“KRISTALLNACHT”
By
Spencer Gregory
©January 18, 2006
TITLE CARD
“However long the night, the dawn will break.”
– African Proverb
CUT TO
INT. OFFICE – NIGHT
A man is waiting outside of the office.
TEXT APPEARS
“Paris, France
Monday, November 7, 1938
Third Secretary of the Germany Embassy in Paris
Ernst vom Rath’s Office”
TEXT DISAPPEARS
The man enters the office. Several gunshots are heard.
CUT TO
INT. BANQUET HALL – NIGHT
Propaganda Minister JOSEPH GOEBBELS is giving a speech.
JOSEPH GOEBBELS
The Fuhrer has decided that such demonstrations should not be prepared or organized by the party, but insofar as they erupt spontaneously, they are not to be hampered.
CUT TO
INT. BAR – DAY
We see a man sweeping up the bar. A woman is behind the bar, cleaning it.
TEXT APPEARS
“GERMANY
November 9, 1938”
TEXT DISAPPEARS
The woman starts to talk to the man.
WOMAN
Well, we didn’t quite make out the budget, David.
DAVID
I know, it’s getting harder. They keep hassling us every day. Making it seem like every Jew was responsible for Rath’s death.
WOMAN
Why should we all be punished for what one stupid man does?
DAVID
Deborah, it’s just life. We must just try to keep going.
DEBORAH
(BEAT) David, do you think things will ever go back to the way they were?
DAVID
I don’t know. Only time will tell. (BEAT) Come, let’s go to bed.
DAVID and DEBORAH both walk up the stairs.
CUT TO
EXT. STREETS – NIGHT
We see many people rioting in the streets.
TEXT APPEARS
“Later that Night”
TEXT DISSAPPEARS
Many of the people are throwing things at the buildings. Many fires are being set.
CUT TO
A SYNAGOGUE
Many people run up to the synagogue and start to light it on fire.
A JEWISH MAN runs up to the burning synagogue.
JEWISH MAN
No! Why are you doing this?
GERMAN MAN
Shut it, Jew!
A group of people start to beat the JEWISH MAN.
CUT TO
INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT
We see a Jewish man and woman sleeping in bed. They are suddenly awakened by loud banging. The man gets up and goes to his front door.
He opens it and is immediately knocked down by a German man. The Jewish man is then pulled out of the house.
CUT TO
THE STREETS
There are many fires and much destruction in the streets. We see people being beaten and arrested left and right. A few people manage to get away.
CUT TO
INT. GERMAN HOME – NIGHT
A GERMAN MAN and a GERMAN WOMAN are talking. The sound of the mob can be heard in the background.
GERMAN WOMAN
Henrik, what are we going to do? We are not members of the Nazi party!
HENRIK
Elena, why should they come after us? We are not Jews.
ELENA
Why shouldn’t they come after us? They might just say we are Jews.
HENRIK
Elena, everything will be alright. Just stay calm.
CUT TO
DAVID & DEBORAH’S ROOM
DAVID and DEBORAH are sleeping when they are suddenly awakened by banging at their bar’s door. DAVID gets up and goes to see who is at the door.
DAVID walks up to the door.
DAVID
Who is it?
JEWISH MAN (O.S.)
Please help us!
DAVID
What is it? Are you in some kind of trouble?
JEWISH MAN
This is Wilek Scherner, your neighbor!
DAVID opens the door and WILEK SCHERNER and a few others run in. The others are WILEK’S wife, HELEN, HERMAN KLONOWSKA, MANCI KLONOWSKA, MARCEL TOFFEL and JUDA TOFFEL.
DAVID
What is happening?
WILEK
The Germans! They burned the synagogue! They’re beating us in the streets!
DAVID
Who are all of these people?
WILEK
This is Helen, my wife, Herman and (short pause) and Manci Klonowska, and this is (short pause) uh, Marcel and Juda Toffel.
DEBORAH
(coming down the stairs)They burned the synagogue?
WILEK
Yes!
DEBORAH
Why?
WILEK
We don’t know! But we need to hide somewhere.
The sounds of the mob approaching can be heard.
DAVID
Deborah, take the women out the back way. Try to get to Ingrid Rosner’s house in the country.
DEBORAH
But David, what about you?
DAVID
We will stay here and try to make a diversion.
The women start to go out the back. DEBORAH stays behind for a moment.
DEBORAH
David (beat) I love you.
DAVID
I love you too, Deborah.
They kiss. DEBORAH exits. DAVID turns to the men.
HERMAN
David, what are we going to do?
DAVID
My father once told me, ‘Do not be like the warriors, but be like the angels.’
WILEK
David, you can not be serious.
DAVID
I am, Wilek. We must not be like these people.
WILEK
But, I thought you said we were going to try to make a diversion?
DAVID
What could we do? I have no weapons. We have no way to defend ourselves from the mob.
WILEK
What shall we do then?
DAVID
We will know when the time comes.
CUT TO
THE COUNTRY SIDE – NIGHT
We see DEBORAH and the women walking.
HELEN
Deborah, who is Ingrid?
DEBORAH
She is an old friend of ours. She does not live very far from here.
JUDA
How far is it then?
DEBORAH
Only about a mile, but we must hurry. The mob is not far behind.
CUT TO
EXT. DAVID & DEBORAH’S BAR
We see that the mob has come to the bar and are trying to break in. DAVID and the men exit.
GERMAN MAN
Get them!
The mob storms the few men. They begin to run. DAVID and WILEK manage to escape. The others are being beaten by the mob.
CUT TO
BACK ALLEY
DAVID and WILEK are
WILEK
(frantic) David, what shall we do?
DAVID
(Frantic) I don’t know! I don’t know, Wilek!
WILEK
We should try to find the women.
DAVID
They could be at Ingrid’s by now. We must hurry to get there.
CUT TO
INT. INGRID’S HOME
DEBORAH and the women are gathered in Ingrid’s home. DEBORAH is staring out the window. INGRID walks up to her.
INGRID
Deborah, I’m sure David is alright.
DEBORAH
I hope you’re right, Ingrid.
CUT TO
COUNTRYSIDE
DAVID and WILEK are walking to Ingrid’s house.
WILEK
David, do you think that the women made it to Ingrid’s alright?
DAVID
Wilek, I am sure they are all alright.
WILEK
(Beat) Why did they do this?
DAVID
Who?
WILEK
The Germans. Why are they attacking us?
DAVID
Maybe it has to do with Rath’s death.
WILEK
Why would they blame us for the actions of a stupid man?
DAVID
As I told Deborah earlier, it is just life. Now, Ingrid’s is just up the road there.
CUT TO
INT. INGRID’S HOUSE
DEBORAH is staring out the window, still.
DEBORAH
David! It’s David! And Wilek!
The women start to get excited.
MANCI
Oh, praise God!
DAVID and WILEK enter. They both embrace their wives.
JUDA
Where are the others?
DAVID
They…didn’t make it. The mob got them. They are alright, though.
MANCI
Where are they? Where are they?
DAVID
The last we saw of them was that the mob had simply arrested them. They are probably in the jail, now.
The sound of the mob approaching can be heard again.
JUDA
Oh, not again!
DEBORAH
David, now what shall we do?
DAVID
We must go again.
INGRID
I am not leaving.
DEBORAH
Ingrid, please…
INGRID
(Interrupting) No! This has been my home for over fifty years, and I am not giving it up to some filthy Nazis!
DAVID
Ingrid, please, you must come with us.
INGRID
I said ‘No’, and that is final!
JUDA
Please, we have to hurry. The mob is coming.
DAVID
Alright. Goodbye, Ingrid, maybe we shall see you again.
INGRID
In time, David, in time.
DAVID, WILEK, DEBORAH, and the women exit, leaving INGRID behind.
CUT TO
DAVID, DEBORAH and the rest are walking in the countryside, again.
DEBORAH
David, where do we go now?
DAVID
There is a town up this road. We may find a shelter, there.
CUT TO
THE TOWN UP THE ROAD
As they enter the town, the group finds that it has already been ransacked. They walk along the burning city and the rubble. They come up to the synagogue of the town.
WILEK
Oh, dear God.
DEBORAH
Are they going to burn every synagogue?
DAVID
I don’t know.
HELEN
Wilek! Look out!
Suddenly WILEK is hit over the head. Another mob has descended onto the group. DAVID and WILEK are seen being beaten as the women are taken away.
Crane up to the burning synagogue.
FADE OUT.
OVER BLACK
TEXT APPEARS
“David and Wilek were arrested and sent to Auschwitz.
Deborah, Helen, Juda, and Manci were set free. In 1942, Deborah was sent to Gross-Rosen in Poland. Helen, Juda, and Manci were sent to Flossenburg near the border of the CzechRepublic.
Deborah was the only survivor of them all and did not find out about their deaths until a year after she was freed.
The burnings, beatings, and killings lasted until the morning hours of the 10th. In all, over 30,000 Jewish men were sent to concentration camps, and 1,668 synagogues were
ransacked or set on fire.
“No foreign propagandist bent upon blackening Germany before the world could outdo the tale of burnings and beatings, of blackguardly assaults on defenseless and innocent people, which disgraced that country yesterday.”
1The Times, November 11, 1938.
ROLL CREDITS
THE END