Original subtitles

The Ninth Day

Enough! Move on!

Hurry up!

Praise the Lord!

Forever, amen.

Off with the hat!

Henri.

- Faster, faster! - Get going!

Faster! Hurry up! You, Keep Walking!

Kremer.

Come.

We anchored off Madagascar

And we had the plague on board

Goodbye, goodbye

When the accordion plays on board

The sailors are...

- The body of Christ. - Amen.

Attention! Bertram's coming!

Keep singing.

We anchored off Madagascar

And we had the plague on board

In the kettles the water festered

Each day a man went overboard

Ahoy, comrades

Ahoy, ahoy

Goodbye, little girl

Goodbye, goodbye

When the accordion plays on board

Come here.

Come here, you son of a Polish bitch.

Can't you sing a German song?

In tune and in time. From the top.

We anchored off Madagascar

And we had the plague on board

In the kettles the water

Festered

Each day a man went overboard

Well, well.

A man of the cloth getting uppity?

The parson with the Easter bonnet.

Sing!

Sing!

Get going!

Faster, faster!

Go over there.

The secret needs to be found

God will give us a sign

He will be suffering for our sins

Given to us through death

Do you really believe there's a God?

So where is he?

You see him here?

Hoist him!

Let's us sing and tell the story

Of Jesus' body

Torn and gory

Given for our sins

Jesus' blood, in which we find

Help out of our misery

Mary gave birth

Came to search what was lost

Keep singing and you'll be next!

He prophesized

Your mother?

You're lucky.

I never knew mine.

How long have you been here?

I've lost track.

Left! Left!

25639!

Come with me.

Move.

Move!

This way.

This way, you shit priest.

Sign the receipt.

How much is it?

30 marks, 50, Herr Untersturmf�hrer.

Is that enough to get to Luxembourg?

You're released.

Bon voyage.

Clergy scum.

"The First Day"

Luxembourg, Sunday, January 15, 1942

Reverend Kremer?

Get in.

Welcome back to Luxembourg. Let me introduce myself.

I'm Untersturmf�hrer Gebhardt.

Going to your family?

Rue de Sarrebruck, please.

Be at Villa Pauly at 10 A. M. Tomorrow.

We have to talk.

I'll pray for you.

Reverend Kremer.

Be on time.

Henri!

Marie.

My God!

You found us.

We were evicted.

The SS requisitioned the house.

Roger.

Come, sit down.

Where's mother?

They didn't tell you?

Mother is dead.

Your shoes won't fit.

But how about these?

"The Second Day"

- Papers. - Mr. Gebhardt?

"Certificate of Release"

Left at the top of the stairs.

This is the office of Untersturmf�hrer Gebhardt.

He's not available.

- Hello. Kramer. - Reverend.

- Reverend Kramer. - Show him in.

Good morning, Reverend Kramer.

Take off your coat?

Good morning.

Have you recovered from your trip?

I'm sorry about your mother.

She was here on your behalf several times.

Connect me with the Dachau commandant.

"Dear Mother, you have to adapt here,

to conform,

to become a "yes" man,

a camp swine.

You must learn to forget

and dive straight into the mire."

Your last letter from Dachau.

What do you mean, "a camp swine"?

Heil Hitler. Yes. Thanks.

About Prisoner 25639.

He arrived safely in Luxembourg.

But there's been a slipup.

Kremer wasn't released. He's on leave.

For nine days, to be precise.

On one condition:

If he tries to flee

you execute the Luxembourg clergy.

Yes, to the last man. Heil Hitler.

I'm sorry. Berlin's terms.

I don't always agree with their decisions.

I arranged for your release.

Decency dictated giving you a chance to say goodbye to your mother.

Please, sit down.

You were arrested on the French border for anti-German activities.

Help yourself.

You operated in Paris

for the Franco-Luxembourg resistance.

You sabotaged German relations in Luxembourg, is that correct?

Reverend Kremer,

you wrote an eloquent essay

opposing our race laws.

You're right: Jesus was a Jew.

That's exactly what he wanted to overcome.

That is what we Aryans have to thank Christ for.

He showed us the way.

He showed us the threat of Judaism in ourselves.

But by defeating the Jew in me, I'm doing the work of the Lord.

Have one.

You can't refuse a chocolate.

Well?

- Did he show up? - Right on time.

One thing about priests: They're disciplined.

Don't underestimate him.

He has the Curia's trust.

He's a prot�g� of the bishop. His family is very influential.

That's what makes him valuable to us.

The Church is a mansion. Luxembourg is one brick.

If we dislodge it, the walls will shake.

- What if Kremer flees? - He won't.

He know the consequences for his brethren in Dachau.

That's a far cry from working with us.

Rumor has it, the Pope plans a statement on the Jews.

We should be ready.

Pius has always congratulated the F�hrer on his birthday

and called him an esteemed gentleman.

He's condemning the Allied bombing of German cities.

I'm not worried.

I have no gripes with the Vatican.

Up to now.

I expect a report every day. Goodbye.

Herr Unterstumf�hrer,

you're a capable man.

But if you fail, your connections won't help.

And our eastern camps need capable people.

But you know. You were there.

If it's leave,

do you have to return to Dachau?

One does what one must.

And trusts in God.

What's wrong?

I can't...

The SS treats us priests better than the others.

One loaf of bread for four is the rule.

We get one loaf for three.

They want the others to hate us.

Are you going back?

You can always eat later.

If he flees, we're done for.

What nonsense!

Did you see his swollen feet?

How could he flee?

These are from Raymond.

They should fit.

I took them in a little at the waist.

Roger's shoes. Two sizes bigger than yours.

Your books are in the box. We couldn't take much.

Praised be Jesus Christ.

Forever, amen.

G�rard Mersch, the bishop's new secretary.

An interned priest never had leave before.

- Thank you. - Excuse me.

Are you sure you aren't mistaken?

I'm due back in Dachau next week.

We mustn't lose hope.

I have to see the Gestapo tomorrow.

What do they want from you?

I don't know.

The Nazi's Vatican experts are reviewing their church policy.

Berlin wants to talk. It could be useful.

To have swastikas hanging in our churches?

Excuse me. I have to get ready for mass.

What does the bishop say?

He doesn't leave the building.

He's declined any contact with the occupation forces.

A symbol of protest and of resistance,

every day he has the big cathedral bell rung.

Hitler accepted the Pope's request for more benign treatment

towards imprisoned clergymen.

That must have been a relief to you.

Here were are.

You have your Pope to thank for this.

But before we start, tell me

who I'm serving.

Name, occupation.

Josef Wajda, Diocese of Czestochova.

And you?

Kozal, Bishop of Br�nn.

- Next. - Armando Bausch.

Priest and editor from Luxembourg.

Another Luxembourger.

You're infesting this block.

Small country, big mouths.

- Name! - Father Nansen.

Professor at the University of Oslo.

Drink up!

You don't like our Mosel wine?

Out to solitary! Now!

The Holy Father

does what he can

for interned priests, too.

His concern is the Legion of Mary.

How many lives will that save?

How many of us have to die

in Nazi camps for him to change?

Henri, despite all you've suffered,

don't lose faith in the Holy Father.

His silence is a way of trying to avoid

making things even worse.

There must be a reason

for this leave you've been granted.

Your family commands respect in Luxembourg.

Maybe you've been given a significant role.

What do you mean?

Many lives depend on our policy.

Accommodating the Germans

without violating our conscience

will help us more than refusing to.

Use your head, Henri.

Listen to what Gebhardt has to say.

"The Third Day"

Kramer, the world is more complicated than Dachau.

Life is simple there.

It's a daily routine.

The idea behind your leave

was to give you a wider perspective.

You must know

that we are in the midst of a holy war.

I am convinced that we are doing God's will.

Your "holy war"

is incompatible with Christianity.

Your farsighted Pope disagrees.

He signed the Concord of 1933.

The Church didn't know you'd attack Poland,

France, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg...

Stop it. You're not stupid.

The Pope recognized the Bolshevist threat back then.

Look at the big picture.

Christianity's future is at stake in the east.

Look at this work of art.

Look at it closely.

Our soldiers rescued it.

They found it in Moscow,

under the floor in a former monastery.

The Bolsheviks turn them into factories.

They have desecrated Christianity and its art.

Clerics tortured and murdered.

Catholics.

Victims of Bolshevism.

Your brethren.

See the crosses next to the corpses?

That happened a year ago.

Do you believe we could commit such atrocities?

At Dachau,

clergymen are in charge of the crematorium.

Some of the priests have seen that, among the corpses,

in the pile of bodies to be burned,

some of them were alive.

The SS found it practical

to have the last sacraments performed en route.

Reverend Kremer,

believe me, you and I are brothers in spirit.

Your mother knew that.

The icon here amazed her.

She believed and she believed in you...

that you would play a role in reconciling the Church and Reich.

You can't refuse her last wish.

What do you expect of me,

a "shit priest" from a concentration camp?

German bishops lick Hitler's boots.

The Church will play a major role

in the new, postwar Europe.

The unfortunate anomalies of Dachau will be a thing of the past.

Mr. Gebhardt,

what if you lose the war?

It's our war, Reverend Kremer.

It's a crusade.

Our prayers must support our soldiers in battle.

- Or it's chaos. - I pray for my brothers.

- For Luxembourg. - But Reverend Kremer,

a German-Vatican dialogue

would be good for your country.

But your bishop refuses to help us.

You want me to act against my bishop?

No, no.

Just bring him to his senses.

By ringing the cathedral bell, he's playing into the hands

of those who want to abolish the Church.

Like Heydrich.

But there are others.

They want the Church to survive with a new mission.

In Russia we'll need missionaries.

Please listen to me.

An icon in your office

fails to impress me.

The Blessed Virgin did not know

that her child in swaddling clothes

would end up on the cross.

Where will you end up, Reverend?

And what would your mother say?

A martyr?

Read this.

Read it out loud.

"We, the Bishops of Luxembourg

recognize the ecclesiastical policy

of the National Socialists

in full accord with our faith.

We declare...

We declare there is only one place for the Holy Catholic Church

at the side of Germany

and its leader, Adolf Hitler."

Take that to your bishop.

The bishop's secretary will help get you an audience.

An intelligent man,

despite his lack of influence.

Did you know your sister is pregnant?

I didn't know that you knew.

Goodbye.

And don't forget, your leave is not forever.

...the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death, amen.

Reverend Mersch! I have to talk to the bishop.

Unfortunately, our bishop's health

is not good.

Luxembourg's priests are at stake.

The bishop is on your side.

He shares your burden,

as does the entire Church.

I have to go...

- Whose side are you on? - You're forgetting yourself.

- Does the bishop listen to you? - I can only advise him.

I have a message for him from Gebhardt.

- I can take it. - No.

I must see him in person.

I'll see what I can do for you.

I'll try, Henri.

Dear Mother,

I don't know who else to confess to.

I never knew the meaning of thirst.

The summer was hell. We had almost no water.

It was excruciating.

We were working at a munitions factory.

How can I explain?

At that moment my heart stood still.

Finding that water in the pipe

drove me almost out of my mind.

Talk to Henri. He'll listen to you.

Tell him...

What?

The Gestapo won't let up.

If he' d only tell us what they want.

He's endangering us all, don't you see?

Marie, talk to him.

And say what?

Go back to Dachau for our sakes?

That he has no more family?

- Want that? - You're pregnant.

We're having a baby.

Don't pretend that it doesn't matter.

Mother always said

he was our guardian angel.

I wish you were just a little like him.

Let me go! It's me, Raymond!

Henri, what are you doing?

It's okay.

"The Fourth Day"

Good morning.

Untersturmf�hrer Gebhardt is out.

You'll have to wait.

Good morning.

Please take a seat.

Unfortunately, the hotel is not heated.

What do you want?

You're my guest. Scrambled eggs?

Try them. They're good here.

Thanks for coming.

Coffee?

Fine.

I'm not in Luxembourg very often.

Our firm was moved to Lorraine

to supply steel to your arms industry.

The same for the gentleman.

- Two scrambled eggs? - Yes, thank you.

Our ambassador thinks highly of you.

I hear you were in Paris

and were asked to increase production

at the economic conference.

I hear you told the ambassador

that would be hard...

as long as Henri was in Dachau.

He has to go back.

That's up to him.

If he wanted,

your brother could play a major role in the Church here.

I'm not big on religion. My field is logistics.

Luxembourg is short of everything:

Building materials, cars, fuel.

Berlin seems to have forgotten you.

I could be helpful.

- Yes? - You're young, but influential.

It could be advantageous.

Are you trying to make a deal with me?

Thank you.

I just want to talk like two, sensible men.

Herr Kremer,

what if I told your superiors

that you just tried to bribe me?

You'd join your brother in Dachau.

You're right.

The eggs are quite good.

- Heil Hitler, Herr U... - Later.

Reverend Kremer.

I didn't see you. Come in.

Morning. Have a seat.

What's he saying?

I didn't get an audience.

Not the bishop. The singer.

It's my wife's favorite song.

You're bilingual. Can you translate it?

- Pardon? - "Oh, Enchanting Memory."

Wait a second.

I don't understand it.

"Enchanting memory."

"Sweet dreams."

- "The moon over the sea." - Thanks.

My wife will be delighted.

Too bad your bishop was unable to receive you.

He's ill.

I don't know if he'll talk to me.

Even so, I know his answer.

Luxembourg is not the land of Judas.

Did you know I almost wrote a dissertation on that?

Judas...

intrigued me for years.

He's fascinating.

Jesus and Judas.

They are like brothers.

Each is dependant on the other.

One sold the other for 30 pieces of silver.

Then he threw them in the temple

to show it wasn't about money.

Judas was damned.

Yes...

that's what we were taught in catechism.

I claim Judas was pious.

Maybe the most zealous of all.

He was an idealist,

a kind of Jewish revolutionary.

He conspired, with Jesus' help,

to topple the mighty...

Stop it! Stop it!

Enough theological discourse!

I have no desire to discuss my faith with you.

Your leave appears to be affecting you.

You're coming out of your shell.

That's good.

It enlivens the debate.

My mother's fondest dream was that I'd become a priest.

Like you.

She hoped to have a dignitary in the family.

Her son, a priest. She would have been proud.

Priests are servants, not dignitaries.

My mother knew that.

She was devout.

But she was human.

She had both feet on the ground.

She sent me to dancing school.

If it had been her choice, I would not be a priest.

You can be anything you want.

Rise above the issue of returning to Dachau.

Persuade your bishop.

Like Judas convinced the high priests?

Yes.

Judas was a man of action.

He saw Jesus as a secular leader.

But God gave Judas another mission.

Betrayal was not in salvation's plan.

"To fulfill prophecy," that's what the Bible says.

He was the only one capable of it.

No Judas, no crucifixion.

No cross, no "Thy will be done."

No Judas, no universal church.

You get my point.

Unlike your bishop, who doesn't grasp the new order.

Judas paved the way to redemption.

Think it over.

It could be a great spiritual adventure for you.

It saved my life.

Praised be Jesus Christ.

Forever, amen.

Heil Hitler.

Henri, get in.

You have to disappear. You're coming with me to Paris.

Go underground. Rejoin the Resistance.

Roger...

Or Geneva. I know people in the Red Cross.

Roger, I can't involve all of you.

Stop trying to be a hero!

- They lost them. - He has some explaining to do!

- Lost them? - Yes.

- How? - We tailed them.

But a military convoy stopped,

so we had to wait until they passed.

I'm holding you personally responsible.

- Stop the car. - You're going, like it or not!

Stop the car!

- You've gone mad! - Yes, I've gone mad! I'm crazy!

A prisoner on leave, carousing with the Gestapo.

Do you know what they want?

To destroy my faith, that's what they want.

They want me to betray my religion. No Judas, no Christianity.

In concentration camps,

only the strong and cunning survive, like you.

In two weeks you'd have a contact in the kitchen.

In four weeks you'd know how to dodge hard labor details.

To survive, you have to think only of yourself.

You could do that.

I can't.

What is this?

Get out of my apartment.

What do you want?

Who are you?

- You're hurting me. - Well?

She's alone.

Where is your brother?

I'm warning you. Tell me everything you know.

If he flees, you'll be sorry.

I don't know where he is.

Take her away.

Do you mind?

Move out.

Why harm my sister?

My brother, my brother-in-law? Aren't I enough?

Want to intern all of us?

What are you afraid of?

From me, my family? All of Luxembourg?

I'm sorry. I just cause you trouble.

You're my brother.

I thought Roger took you to Paris.

He went alone.

We said our goodbyes.

Dear Mother,

that night, that water haunted me.

"The Fifth Day"

Inmates, stand stilll

Caps...

off!

Count!

The question of sharing it plagued me.

Maybe only with Nansen.

He was the weakest.

I prayed ardently.

But my thirst won out.

The next day I was back.

It wasn't much,

but for one... a lot.

Warm, salty from rust,

it tasted like blood.

It was a rare treat.

We're going back.

They're looking for you.

At that moment,

I knew that I had sinned.

I was overwhelmed with guilt.

Water, water.

Don't give up. Don't.

- I can't go on. - The Lord is trying us.

But we'll prevail.

- It's too late. - No.

It is finished.

God has forsaken us.

Father, forgive me.

I repeated that over and over.

Mother, forgive me.

"The Sixth Day"

Yes, I survived.

Nansen didn't.

I will never know if the water I didn't share

would have given him the strength to carry on.

I see his face every night.

Each step I take

is over his ashes.

Why didn't you tell me?

You aren't to blame for his death.

They made you feel you were. Don't fall for that.

Don't let them do that to you.

Everything in the Pope's encyclical on the Reich

has come true.

National Socialism is haughty.

It scorns Jesus' teachings.

Race and blood are idolized.

Believe me,

I wanted to embrace Kremer the day he arrived.

But if he comes at Gebhardt's behest,

I can't receive him.

Not even for Kremer's sake.

The Nazi's Vatican experts in Berlin

need allies in their campaign

to impose their ecclesiastical policy.

Refusing to talk could be detrimental to Luxembourg.

All they need is a single, Luxembourg Catholic

to support Nazi church policy

and Berlin would create a rift between us and Rome.

I told Kremer that.

But you, as a bishop, have more leeway.

When is Kremer's so-called "leave" up?

In three days.

You seem downcast.

Is it Kremer's uncertain fate that troubles you?

Or is it something else?

It's nothing you can help me with,

Your Excellence.

Come in.

Do you have a message from the bishop?

No?

Then try a little harder!

You aren't here for rest and recuperation!

- He's ill... - I hope he drops dead!

If that SOB's secretary was in his place,

this whole thing would be over!

That "SOB" is Luxembourg's spiritual head.

It disgusts me that you're hiding behind your boss!

Do I hide behind Himmler?

Between you and me... nobody else is here...

I want to know what you think.

Tell me!

I think you don't have a clue.

You have no idea what awaits...

those you intern.

- What the camps are like. - You dare say that to me?

With all our soldiers dying on the front!

- On the orders of your F�hrer. - Who is our godsend!

Why didn't you become a priest?

You're finally asking the right questions.

A glass of water?

Do you know I read your dissertation?

It's not bad.

Using Australian aborigines to prove that God exists.

It's remarkable.

You throw the boomerang, too,

so I hear.

Yes.

It's a philosophical sport.

You throw something away

but it returns.

The bishop won't give me a hearing.

Even if he did, he'll never sign your communiqu�.

Forget the bishop.

Come with me.

Write this down:

Luxembourg is part of Greater Germany.

Germany is not anti-Vatican.

The F�hrer wants a dialogue.

Luxembourg's priests are willing. You are their spokesman.

You condemn the bishop's stance.

So, those are you cues.

You can write it better than I can.

Two days before my ordination

I chose an SS uniform over the cloth.

That was my personal rebellion against God.

Yes.

I was a deacon.

As a priest, could I have changed the world? No.

Could I have made it better? Hardly.

But in the Nazi party I can accomplish something.

I can write a page in history.

I've long since found my way back to God.

My faith gives me the strength to fulfill my mission.

Judas.

That's you.

Cut the comedy.

I thought you, of all people,

would grasp the true meaning of Judas.

If you had not drunk that water,

you might have electrocuted yourself on the fence.

You made your choice.

You betrayed your friend to save your life.

Now give it meaning.

If I do what you want,

what about my fellow priests in Dachau?

Do you doubt divine justice?

Every priest who endorses you

will be released on the spot.

- For good? - Yes.

Address the living instead of the dead.

Your friends' fate is in your hands.

I want you to write a declaration

with the same erudition and eloquence

as your attack on our race laws.

"The Seventh Day"

Henri, I'm sorry.

Go ahead. I'll wait.

In Dachau, you get one minute, once a day.

If you're too slow, your life is at stake.

Bausch is the champ. He can shit in 10 seconds.

Go to Switzerland.

We'd help you.

Raymond knows people.

Please.

Give it a try.

You have friends near Lake Constance you could stay with

until you can make it to Switzerland at night.

Excuse me for coming so early. Is Reverend Kremer in?

Yes. Come in, Father.

Do you think I'm a scoundrel, Henri?

No.

- But you think I'm a coward. - No.

Sometimes it's hard not to be a coward.

I know what I'm talking about.

Since you arrived

I've been asking myself why the Lord did not give me more courage.

Not everybody has it.

The bishop needs you to stand by him

for the sake of our church.

It's not for me to judge you.

The bishop is expecting us.

I have a family too.

Sometimes I put them above the Church.

So do I.

Father.

I'm delighted to see you.

Very much so.

Are you feeling better?

Let's call it a diplomatic illness.

Please, Father. Please be seated.

Your Excellency,

I am in a difficult situation.

Reverend Mersch has told me.

I can't give you any advice.

But as a priest, you know where to turn.

In misery, you listen to your conscience.

Explore your conscience.

Place your trust in prayer.

Open your heart and let the Holy Spirit guide you.

I've searched my conscience.

I've asked the Lord to help me,

but He hasn't answered.

I could always come to you, for anything.

Now I need guidance but you refuse to give it.

Try to understand...

Our brothers in Dachau bear the cross!

Literally, not as a figure of speech!

Where I come from, there is no God.

I haven't left this building

since the Germans occupied our land.

I have refused to speak with Gauleiter Simon.

Yes, I ring the bell!

Luxembourg understands what it means.

Mass attendance is heavy.

The churches may be full, but...

Father,

I don't want to know what Gebhardt wants from you.

He's using you for his ends.

Father, you can only be his tool

if you doubt the Church.

I never doubt the Church.

But sometimes I wonder about the Holy Father.

Do you know what happened in the Netherlands?

The Nazis decided

to deport non-Aryan Christians.

Archbishop Dejong in Utrecht did not acquiesce.

He objected in a pastoral letter.

As a result,

all non-Aryan Catholics... more than 40,000...

were sent to concentration camps.

What would have been the result of a protest by the Pope?

That pastoral letter

sent over 40,000 people to their doom.

What would have been the result of a protest by the Pope?

200,000 or 300,000

dying in Nazi concentration camps?

But should l...

should I be a Judas?

Is that what Gebhardt wants from you?

Yes.

There is one thing you do not know,

and I shouldn't be telling you.

Gebhardt confided in me in an hour of need.

He was in a camp in the east.

He said it was for "demonstration" purposes.

When I asked him what he had done there,

he said, "Nothing, but I saw enough."

"The Eighth Day"

No, no, no!

I'm glad everybody is keeping in time,

even if a few are whistling a different tune.

Gebhardt...

take care of that.

Come with me.

Well?

How can one believe in God and in Christ, His Son,

and do what you are doing?

You seem to have stronger doubts than I do, Father.

Here.

You're a smart man, Father.

You are saving your life and your family's.

You are saving the Luxembourg priests in Dachau.

I kept asking myself,

"Why me rather than the diocese secretary?"

He, too, is a smart man.

But... he lacks one prerequisite:

Concentration camp experience.

What does a killer want from his victim

after the crime?

What did you see in that concentration camp in the east?

"The Ninth Day"

Prisoner 25639.

Kremer, Henri.

Back from leave.

Dismissed.

"Henri Kremer really existed, under another name.

Several thousand clergymen of all nationalities

were interned in Dachau's "priest block."

Almost half of them died there.

Kremer was among those who survived.

In 1945 he wrote the book upon which this film is based."