Wallenberg: A Hero's Story

Here on the outskirts of Jerusalem

is a place known as the Mount of Remembrance.

Each tree along its avenue of the righteous

honors another gentile.

Men and women who risked their own lives to save a Jew's

during the Holocaust.

The accompanying medal to each honoree,

some living, others no longer, bears an inscription:

"Whoever saves a single soul,

it is as if he had saved the whole world."

Although there is no order of precedence along this path,

it is generally acknowledged

that the man whose name is on this plaque

heroically earned this honor

through the courage and passion of his life.

Come on, let's give the old witch one last dance.

Come on, kick.

Kick higher.

Raoul is a bit old for it, isn't he?

Why?

If I didn't mind grass stains on my shoes,

I'd be out there dancing with them

instead of sitting here being old with you.

Notice, Herr von Fremd,

my dear cousin's spirited defense of her baby.

Well, it's a mother's right.

Raoul, be careful!

In Germany, we celebrate the family.

Isn't it so, Mr. Lauer? Ha-ha-ha.

One, two...

- Well, throw it. Three!

Come on, get going.

Get the hell out.

Nice Hungarian peasant boys.

Sixteen, maybe 17.

Arrow Cross fascists jerk them off their farms,

teach them to burn, to kill.

What you say your name was?

Fodor. You know, it's Nikki Fodor.

Well, not anymore.

You're Laszlo Birosh, Catholic, factory worker.

You know the Jewish Music Society?

Well, go there. Get everyone out, back to their homes.

Those choir boys will burn anything with a Jewish sign on it tonight.

Major Wisleceny, Colonel Eichmann.

Admiral Horthy is expecting you.

Father, look. Is that Eichmann?

- Yes, I invited him. - You invited him?

Yes, I thought it would be politic. Go on, ride on, Nikki.

Ah. It's good blood. Magnificent.

How many centuries of noble blood does the old fossiI claim?

I was taking about the horses, not the old fossiI.

Occasionally, a piece of horse flesh arouses me more than women's flesh,

but only occasionally.

I don't think Admiral Horthy will let you meddle with his stable.

His country, he can't do anything about,

but his stable and the region of Hungary, he will fight for.

Colonel Eichmann, how very pleasant you could come.

HeiI Hitler, Highness. - Yes.

- Major Wisleceny. HeiI Hitler, Highness.

You both know Monsignor Rotha, papal nuncio.

Colonel Eichmann.

Colonel Eichmann, what a happy surprise.

Lisl, this is remarkable Colonel Eichmann

that you've wanted to meet for so long.

Colonel, my lovely bride.

How truly fortunate you are, baron.

And how truly unfearsome you seem, Colonel Eichmann.

Not at all what one might expect.

Really?

I am flattered.

Fearsome? Where could you have heard such a thing?

Baron, why don't you invite the colonel

to your Arrow Cross maneuvers next week?

I'm sure his presence there will encourage your young scamps.

Admiral regent,

I must see those excellent Lipizzaners at close range.

- Delighted. - Baroness.

- You obviously fancy horses. Thank you.

I am certain the colonel welcomes this opportunity

to discuss the upcoming rites of purification privately.

Rites of purification?

Oh. Oh, yes.

That is appropriate on Walpurgis Night, isn't it?

You know, of course, Walpurgis Night is of German origin.

An ancient pagan custom from Bavaria.

Can you imagine, in the old days,

people actually put some poor woman to the torch?

I thing I prefer one made of straw.

Herr von Fremd.

I'm told you Germans are still disposed

to such amusements.

A national appetite for bonfires, huh?

- True? Raoul.

- Herr von Fremd is our guest. - Of course.

And an important client of the Wallenberg banks.

That's enough, Raoul.

I apologize for my young cousin's rudeness.

I only spoke the truth.

Herr von Fremd, please forgive my son.

I think he has had a bit too much to drink.

Not at all, Mother.

I'm as sober as Adolf Hitler.

Now, there's a leader to be admired.

No alcohol, no tobacco.

But perhaps a taste for more exotic vices.

That's enough, I said, Raoul.

I will expect a written apology to Herr von Fremd.

- You may leave. - Leave?

My dear Mr. Wallenberg, that won't be necessary.

Many people listen to this false propaganda

of unreliable sources.

I can assure you,

we have not inconvenienced one single Jew.

And you have amply supplied them with gas.

Oh, for cooking and heating, of course.

Your Führer will not tolerate people

...making jokes about garbage.

I teach you a lesson, a big lesson.

If you laugh at mein garbage, I give you big jails, ja?

Und the gallows, und the whip, und the bullet, und the gas,

und the fire!

Out. Out. Everybody out. Go home.

You there, mind your manners.

You can't break in here like this. It's a concert.

They're burning the synagogue. They'll be here next.

The warder sent me. Go home.

The warder? But who...? Who burnt the synagogue?

Arrow Cross.

What are you all sitting here for? Go home.

And lock your doors.

Hannah, I'll take you home.

- Come on. - No.

Oh, no, no.

NIKKl: Come on. Hannah.

But the Germans said we'd be safe.

Yeah, like the 12,OOO they shipped out last week.

Let the Jews burn!

Kill the Jews!

Hey, you, Fodor, whatever your name is.

How do we know we can trust you?

Papa, we can.

He has friends. They're fighting for us.

Friends? Zionist hoodlums.

- Nikki, what'll we do? - Follow me.

I know the back alleys.

Eichmann told the counciI we would be safe.

We... We would be safe if we followed orders.

- We are Hungarians. - Follow me.

The Führer will tolerate no further delays

- in eliminating Jewish sabotage. Colonel Eichmann...

There are still a quarter of a million Jews in Budapest,

including three individuals whose wealth and power

you personally continue to shield.

I really must protest.

Colonel Eichmann,

I was an anti-Semite before you were born.

I bow to no one in my distaste for the chosen people.

I drafted Hungary's best, most vigorous anti-Jewish laws.

But death camps like Auschwitz were never what I had in mind.

Auschwitz, Auschwitz. No.

Even our enemies, by their silence,

acknowledge that we are right about the Jew.

Colonel, it is tradition in our country

to leave all matters of commerce and finance to the Jew.

And I am not going to violate this ancient Hungarian tradition.

- Certain Jews... - All Jews must go.

You will not be allowed to interfere any longer with deportations.

Not be allowed? I will not be spoken to in this...

The Führer demands a favorable ruling from your cabinet.

The deportations will be intensified.

The final solution has been set in motion.

Your behavior was outrageous.

You humiliated your mother.

It's a good thing von Fremd is a tolerant man.

Tolerant? Germany's collapsing, he needs your money

for all those ambitious new projects such as Auschwitz.

Raoul.

Is that really a good investment, Uncle?

Oh, Raoul, please.

You're not only impertinent, you're naive.

Of course we do business with the Germans.

Who hasn't?

But we are also working closely with the anti-Hitler movement.

Banking is not a business for moralists.

And you certainly demonstrated that when we sent you to Heifer in '37.

Somehow I wasn't made to sit behind a desk and say no to people.

But instead of calculating exchange rates,

you brooded into your wine glass

and talked philosophy with your new friends.

Brooded? We did that some.

We also talked about movies and women.

Oh, please, stop, both of you.