Original subtitles

I heard about this lost city in Colombia.

Come on, let's go. The city in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by jungle.

I was asleep.

The next thing I knew, there was a gun pointing in my face.

What the hell is going on here?

I was absolutely terrified.

He's been kidnapped.

I have to find a way to get out of here.

We're going to escape.

We should try and escape.

We will kill you.

They just put the gun next to my head.

They're going to shoot him and make me watch it.

I was 30 years old.

I was at the end of a long trip to South America.

I was born in Germany, and I was working as a physiotherapist in a hospital in

Switzerland.

While I was traveling, I heard about this place called the Lost City in

Colombia, and I thought, well, that would be just a nice last kind of

to my trip.

I hadn't been sure whether to go to Colombia at all.

I just knew it's a bit dodgy.

And I went straight to Santa Marta, the town where they organized the trip. I

want to do the trip.

I just said I want to do the trip to the lost city.

Are you alone?

Yes. Take five people to do the trip?

She said I just have to wait around for more people.

Okay.

I just hang out in the hotel, just sitting there and getting bored.

And then I heard some voices. I'd like to go to the last station.

That's when I saw Erez for the first time.

I was 24 years old.

I'm from a little town next to Tel Aviv, near Tel Aviv in Israel.

I came to Colombia at the end of a very long trip after the army.

I hated the army. I hated all the tough discipline.

How many of you are there?

I needed somewhere that nobody tells you what to do. I'm by myself.

So Ike bought a ticket and went to talk to me.

He said, hi, I'm Erez. I'm Rani.

I'd like to go to the Lost City too.

He seemed like somebody that I would get on with.

Okay, beer.

We drink beer.

About 10 o 'clock at night, four Israelis came to us and said, we heard

wanted to do the hike.

We want to do it too. And then just the spur of the moment, we decided, okay, so

we'll do it tomorrow.

We got out of the minibus and started hiking pretty much straight away. Come

let's go.

I thought that we were going to go mountain hiking.

But as soon as we started hiking, I realized that it's not mountains at all.

It's only jungle, and I hate jungle.

It's just trees, mosquitoes, and humidity.

After three days of intense hiking, we finally got to the lost city.

It's too late tonight, we're going to stay there.

But it was getting towards the end of the day, so we decided just to go to the

hut and get up really early in the morning.

I always carried cards with me, the whole trip.

Many in our path were two Israelis that had just left the army.

Benny, he was cracking jokes and trying to be a comedian.

There was a Spanish guy up here.

He was laughing and I thought, oh, he's a cool guy.

There was an English guy called Mark.

He was very quiet.

Next to me was Matt, who was 19.

Fun, but a little bit cocky.

Matt thought he knew everything.

Yeah, come on, wise guy.

It was nice to see it.

We had a good evening and then thought, OK, we better go to bed now.

I was hoping for a good night's sleep so I could be fresh for the lost city.

But that wasn't how it turned out.

It was around 3 .30 or 4.

There was a guy standing there with a gun.

What's happening here?

Where did he come from?

He poked me with the gun so I could feel the barrel.

I was frightened.

What the hell is going on here?

Suddenly the machete came towards me.

I was absolutely terrified.

And he said, pack your stuff.

You have to come.

I asked them, who are you?

They said, Colombian army. I thought that if it's the army, then you don't

to be afraid.

The army is not here to hurt you.

They're here to help you.

They led us to the clearing in the middle of the jungle.

They told us, we're going back to Santa Marta.

Start walking.

A couple of hours later, Matt came up to me and said, look at them.

One of the guards is wearing jeans.

He can't be a real soldier.

They're not army.

He said we've probably been kidnapped.

I thought, he's a kid. What does he know?

If kidnappings are common in Colombia, they would have heard of it probably.

I've been here for a week. I don't think so.

And I said, let's just see what happens.

Matt said, listen, I'm going to jump off the hill.

If you want to come with me, then come.

And I said, but you're going to get yourself killed.

He said, are you coming or not?

And I said, well, no.

And he just ran.

Matt was gone.

I heard screaming and shouting behind me.

Matt had jumped.

Maybe they could shoot one of us for it.

I just got really scared.

They just started laughing and shouting.

The tigers are going to eat him.

There was no emotion. Okay, we lost one. Let's go on.

That really freaked me out. I just thought these guys don't care at all.

Okay, let's go.

I don't think anybody thought anymore that they're the good guys.

Let's go. Vamos.

Vamos.

We woke up in the pigsty and this guy appeared.

I am General Carlos.

He said that he was the boss.

I need your passport.

He said, you are kidnapped.

We want some money for each of you.

Either you pay us what we want, or you get hurt.

Simple as that.

Don't try and escape, because if you try and escape, we will kill you.

It was so painful not knowing whether I was going to live or not, whether I was

going to see my parents and my family again.

Once you know you're kidnapped, you feel drained out, real depressed.

You could hear this noise.

It was getting louder and louder.

It looked really, really scary.

You could see the water cracking on the rocks.

I was really frightened.

I really didn't want to go.

I just didn't have the courage.

Reini went in front of me. I was really frightened.

I just kept trying to concentrate on not slipping.

It was impossible.

I was so scared and desperate.

I suddenly had enough of it.

Just freaked out.

I was screaming so loud that nothing existed anymore.

Just this noise.

The next thing I knew, there was a gun pointing in my face.

I just looked into it and thought, maybe now it's finished.

Maybe now he'll shoot me.

I felt bad when I saw Riley in that situation.

But I knew there was nothing I could do.

They just dragged me through the river.

I feared the Spanish guy kept saying, calm down, calm down, and somehow it

worked.

One minute you want to die, the next minute you think, oh maybe I can still

it.

I knew I was losing my mind.

We started to see a pattern after a while.

We would walk for a few days and then be in a camp for a few days.

But we never knew how long we were going to stay in the camp or how long we

would walk for.

They had no compassion for us.

They've seen the suffering and they didn't care.

And suddenly it hit us that we're walking like

a pack of sheep.

The Holocaust was in our head.

They just walked. They did what they were told.

And they ended up killing 6 million people.

I just decided, no more. I'm not walking anymore.

So I just stopped.

And I just sat down.

They just started pushing me and said, go on, go on.

Don't play with us. We're not kidding.

And said, I'm not moving from here.

That's it.

Erez was really pushing it.

Trying to get reactions out of them. You're not kidding.

I'm not moving.

I was afraid. I was afraid of somebody getting shot.

I'm not moving.

The kidnapper had enough.

Go, go, go.

And he just put the gun next to my head.

And he said, I'm going to shoot you.

I'm going to shoot you.

I took the gun and I put it inside my mouth.

And I said, here.

You want to shoot? Shoot.

Go ahead.

You want to shoot, shoot!

It was a test.

I realized that they can't do anything without an order.

I felt I won.

Ares Tactics just really annoyed me because it puts all of us in danger.

I wanted to live, and I realized I had to come up with my own strategies of

survival.

They were constantly pushing for us to keep going, keep going, keep going.

It was horrific.

I started getting really dizzy.

Suddenly everything was spinning.

I'm gone.

I realized, that I was being carried.

I could see a little bit of the outline of his face.

It was the same guy that had put the gun on my head.

His name was Rafa.

He kept carrying me for like three, four hours.

Rafa looked at me as if he was worried about me.

It was just that look in his eye, which was very strange for somebody that put a

gun on my head.

I thought, if I can make this guy love me, then he'll be on my side. Then he'll

maybe even help me to escape.

It was around 6 or 7 o 'clock in the morning.

We were staying in a camp, and I really liked the fact that we weren't walking

anymore.

The news in the radio said the name Matthew Scott.

Matthew Scott.

The man that jumped on the first day.

The radio was saying that Matt was found after 12 days.

He barely survived but was now on his way back to Bogota.

I couldn't believe that Matt had actually succeeded in getting out.

I was really happy for him.

He did it.

But it only took a few seconds for me to be depressed about it.

He did it.

I could have been there with him now, and I'm stuck here. I should have gone

with him.

I thought he still put our life in danger, and he was stupid.

We're the stupid ones, Remy. We could be free.

And I actually told Ares to shut up.

Leave it.

At that point, we started to grow apart.

I just thought, I have to find a way to get out of here.

I needed to plan something and to be sure of it before I do it.

I needed a place with a certain routine so I can follow what the guards are

doing all the time.

The opportunity came.

Day 17.

We woke up and we thought that was Jewish New Year's Eve, which for Jewish

people is like a very family holiday.

All the four Israelis, we get real depressed.

Erez was generally pretty negative and shouting at the guards. I

tried to keep away from him as far as I could.

I went outside, just to relax, and as I put my hand on the wall, I suddenly felt

the wall starting to crumble.

And I thought about it for a second.

If it crumbles out here, it might be crumbling inside as well.

I just scraped a little bit of the wall, and I saw big chunks starting to fall

off.

Suddenly there was a big hole.

This is our chance.

But there were two pieces of wood holding the cabin together.

I knew what had to be done.

Went straight to the Israelis. I said, we have a chance to escape today.

Are you going to help me or not?

They thought about it for a second.

They all said, let's go for it.

I didn't pay much attention to errors.

I had already made the decision. He does whatever he wants.

I'm going to do it my way.

I wanted to get on with them, to gain their trust.

Rafak said, are you still hungry?

I'm like, yeah, I'm so hungry.

The first

part of the plan was to saw

the pieces of wood.

But the kitchen is right next to the hut.

And all the noise he's making while sewing can get us caught.

Stop, stop, stop.

I realized I can use the fact that it's Jewish New Year's Eve to create a

distraction. So I walked in the kitchen and said, can you turn up the radio?

It's New Year's Eve, it's a very big celebration.

We're singing, we're dancing all the time, just turn it up, let's have a

here.

And I said, sure.

I turned up the radio.

We wanted as much noise as possible.

In the meantime, Benny was inside the room, sewing the pieces of wood.

I didn't say anything to Reini because we couldn't risk that she would have

anything.

Even by mistake.

My strategy was to get Rafa on my side.

I felt like Rafa was the guy that would possibly help me to get out alive.

So when Rafa brought me more food, that was already a success.

Suddenly, one of the guards decided that something was fishy.

We see the guard coming towards the room where Benny was throwing the wood.

I was sure it was because.

But we had to keep on dancing.

My heart was pounding so bad.

That was the end of it.

It's over.

Hey, come on, come on, come on.

Luckily, Benny had heard the guard approaching the door.

Why are you sleeping during the day?

By the time the guard got into the room, Benny had laid down in bed and made

himself sick.

So the guard wouldn't suspect anything.

I felt like we had dodged a bullet.

Okay, we can go on with the plan now.

The hole was open.

Benny had cut the wood almost to the end.

The last bit of the wood.

We would cut at night.

We knew all the guards went to sleep around 8.

That's our best chance.

6 p .m., we went to bed.

Reini, Mark, and Asir, they're in the same room with us. So we knew we need to

tell them.

When Eric said, we are going to escape, I thought, yeah, keep on talking. It's

one of those, they were always talking about escaping.

And he said, we made a whole, are you interested in coming?

I was like, oh my God, what do I do with this now?

I said, I don't want to know anything about it. Don't say anything to me

anymore. I don't want to know.

You don't want to come? That's your choice.

I said, we let you know. You decided to stay. That's your choice.

By 8.

p .m most of the guards was asleep once every hour on the hour

they checked on us and then for a whole hour nothing

now we knew we had to cut the rest of the wood to free the hole all

together they were like coughing and making noises

pretending to sleep hoping no guard would come in.

It only took our part a few minutes to finish the job.

We took the first backpack and put it under a blanket, so they think they're

still lying there.

It looked actually like somebody could be sleeping there.

Suddenly, it's very real.

It really seemed like Ares was actually going to do it.

Try not to make noise.

We went out of the hole.

Our path was first.

That was the last.

There was nobody there.

Nobody could see us.

We wanted to scream out, but all you could do was just move before somebody

would check us.

Mark was lying next to me, and I said, I think they've gone.

Wow, they've done it.

But I then started to get scared of what was going to happen when the guards

find out what was going to happen to me.

We didn't have any machetes.

We had to make the way through with our hands.

After about 20 meters up the hill, we could look back and see the guards.

It was even more of a high, you know. We got away.

There's so much going on in my head.

I thought maybe it's best if I quickly go through the hole too.

But I was just scared of getting lost in the jungle and dying like that.

The adrenaline was just rushing.

But it became so then.

We moved very, very slowly.

We never thought it would be so hard to climb up there.

And we don't have a lot of time.

It was impossible to sleep. My heart rate was just like, boom, boom, in my

throat.

And then suddenly the door opened.

You could just see the torch and them counting.

One, two, three, four, five,

six.

There's four missing.

And then my heart started going like... A guard, he just picked me up and he

said, get out.

I got really scared. My legs felt like jelly.

I got pushed to the ground.

The guards are shouting, you know something.

Put marks on my forehead.

Put a gun to his head.

My mouth was super dry.

And I thought, if I don't give them information, they're going to shoot him.

Make me watch it.

I was just concentrating on the edge of the hill.

That was just one goal.

We climbed and climbed and climbed as fast as possible.

And then I heard a shot.

We heard a shot.

Then we had a second shot, and I thought, well, they found two of them.

shot them.

I thought, oh, my God.

Then two more shots.

And I thought the three and four found dead.

I wonder what's going to happen to us now.

I heard people screaming.

Don't stand there.

Sounded very close by.

Go, go, go.

It was obvious that they don't know where we are, so I rolled behind the

In less than 10 seconds, they saw me.

You think it's a war?

You're smarter than you!

To be caught was heartbreaking.

You thought you could get away from... Suddenly...

This person came flying down on the ground.

Just out of nowhere.

And I said, oh, one of them they haven't shot.

It was Aaron.

They rammed the gun into his stomach.

They were all there getting beat up.

My father totally got mad.

He totally freaked out.

I was terrified.

Okay, they're not dead.

Are they going to shoot them now as a deterrent? You think I'm a stupid?

The good times are over.

You're going to get what you deserve now.

Even though we couldn't get away, I still felt a winner.

I really made them work.

To keep us.

Pretty soon they were harping on about how great it was to escape and to get

some freedom.

They thought it was incredibly funny, especially Eris.

It was worth it to taste the freedom.

And I got really annoyed with them.

What's so funny, Eris?

I told the Israelis that for me it was the worst night of my life.

I told Ryan, I understand what you're feeling, but I would have done it again.

The horror and the fear we had that night, it really put a rift between

us.

I started to get really sick.

I had stomach problems, I was vomiting.

The guards were getting really worried about me.

They suddenly appeared with this cola.

Drink this.

So now I was standing there with this can of cola in my hand and the others

immediately said, what you got there, what you got there?

It's a cola.

I was like, I can't possibly drink this by myself.

I just passed it to Eris.

It's a matter of real hunger. You have nothing, and the sip of cola was like

bright light of the day.

And one gold heiress drank half of the cola.

By the time the can got back to me, it was virtually empty.

I did say to Aris, why did you drink so much of it?

I'm sorry.

Yeah.

I didn't say any more.

The guards immediately gave me a second can because they noticed that I hadn't

had any.

I thought I'd better drink it now before they get here.

So I drank the whole can by myself.

And then I put it down on the side, and that was my big mistake.

What's this?

Aris said, you had another can, you don't share, and he really started

out. I told her you've been selfish.

You should share that cola.

I said, Aris, I shared the first one with you guys, and the second one is my

medicine, so I drank it by myself.

You're out of your mind.

You don't need a can of cola. You need food.

I need sugar. I did try and defend myself, but the others just joined in.

think only yourself, Rainy.

I don't know about that, Rainy.

I turned around and cried.

I couldn't stop crying.

I suddenly felt like I'm getting on better with the guards than with the

I'm kidnapped with. This is so wrong.

I knew it was October 11th, which is my birthday.

I immediately thought that that's going to be a very hard day for me. I needed

to get all the stress out.

My way of just to cry.

We were in one of the worst places in the jungle.

I didn't even know whether I should say happy birthday. I mean, what was happy

about this place? Nothing.

They suddenly came and said, pack your bags, we're moving in two hours.

And that's when I got really, really depressed.

I just saw a rope on the floor.

I can just make a noose.

Tie it to the ceiling.

I just stood next to him.

I can just finish it now.

Aris had put a rope over the beam of the hut to hang himself.

No.

No, no, no.

Come on, Aris, come down off that stool.

Come on. And he just collapsed in a pile, in a sobbing mess, just crying.

So I gave him a hug.

But I didn't feel anything for him.

It's just like, what has he done now?

Yeah, it seemed very selfish to me.

It was out of pure desperation.

But I don't know what would have happened if nobody would have stopped

Walked and walked for days.

And then one morning, the guards suddenly called Asier, the Spanish

come with them for a meeting.

And he didn't come back.

I thought, oh my God, what happened to him?

But then a couple of hours later, they told us that he was getting freed.

I thought, fantastic.

We were very happy for him, and it was good news for us as well. That means

they are letting people go.

A couple of weeks later, one of the brothers came into the camp.

You're going.

You're going up the hill.

Take everything as yeah, I got released and It's like it's me next

I'm gonna be free I Got excited, but also a little scared.

I'm leaving these guys behind

Eric gave me a hug

Even though we had our differences and everything

it was Hard to see her go.

Don't forget us, Rainy. I said bye. I won't forget you.

After a couple of hours, we arrived at a camp.

I walked around the corner.

Rainy. And there was Asier, the Spanish hostage.

It was great to see him again.

But he looked totally different.

He had army clothes on.

He looked more of a guerrilla than they did.

Wow!

What's going on? I thought, what's he doing here?

He should have been out of the jungle by now.

He said they told him all the time that he was going to get released, and it

never happened.

I just collapsed in a heap.

I thought I might be here for years.

We heard on the radio that Asier and Rainu weren't released at all.

They're still in the jungle.

It got us real upset.

We're stuck here, man.

We've got to do something.

We felt we were running out of time.

So I told them I was ready to kill the guards and fight my way out of here.

If anybody else would join me.

And everybody said, I'm in.

Let's make a plan.

We decided we needed to kill the night guard.

Grab his weapon.

Then attack the rest.

Every time I saw a guard, I always rehearsed in my mind what I would do.

It is scary.

Scary as hell, you know, to decide now that you want to kill somebody.

After a week just lying there, not knowing whether anything was ever going

happen, they said, we're going to move tomorrow, but you have to put these army

clothes on and you have to wear this ammunition vest.

I thought it was pretty weird.

But they told me that's for your protection.

Because if you look like one of us, you will be able to move around.

I really didn't care.

I just wanted to get out of that place as soon as possible.

Suddenly I saw a person in the distance.

It was Rafa.

It was almost like meeting a friend.

I still felt he could help me to get out of here.

So I decided to spend more time with him.

He started to explain what the guerrilla wanted.

He said they were fighting for human rights, and that's why they kidnapped

to get attention for the Colombian problems all over the world.

It felt like everything was starting to make sense.

I started to integrate into the team.

I was part of the cooking routine.

Rafa was kind of my personal god.

And he started to give me compliments all the time.

One day we were just chatting away a bit.

Rafa said, I want to come to Switzerland with you.

We can get married, we can have children.

I think you need to get out. I try to keep things vague and not say no. You

contact me when you get out.

I was afraid.

I was afraid if I upset him.

That would make my life hell again.

The guards used to wake up at stupid early times in the morning with their

coffee.

Suddenly, one of the guards came up to me.

He said, you're going to get released.

I was just numb.

I kept saying to myself, if it doesn't happen, I need to be fine with that. I

can't collapse.

I need to be okay.

Suddenly this guy came into the camp. Are you ready?

He said he was a journalist.

Can I have an interview with you?

Suddenly, it all became real that I was going to get out.

After the interview, I said, would you mind taking a photo of me and Rafa?

You sure?

I really wanted a photo of that gun that had pointed to my head because I had

this feeling that it would help me to digest things if I had a photo of it.

I asked if I could hold the gun.

Can I wear your gun?

Rafa said, yeah, no problem.

and the journalist fired away.

Looking back on it, this photograph was not a good idea.

I'd actually ran to the helicopter.

I was very happy. I was full of joy.

As soon as the helicopter lifted up into the air, I thought, I'm not a kidnap

victim anymore. I'm not a hostage.

I'm free now.

At least that is what I thought.

Let's do it tonight.

But they're all stalling.

We are too weak to attack them now.

They're all looking for a reason not to do it. We're going to do it tonight. No,

let's wait, let's wait.

They didn't have the guts to kill them.

And I knew I couldn't do it alone.

All the hope for nothing.

After suffering for 100 days, I couldn't stand it anymore.

I quit top.

Hey, move!

Hey!

It's like mad crazy.

Come on!

Suddenly, the guard just told us the reason that they were in such a hurry to

get to that point is because we're getting released.

You're going to be released!

I'm going to be released.

I'm going to be released.

It's great to be out of the jungle after 101 days.

That's it.

I'm free.

Even before I got to the baggage claim, I can hear my family shouting, welcome

back, Aaron.

I gave my grandmother a hug.

And they all carried me on their shoulders.

That was the best sense of freedom there is. I felt like the biggest relief I've

ever felt.

as soon as i was home i realized this had gone absolutely massive there were

the journalists camping outside our house i gave my dad and my mom an

hug i was unable to talk i started shaking just really glad to

see them the next day my dad showed me a stack of newspapers

The one on the top had the photo with me and Rafa and the gun on it.

I looked at it and I said, excuse me, who is the hostage here?

People suddenly thought I was a bad person.

I then got a phone call from the German Foreign Office.

There's a German law.

If you get into financial trouble abroad, that you have to participate in

cost.

They wanted me to pay for the helicopter that flew out from the jungle.

And they said, you owe us 13 ,000 euros.

I felt totally crushed by Germany, really let down by my own home country.

I still battle with the effects of kidnapping.

I still get panic attacks in the dark.

I literally feel the gun in my back.

It's called post -traumatic stress disorder.

I need to accept this broken -down person that came out of it.

I have a hard time with that.

And I feel only recently I start to get there.

I don't think they should have charged her for an helicopter.

I mean, she's the victim here.

Even though we had our differences and everything, I'm still afraid with Reini.

There is going to be a connection between us because we experienced the

thing.