--

It was horrible, Genek. - Huh?

- They took me in the middle of the night. - Yeah, us too!

- Shipped me to a camp in Kazakhstan. - Yeah, yeah, same, but-but in Siberia.

I was released from captivity same time as Anders.

Heard he was starting a Polish infantry.

- Yes. - On my way to join it.

They, they just transferred me here.

- How did--

Mila? H-How is Mila?

Felicia?

Have you been to the Red Cross office in Tel Aviv yet?

They just started a massive list of names.

We can register,

they send telegrams to other Red Crosses.

- Yes. - Will it matter?

Like finding a needle in the proverbial haystack.

Oh, we found each other. This, us, it's-it's a miracle.

And how many miracles can we get?

Huh?

How many can we hope for?

The ghetto.

They've been liquidating the ghettos, did you know?

We shouldn't assume the worst.

I've sent letters, so many letters, for years.

So have we. Last I heard from my family was back in Lvov.

A letter from my sister saying she's pregnant and then nothing.

But silence doesn't mean death.

Come with us to the Red Cross, brother, please.

- We must try everything. - Don't think I have?

Wish I could've seen her like this.

How old is Felicia now?

- Four? - Five.

I don't even know what she looks like.

And Mila?

Mila must think she's a widow.

- If she's even-- - Juz wystarczy. Fuck this sadness.

It does nothing for us.

Nothing!

You don't think I lie awake thinking about Europe, Selim?

I have an ulcered husband who could be dropped into that madness any day,

but I believe he will return in one piece.

Do you know why?

Because faith is a choice.

It's an act of will.

Thank you.

Good luck.

Our families are out there.

We found each other.

We will find the rest.

I know your secret.

I-I-I don't know what you're talking about.

I recognize you, from Radom.

Who do you think you are? Coming up to me on the street like this?

Your parents owned the fabric store.

Everything marked up. Chciwe Jews.

Ripping off everyone around you. Now you get what you deserve.

Filthy lies. You pathetic szmalcownik!

I'll scream. Germans everywhere. Let them decide who's lying.

Is this what you want? Hm? Go.

Listen to me...

if I ever see you again... you will be dead.

I don't care about the consequences.

Psiakrew.

What's happened?

Apologies, Herr Den, I--

Someone has robbed me just now.

- This man took my money and my coat. - Jews have been targeted.

But now... no one in Warsaw is safe.

Thank you.

- Thank you, I'll return this. - Keep it.

I'm leaving Warsaw in a few weeks.

- I need to travel light. - Leaving for a trip?

I'm moving to Krakow.

I hear the Soviets are backing the Home Army.

It's emboldening the Poles.

That is why the Germans have increased their military presence.

Fighting will erupt, it's a matter of when.

The Germans are cornered.

Cornered animals grow more violent.

They're scared that the future may not be kind to them.

None of us know what the future holds.

There's a job waiting for you in Krakow,

if you can make the trip.

I have family here. People who rely on me.

People need jobs. That is the only way to survive.

If you change your mind...

come to Krakow.

The other girls? Are they kinder to you now?

- How are your lessons? - Good.

Are there fun games that you play?

How 'bout Ciupy?

I always loved that one.

I brought you something.

Thank you.

You can have it now, Fefe.

My name is Barbara.

There's an extra bottle in case you need to touch up her hair more frequently.

I know it's thick.

Yes, I will take care of it.

Do you think she may be ill?

She grows quieter and quieter each time I see her.

I-If she hasn't been eating, maybe I can bring her something--

Perhaps it's time to lessen your visits.

- I only visit once a month. - But after each visit,

it takes Barbara weeks before she can readjust.

I think it's best you behave more appropriately as a "family friend",

so as not to confuse her.

This place has been abandoned since before the war.

- If there's fighting or bombing-- Safer than our apartment.

And room for three.

Since Mila's building is as... fragile as a chicken coop.

Thank God Jakob and Bella's has a basement.

We have to get word to them,

- warn them about what Herr Den said. - We will.

I can't believe he's leaving.

How will we afford to pay the Górskis?

They kept your parents safe for 18 months.

The Górskis will not turn over one missed payment.

Happy birthday, by the way.

I'd forgotten.

- Mm, I could tell.

I can't believe Addy is 31 today.

- An old man. - Hm, and what does that make me?

- An older man.

Oh, Addy.

What would you tell us to do if you were here right now?

Would you tell us to hide in this abandoned building like rats,

or flee the city before the fighting even starts?

Or join the fight ourselves?

I'm sure he wouldn't say that.

He was fighting for the French, last you heard from him.

He would not want us to risk ourselves for an army

- that doesn't even accept Jews, Adam. - You know Addy better than I.

Maybe he would tell us to leave Warsaw.

And go where? Krakow isn't safe either,

despite what Herr Den says.

Safer than an impending war zone.

All of Europe is a war zone.

We can no longer escape it.

I'm starving. Isn't it lunch yet?

- London broil today, I hear. - Oh, London broil? What a shock.

It's been variations on London broil for the past four months.

Just different shades of meat.

Is that all the army knows how to make?

- You do love to whine.

Remember when we were starving on the train?

Which train? There were so many.

If you shuffled correctly, I wouldn't be stuck with twos.

Don't blame me if Lady Luck hates your face.

Alright, boys. Another round so I can beat you both to oblivion.

Officer on deck!

As you all know, the Germans have fortified the monastery

atop Monte Cassino,

keeping the road to Rome blocked off.

They think they're impenetrable.

But we have been chosen to do what no other army

has managed to do yet.

We are to capture the monastery itself.

The French may have failed, but we will succeed.

The Americans did not know how to forge the rivers...

- ...but we are smarter than them.

British, New Zealanders, Indians were hindered by rubble, by flood.

- We won't let that stop us. No!

This is our moment in history.

Long live Poland!

Long live Poland!

We're moving Gutowicz.

He says he sees the shadow of feet under the doorway.

New papers, I assume?

If you can manage it. I know you can, you always do.

Rahel! Can you make it to your basement through all this?

Don't worry, don't worry. I have 10 routes in my head. And you?

We will come and find you when this is over.

Hey, you're going the wrong way!

Come! Fight for Poland!

Fight for victory!

- Hey, Addy! Welcome back! - Good to see you, my friend.

Look at us, staring out windows.

I know. Shameful, isn't it?

Are we thinking the same thing, I wonder, as we stare off?

I'm not sure.

Are you thinkin' that it's somehow hotter in here than it is out there?

No, no. Not at all.

- And I disagree. - Do you?

- At least we have ice.

- At least they have oxygen.

Addy.

Caroline. Nice to meet you.

So, why come to a party that stifles your breathing?

I was dragged by my fingernails.

Hm.

You?

- Not dragged. Strongly encouraged.

But I don't know, uh, perhaps it was too soon to come socialize.

I just got back from a village in the interior of Brazil.

- And what were you doin' there? - Overseeing the electrical work

- for a new hospital being built. - So you're an electrician.

- Among other things, yes. - A jack of all trades.

Wouldn't that come in handy?

I live with a bunch of girls I work with at the Embassy

over near Leme Beach,

and somethin' breaks every other day, but we're all just useless.

Perhaps I can come fix what's broken.

I like to be useful.

There you are. Hi. We're going.

Jimmy is here, why wouldn't he be,

and I can't deal with him.

Come on.

I don't think they know what they're doing.

Who? - All of them.

Anders. Lisovski. Churchill. Roosevelt.

Tens of thousands gunned down trying to take this monastery,

and we're the smallest, weakest corps in the eighth army,

but they send us in first?

What? You have no response.

What do you want me to say?

That it's a terrible s-- That it's a terrible strategy.

- You're a military expert now? - You didn't answer my question.

- 'Cause I don't feel like it. - 'Cause you know I'm right.

I don't know anything. Neither do you.

I know that we are broken men,

imprisoned, starved for years,

- and then thrown into the firing line-- - Enough, Genek.

I know that we don't matter to them, that we're cannon fodder.

- We are here to serve Poland. - Fuck Poland!

What has Poland ever done for me? And now I'm meant to sacrifice myself?

You aren't sacrificing yourself if you believe we will win.

To hell with your belief. I'm sick of it.

Why won't you just admit this is a fucking suicide mission?

Ja pierdolę!

- This is an omen. - It's a nail.

Ya know, most people wait 'til the heat of battle to require a medic.

- If I don't come back... - Genek.

- ...will you watch out for my family? - Your family's my family.

But you will come back.

- I know it. - Mm, you sound like Otto.

I envy him, you know?

To know that you have God on your side.

To have that... comfort.

And why can't you have it too?

As a wise woman once said, "Faith is a choice."

I can't call upon a god I spent my whole life dismissing.

You have so much love in your life.

If you can't have faith in God...

have faith in that.

Now, here.

Good as new.

My Fefe, my Fefe.

She needs her mama.

- She needs, she needs her mama.

- Shh. Fefe is safe. - Mm-mm.

She is safe, she is safe, she is safe.

She is safe.

We have a day of water left. Maybe two. And the food, not even that.

Another supply run.

This will only last us a week.

Will it be enough? I don't know.

I think this will be over in two, for whatever that's worth.

- Why, what do you hear? - The Home Army is in a panic.

They thought the Soviets would arrive by now.

Relying on the Soviets. How could that ever go wrong?

Here. How much more will this get us?

Halina, the building isn't insulated. It will only get colder.

Pinkus, this is Merino wool. It's very valuable.

If the Soviets aren't coming, then perhaps two weeks is generous.

The Poles have an influx of fighters.

- New blood. - What? Who?

A unit of the Home Army liberated the camp in the old Ghetto.

Jews have joined the fray. Even some from the Underground.

You must know about Rahel.

I heard she took down three Germans before they shot her.

- Adam? - It will last you and Mila longer.

- No, don't, don't do this. No. - I have to.

If the Jews are joining the fight,

the Poles need all the support they can get.

It won't matter. No, the Soviets aren't coming.

- It-It does not matter. - How can I h-hide when others fight?

- How can you ask me to do that? - Survival is fighting.

- It is, it's fighting. - Halina...

"Wielding a gun is not the only way to fight back."

Do you remember who said that to me?

Do you?!

If we had thrown ourselves at the Germans, then we would, we would be dead.

My family might be--

Who would've paid the Górskis?

Who would've kept Felicia safe in that convent?

How is that not fighting?

Adam, Adam, Adam.

Please, please, please, please, please.

I want, I want a life with you, my love.

I want children.

I want, I want to watch them grow up with you.

I-I can't bear to never know our children.

Please, please, please!

Please! Please, Adam!

Quiet, girls!

- Line up at the door. Get up, get up.

- Come on!

Barbara! Come now!

- It's called chicken pot pie casserole.

Every Southern girl is required by law to know how to make it.

- What's in it other than-- - Chicken?

Biscuits. It's all about the biscuits.

- Biscuits? - Mm-hmm.

Delicious.

You'll have to prepare it for me sometime.

It would be my pleasure.

My mother was the greatest at it.

Always tasted different when she made it.

- Special, somehow. - You speak of her in the past.

- She died last year. - I'm so sorry, Caroline.

I knew she was sick, but I just...

I didn't make it home to say goodbye.

I keep tellin' myself the illness moved like lightin', and I guess it did.

She went quick, but...

I don't know, if I'm being honest with myself...

I think I was afraid to see her...

diminished.

Well, [chuckles] I just dragged this date into the abyss.

No, no. No. No, not at all.

And your father, is he still in South Carolina?

No, he passed away years ago, but I got to say goodbye to 'ole Abraham,

- not that he was a big fan of goodbyes. - Abraham.

Yep, that was my daddy.

That's my Hebrew name.

You're Jewish?

Um...

my family, um...

my parents, they--

- Are they in Europe? - Poland... yes.

They're still there, as far as I know.

October 1939.

That's the last letter I received from my mother.

- Oh, Addy. - I used to write to them every day.

Every day.

But, uh...

the last year, it just became too difficult.

I fear I'm forgetting them.

My parents, my siblings.

I have a 6-year-old niece I've never even met.

Now who dragged us into the abyss?

I don't mind the abyss.

Especially if you've got someone else to hike it with you.

- What's her name? - My niece?

- Mm-hmm. - Felicia.

Mm, and the rest?

- Which ones? - All of 'em.

Your mom, your dad, your siblings.

Tell me about them.

Introduce me.

Captain.

Hold.

Yes, sir.

Jachowicz, Koziel, Bosko.

Third Squadron need more riflemen. You'll join them on Hill 569.

Hill 569, yes, sir.

Move on!

- Do you think it's-- - Shh.

- Jakob.

Are you sure? No, but the family

we were hiding with heard from a trusted source

that the Home Army has been crushed.

- It appears the Germans have won. - Which means it's not safe

- to even be standing here. - Felicia, I have to get to her.

We will get Felicia, we will get money to the Górskis,

but we need to find someplace to sleep until we can all gather.

And then Warsaw is done for us.

Bella and I will find shelter.

- Adam, will you please take her? - Yes, Mila, we will get Felicia back.

The Górskis, we have no zloty left.

- Herr Den. - You'd go to Krakow?

- Halina. - It's-It's our only choice.

It-- And he will help me, I am sure.

- I'll take the train. - Is that safe?

We-We meet back here tomorrow. This exact spot, this exact time. Okay?

I love you.

Addy.

Can I use your piano?

Of course.

Come on!

Come on, come on!

Here.

The next stop will be Krakow.

No!

They're there.

Fefe! Fefe.

I'm here.

I'm here, I'm here, I'm here. It's okay, I'm here.

Mamasiu?

- Are you okay? - We need to find a doctor.

Fefe!

You-You have the wrong person. My name is Halina Brzoza.

I'm not a Jew.