I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND
Correctional Facility
Prague
I was sentenced to 15 years,
but because of the amnesty
I only served 14 years, 9 months.
It was always my luck
to run into bad luck.
My whole life, I aspired solely
to becoming a millionaire.
But before that
I wanted nothing more
than to peddle frankfurters
at the train station.
I'm hungry.
Forget the coins,
just give me back the bills!
And I sold
those frankfurters so well
that I was determined
to become a millionaire.
Then I'd buy a small hotel
and marry a rich bride
and when my wife
and I put our money together
I'd be respected
like the other hoteliers.
Everyone would recognize me
as a rich man as a millionaire.
I was even able
to cry at the station.
And because I was small,
perfectly piccolo,
They let me have the money
because they took me for an orphan.
So I started
having money of my own.
Within a month I had a couple
hundred, then even 1000 crowns.
And I discovered
what motivates people
and what they're willing to do
for a few coins:
They'll bend over, kneel down,
even crawl on all fours.
I used to daydream about
scooping up fistfuls of coins
and scattering them
like a shower of seed.
I saw almost no one could
resist collecting those coppers,
how they'd jostle each other and
butt heads to snatch them up,
coins they all thought
were theirs and theirs alone.
But that was long ago.
After they released me, they said.
I could find
whatever work I pleased
on the condition
that it be near the border.
They sent me to be a roadman
faraway in the mountains
where resettled Germans
had abandoned their cottages
They even gave me
the key to one of them.
And the unbelievable, which was
becoming reality, did not desert me.
I knew that another person
would have fled from here
as from a place of ill fortune.
But I rejoiced
to see such devastation.
I knew that I would like it here,
that this would be my new home.
I considered it a good omen
that the key fit a former pub
because I started out in a pub
and I had worked
in the hotel trade my whole life.
I was small, from a small village,
and here it felt
like the big world.
A select society came:
The notary and the stationmaster,
the veterinarian, the music
school master, the industrialists...
They could sip beer all afternoon
discussing, for example,
a poplar that stood outside town
by a bridge 30 years ago.
One would say that there
had been no bridge, only a poplar.
Another said the bridge
was just a plank and a handrail.
They shouted and cursed.
But it was alljust pretend.
They only shouted so as
to enjoy the beer all the morel
Do you think
I should move my bishop to G7?
Move your knight
to C5 and you'll win.
Mr. Dite,
mind your own business!
Hold on there... That shrimp
is right. Checkmate!
Another time they argued
about the best beer in Bohemia.
One said Protivin,
another Vodnany, another Nymburk,
- and another said...
- Pilsner is known the world over!
And although they shouted
they all liked each other.
They only shouted
as a way of killing time.
And I was amazed at how rich
people can enjoy themselves all afternoon.
Except from the lungs, I'd like
every main course you have.
Bring one after another
until I say to stop.
Then bring four mineral waters
and a pound of salami to my room.
Thus I came to know Mr. Walden.
He liked me most probably
because he was as small as I.
I Represent Van Berkel & Co.
The largest firm in the world
is the Catholic Church.
They deal in something
no one has ever seen or touched:
Namely that which we call God.
The second largest,
Van Berkel, makes scales
that weigh accurately whether
at the equator or the North Pole
We also make al kinds
of meat and salami sheers.
Observe the charm
of this instrument...
Ever seen anything more beautiful?
It took me a week to earn
everything you see on the carpet.
I sold ten scales and
seven meat and salami sheers.
I buy, I sell, I know
what to buy and where to sell.
That's al there is to it.
I saw you selling
frankfurters at the station.
I've also seen what you do
with your loose change.
But you have to know how
to throw your change away
so that it comes back
as banknotes.
Hang in there! You're small
and from small people.
You're going places.
Remember, it's in your blood.
Money can lay the world at your feet!
Remember, my boy,
if you succeed,
life can be beautiful,
so beautiful!
An image of myself had come to me.
I would lay out all the money
I earned just like that.
On the floor, I would arrange
an image of my abilities, my power.
But now the only thing
I 'arrange' is the gravel.
I myself have crushed
to lay a road with.
More and more I conflate
maintaining this road with maintaining my life,
a life which, in hindsight, seems
as if it happened to someone else,
a life which seems
like a novel written by another.
Welcome! Did they send you
here as punishment too?
Punishment?
- Nobody's here for just no reason.
- No?
My name is Marcela.
I apprenticed at the chocolate
factory in Orionka.
My name is Dite. I'm supposed
to lay gravel on this road.
We're here to find trees
with melodies in them. Music.
Spruce trees like this are scarce.
Music has been preserved in it.
We'll take this tree
to an instrument factory,
and it'll be cut up
into planks and thin boards,
then made into violins and cellos,
string instruments of music.
- I m here being punished too.
- Punished?
Because like to... dance.
Mankind is a progeny evil,
stupid and criminal.
That man is here
for some reason too, right?
I'd say he was
university educated.
He taught
French literature and esthetics.
- How did you know?
- By his fingers.
And your eyes tell me
that you like the male species.
I like to dance,
and to go with whoever I please.
I knew right off
that she was from reform school,
or was one of those girls who
stands by Prague's Powder Tower.
And I longed
to slowly undress her.
If not in fact
then at least with my eyes.
I actually surprised
and I found it a good sign
that that young redhead
had awoken desire in me
after all those years.
You re a trainee so remember:
You see and hear nothing. Repeat!
I see nothing, I hear nothing.
Remember this too: You must
see and hear everything. Repeat!
I must see and hear everything.
Come on in, miss.
Hurry or you'll get wet. Come!
Please, have a seat.
Like a toddy? Here...
Go ahead.
Ah, it stopped raining.
- Thank you.
Oh, no, that's alright.
That's the new girl from Paradise.
Her name is Jaruska.
The veterinarian was seen
Thursday at Paradise.
Oh yes it is!
And he took a room with Helena!
And, gents, it was
Wednesday not Thursday!
But not Helena,
It was long-legged Vlasticka.
Long-legged Vlasticka,
the one with...
So i began to hear nothing
and yet hear everything,
to see everything
and yet see nothing.
And now I only wanted to hear
and see everything at Paradise.
What would you like, junior?
It was quite different from
what I'd been used to alone.
It was so forbiddingly beautiful
that I wished for nothing else.
I looked at the world
differently from then on.
I'm up a creek again,
aren't I, Mr. Dite?
Not at all.
Just move your queen...
Raspberry grenadine!
- What about my queen?
- Right away...
look what you've done, you shrimp!
Is this how you wait tables?
How dare you!"
I won't listen to such slander.
- He ruined your dress.
- What business is it of yours?
- I'll have to pay for it.
- I want nothing from you.
Watch this...
For the check.
Come to Paradise tonight.
I bought a beautiful bouquet
of wild poppies.
The scent of raspberry
trailed behind her.
She stepped out in that
silk dress full of peonies,
and bees hovered around her
like a Turkish honey store.
But I knew I had to leave.
An apprentice waiter
cannot take the liberties
a respectable citizen
only enjoys in private.
But there was some luck
in this misfortune.
I was hired at Hotel Tichota.
The hotelier, Mr. Tichota, hired me
at the request of my guardian angel:
Van Berkel's sales representative,
Mr. Walden.
The hotel was like in a fairy tale.
It reminded me of sleeping Beauty.
I couldn't really imagine
how I'd ended up here,
or who it was built for, or if
it was possible to live like this.
The hotel was set up
like an orchestrion:
Someone would suddenly put a coin
in it and it would begin to play.
- Need a railcar of Hungarian hogs?
- Lord!
- How about two?
- What are you feeding me?
- A whole trainload?
- Yuck!
Okay, then.
I determined to save up
so that chambermaid would be mine.
I never saw happier men
than those rich industrialists.
Like all rich people they were
as playful and merry as puppies.
We have winter pleasures
in the middle of summer.
Here, I discovered
that those who said
"work is ennobling" were
the same men who drank all night
and ate with lovely young ladies
seated at their knees.
I've come up in the world.
Stop! I like looking at it.
- A pound of salami to finish up?
- No, leave that for the poor.
I used to think
rich people were cursed,
and that only garrets, sour soup
and potatoes can bring people joy.
But our guests had invented that
drivel about cottages being cozy.
They didn't care how much they spent,
and they felt just fine.
- Good evening.
- What are you feeding me?
- Is everything alright?
- You scoundrels want me to die.
I guess I neglected my cancer.
My liver is gone
and I no doubt have renal gravel.
Entire streets of apartment houses
are bought and sold at this hotel.
I mustn't overeat.
Even castles have been sold,
and a chateau or two.
I have a crankshaft
factory to sell.
Factories are bought and
sold here, hunting grounds,
agents have negotiated envelope
shipments for all over Europe.
A half-billion-crown loan was
negotiated here for the Balkans.
I wont go under two million.
Excuse me...
two trainloads
of munitions were sold.
And all accompanied by
champagne, oysters and young ladies.
A girl is fancied after seven,
she dazzles as you dine.
Then she promises you heaven
but when will she incline?
A man thinks. Why do I wait?
A promise is forever.
Miss, how about a private date?
The sooner we go the better.
Not just yet, in a while,
after the lights go out
in the bar.
Not just yet, in a while
let's close down another bar.
Not just yet, in a while
when were alone together.
A vow she makes
then kisses takes,
but not yet, in a while.
My bill!
The general deigned to eat,
drink, and break the following:
Three bottles of champagne,
66 crowns;
then he ordered one roast goose;
and two dozen oysters, 39 crowns;
three bottles of 1923 Beaujolais,
two turtle soups, 32 and 20 crowns;
a dozen snails, 14 crowns;
the general trampled one Moser
cut glass bowl, 169 crowns;
two pike au vin blanc, 36 crowns;
one broken water pitcher, 12 crowns;
two creams of asparagus,16 crowns;
one flag stand, 57 crowns;
one Japanese porcelain service
came in harm's way, 1,327 crowns;
one 1918 Chateau Mouton
Rothschild, 161 crowns.
And later the general ordered
and ate a whole roast cock, 20...
Enough?
Enough.
Once again I knew I had to leave.
I had to go elsewhere in order
to learn everything I needed to know.
For when I would be a millionaire
and would have my own grand hotel.
Once again Mr. Walden
recommended me and I was lucky enough
To be hired by Mr. Brandejs,
hotelier and millionaire
owner of Prague's most
beautiful hotel.
Hotel Paris was so beautiful
that I almost swooned.
My luck held, and I was placed
where I could learn the most
under the tutelage
of the maitre d', Mr. Skrivanek.
I noted that one waiter
at this gorgeous hotel
liked to pinch off a bite
when he thought no one was looking.
For some reason
he didn't seem to like me.
Move it, shrimp!
- You even speak Chinese?
- That was Korean.
- Une table.
- Un table...
- Une table, you cow!
- Un table, you cow.
Silly goose, I'm going
to take my belt to your behind.
- Une table.
- Finally!
Une chaire...
She's an idiot. Une chaire!
A 'chair' is for bending over.
- Putain.
- Putain...
Of course you know that one.
- Aujourd'hui...
- What?
Well, we have mutton heads,
calf brains,
and there's nothing
in our heads but jelly.
Wow, you idiot, how do you know?
I have a medal
from the Emperor of Ethiopia.
That patron will have
goulash or tripe soup.
That patron will have
toasted bread with no garlic.
Tea and toast, no garlic!
Learn to recognize a bilious diner.
Look at him;
his liver is probably shot too.
Sir, how do you know everything?
- How do you know?
- I served the King of England!
The king? Oh, my lord!
You served the King of England?
Who was that?
She must be from Paris.
That's a certain Julinka
from east Prague.
How can you tell?
You served the King of England...
Mr. Brandejs liked that waiter.
He thought him a credit to the place.
His ability to carry so many dishes
was nearly an acrobatic feat.
I still didn't understand.
But everyone in the trade said
that it had happened to them
the result would have been the same
because a front waiter
has only one point of honor.
And I was promoted to front waiter
under the tutelage
of the maitre d', Mr. Skfivanek.
I inherited other duties
from my predecessor as well.
What was it like
with the Ethiopian Emperor?
- You don't believe me?
- Should I?
Invite me to dinner
and tell me all about it.
Man is indestructible. He just
transforms, metamorphoses.
Every person contains
enough phosphorus
to make ten boxes of matches
and enough iron to forge a nail
to hang himself on...
Good evening.
Man is indestructible
both mentally and physically.
A person also contains
enough water
to make ten liters
of tripe soup. I'm hungry!
I can't eat this.
I can't eat this.
I guess I neglected
my cancer and I've got an ulcer.
My liver is gone
and I no doubt have renal gravel.
I've got a good heart
and lungs, good legs...
The doctor says he's never
seen such a 60-year-old.
I could live to be ninety.
Isn't that a shame? Who did
I offend? Why must I live so...
Sorry, but we don't have a mirror.
Is it true that mankind is
a progeny evil, stupid and criminals?
Worse than that.
All philosophers and prophets
exclude Jesus Christ.
They're nothing more
than a pack of scoundrels,
villains, bastards, and murders.
Mankind would be
better off without them.
- We in the 20th century...
- What was it like with the emperor?
It's true: I have a medal
from the Emperor of Ethiopia.
We in the 20th century
are inclined
to see the glory in ourselves
and the shame in others.
That's how the mess got started.
And in that unimaginable chaos...
It really is a medal
from the Emperor of Ethiopia.
I was lucky enough that
the most illustrious of honors
took place at Hotel Paris.
That distinguished African
guest chose our hotel
to host a gala banquet for the
government and diplomatic corps.
His cooks brought
a live camel to the hotel.
It was unambiguously bleating,
"No, no!" - -to not slit its throat
But its throat was slit kosher style
and blood, filled the hotel yard.
Then those Ethiopian cooks
boned the whole camel,
made a huge fire,
and roasted it.
They had to antelopes
quickly skinned and roasted.
Then they put stuffed, half roasted
turkeys into the antelopes.
The filled the empty spaces
with hundreds of hardboiled eggs,
and put the turkey-stuffed
antelopes into the camel.
The turkeys were stuffed with fish,
and everything was packed with eggs.
Hey kept sprinkling everything with
special spices while drinking beer.
When the table was laid, the
Emperor and various Ethiopian potentates
arrived with our prime minister
and other officials.
And then that African specialty
was sumptuously served,
a small token from
the emperor of Ethiopia.
The emperor was satisfied.
It had been arranged that
the oldest and most respected
of the wait staff, Mr. Skrivanek,
would be decorated
for the excellent banquet.
Once again
I knew I couldn't stay long.
No one would forgive the fact that
I alone had receive that medal.
Good evening.
Get a move on, dammit!
I'm going to take
my belt to your behind!
I knew that the girl
from the chocolate factory,
who was being punished because
she liked to sleep around,
would not be happy.
Instead, her life
would be sadly beautiful.
Life with her would be anguish
and fulfillment in one.
And it came to me that she didn't
care who used to live here
that it was indifferent to her
history of those who'd had to leave.
They'd lived here for centuries,
but I knew nothing about them,
people I now clean up after.
This is the final territorial
claim that I must raise here,
but it is a claim that I will
bring to a satisfactory end.
The history of the problem:
In 1918,
under the heading of the right
to national self-determination,
several insane so-called statesmen
reshaped Central Europe.
It is to them that
Czechoslovakia owes its existence.
That state is founded on the lie
that a Czechoslovak nation exists.
The father of that lie is Benes.
I began to pay more
attention to myself.
I dressed nicely in my free time
and started wearing lifts
so I'd be a bit taller.
Soon after Hitler's speech,
the Sudetenland was occupied.
Victorious German students
walked down Prague's streets.
In revenge, Czechs stole the
white socks right off their feet.
And I saw how all Czechs
were unfair to the Germans,
and I was ashamed I'd been
a member of the Sokol gym club.
Czech hooligans roughly tore
the knee socks off a young woman.
In Czech I shouted, "Czechs, yuck!
What are you doing, you rabble?"
I shouted until they let us go.
They carried off her sock like
a white scalp, a white trophy.
The girl wheezed out:
"Take it you Bolshevik scum. "
"To disgrace a German teacher
from Cheb like this!"
Prague is a beautiful Reich city.
And it is every German's inalienable
right to walk the streets.
I was so incensed that I wanted
to rip my Sokol membership card.
But I couldn't find it.
A day will come when
the Fuhrer will liberate
every German from the bohemian
Forest to the Carpathians.
Why is it so deserted here?
This was a German village.
Germans and Czechs
lived side by side for centuries.
Hitler came
and the Czechs had to leave.
Then the Germans lost the war
and had to leave.
They were resettled.
I understood why the political
leaders were resettled:
They were brutal, full of a pride
that was their ultimate undoing.
What I didn't understand
was why the workers had to leave,
hands that have yet
to be replaced.
- Were you in the war?
- No. We Czechs don't fight wars.
The Munich Pact, which decreed
that all territory inhabited by
a German majority goes to
the Reich, has led to accelerating
the German army's occupation
of the Czech border regions.
The government, deliberating on
the hard international situation
and forced by circumstances
coming out of the Munich diktat,
could do nothing other than bow
its hitherto proud Czechoslovak head
to unprecedented pressure.
The Czech inhabitants have been
enabled to move to the interior
where they are seeking new homes.
It is up to us and our
solidarity if they find them
and if they are able to find work
under these new circumstances.
N territory now occupied
by German inhabitants,
German Chancellor Adolf Hitler
receives an enthusiastic welcome.
In his Berlin address,
the Reichschancellor
assured world powers that he has
no further territorial claims.
Master max Svabinsky
works on designing a new stamp.
It's issue was made necessary
by changes in the state apparatus.
Engraver Bedrich Heinz
executes Svabinsky's original,
and other specialists
ready the stamp for printing.
Soon the stamp will delight
postal customers everywhere,
as well as collectors and admirers
of Master Svabinskv as well.
Here's your handkerchief back.
My name is Lise.
- And I'm Dite.
- Dite? That means 'child. '
My name is Dite. Jan Dite.
Mv birthplace is so small that I saw
coal for the first time last year.
I'm from Cheb.
I teach physical education
and I'm a regional swimming champ.
I'm maitre d' at Prague's
most beautiful hotel: Hotel Paris.
Maitre d'?
Not quite yet, but soon.
Except for the lungs, you'd
like every main course we have!
Just mineral water, please.
Know anyone who sells stamps?
- Das Menu, bitte
- Excuse me?
- Das Menu.
- Sorry, I don't understand.
- Die Speisekarte.
- Sorry, I don't understand.
War is coming everything
will drop in value except stamps.
They are easy to hide
and transport.
I sold everything
and I'm buying stamps!
Stamps! Stamps! Not gold or jewels.
Currency or securities? Impossible!
War is coming, everything
will drop in value except stamps.
These damn Czechs
are vermin, scum, slaves, pigs...
Maitre d' Skrivanek taught me
that I must recognize
where each patron is from
and be able to differentiate Czechs
from Germans, French from Poles...
he said I must learn to know
what a customer is likely to order.
I must be able to guess how much
money a customer has on him
and thus how much he'll spend,
or should spend.
And I must also know
who hasn't been served yet,
and who'd like the check so they
won't have to snap their fingers.
I saw that she was
as small as I, and beautiful.
And I noticed that she
looked at me the same way.
She looked at my hair, as light
as straw, at my sheep's blue eyes.
And I knew that I had
to protect her against all Czechs
who would harm
this little Sudeten girl.
She told me I had the most
beautiful blond hair in the world
and I told her that when I became
the maitre d' of Hotel Paris,
I'd save up for a hotel of own
and I'd be the hotelier.
With such a medal we could open
a hotel in the Sudeten Mountains
or in the Bohemian Paradise.
We'd call it the Order
of the Ethiopian Empire Hotel.
I care for you.
You were so brave.
To protect my German honor
against the Czech rabble but...
I'm not German.
Lise lectured me about
the importance of pure blood,
and that races should not mix.
She said race isn't determined
by language but by blood,
and that mixing blood
would harm the superior race,
that mating with an inferior race
would dilute its cultish power...
But I didn't know how
- nor did I want- to listen.
Eventually, Lise asked me
to check my genealogy
because I must have
some German ancestors.
I said that my granddad's name on
his grave was written Johann Ditie,
and that he'd been a lord s groom.
I was ashamed
he'd been a horse groom,
but in her eyes I grew more
than if I'd been a Czech count.
This customer will have tea
with bread and butter.
This customer will have
Prague ham and pickles,
and a glass or Pilsner.
- A Pilsner and Prague ham!
- And a pickle on the side!
I bet you I know
where this young lady is from.
You cannot expect anything better
from such Czech rabble!
Mr. Dite!
You are not a good Czech;
you are discharged.
And I will see to it
that no one in Prague hires you.
Prague is a beautiful Reich city.
A day will come when the Fuhrer
will liberate every German from the
Bohemian Forest to the Carpathians.
She told me that Reich Germans
long for Slavic blood.
That they nave been trying
for thousands of years to marry it.
Czech People,
at the eleventh hour I resolved,
with the agreement of the government,
to seek an audience
with Reichschancellor Adolf Hitler.
After a long talk
with the Reichschancellor
and after ascertaining
the state of affairs.
I have decided to announce
that I am surrendering the fate
of the Czech nation and state.
Into the hands
of the leader of the German nation.
In return for this show of trust
I received a promise
that our nation would be
guaranteed independence
and our right to develop
our national life.
Well, It didn't help in the least
that you served the King of England.
- What is it?
- A mirror.
The villagers gave me lots of them.
They were glad to see them go.
They say that Germans appear
when they look into them.
- Do you believe that?
- No.
Seeing myself is quite enough.
The Nuremberg Laws stated that
as a citizen of another nation.
In order to marry Lise Rapanek
I had to be examined
to see if I were fit
to impregnate Arian German blood.
And now young man,
like in your youth...
Vile Traitors Justly Executed!
Nothing yet?
Those beads of my semen
were labeled excellent:
Fit to impregnate an Arial
vagina in a dignified manner.
And the officer for the protection
of German Blood and Honor
found nothing against
my marrying Arian German blood.
I had a wonderful feeling from
being able to attend a celebration
with young people
just as fair haired as I.
And though I couldn't speak proper
German, I felt like a German.
Lise explained, to everyone
that I had defended her German
honor against the Czech rabble,
and I tried to get used to the role
of a tolerated Arian-Bohemian,
but I didn't let on.
I knew that any of the officers
could woo Lise,
but I was always the only one
who enchanted her.
Because I know the necessity
of love and play and playfulness
behind closed doors.
This I understood When I garnished
Jaruska's tummy with daisies
and the tummies of Vanda, Julinka,
and others with any suitable thing.
- Maitre d' sir, they're...
- I know.
As a member of the German army,
Lise got me a job
at an unexpected place:
Hotel Tichota. But it was
no longer called Tichota.
This is a selective
human breeding center
where future mothers carry the new
citizens of Europe in their wombs.
Here is where we cross the pure
blood of German girls and soldiers.
The doctor explained
that German soldiers come here
as studs or purebred boars
to scientifically impregnate
German females with German semen.
I was to attend to the girls
so they'd be properly
prepared for intercourse.
I imagined things would proceed
just like when we got
the cow and bull together or the
nanny-goat and the village billy.
I may conceive a new being tonight
the founder of a new Europe.
Roused by the blitzkrieg's success
Lise decided to go to the front.
She volunteered to go
because we had yet
to present the Fuhrer
with a new German.
She parted from me.
Proud that she would belong
to the finest army in the world
Suddenly I was sad she was leaving,
sad that she might never return.
I loved her, that little teacher
from Cheb who was as small as I.
All the women that had come
into my life had been taller.
Lise was the only one
I could look straight in the eye.
And only now did it dawn on me
that there was a war somewhere
and that my wife
was leaving me for that war.
And that my wife
was leaving me for that war.
My neighbors abandoned me to find
other musical trees elsewhere.
I longed for someone
to be here with me.
I looked at myself and I saw
a stranger from that perspective.
A person starts to talk to himself,
lets memory
present images of the past.
But then he starts
to address himself,
ask questions
and interrogate himself,
bring charges against himself
like a prosecutor, defend himself.
While people at home suffered
I served German girls
to whom soldiers and Waffen SS
were admitted nightly
under scientific supervision.
These women considered me
a servant despite of my tuxedo.
I was a side table in front of whom
they felt no embarrassment.
They were careful to let no man
see them but I could freely watch
while they stood naked, talking
toweling dry fuzzy golden bellies,
cautiously and meticulously wiping
crotches as if I weren't there.
In my free time
I wrote long letter to Lise.
After Warsaw was taken
I had an address for her there,
then I sent letters to Paris.
Lise wrote me from
Kiev and Smolensk.
Finally sad letters came
from east Prussia.
The German's victorious advance
became a victorious retreat.
And Lise came home because she
got no more pleasure from the fighting.
She did not however
return empty-handed.
I found these stamps
in Warsaw and other places
While inspecting the houses
of deported Jews.
According to
the Zumstein catalogue,
just these four stamps alone
make us millionaires.
Deported Jews?
Sure. Who knows
where they are now?
We'll buy a hotel after the war.
A big hotel!
These stamps will bring such a price
that we'll be able to buy
a hotel anywhere. Hotel Ditie.
With just this you could buy
the Hotel Ritz in Paris.
The war went on and they stopped
breeding people for a new Europe.
It made way for those who were still
alive and might again hold a weapon.
They might even be made ready to
go to war lacking an arm or a leg.
And I saw that the Germans
had lost the war.
Their faces betrayed how
things stood on the battlefield.
Looking at them I could tell
it would soon be over.
And I looked forward
to buying a hotel with Lise.
I look at myself, and the more
I look the more alarmed I become.
I am alarmed as if I were a stranger
whom I accuse and fail to defend.
I look at myself and I am
sickened by what I see.
The unbelievable became reality.
My goal had been to buy a hotel
and become a millionaire,
and I bought a hotel
and became a millionaire.
After the war I sold the stamps.
Lise had found
in the homes of deported Jews.
Mr. Tichota never returned
and I had enough money
to buy this hotel
and open it for millionaires.
And when I no longer knew
how to spend my money,
I bought securities
and foreign currency.
Mr. Walden had made a carpet of
cash but I used mine as wallpaper.
Every guest would see
the extend of my fortune.
Millionaires would gawk
and envy me.
But three years later
millionaires disappeared.
The triumphant February
putsch had come.
- So none of this is mine anymore?
- No, it isn't.
Like I said, the People's Committee
is confiscating this hotel;
all of your property rights have
been transferred to the people.
- Even this chair isn't mine?
- No.
Not even the expensive furnishings
I bought?
Not even the food in the fridge?
All of it belongs to the people
it belongs to all of us.
For now you'll be the manager.
We're through
with exploitative capitalists,
and we're locking up
all the millionaires.
Hey, hold on,
I'm a millionaire too.
- Not anymore.
- But I am!
Look at the millions
I have in the bank.
- How much do you have?
- Fifteen million.
Then you'll do 15 years.
I concluded that the money
from the stamps wasn't lucky.
And I was actually glad
it turned out this way.
Because even though in jail,
I'd be where I'd always wanted to be.
I'd be among millionaires.
I'd be one of them.
A person becomes most human,
often against his own will,
when he begin to founder, when he
is derailed or deprived of order.
I'm hungry.
And there's the change
back from your hundred.
The beer's good here.
This is where I'll be coming.