- Please, will you take this? - Enough. Enough.
Yes, madame, i shall of course accept your paper.
Thank you.
Is your name on it?
Yes. And an important event in my life.
Mr. Hanussen will mind-read this as well.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I cannot explain this phenomenon myself.
There are human emanations which I can...
...read in a state of self-hypnosis.
Quiet, please!
Mr. Peters?
Mr. Peters wants to know from you...
...Mr. Hanussen, what happened in his neighbor's...
...appartment, on March 2nd of this year.
I see a room.
Flashes.
Yes, flashes. Someone is taking photographs.
He does have a gift, I must admit that.
It's a trick. Everything's a trick.
I see, I see...
Blood. A dead body lies there.
Police! Police!
Call the police!
No! The police are there already.
Murder. Horrible!
Can you confirm this, Sir?
It's all true. My neighbor was murdered.
And yes, there were many photos taken at the scene of the crime.
To clear up any doubts:
Do you know Mr. Hanussen personally? Might there be any possibility, Sir...
...that you had some secret arrangement...
...with Mr. Hanussen beforehand?
I won't stand for this! I'm Chief Justice of the High Court...
...and known to a good many of the gentlemen present.
Benjamin! Mother!
- Who are you? - Zishe, my son!
- How did you get here? - By train. Father gave us permission.
Benjamin just wouldn't stop pestering us.
We can only stay a single day.
- What's the matter? - Zishe!
You've changed so much!
Zishe... I made you these cookies.
Zishe? For you.
Zishe?
Mother, how kind of you. You know how much I love your cakes.
- But Benjamin... - Zishe, what's the matter?
Benjamin, you're my favorite brother.
And mother, you're the best mother a son could have.
But you shouldn't worry about me.
I think i've seen my soul.
I mean, there is an acquarium here.
Benjamin, I can put it simply: I am who I am.
And now, Ladies And Gentlemen, something unheard of.
Never before attempted: Siegfried, the Aryan King and...
...the elephant!
Siegfried! Siegfried! Siegfried!
Ladies and Gentlemen! My name is not Siegfried.
For my family at home, in Poland call me Zishe. I mean:
I'm not Aryan. I am not a Germanic hero.
There isn't german Aryan King any longer.
But... but the new Samson.
Samson, The Strong. A jew.
And i am proud of it.
Jewish pig!
You have no business here! Get out of here!
- We don't need you! - Out of here, jew!
Silence!
Ladies and Gentlemen!
I did not expect such an affront to...
...our german people.
I have at this gentlement... I have an answer for him:
Marta Farra, the delicate and...
...pretty pianist from our palace orchestra...
...will under the influence of my hypnotic power...
...unite all your strenght.
Miss Farra has never performed this feat before.
And yet we shall risk it...
...to oppose this cowardly provocation.
You become strong. Stronger than...
...cold reason can imagine.
You're strong! You will lift this elephant.
Lift it!
We! We all! We are all united!
Germany! Hail! Hail! Hail!
I've come for the money you owe me.
I mean, as soon as you pay me, i'll go.
Have you seen the paper? Front page!
- You do read, don't you? - Yes. Yes.
Do you know that there was a line three blocks...
...long when the box office opened this morning? Three blocks.
Three!
It's the jews!
They all want to see their new Samson.
- There you are! - I'm so happy to see you!
Over here darling...
Yes, it was very good. Interesting program.
I booked a table.
Excuse me. Excuse me. May I introduce myself.
Samuel Edelmann.
I am the Rabbi of the congregation of Berlin-Charlottenburg.
- Zishe Breitbart. - You needn't introduce yourself.
I saw you on stage. I was deeply impressed by your courage.
Well, yes, but anyone would have. I mean... at least.
I'd like to invite you to our synagog...
...to be called to the Torah this Sabbath.
Well, you know, i don't have much practice in reading.
What you have done, has given...
...courage to the jewish community.
Listen, Zishe! Just come.
You don't have to read, maybe that...
...wasn't such a good idea. Just come.
We are looking forward to having you with us.
We are so proud of you.
Before i begin my sermon today...
...i would like to take this opportunity to welcome...
...a very special guest to our congregation: Zishe Breitbart.
Zishe, please!
Good Shabbes.
- Good Shabbes. - Good Shabbes. Have a seat.
Good Shabbes. Good Shabbes.
And in his honour, I would like to recite one of the Psalms:
"I will lift up mine eyes onto the hills...
...from whence cometh my strenght."
"My strenght cometh from the Lord...
...which made Heaven and Earth."
"He will not give suffer thy foot to be moved. He the keepethy...
...will not slumber." "Behold...
...He the keepethy Israel, shall neither slumber...
...nor sleep."
You've been drawing such large crowds...
...i've been thinking about raising your salary.
That was my idea.
And tonight, my circle of aficionados...
...brings out their big guns.
Guess who's coming to honour us tonight!
- I wouldn't know. - Himmler and Goebbels.
Who are they? Movie stars?
No! Politicians! Both high up...
...higher up in the party. The party of Hitler.
They let me know they were coming just to demonstrate their support for me.
Ladies and Gentlemen! As you know, the strong man...
...of our house has--
Jews! You pigs! Jews out!
Gentlemen, please...
Doubts have been voiced both from the audience and in the press...
...about the strenght of Zishe Breitbart.
Swindler! You swindler!
It's unthinkable that a jew has such strenght!
Yes, sir. I acknowledge your objection.
That's why Breitbart has announced an attempt...
...at the world record tonight.
He will try to lift from the ground, a weight of 900lbs.
This weight is 50lbs heavier than the current world record.
The precise weight has already been established.
But to give an idea of just how heavy this is...
...we have here 9 sacks of potatoes.
100 pounds each.
And now... the new Samson:
Zishe Breitbart!
You pig, get out! Jewish pig!
The rule is simple: it says that the weight has to be...
...held for three seconds.
If any of you out there touches this old man...
...I will break your arms and legs!
You stop that! You stop that!
- This must be yours. - This was merely an arabesque Ladies and Gentlemen.
Take your seats, please. Don't we all feel refreshed...
...after an envigorating battle? Place your hands in the light.
Make contact.
At least the people in the palace learned a lesson.
May i pass on a question from our Führer to you?
- I am honoured. - The Führer, who appreciates...
...your predictions for the future and who will regard to your..
...historic prognosis, agrees with you entirely.
Asked the other day in a small circle...
How clairvoyance could be in accord with the principle...
...of cause and effect? A law of nature.
Nature doesn't care what we think of it.
Nor about the laws that we assign it.
In reality... there is no such thing as clairvoyance.
Because for me, there is no future.
- How is this? - There is no future.
Just a state of things and events.
You cannot imagine the cosmos as either...
..."having been" or "coming into being".
Events are still-point.
Only men hurries past.
Imagine time as a die.
And time sections as sides of the die.
The normal human being sees only one side.
The side that faces him.
And that is the present.
The clairvoyant, however...
...in a state of trance, walks around the die in a way.
Seeing it also from the back.
And that is the future side.
Which in time will become the present.
Mr. Himmler, please tell the führer...
...that I have seen his coming.
And that I welcome him...
...as the redeemer of the german people.
In line! March, march!
Remove the vehicle!
Move it!
Eyes forward!
Attention!
This is not my new palace... but my Ministry.
Open your eyes!
I respect you because you truly are strong.
This is huge.
This is not only the very heart...
...of my future Ministry of the Occult...
...but far more. At this circle...
...cabinet sessions will be held.
In this very hall, my dream, my ascent to power...
...will become a reality.
But when i see all this...
...and this is the reason i brought you here...
...i sense something...
...almost like fear.
I love palmtrees.
I don't know why.
I even had a dream about palmtrees.
And lots of crabs.
You have to get away from him.
Then i'll lose my job. And i'll be thrown out of the country.
- But he beats you. - This is nothing new.
Is there something i could do? I mean to help.
- Come with me on Sunday. - Where?
Hanussen's boat. He's hosting a party.
There'll be some of his business associates party members.
- The usual crowd. - I wouldn't be welcome.
Zishe, please come! For my sake.
I need you.
What the hell is he doing here?
Zishe is my friend. I invited him.
Our jewish strong man.
Excellent. He will add to our entertainment.
Please, come onboard.
Have fun!
Herr Goebbels? I don't understand your concept of style.
You nazis don't even know how to live.
Don't even know what elegance is.
Last night i went to the casino.
And there was a japanese man standing there.
He didn't play. He was just watching and smiling.
And early in the morning, the casino almost closed, he presented...
...half a million gold marks, and he put it on one colour:
On black. 50:50 chance. Everybody is silent.
Only the sound of the ball, rolling round and round.
And then it stops. And it stopped on red.
He loses. So, now what happens?
The japanese guy just blushed a little bit.
And smiled. Herr Goebbels...
...that's what i call style, that you nazis don't have.
I wished that Germany after the...
...catastrophic defeat of the World War...
...would just blush a little bit...
...and smile, and show some style.
You know, Count Helldorf, it's easy to blush for a moment...
...if you own 50.000 acres of land and two castles.
My young Goliath. Do sit down.
We would like your opinion on a little plan of ours.
A jewish one. Yes, my love...
A little fire. The Reichstag Parliament!
You know, Herr Goebbels, what puzzles me most?
That a vulgar person like Himmler...
...is rising in the party.
What is he babbling about burning the Reichstag?
Cheers!
I won't do it! I won't go to that ugly dwarf.
You watch your mouth! You're speaking of Goebbels.
What do you think you're doing? You remember your place.
Marta is my friend.
Fancy that!
This man, whom you shall now keep company with all your charm...
...may have a club foot, and measure only 5 feet...
...but what he keeps in his pants...
...he must have borrowed from a stallion.
You will take him to my private cabin...
...below deck. In one hour you will be back with a full report.
I can't.
What does that mean, "I can not"?
Let me put it more clearly: I won't!
You will not say this word to me!
- Put me down! You put me down! - Bravo! Excellent!
- Put me down! - This is enterteinment at its best.
You will pay dearly for this! I demand satisfaction!
Sabers? Pistols? Excellent!
I shall... I shall...
Gentlemen, frauds like this one are inevitable.
They go hand in hand with the fall of empires.
I mean, the empire you are dreaming of.
- Silence! - It's true. You are a fraud!
A faker, simply a man with a bag of tricks.
I will not have someone like you telling lies in front of my friends.
These people are not your friends, they're your puppets.
You told me so yourself.
I should kill you for what you've just said.
Herr Hanussen?
Please!
We have ladies present.
May i suggest this be settled...
...in a court of law? If our strong man...
...can prove his case, so be it.
If he can't, then he shall find out what the penalty is...
...for defying the honour of a german citizen...
...with cheap accusations.
Excellent, excellent.
Ladies and Gentlemen, you're all kindly invited...
...to a public spectacle.
It seems to me that all performers take certain liberties...
...with their presentations.
- What else? - The elephant act.
There was an apparatus. A hydraulic apparatus...
...was secretly built.
I mean, it would be impossible for a woman...
...to be hypnotized to lift an elephant.
- I miself can barely do it. - And how is it that you can do it?
Well, Sir, i'm very strong.
Herr Breitbart, in your alegation of the so-called "mind-reading"...
...you referred to a secret code.
Explain it to the Court.
Your Honour, this is very simple.
You just need a good assistant.
He reads out loud from a piece of paper on which...
...a member of the audience has written down some event.
Then he says "Quiet". And the word "quiet" signals a death.
When he says "Quiet, please", it means a murder.
And Mr. Hanussen...
...guesses the rest and embellishes it.
And do you have witnesses for this?
Well, yes! Marta Farra.
Fräulein, please... Approach the witness stand.
- Is Marta Farra a stage name? - No, it's my real name.
- Are you a german citizen? - I'm czech by birth.
And do you know if Mr. Hanussen uses...
...tricks and fakery for the purpose...
...of defrauding his customers?
Answer the question, please.
I can't, I mean...
I don't myself believe in such things...
...the power of the occult.
Are you saying then, that Mr. Hanussen is a fraud?
Yes.
She's lying.
- You're lying! You're lying! - Sit down Herr Hanussen!
Sit down, Herr Hanussen!
I will determine who's lying here.
Can you prove your alegation?
His name is not Eric Jan Hanussen.
- He's not a danish aristocrat. - What is his name then?
Well?
His name is Herschel Steinschneider.
- Jew! Jew pig! Swine! - Silence!
Silence! Silence! Order in the Court!
Or I'll hold you in contempt!
There seems to be a discrepancy...
...in regard to your name.
Do you use a stage name?
May I see your papers, please?
A czech citizen. Named...
...Herschel Steinschneider.
Jew.
Is Herschel Steinschneider your real name?
It's one of many.
In Istambul... I once...
...borrowed the identity of Franz Lehárs. The...
...Operetta Composer.
And using this alias...
...i obtained a large amount of money...
...from enthusiastic theatre lovers.
I then purloined a first class ticket aboard the luxury liner SUEZ...
...for my return voyage to England...
...by posing as Enrico Caruso.
The famous italian tenor.
Thus allowing a french countess...
...to fall in love with me.
I even escaped the Great Patriotic War...
...by using the name of a...
...dead playmate from my youth.
You see, I have nothing but contempt for...
...the so-called glory of "dying on the field of honour".
With regards to my little "Inventions"...
...my so-called "fraud"...
I am of the opinion that even God must have...
...bluffed at His creation.
Otherwise, how could he have come this far?
Come in.
What do you want here?
I wanted to say goodbye.
Actually, I wanted... I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry.
I didn't want this.
What kind of choice do we have?
We can be kicked around like dogs or else readapt.
Dress up. Simulate completely.
I passed myself off as a danish aristocrat.
And i, a little czech jew, live like a sovereign.
Selling the occult to the perplex.
No trouble. We don't want you.
I'm sorry.
Zishe, i wish we could have been friends.
One moment, gentlemen.
My cape.
I want to look elegant for this excursion.
- Zishe! - Rabbi! Please, excuse me.
All at once it came over me, like a great light.
Everything became clear.
It was as if, as if the Allmighty spoke to me directly.
You have found your faith. You have found God.
It's been clear since the day i first saw you, that He...
...had long ago found you.
And, how can i say it...?
My faith, my destiny, has finally been made known to me.
And... What is it, my friend?
I see something terrible coming.
So terrible that i don't have words to describe it. A danger.
A horrible danger for us jews.
How am i supposed to understand this?
I don't understand it myself. It's like, as if...
...as if i had now become Hanussen. The clairvoyant. I mean:
- I can see it all before me. - What will you do? What do you intend?
I have a mission. I've been called.
Yes?
I must be the new Samson for my people.
You know Zishe... you sound as if you...
...might be one of the Unknown Just.
What do you mean? Who are they?
Well, Zishe, you see: In every generation...
...there are born among the jews, 36 men whom God has chosen...
...to bear the burden of the world suffering.
And to whom he has granted the privilege...
...of martyrdom.
The world reposes upon 36 Just Men...
...indistinguishable from simple mortals.
Often, they do not recognize themselves.
And the most pitiable are the Just Men...
...who remain unknown to themselves.
When an Unknown Just rises to Heaven...
...he's so frozen, that God must warm him...
...a thousand years between his fingers...
...before his soul can open itself to paradise.
And it is known, that some remain forever incosolable...
...at human woe, so that even God...
...Himself can not warm them.
So... from time to time...
The Creator, blessed be His name...
...sets the clock of the Last Judgement forward...
...by one minute.
- You wanted me to wear this dress? - Yes.
I think i know why.
I'm going to miss you very very much.
But i know you must go.
Zishe, dear, please be careful, you're breaking me in two.
I'm a woman, you must be very tender.
I don't think you know why i asked you to wear this dress.
There is--
I have something for you.
- You didn't... did you? - Yes, yes i did.
Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto. Second Movement.
But, in Heaven's name...
...we've never rehearsed together.
Don't worry madame, the important thing is...
...that we have rehearsed. We shall follow you.
CANCELLED
CANCELLED DUE TO ILLNESS
Zishe Breitbart? Unmistakable.
Thank you for being at our disposal.
- I want to see it for myself. - Get in!
Prepare yourself, it won't be a pleasant sight.
Due identification was made very difficult by the fact...
- Can you take this? - Yes.
By the fact that the corpse shows at least 20 bullet...
...holes and has been disfigured by wild animals.
In other words: wild bears have eaten the face...
...and half of the body.
I know this man.
Western Poland, December 1932
Zishe... Zishe!
It is Zishe!
- Welcome! Welcome! - Zishe!
Zishe, you've become a famous man!
- Your brother will be so pleased. - Who? Benjamin?
- Yes. Didn't your mother ever write to you? - Yes. Is Benjamin ill?
No. But don't you know that every day since you gone away...
...he's been sitting on the steps of your house...
Every day.
...looking in the direction you went?
For hours.
I have to see him.
Zishe, my son!
Come closer! Come closer!
- Come here! Come closer, please! - Please.
Come closer! Come here!
Come closer!
We have to get strong. We shall need a thousand Samsons.
We must be strong. We... we have to defend.
What i mean to say is... I mean...
I shall need thousands of strong young men, to protect and defend...
...our people.
I foresee something terrible happening to our people.
Something horrific. The Nazis in Germany...
Because we need thousands of Samsons. I will show you how to get strong.
All right, Zishe! You know we admire you.
We are proud of you.
But how, i ask, could the Nazis...
...pose any threat to us?
The Nazis, yes the Nazis in Germany!
Germany is no danger for Poland.
Since they've lost the Great War they are not...
...even allowed to have an army anymore.
That is not quite true. They are allowed...
...100.000 men. No heavy arms...
...no aeroplanes, no battle ships.
Yes, but professor, Poland's borders are secure, are they not?
I think so, yes. If there's a danger, it'll come from Russia.
Listen, listen to me! I see it! I see it!
What is it?
The horror! It's... it's...
The horror! It's real.
Please stay! You must listen to me!
- Benjamin's missing. Where is he? - He's in the workshop.
- He stays in the workshop. - I'm going to get him.
I'm not coming. I've to get strong.
Even if nobody else believes you.
If you want to get strong, you have to eat properly too.
There's no muscle there.
It's better for you to study. Study at studies.
I am the new Samson! I want to be your protector.
But i can't do this alone.
You have to become strong, like me! All of you.
And i'm a woodcutter. I can handle an axe. But are you really..
...so strong? If you want to tell us something...
...you have to show us something first.
Did you never hear about Zishe, the Aryan King?
The new Samson.
- That's what he called himself in Berlin. - But we want to see something.
Some real good stuff. You know, strong.
Impressive! But these are polish nails, probably greased.
I bet you can't do it with this one.
Of course he can.
He can do much more.
Look at this! It went all the way through.
It doesn't look too deep, but it could get infected.
The village barber can stitch it up.
Vodka!
- We'll put some vodka on it. - Ridiculous!
- The thing was rusty. - Vodka, we'll drink the vodka!
And then we'll go on talking.
Cheers!
Yes!
You should let the doctor look at that.
Under the table. The prince.
- There's a rooster! - Zishe, you have a fever.
There's no rooster.
JEWISH HOSPITAL
Mr. Breitbart? Mr. Breitbart?
Can you hear me? Zishe, can you hear me?
We have to operate at once. And we'll have to amputate the leg.
It's the only way to save his life.
I'm sorry, but we have no choice.
- Will it grow again? - Yes, of course!
- It'll take only one or two months. - Hannele, come down from the bed.
Why don't you let her stay? It makes me happy when she's with me.
Zishe, my son, we're leaving.
Would you like us to push you over to the window again?
That would be nice.
Visiting hours are tomorrow morning, from 11 o' clock.
I'm staying.
- The doctors agreed. - Benjamin!
We would like you have you with us as well sometime. For a whole week now...
- ...you've come home only to sleep. - He stays. He can stay.
Zishe, my son.
Zishe...
There's a ringing in my ears.
Someone must be thinking of me.
Father...
Father, Benjamin is flying!
In spite of his invincible strenght, Zishe Breitbart...
...died after eleven consecutive operations.
He passed away on January 28, 1933, two days before Hitler rose to power.
He lives in leyends and ballads of the Jewish people.