Breathe.
We should never forget how young they were.
My father, Stephan Gold,
was the youngest unit commander in Mossad.
David Peretz had his 29th birthday while on the mission.
When my mother crossed through the checkpoint,
into Soviet-controlled East Berlin,
she was only 25.
They'd had the courage to confront an unimaginable evil.
A man whose sadistic experiments
left thousands disfigured or dead,
who became known by a name which defiles the annals of medicine,
the Surgeon of Birkenau.
Their mission had been to capture him
and return him to Israel to stand trial.
Instead, it ended on the streets of East Berlin.
These three dared to relive Israel's greatest nightmare,
her greatest pain.
And in the simple act of facing the monster,
they helped to vanquish it.
This book is dedicated to my inspiration,
my mother, Rachel Singer.
Mother.
Mother,
I'm so very proud to be your daughter.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
(EXHALING NERVOUSLY)
- David Peretz? - Yes.
You were expecting me?
Yes, I was expecting you.
Would you come with me, sir?
Let's go.
AGENT: Are you all right, sir?
Sorry, I think I...
(HORN BLARES)
When are you going to stop?
Stop what?
The smoking.
I gave up alcohol. What more do you want?
Okay, soon.
I hope so. Do it for your grandson.
I've marked the place. Perhaps from Chapter 11.
Good. Thank you.
You must be very proud.
Yes, I am. It's a great achievement.
I'm very proud of her.
And I'm sure you were invaluable in the research.
Actually my mother withstood all interrogation.
My father was the talker.
I'm the only journalist in Israel she won't speak to.
I thought he couldn't come.
Sit down.
So did I.
My God, it must be election season.
Papa, you came.
I came.
- Rachel. - Stephan.
Okay. So, you're the expert.
Maybe you can tell me something.
Who is the handsome devil on this cover?
It went well?
SARAH'S HUSBAND: She was wonderful.
That's good. Good, good. That's very good.
WOMAN: I just want to thank you all
for coming to celebrate the launch of this wonderful book.
And I'm sure we are all particularly thrilled
to have two of the heroes of the story here with us tonight.
And even more thrilled that one of them has agreed to read for us.
Miss Rachel Singer.
"On the evening of the 31st of December,
"it began to rain more heavily.
"So isolated had they become from the outside world,
"that it was only when she looked out of the window
"that Rachel remembered that it was New Year's Eve."
"There were fireworks in the sky,
"and everyone else in Berlin was celebrating. "
(WATER DRIPPING)
(WATER DRIPPING RHYTHMICALLY)
(RHYTHM CHANGES)
(EXCLAIMING)
(BOTH SHOUTING)
(COUGHING)
(EXCLAIMING)
RACHEL: What's so important? Where are we going?
We're going to David's apartment.
David?
I know he came to see you yesterday.
What's this? The jealous ex-husband or the intelligence officer?
What did he want?
He told me that he'd been traveling, that he'd been teaching.
We spoke for a few minutes, and then I had to go.
If you don't believe me, ask him yourself.
(SOBBING)
(RACHEL SOBBING)
Why did he do it?
(SNIFFLES)
STEPHAN: My car is waiting outside.
Come down!
(MAN ANNOUNCING ON PA)
(SPEAKING GERMAN) Thank you.
You're welcome.
(LAUGHS)
(BOTH SPEAKING GERMAN) How was your trip?
Fine, everyone send their love.
You've cut your hair.
It looks good.
Thank you.
- I'm David. - I'm Rachel.
(PIANO PLAYING)
Stephan. This is Rachel.
(PLAYING WEDDING MARCH)
- Where do I sleep? - You're in my room.
I'm moving in with him. You're at the end there.
STEPHAN: What do you think of your new wife?
- She's too young. STEPHAN: Very pretty.
You didn't notice.
You know what I've noticed?
You don't notice women. I've noticed that.
How long have I known you?
I don't know.
Two years.
All the places we've been to, you never look at women.
Is there anything you have to tell me before I get into that bed?
(LAUGHS)
I think you just noticed.
(BOTH GRUNTING)
Yes?
Now from behind.
Where have you come from?
Argentina.
- Really? Whereabouts? - Córdoba.
What were you doing there?
My husband is an industrial chemist.
He does look like a chemist.
STEPHAN: She's not going to break, David. Move.
What were you doing before this?
Before Argentina we lived in Hungary,
where my husband studied chemistry.
In Mossad, what did you do?
Liaison.
And what did you do in Liaison?
Translator.
Translator?
So, first time in the field?
Good. That's good.
Welcome to the mission.
(SPEAKING GERMAN) I'll be waiting here.
It won't be very long.
(NURSE SPEAKING GERMAN) Frau Roget.
(PHONE RINGING)
(MAN ANSWERS PHONE)
(MAN CHATTERING IN GERMAN)
(WATER RUNNING)
(INSTRUMENTS CLATTERING)
(BOTH SPEAKING GERMAN) Good morning, Frau Roget.
I'm Dr. Bernhardt.
Good morning, Doctor.
Please, just relax.
We're only going to do a little examination.
If you feel at all uncomfortable, you just say.
Yes.
Good.
This is my hand and this is the speculum.
It's going to feel cold.
(GRUNTS SOFTLY)
Can I ask how old you are?
Twenty-five.
And how long have you and your husband been trying for a baby?
Nearly two years.
Your ovaries look fine.
Your cervix is slightly retroverted.
Really?
Yes, but that generally shouldn't affect fertility.
What a relief.
You have a slight accent, Frau Roget.
Where are you from?
Argentina.
We just moved here.
This might sting a little, dear.
Argentina... Buenos Aires?
Yes.
Beautiful.
I went once when I was young.
We went to the opera house.
What's the opera called again?
Teatro Colon.
That's right.
Wonderful... Yes.
Unfortunately we'll need to run a few more tests.
Is that alright?
Fine.
Good girl.
So...
Is everything OK?
Next appointment is on Wednesday.
Excuse me.
STEPHAN: The West Berlin Transit System.
When the Wall was built, some stations ended up on the wrong side,
in the Eastern sector.
They're closed and guarded by soldiers.
They will shoot to kill to prevent any escape.
This is where we get him out.
It's a ghost station.
West Berlin trains pass through the station on this track,
...but don't stop. STEPHAN: Usually.
One, two, three, four...
Fourteen seconds per train.
The station is guarded at all times.
And the stairs to the platform are sealed off.
Our train driver makes an unscheduled stop under the bridge.
The last two carriages will be around here. They will be empty.
Once the train is stopped, the guards won't be able to see this fence,
or anything that happens beyond it.
And on the other side of the fence is a postal depot.
The vans come and go all day long.
DAVID: We're just one more van with one more parcel.
And once we're in West Berlin,
there will be transport to Tempelhof air base,
and a private charter to Israel.
That's the wrapping. Now all we need is the present.
(GASPING)
Try this on.
How does it feel?
Very nice.
Here you are a Mossad agent, all those years of training,
the highest levels of marksmanship and krav maga,
and your first big mission is sewing.
Black belt in dressmaking.
I never argue with an armed woman.
(INHALES SHARPLY)
Sorry.
(MUSIC AND CHATTERING ON RADIO)
What is it?
- It doesn't have a name. - Shit.
Now it does.
(LAUGHS)
Today is my birthday.
RACHEL: ...and study the Mishnah. At 15, you study the Talmud.
By 18, stand under the wedding canopy.
We're too late for all of those.
You're 29? In your 20s, you have to pursue your life's goals.
What are you pursuing, Rachel?
I don't know. I'm waiting to find out.
Youth.
What about you, old man? Have you got a goal?
Yes, we believe in goals in my family.
We're very driven men.
My father was Director of Collections by the time he was 50.
So what's your goal?
Director of Collections by 40.
What about you, David? What life goal are you pursuing?
This is it.
This is it? This is all you want?
No, tell me. What do you want out of life?
I want to get Vogel.
I want him to be put on trial, and I want the world to watch
so everyone knows what he did.
I want them all to know the truth.
And I want another drink.
Forget about it.
Forget about what?
I've spent two years with him and I don't know him.
Nobody knows him.
He's alone.
What about family?
All of them?
All of them.
Maybe it's not always a blessing to survive.
(BOTH SPEAKING GERMAN) How did you find me?
Excuse me?
Who told you about me?
Who?
Were you referred by a doctor?
Doctor Eisenberg.
How is the old Jew?
Very good.
Frau Roget,
is there any history of infertility in your family?
No.
Are your periods regular?
No.
I think we have found the problem.
Your ovarian follicles are still immature.
We need you help with this.
just a little injection.
Do you want me to proceed?
How many brothers and sisters do you have?
None.
Excuse me, please.
Please hold this down for me.
Frau Roget.
So you are an only child,
and yet you say there's no family history of infertility?
I lost my mother in the war.
Poor child.
Are you all right?
His identity's confirmed. We have a green light.
The day after tomorrow.
It's a brave thing you're doing.
I'm not brave.
I'm terrified.
But you're doing it anyway because you know how important it is.
David...
(PLAYING SONATA HESITANTLY)
(MAN CHATTERING ON RADIO)
(STOPS PLAYING)
(PLAYING SONATA FLUENTLY)
It's whiskey.
You're so beautiful.
(BOTH SPEAKING GERMAN) This is my hand and this is the speculum.
You had intercourse last night?
Yes.
That's good.
That's very good timing.
I think we are going to see results.
All you have to have is faith.
That's what I tell all my patients.
What about those in Birkenau?
(STRANGLED SCREAM)
(SHOUTING IN GERMAN) Help!
Nurse!
The doctor!
Quick! He collapsed.
My God! What happened?
I don't know, I have no idea.
He just clutched his chest and collapsed.
He's alive, he's alive.
MAN ON PHONE: (SPEAKING GERMAN) Emergency Dispatch Berlin Mitte.
I need an ambulance for Gustav-Adolf-Strasse.
MAN ON PHONE: Where? - The Clinic.
MAN ON PHONE: What happened? - My husband had a heart attack.
MAN ON PHONE: Is he breathing? - Yes.
MAN ON PHONE: We are on our way.
(HONKING)
(NURSE SPEAKING GERMAN) Do you hear me? Don't give up. Don't leave me.
Say something, say something.
(SIREN WAILING)
WOMAN: Come, Frau Bernhardt. He's going to be okay.
Please take good care of him.
He's going to be alright.
I'm sorry, but you can't come along.
I have to. I'm his wife.
Not possible, I'm afraid.
New regulations.
Don't worry, he's in good hands now.
You should get your things and go to the hospital.
Thank you.
(GUARD CALLING OUT)
(TRAIN APPROACHING)
(TRAIN HORN BLOWING)
(PHONE RINGING)
(CHATTERING)
(TRAIN APPROACHING)
(BOTH SPEAKING GERMAN) First shift.
They said it was okay to take a break.
Yeah it's okay.
Are you working till midnight?
Yes.
After the late shift most of us go to Vetter.
Do you know it?
It's just around the corner.
(GUARDS CHATTERING)
Move on, comrade!
(GUARD CONTINUES IN GERMAN) You're not allowed to stop here.
There is something on the tracks up ahead!
I finish in half an hour.
Why don't you go and get me a beer ready?
Half an hour then.
(VAN HORN SOUNDING CONTINUOUSLY)
Which van was it?
I think it came from over here?
No, it was one of those.
Let's have a look.
We have to get him on the train. Help me with him.
Stop!
Hold it!
What are you doing here?
I work here. I'm on a break.
Papers!
There's nothing there.
Get moving now.
We're going! Now!
Not without her.
Somebody cut...
(ALARM BLARING)
Go! Go!
Jump!
Down!
STEPHAN: Is he dead? RACHEL: Who?
The guard. The one who saw your face. Is he dead?
No.
STEPHAN: How did Vogel come round? How the fuck did that happen?
You gave him the full injection?
Did you give him the full injection?
I don't know. I thought I did!
We failed our mission.
It's not over.
STEPHAN: We failed our country. We failed our families!
We still have him! It's not over!
We still have him!
(DOOR OPENING)
You made contact?
(SIGHING)
Is there a plan?
What did they say?
It's going to take time.
They need to open up a new route.
They need to find political help.
They're going to try the Americans.
So, we work in shifts guarding him.
We feed him at the end of each shift.
We take him back alive.
You've been seen. You don't leave the house.
DAVID: We can do this.
We'll take him back to Israel.
We'll show the world what he did.
(VOGEL SCREAMING)
(SHOUTING ANGRILY)
(ALARM RINGING)
(VOGEL MUTTERING ANGRILY)
STEPHAN: Fuck.
(LAUGHING)
(EXHALING HEAVILY)
(MAN SPEAKING GERMAN) My wife?
Is she heart?
Is she alright?
(ALARM RINGING)
Please tell me she's alright.
(RINGING STOPS)
You can't talk to him.
I didn't say anything.
- You can't listen to him. - I know.
I'm not angry, I'm just telling you.
We don't talk to him. We don't listen to him.
He isn't there. He isn't a human being.
We've been given a date.
Ten days' time. The Americans are going to help.
Good.
No.
(MAN SPEAKING GERMAN) Why don't you just kill me?
How can you keep me waiting to die like this?
I know what you want.
You want to hand me over to others,
let there be some fucking sham of a trial.
Then, when they kill me,
you can tell yourself
that there was no blood on your hands.
But that's not true.
There will be blood on your hands.
You're my murderer.
Yes?
Do it.
You want to do it.
Do it.
That's right.
I'd forgotten.
You Jews never knew how to kill.
Only how to die.
(VOMITING)
(GASPS)
(WAILING SIREN APPROACHING)
One of the greatest regrets of my life
is that we were unable to have children.
My wife would have been a wonderful mother.
(IN ENGLISH) You should try lemons, for the morning sickness.
They say it helps.
What's your name?
Hannah? Sarah? Rachel? Esther?
You Jews stay close to your roots, don't you?
It's a good thing.
Very good.
I understand you perfectly.
You weren't lying at the clinic
when you told me about your mother, were you?
About her death?
I'm very sorry for your loss.
- What happened? - Nothing. Nothing.
What's the matter?
- He can understand us. - What?
He just spoke to me.
He knows what we're saying. He knows what we're thinking.
It's all right. It's all right. This will be over soon.
Why didn't you go?
At the station. You could have got away. Why didn't you?
(DOOR OPENING)
What did they say?
DAVID: Stephan?
It's not happening.
What the fuck does that mean?
The Americans have pulled out.
Has he been fed?
- Oh, God. STEPHAN: Did you feed him?
- What's the plan now? - We just need to get him to the air base.
I'm asking you. What's the...
I'm talking to her!
Supposedly it's her shift now,
but instead of doing what she's supposed to be doing,
she's out here with you.
Now, answer the fucking question! Did you feed him?
Yes, I fed him.
There's no plan. There's no fucking plan!
The police are everywhere. They're searching houses.
We killed a man, and now the Americans want to pull out.
They won't have anything to do with us.
It's a fucking mess and they're backing away from it as quickly as they can.
No. They can't leave us.
Yes, they can.
Because we fucked it up.
We fucked it all up, and now we're on our own!
No.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
(WHISPERING) Were you followed?
Could you have been?
Stephan.
- Stephan. - Stephan.
STEPHAN: If it's them, he dies.
- Move! - You're not doing this.
He's not getting away from me. Move.
- This isn't the mission. - Move!
- You are not doing this. - Get out of the way.
DAVID: This isn't what we came for.
I decide what the mission is.
We're finishing this.
Get out of the fucking way!
It was the lady from the basement apartment.
She invited us to a New Year's Eve party.
DAVID: We'll get out.
They'll come up with another plan.
(SINGING GERMAN NATIONAL ANTHEM)
(BOTH GRUNTING)
(LAUGHING)
(EXCLAIMING)
What are you doing?
It's your shift.
- Did you know about this? - About what?
His mouth is taped. You want him to suffocate?
I was sick of seeing his face. Go back in there.
You don't do it again.
You don't give orders, David.
It's your shift now. So go back in there. Go on.
Stop it!
We're not animals.
You remember what we are.
You remember what we are not.
- What are you doing? - I have to get out.
You can't.
Get out of my way, please. I'm going out.
She wants to go out.
A few minutes. I won't be seen!
- Tell him, David. I just want to walk. STEPHAN: Rachel...
You can't go out.
I just want some air! I can't breathe!
Rachel...
(CRYING) Get off me!
Thank you, David.
If I had a choice, I would prefer Rachel to feed me.
So gentle.
In another life, the makings of a nurse, I think.
How is she today?
You should let her get more rest.
It's a dangerous time, the first month or two of the pregnancy.
You didn't know.
And you're not the father.
I thought it would be you. I thought... I don't know.
The way you look at her.
The way she looks at you. That must be hard.
I wouldn't have taken Stephan as a family man.
Too ambitious, too... I don't know.
Whereas you, David, I see you with children.
Shut up.
I'm expressing my sympathy for your sufferings.
What does a monster like you know about suffering?
I'm a doctor, David.
You blind children trying to change the color of their eyes.
You inject people with petrol.
You replace hands and legs and you watch as they...
This isn't medicine. This is sickness.
This is disease.
So we were all insane? Is that the answer?
There is no answer. I'm not looking for an answer.
I'm not looking to...
You're trembling.
I think you're the one that is afraid, David.
Afraid of the monster.
Boo!
(LAUGHING)
Why do you think it was so easy to exterminate you people?
Your weakness.
I saw it. Every day I saw it.
Every one of them thinking only of how to avoid being flogged,
or kicked or killed.
Every one thinking only of themselves.
Why do you think it only took four soldiers
to lead a thousand people to the gas chambers?
Because not one out of thousands had the courage to resist.
Not one would sacrifice himself.
Not even when we took their children away.
So I knew then that you people had no right to live.
You had no right...
(SCREAMS)
STEPHAN: Are you going to be all right? - Yeah.
Out!
(DOOR OPENING)
Out!
(DOOR SLAMS)
(WATER DRIPPING RHYTHMICALLY)
(RHYTHM CHANGES)
(EXCLAIMING)
(BOTH SHOUTING)
(FIREWORKS EXPLODING)
Nothing. Not a trace. Nothing at all.
He might go to the house, try and get a message...
He's not going to the house!
He's gone!
Fifteen years it took to find him.
He's gone and no one's ever going to find him again.
So we what? Are you going to make the phone call?
Are you going to tell them how he got a fucking piece of broken bowl?
Wonderful. Don't try and take me down with you.
I've done nothing wrong!
Remember that. This can't happen! This is never going to go away!
It's my fault.
It was my shift.
This happened because of me.
I let him go.
And no one's ever going to find him again.
STEPHAN: No one's ever going to find him again.
What if he didn't escape?
What are you talking about?
Only four people know what happened in this room,
us and him, and he's not talking.
No one will ever hear from him again.
No.
Nobody needs to know what happened.
He escaped.
That's the truth.
But that doesn't have to be the truth we take home.
The truth can be anything we want it to be.
The truth is Vogel tried to escape.
You struggled with him and got hurt.
The truth is seconds before he got away,
Rachel got the gun and shot him.
The truth is we got rid of him. Got rid of the body.
Got rid of every trace of the Surgeon of Birkenau.
We can't lie about this.
No, you know what? We have to. We have to!
This isn't about us. This is about Israel.
This is a national humiliation!
We can't be seen to fail!
And in the end, Vogel rots away his life in some jungle,
always looking over his shoulder, waiting for a bullet.
Who's to say? Maybe that's a worse fate. Maybe that's...
The important thing is justice.
Justice is seen to be done.
DAVID: He's gone.
What does it matter? He's gone.
He's right! It makes no difference. No difference!
All we have to agree is that we never talk about this.
No matter what happens, we never tell anyone.
The truth stays in this room, between us. Agreed?
Say it. I need to hear you say it.
Say it.
Agreed.
David.
STEPHAN: Rachel, say it.
It's an oath.
Say it.
(PEOPLE COUNTING DOWN)
How could this happen? You said he would never speak!
You said he would never be heard from.
We don't know it's him!
Oh, God.
If you read it, you'll see that...
He's alive! He's in the Ukraine!
What else is there to read?
STEPHAN: It's a little Internet story.
Psychiatric patient claiming to be the Surgeon of Birkenau!
Some crazy old man.
How did you find it?
David comes back after all this time, I want to know why,
I have his apartment searched,
we find that on his computer.
Did he say anything to you about it last night?
Rachel, did he say anything?
Why? Why did he kill himself?
Because he couldn't handle it.
I told him we had to deal with it,
and he couldn't handle it.
He thought the whole story would come out and he panicked.
"Deal with it"?
What does that mean? "Deal with it."
I told him to find Vogel.
I told him to finish it.
Did you know he'd been ill?
You did, didn't you? You knew he'd been ill. You knew it!
Fuck David.
You knew that he wasn't strong enough!
He took the coward's way out.
You could have just left it alone!
It was an old man in a hospital.
Nobody would have believed it. Nobody would be listening.
There's a journalist from a newspaper in Kiev.
Yuri Titov.
He heard about the story and he wants to interview Vogel.
Then it all falls apart.
We don't know which hospital he's in, but the journalist does.
You have to find out where he is.
What are you talking about?
David has taken himself out of the equation, I can't do it.
You're the only one left.
Are you insane?
- We can't... - Well, I can't do it. I can't!
Look at me. I'm not capable.
I haven't been an agent for 30 years.
You're insane. No, I can't do it!
You have to do it, Rachel.
Because for 30 years you've been taking the credit for it.
And there's Sarah.
I'm not doing this!
Fuck!
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
I knew this would happen.
I knew we'd be punished. I knew we'd have to pay.
I thought I'd been punished already.
God doesn't plant car bombs.
I wasn't referring to the wheelchair.
If I could go back, Rachel, I would change it all.
But there's one thing I would never change.
She isn't going to find out.
She can never find out.
Come down!
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN) I'm looking for "Ukrainian Evening News" please?
(REPLYING IN RUSSIAN) First floor.
Thank you.
Cigarettes, please.
Yes, thank you.
At that moment, when I was lying on the floor,
I don't think I was thinking about myself at all.
I was thinking about my mother.
I was thinking about how she had suffered in Europe during the war.
The same question to Mr. Peretz.
STEPHAN: Fuck him.
Hurry up.
Go to bed, Sarah.
(POP MUSIC PLAYING)
Welcome.
You both look so beautiful. I'm spoiled for choice.
Are we still on for Sunday?
My own party, and you're the only friend I have.
All Stephan's friends.
Stephan's girlfriends.
Don't even think he's interested in them.
He's just trying to punish me.
For what?
Everything.
For getting pregnant. For not loving him.
For you, David.
I thought the silence was for the soldiers, not for me.
David, I'm talking to you.
I'm leaving.
What? Leaving Mossad?
Yeah, Mossad. Israel.
Where are you going?
I don't know.
Greece at first, and then I don't know.
- When? - Tonight.
Don't be crazy.
Rachel...
Don't be crazy. Tonight? Why would you?
Rachel... Rachel...
- You can't leave. You can't just... - I have to.
- Why? - Because I can't do this anymore.
Any of this.
If I stay...
I don't know.
This is about today. About the talks?
Don't do them anymore. Stephan doesn't...
Come with me.
What?
Come with me.
I can't.
You can.
Such a beautiful photograph, Rachel.
It's beautiful. You look like a pair of angels.
WOMAN: She's so lovely, Stephan.
You like it? I took that one.
MAN: Good to know you have another career.
In case you fall from favor.
STEPHAN: It could be sooner than you think.
(ALL LAUGHING)
Rachel, will you come and say hello to Michael?
He was asking after you.
Yes.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN) Excuse me.
I know I'm late,
but can I still place my advertisement?
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN) Thirty Grivna for 20 words.
One Grivna a word after that.
Thank you.
(ALARM BEEPING)
(BEEPS)
Oh, no.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN) That's weird.
I set the alarm.
(LAUGHING)
(WOMAN MOANING)
RACHEL: I'll tell you something,
at that moment when I was on the floor,
I didn't think about myself at all.
I was thinking about my mother and what she had suffered in Europe.
And I think that was what gave me the strength to get up again.
RACHEL: Does Stephan know you're here?
DAVID: I expect so.
Things became very bad between us.
What are you doing here, David?
(ZIPPING UP PANTS)
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN) What are you doing?
Tidying up.
Are you at work now?
No, I'm not at work.
So leave it!
RACHEL: He's in the Babenko Hospital.
It's just outside of Vinnycja.
About 250 kilometers southwest of you.
What name is he going under?
Ivan Schevchuk. He's the right age.
And when is Titov supposed to interview him?
Tomorrow. And he knows what I look like.
This will be over soon. And when...
RACHEL: What are you doing here, David?
DAVID: Have you met anyone else?
There was someone, but he went away.
And I never heard from him again.
I wrote you letters.
But you never sent them.
- Rachel... - What is it, 25 years?
- I wanted to see you. - All that time and not a word.
I was ill for a long time, Rachel.
I was in a kind of hospital.
- Where? - In Mexico.
What were you doing in Mexico?
I traveled a lot. South America, North Africa. I kept moving.
Looking for him.
Why?
What would you have done if you had have found him?
I would have told the truth.
I would have gone to a newspaper and said,
"This is the Surgeon of Birkenau. "
And I could finally have seen him face trial.
And what would have happened to us?
We'd be free.
Whatever happened to us,
it seemed to me we would be free.
Don't you agree?
Aren't you tired of lying?
If you had found him, isn't that what you would have done?
Maybe.
Twenty years ago.
But now?
Anyway, it isn't just us, there's Sarah.
She hasn't done anything wrong.
She wrote a book. Did you know that?
Yes.
If the truth were to come out now, it would destroy her.
So no. I would not have told the truth.
But you never found him.
No, I never did.
The book launch is tomorrow.
Could you come? I don't know if Stephan...
What if we could go back?
If I had waited for you. If you had come.
Would it be different?
We can't go back.
(BOTH SPEAKING RUSSIAN) I'm here to visit Mr. Schevchuk.
Let me check.
Are you from the newspaper?
No, no. I'm Mr. Schevchuk's niece. Anna Baranova.
I've been before, don't you remember?
I'm afraid our visiting hours haven't changed.
Eleven till one.
Take a seat.
I'm Yuri Titov. I've come to see Mr. Schevchuk.
Patient Schevchuk is in room 414.
You can take a seat over there.
Please wait for me!
(NURSE SPEAKING RUSSIAN) Hold the doors, please.
(BOTH SPEAKING RUSSIAN) Are you the journalist?
Do you know who I am?
No.
No, I don't know who you're.
My name is Dieter Vogel.
I'm the Surgeon of Birkenau.
Have you heard of me?
Yes, I have heard of you.
I've killed many thousands.
You can take my photograph.
The last photograph
of the Surgeon of Birkenau.
(GROANING)
It all comes down to blood.
We weren't afraid of the power.
It was our destiny.
- Yes? RACHEL: It isn't him.
Wait a second.
This is a family matter, if you'd give me a moment, please. Thank you.
- You're sure? - It isn't him.
It's some old man who's heard about him.
Thank God.
Thank God, this is wonderful. This is...
And you're okay, Rachel?
- You were wrong. - Well, thank God I was...
About David.
You were wrong about him.
About David?
He didn't kill himself, because he was afraid the story might come out.
When he came to see me, he was asking for something.
What?
My permission.
And I didn't give it.
I wouldn't let him tell the truth,
and he was tired of living with a lie.
Truth is a luxury, Rachel.
Some people have to put other things first,
their country, their people, their children.
Sarah is so proud of you, Rachel.
I want her to be proud of me.
Of course you do.
I want to do something to make her proud of me.
Vogel must have been here, Stephan.
- Rachel... - People have to know the truth, Stephan.
- Rachel, listen to me. - Goodbye.
MAN: Sir, the Cabinet meeting has started.
Yeah.
(SPEAKING RUSSIAN) Excuse me.
Why did you come?
Why did you have to come?
Was it Schevchuk?
I know I shouldn't have talked to him.
I can stop him. I won't tell him anymore.
(SCREAMS)
(PANTING)
(SCREAMS)
(WHIMPERING)
(GASPING)
"My name is Rachel Singer.
"Please publish what you are about to read.
"In 1965,
"I was part of a mission to kidnap Dieter Vogel,
"the Surgeon of Birkenau,
"and bring him to Israel to stand trial.
"We have always claimed that Vogel was killed trying to escape.
"But this was a lie.
"A lie I have lived with for 30 years.
"And now I understand that I must tell the truth. "