nope.
sure.
jeez, and i never heard of him.
right. claims assessor.
they said i was dogged?
like this bandleader.
you live here, in berlin?
you do shorthand and typing?
okay, let's see. how long were you in the camp for?
says here because of your father. what's that mean?
your mother, too.
and your father was executed.
i'm gonna call you emmi, you're gonna call me steve. okay?
i got a list of stuff here i'd like you to get for me.
steve.
think you can get me any of that?
mine's the eleventh.
i'm kidding, emmi. what about a record player? you have that, too?
what's in those files?
you tell him nothing, emmi. if he calls again, you say you know nothing. we're gonna keep him waiting while i get acquainted with his case and with the witnesses. and, god help me, with beethoven.
yeah.
for chrissakes i hate that shit, cut it out.
i'm steve. what's your name?
sounds a lot of run. so they sent the big guns to check up on me. we recruiting children now?
you call me sir again and i'll make you listen to beethoven.
where you from, david?
come in, emmi, this is your office, too. emmi, this is lieutenant david wills.
he is here to watch over us.
i guess you admire musicians.
don't. this is like a criminal investigation, david. musicians, morticians, doctors, lawyers, butchers, clerks. they're all the same.
we have a duty, a moral duty.
sit down, werner.
i want you to understand why you're here. this is an investigation into wilhelm furtwngler, former prussian privy councillor, banned from public life under control council directive no 24 and who's applied to come before the tribunal of artists of the denazification commission. i'm interested in what he was up to from 1933 to the end of the war, understood?
rudolf otto werner. wind section since 1936. what instrument did you play?
i have your questionnaire here. it says you were never a member of the nazi party.
hey, hey, slow up, fraulein straube has to take down what you say.
then how do you explain him being made a prussian privy councillor?
he also conducted for hitler, didn't he?
brave? to celebrate hitler's birthday with some heroic piece by wagner but without the nazi salute? bravo.
do you really think it was brave? didn't he bow to him and shake his hand?
but this was the same guy who conducted for adolf on his birthday.
oh! the evening before, i see.
politics and art must be kept separate. i'll remember that. but let me see if you can help me with something i just don't understand. i'd really like to know why all you guys are so crazy about him. what's his secret?
you ever seen adolf hitler's eyes when he was making a speech? i've seen 'em on films.
was looking at furtwngler like that?
when you got to the crescendo.
you think a whole orchestra, what, a hundred and forty or so guys, could be orchestrated?
so, what does the russki want?
'dim-shits'?
what the hell are they doing?
colonel. pleasure.
not yet.
david, need to ask you something. you heard this rumour the british found something called the hinkel archive?
so what is it?
what's that mean?
jeez. and you think the british'll share it with their allies?
that's big of him.
okay, better question the next witness. i bet you a bottle of french champagne he tells us the baton story inside ten minutes.
it's a bet. you're the witness, emmi.
helmuth alfred rode. second violinist since 1935. what's it mean, second violinist?
good, and according to your questionnaire, helmuth, you never joined the nazi party.
i'll ask the questions, helmuth.
you have a question for helmuth, david?
do you know hans hinkel?
that's what i asked.
you seem to understand the question, now how about answering it?
do you know what's in this archive?
okay, you can go now, helmuth. get out.
shut the door, emmi. sit down, emmi. we're going to keep him waiting, too.
emmi, get us some coffee, will you? and, emmi, don't offer him coffee. don't even greet him, okay?
okay, emmi, go get him.
i didn't hear anyone invite you to sit down.
sit there.
i want you to understand why you're here. you're automatically banned from public life under control council directive no 24. we're here to look into your case before you appear in front of the tribunal for artists of the denazification commission. you understand that?
what they do in austria doesn't interest me one little bit. okay? i have your questionnaire here, gustav heinrich ernst martin wilhelm furtwngler, born berlin, january 1886. orchestral conductor. and you say here you were never a member of the nazi party.
could you tell us about being made a prussian privy councillor. how did that happen to a non-party member?
what about vice-president of the chamber of music, you used that title didn't you? but then i suppose you had no choice there either, because i suppose dr. goebbels just sent you a telegram saying, dear mr. vice-president.
goebbels and goering were sure heaping honours on you. one makes you a privy councillor, the other makes you vice-president of the chamber of music, and you weren't even a member of the party, how do you explain that?
then why did you conduct at one of their nuremberg rallies?
that sounds like the small print in one of our insurance policies, wilhelm. and what about april 19, 1942? the eve of hitler's fifty- third birthday, the big celebration; you conducted for hitler, didn't you? was that in keeping with your view that art and politics have nothing to do with each other?
how come?
doesn't sound much of a trick to me. sounds like you made a deal.
i don't buy that.
i keep hearing you helped a lot of jews to escape. how did you do that?
did you call someone you knew?
let me me help you, then. you picked up the phone and made a call - 'hello, adolf? wilhelm speaking. listen, old pal, there's a jew-boy musician i want you to help. he needs a permit to get to paris.'
or maybe you called goebbels or goering? you were so close you were in the same shithouse as them.
sure.
your guess is as good as mine.
tough, tough!
i don't know, he wasn't my case. why did you escape to switzerland just before the war ended?
why were they going to arrest you?
you didn't complain about the racial policies, just about the musical standards, is that right?
so, how did you learn that the gestapo was out to get you?
you sure knew a lot of people in high places.
you were real close to all of them, to adolf, to hermann, to joseph, to baldur, and now albert, so, let's hear the truth, let's come clean. what was your party number?
david, you remember i said i had a question that he wouldn't be able to answer? well, i'm gonna ask it now. you ready for this, wilhelm? it's a tough one. why didn't you get out right at the start when hitler came to power in 1933? why didn't you leave germany?
i have a list of names here, people in your profession, who got out in '33. bruno walter, otto klemperer, arnold schoenberg, max reinhardt.
see, david? he can't answer the question. i'll ask it again, wilhelm, and don't give me any more airy-fairy, intellectual bullshit!
why can't he just ask for me? why does he have to ask for you first? goddamn british, so correct!
steve arnold.
how many? jesus, that's dynamite! okay.
well now. aren't we all sociable?
i've got to hand it to the british, david. you know what those guys are? decent. tell me, herr dr. furtwngler, do you know hans hinkel?
yup, that's him, that's the guy. you know what else the little creep did? he kept files, close on 250,000 files. and you know what's in those files?
who?
how?
who warned you?
what did goering say?
oh boy, you're gonna love this. take your time with this now. those files contain the details of every working artist in this country. those files are gonna tell us who joined the party, who informed and who was helpful.
fantastic! the only condition is we have to do the work here. i want you to collect all the files on the boys in the band.
well, what is this, the office party?
may i join you? so, what have you two been up to tonight? hey. don't i owe you a bottle of french champagne?
you know, david, you're a lucky guy. i invited emmi here but she turned me down. you must've hidden depths, david.
c'mon, emmi, let's dance. i'll teach you how to jive.
helmuth.
love 'em, helmuth. i give up. what are you holding in your hand?
the one he kept in his right hand. yes, you remember.
how could i forget?
show me.
yeah, show me, i want to see you do it. pretend i'm adolf. you're the maestro, and you have the baton in your right hand, but you give me the salute just the same.
do it, helmuth.
do it right.
and i see what you mean. you nearly poked my eyes out.
don't worry, helmuth, it'll be our secret.
great catch, kid. the boy runs off.
all in the cause of humanity, helmuth. or should i call you one- zero-four-nine-three-three-one?
one-zero-four-nine-three-three- one. or d'you mind if i just call you 'one'?
you know what i say you are, helmuth? i say you're a piece of shit.
who's the bastard, helmuth? hinkel?
why? he promised to remove your file?
and what about before that? what were you a member of in austria?
was a member of? speak up?
oh, i see, he made you co-operate. and now are you a communist again?
helmuth, you ever heard of plea- bargaining?
talk about power, i have the power to give you work, make your life easier. your past won't be mentioned. i could give you a job tomorrow but i have to get something in return. see, helmuth? that's plea-bargaining.
i can give you freedom of movement, freedom to work, freedom, helmuth. but i need something in return.
fuck that, helmuth. you want to discuss symbols here? this guy was a front man. he was the piper, but he played their tune, you get my philosophical meaning? i'm not interested in small fish, i'm after moby dick. come on, helmuth. hard facts.
of course. you, too. like everyone else in this goddamn country.
yeah?
he did?
one of my people?
son-of-a-gun. we'll find the corporal and we'll find the telegram.
but i need documentary proof. you know of anything like that?
never heard of him, who is he?
who's he?
the miracle kid.
his private life?
i was in vienna. i had with me an austrian chauffeur, max his name was, he spent time in the camps. we were looking at these viennese cleaning up the bomb damage, scavenging for rotting food, butt ends, anything. i said, 'to think a million of these people came out to welcome adolf on the day he entered the city, a million of 'em, and now look at 'em.' and max said, 'oh, not these people, major. these people were all at home hiding jews in their attics.' you get the point, colonel? the point is they're all full of shit.
we're dealing with degenerates here.
that's why he didn't get the hell out of here when he had the chance! i put that to him, he couldn't answer. why didn't he go and direct in america, like that italian, toscanini.
colonel. he had no sisters, no brothers, only a lot of love affairs.
but what.  before that turns rotten.  what if they surround the space with barbed wire, colonel?
yeah, yeah, art and politics, yeah, yeah, i heard all about that.
this is what i'm saying. he must have had party contacts.
what museum?
no can do.
i have a duty.
i'm gonna get that fucking bandleader, colonel. no deal. no fucking deal.
do you know where the adagio begins?
put it on ready to play, and i'll tell you when to play it.
don't talk to me like i was a second violinist. go back into the waiting room. miss straube will come and get you when i am ready to see you.
jesus god, who the hell does he think he is? who the hell does he think he is?
dr. furtwngler! come in, come in, sit down.
no, no, take this one, it's more comfortable
if it's too hot, open your tie.
go ahead, be my guest.
and what was that?
gee, that's a thing of beauty, honest to god, a real thing of beauty. i'm going to try to remember that. liberty, humanity and justice. beautiful. but you used the word 'naive'. are you now saying you think you were wrong? that art and politics can't be separated?
and when did you first learn that - when you sent the telegram? was that the surrender signal, the waving of the white flag?
'happy birthday, dear adolf, love wilhelm.' or words to that effect. that sounds to me like you were dropping on your knees and saying, 'okay, adolf, you win. you're the number one man. have a swell party.'
the birthday greetings you sent to your old pal, adolf hider.
think carefully, wilhelm.  maybe not in your own name, but as privy councillor or vice-president.
yes, david?
well, i tried, you got to admit i tried. i thought i might just trap you there, wilhelm, but david here was too quick for me. smart move, david, smart move. no, i don't have the telegram, but i know it exists. and i want you to know, wilhelm, we're going to keep looking for it because i believe you sent it.
art and politics, yeah, art and politics. let's look at that. you and the berlin philharmonic toured the third reich, played in countries the nazis had conquered. are you saying that conducting in occupied territories from 1939 on wasn't a commercial for adolf and all he stood for?
you know something? you should've written our insurance policies for us because you got more exclusion clauses than double indemnity. what do you imagine people thought? the berlin philharmonic's taken over by doctor goebbels and his propaganda ministry but wilhelm is a freelance, so art and politics are now entirely separate? is that what you believed ordinary people thought?
no!
tell me about von der null.
yes, von der null.
how long's this going to go on, wilhelm? i say von der null, you say von der null, i say von der null, you say von der null, we could go on all day. you know who von der null is, don't you? edwin von der nuell, music critic.
isn't it true that because he gave you bad reviews and praised this young guy, von karajan, called him a goddamn miracle, said he was a better conductor than you, then you had von der null conscripted into the army and no one's heard from him since?
you sure you didn't call one of your close buddies and say, god in heaven, did you see what that guy von der null wrote about me? the greatest conductor on earth. i want him out the way. he had the nerve to accuse me i am not playing enough modern music. send him to stalingrad. isn't that what you did? you don't like criticism, do you, wilhelm? you surely didn't like them saying there was another conductor who was better than you.  are you saying the name von der null was never mentioned in your talks with goebbels?
and what did he say?
and what happened to von der nul?
you've really no idea? i'll tell you what happened. he died in stalingrad.
now, that young conductor what's his name? that miracle kid, you know who i mean. von karajan! but you called him something else. c'mon. what did you call von karajan?
say it.
i'll say it, then. 'little k.' is that right? you couldn't even bear to say his name!
i'll tell you why. you remember we talked about you playing for hitler's birthday? and you told me that goebbels got to your doctors first, that you were tricked?
i have a different story to tell. i don't think you were tricked. not in the way you describe. i believe something else happened. i've seen the hinkel archive, i've seen records of phone calls, and putting it all together, this is what i think happened. i think goebbels said, 'wilhelm, if you won't conduct for adolf's birthday, we'll get the miracle kid, the guy that critic, von der null, thinks is the greatest conductor in the world. he's not just willing to conduct for adolf, he's offered to sing "happy birthday" as a solo.'
come on, admit it. k worried you, didn't he? he always worried you. in 1942, he's thirty-four years old, you're already fifty-six. and goebbels and goering keep saying to you, 'if you don't do it, little k will.' never mind art and politics and symbols and airy-fairy bullshit about liberty, humanity and justice because i don't care how great you are. it's the oldest story in the book, the ageing romeo jealous of the young buck. the real reason you didn't leave the country when you knew you should have was that you were frightened that, once you were out of the way, you'd be supplanted by the miracle kid, the party's boy twice over, flashy, talented little k.
well, i'm just beginning to develop my theme. isn't that what you call it in classical music, developing your theme? okay, so they played on your insecurity. that's human, understandable. but, there is one guy who doesn't like little k as much as he likes you - yeah, the number one man your old pal, adolf. he thinks you're the greatest, and when he says, i want wilhelm for my birthday, boy, they better go out get wilhelm. so, josef calls and threatens you with little k. and you said to hell with the ninth in vienna, i'll give it to adolf as a birthday present in berlin. that's the trick they played, they got you by the balls and they squeezed. hard. why did you stay? why did you play for them? why were you the flag-carrier for their regime? jealousy?
you see, wilhelm, i'm talking about ordinary, everyday reasons. which is why i want to discuss your private life. how many illegitimate children do you have?
david, what are you counsel for the defence now? did you hear the question?
what?
you like the women, don't you, wilhelm?
isn't it true that before every concert you got a woman in your dressing room and gave her the old conductor's baton, isn't that true?
you bet.
not so, counsellor. that secretary of yours, she wasn't just your secretary, she procured women for you, didn't she? as many and as often as you wanted.
no, i'm not going to stop it. hitler himself offered you a beautiful house and a personal bomb shelter.
but you see what i'm getting at? you get a gorgeous house, you're highly paid. what are you gonna do, stay or leave? one voice comes back at me: stay!
but it still doesn't make them saints. they still have to get up and piss in the middle of the night, don't they? they can still be vindictive and envious and mean just like you and me. well, just like me. can't they?
okay, wilhelm, go home now. go home and think about these past twelve years.
no, that's your problem, wilhelm. you understand nothing. we'll call you. go!
what?
my manner? why don't you go downstairs, get a cup of coffee and calm down? what's the matter, emmi? what's going on with you? what's wrong?
what is this, emmi?
what's not right?
emmi, stop! i want to show you something. let me show you something and then if you want to leave, you can leave, please please. his friends, they did this. and he gave them birthday concerts.
if he had no idea, why did the jews need saving? this is the question, emmi, to all germans: why did the jews need saving in this country? why, if people had no idea?
yeah.
with more what? more what?
david, i don't understand a thing about you. you're a jew. are you a jew?
a human being, oh, good, i'm relieved, i thought you were going to say you were a music lover. this man, this great artist has made anti-semitic remarks like you wouldn't believe. i got letters.
what is it with you, david? where are your feelings? where's your hatred, your disgust? where's your fucking outrage, david?
think of your parents, david, and then think of him conducting 'happy birthday, dear adolf'. i mean, for chrissake, whose side are you on? grow up! just grow the fuck up!
everybody says what a great benefactor you were to the jews. but-- i have things here you said and wrote. listen to this: 'the jew composer schonberg is admired by the jewish international.' and what about this: 'jewish musicians lack a genuine affinity with our music.' 'jewish musicians are good businessmen with few scruples, lacking roots.' you deny you said these things?
i believe that. but just answer the question, don't give me explanations.
how many times have i got to tell you i was in insurance? you think i can't smell a phoney policy when it's shoved under my nose? sure, he helped jews, but that was just insurance, his cover, because all the while he was maestro of all he surveyed, see, wilhelm, i think you're their boy, their creature. you were like an advertising slogan for them: this is what we produce, the greatest conductor in the world. and you went along with it. the truth of the matter is, wilhelm, you didn't need to be a member of the party. i made a mistake when i asked you for your party number. i should've asked you for your non- party number. just like some other well-known artists. emmi, put that record on.
do you know what that is?
okay, so what is it?
who's conducting?
you know the last time it was played on these air waves?
i'll tell you, then. the last time this music was played on these air waves was after they announced that your pal hitler had shot himself. listen to it. they listen. did they pick little k's recording? did they pick some other conductor? no, they picked you, and why? because you represented them so beautifully. when the devil died, they wanted his bandleader to conduct the funeral march. you were everything to them.
have you ever smelled burning flesh? i smelt it four miles away. four miles away, i smelt it. have you ever seen the gas chambers, the crematoria? have you seen the mounds of rotting corpses? you talk to me about culture, art and music? you putting that in the scales, wilhelm? you setting culture, art and music against the millions put to death by your pals? they had orchestras in the camps. they played beethoven, wagner. the hangmen were playing chamber music at home with their families. i don't understand the germans' relationship with music. what do you need music for? your pals you could call to save a few jews when millions of them were being annihilated? yes, i blame you for not getting hanged, i blame you for your cowardice. you strutted and swaggered, you fucking piece of shit, king-pin in a shithouse. you talk to me about walking a tightrope between exile and the gallows, and i say to you, lies!
look around you. see the country you served. look at people who had real courage, who took risks, who risked their lives. like emmi's father.
emmi, take your fingers out of your ears!
i'm talking about your father.
get him out of here.
major arnold. get me general wallace. general? major arnold, about furtwngler. i don't know if we've got a case that'll stand up, but sure as hell we can give him a hard time.
hey, turn that down, would you? can't you see i'm on the phone? never mind, we got a journalist who'll do whatever we tell him.
turn it off!