It was in 1928 that Paul Simon left Schabbach...
...and his wife Maria...
...and his two little boys, Anton and Ernst.
That's them... Ernst in front and Anton behind him.
These are the grandparents they lived with...
...Katharina and Mathias.
For all those years, Maria lived only for her children.
She told herself...
..."They shouldn't be confronted with the truth...
...the way it happened to me."
Maria was born in 1900.
On these photos, she's 38 years old.
I get the feeling she could start her life again.
Here she is on her way to the cinema with her sister-in-law, Pauline.
They went to Simmern to see Zara Leander, who was singing...
How does it go? "The wind has brought me a song..."
And at home they imitated Zara's curls.
This picture shows them clearly.
At that time, 5,000 men from Saxony and Thuringia...
...came to the Hunsrück to build a motorway.
All the way from Koblenz to Trier.
That's Otto Wohlleben and his assistant, Pieritz.
They worked on the road as engineers.
And Otto lived at the Simons' house...
...where Maria was.
In the evenings he built a toy glider for Ernst...
...and sometimes he'd let Anton take his picture.
For example here.
He liked it when Anton photographed him.
One evening in August '38...
...Otto came home as he had an accident at work.
His arm was in plaster for months.
Maria had to feed him the whole time.
There, yes, it's a big motor race at the Nürnburgring.
The whole family was there. Pieritz imitated the radio reporter.
And that's Otto and Maria...
...at a dance.
And Eduard, who married Lucie, from Berlin.
They built themselves an enormous villa in the Hunsrück.
It had 52 windows.
That's Martina.
She used to work with Lucie in Berlin.
She came for a visit.
And there's Eduard, standing by the big clock, saying...
..."This is the precise moment when time should stand still."
"When everything should remain just as it is."
As if we didn't all wish for that...
...just before the war.
UP AND AWAY AND BACK
AUTUMN 1938
Once the road linked villages, now it by-passes them.
That's modern times. Car drivers dont' want so many bends.
They risked running people over in the villages.
There'll be more cars than ever.
I mean, if you drive along the highway you see only the highway.
The village is linked to the highway.
Someone going from Paris to Berlin won't come through Schabbach...
...so we won't see the people who come to the Hunsrück any more.
People just want to drive faster.
When I look at the highway, it goes from Berlin to the border.
It goes to Trier.
I just thought...
In Hermeskeil there's a bunker, in Morbach and in Hirschfeld.
- In Kappel there are two bunkers. - That's not news.
We know that's the West Wall.
They're building more bunkers, too.
The road goes from bunker to bunker, not from village to village anymore.
My parents!
- You aren't from round here, either? - How do you mean?
The beautiful Frau Simon. She has a plaster on it now...
...but I've heard her looks are ruined...
...she was injured in one eye.
Such a lovely villa, and so much bad luck.
There'll be two people in the Schabbach cemetery now...
...who never saw Schabbach with their own eyes.
And we only get to know them now that they're dead.
HOME
A woman's made lovely through love.
Only through love, that's why she always longs for love.
She's full of yearning for love.
She hopes things will always remain so...
...for a woman's made lovely by love.
My fur coat's almost as nice as hers. Pity I can never wear mine.
We'll make a trip soon, then you can.
You've gone quite white, and you've become handsome.
I'm so happy to be back here.
Why didn't you come at once?
Repentance and remorse...
...cleaves the sinner's heart asunder.
Do you still know me?
That's Mummy.
I want to telephone.
Frau Kröber, come quickly.
Your children are at the window calling, "Where's Mummy?"
Robertchen, Gabi, what's happened?
Go in quickly...
...or you'll catch cold - I'm coming up.
Herr Pollack, there's still a light on in the shop.
We can't sleep. We're wide awake.
We were in the cinema.
Probably the children woke up and dialled your number.
Thank you very much, Herr Pick.
Did you hold on tight? Whom did you telephone?
Did you do it, Gabi?
Well, you two night owls.
I was scared if my mum wasn't there. Only Mum, not Dad.
When they left me alone, I used to go to the kitchen...
...and make sure the gas oven was turned off properly.
I was so afraid.
As soon as I got to bed I went down to check again...
...if the oven was properly turned off.
I can well understand
if children are scared when their parents are out.
Not exactly a chatterbox, are you?
- It all depends. - Then let it.
How did you get to the Hunsrück?
I come from Reichenberg, Sudetenland.
You've annexed yourself to us. One of Konrad Henlein's flag-wavers.
I put an advertisement in The Clockmaker's Journal.
That's how I got here.
Do they only write about clocks in that journal?
No, there are marriage adverts, too. Offers of marriage in the trade.
Are you keen on getting married?
Well, sometimes.
To tell the truth, so am l, sometimes.
Herr Pollack, Martina, come up.
That's a great thing with the highway, isn't it?
It wouldn't be possible without organization, Herr Kröber.
- I hear it's reached Hermeskeil. - Ordeter Haus, to be exact.
Does your arm hamper your work?
I'd rather it was the left hand...
...but Pieritz is a good right hand man.
Do you remember last autumn?
Hot. I was in Holledau, in Bavaria.
May I ask you to be quiet for a moment?
Herr Pollack and I have just got engaged by the pendulum clock.
Well, well, the quite Herr Pollack. Still waters run deep.
Young wedded is never regretted.
Take a seat, Herr Pollack. Martina wont' bite you.
Well, I'm not so sure.
What were you doing there so long?
I turned off the light in the window.
Then I closed the spare parts box.
You should, every evening. Some wine?
It's the '37.
It will be the best of the century, believe me.
I've laid down a hundred bottles of it.
- Where are the children? - Tucked up asleep again.
Poor, sweet children.
I'd have liked to make them some potato cakes.
Herr Pollack, have you ever eaten Saxony potato cakes?
What's that?
You don't know what Saxony potato cakes are?
Pauline, have you any boiled potatoes left over?
And soft cheese? Raisins? Pork fat?
Then off to the kitchen!
Come and keep me company, Herr Pollack.
But it's half past ten.
- What does that mean? - In wine lies truth.
I've noticed several times, too.
Things might get lively tonight.
I'll go down and fetch more wine.
I get tipsy so easily.
Pauline, can you give me a pinch of salt?
You put salt in it, too?
There must be a pinch.
Herr Pollack, stop, you've run out of potatoes.
Yes, I think they're good.
I dreamt of you, Otto.
You stood with your arm in plaster...
...on a high pedestal, like a statue.
I thought, he'll never get down by himself.
Maria, I'm no statue.
I'm flesh and blood, and I love you.
Don't touch, please.
Stay a dream for me a little while longer.
I was alone so long, Otto. So many years.
I'm already very close to you, Maria. In a moment it will be too late.
I feel it.
So, number five.
May l, sir?
Please do, madam.
- Is your heart there? - My heart is there.
Oh, that's very good.
Is that your heart?
Uncle Otto.
Will your arm take a long time still?
I hope so.
How do you manage when you have to go?
I use my left hand.
I've got to go.
Ernst, you dont' need me for that.
Isn't your arm healthy?
Go on, you're a big boy.
But Uncle Otto's even bigger than me.
Today I'd really like to do something special with you.
Otto, for heaven's sake, walls have ears.
Maria, you must help me to change gear.
Now! Yes, towards you. Wonderful, Maria.
Now into third. You move it to the centre...
...then across to me when I say "now".
With you I could go motor-racing, you do it so well.
What have you got?
Our Paul's written.
I can't see anything at all.
Grandad, I'll read it to you.
My dear family back home.
For ten years I've kept trying to write this letter...
...but I couldn't.
Now I don't even know if you're all still alive.
Father, Mother, Maria and the children.
I'm living in Detroit.
I've been lucky in America.
It was a long way.
Please believe that I've often thought of you all.
Especially as recently...
...we've all heard so much about Germany.
I'm worried...
...so I've decided to see my home again.
Above all, I'm worried about Anton, Ernst, and also about you, Maria.
The business makes a good profit. Electrical business.
In a year, at the latest, I'm booking a passage to Germany.
You'll get details later. Give me a sign of life. Your Paul."
Grandad, at the top of the letter it says...
...SlMON-ELECTRlC lNCORPORATlON. POSTBOX 2179, DETROlT, U.S.A.
And a picture of the factory, stretching to the horizon.
I can't see anything.
Is it true, Katharina?
Did you see where Ernst went?
I'll look for him.
Till tomorrow, Pieritz. And don't go joy-riding in the car.
Some hopes.
I'll soon be falling asleep at the wheel.
What are you doing there?
I love you so much, Otto.
You're so dear to me.
That's no reason to cry.
That man, that stranger.
For years he's had nothing to do with me.
It's as if he were dead.
And he is dead for me, Otto.
For me, he's really dead.
Otto, he simply went away.
He said nothing, simply left.
And that corpse writes a letter after twelve years.
He's dead for me because he has no heart.
Who are you speaking of? Your husband?
He's written a letter to say he's coming.
I love you so much, Otto. So much.
Hold me tight.
You must leave, Otto.
Come home, Ernst.
I don't want to see him. Neither does Mother.
Engineer Wohlleben is transferred to Trier.
Come on, Ernst. Aunt Lucie's waiting.
Careful, Horst.
He can't stay with me...
...and he won't go home with the confusion there.
Is it that bad, Ernst?
Take it to the table, Horst. Be careful.
I've got him a place on a gliding course.
Aren't you a bit too young?
Well, you've always wanted to fly properly yourself.
That's a good idea, Wilfried.
Let Ernst live here
until he's posted to the Hitler Youth Air Corps.
When's your father coming?
According to what I hear, end of August.
They've made Uncle Otto leave.
Don't look at it like that, Ernst. Certain conventions must be observed.
Simon-Electric...
...Incorporation, Detroit, U.S.A.
It sounds good.
And he hasn't forgotten that he's German.
You must remember that.
You hate him so much, Ernst?
He's a Yankee.
Excuse me, was a lady here on her own?
I've booked us a room.
The months without you, Maria... I could hardly bear it.
You're lying on my bad arm, but it's healed now. Did you notice?
I'm shivery all the time, I keep trembling.
I can't remember things.
They ask something and I forget what they've said.
And I've started killing time.
Killing time is murder.
At home they're cleaning the house.
They've rearranged the kitchen.
And his parents keep doing things.
Otto, do you know something?
I've pressed Paul's suits, can you imagine that?
I've ironed his old suits.
And Anton's learnt a poem by heart.
To recite when he comes.
"In front of my dear family's door I hang my walking-stick today.
"What drove me through the world before now at her feet I'll lay".
What was I just saying?
Maria, you're not really here at all.
Oh yes... Anton.
They want to hang garlands across the street.
And the whole time nobody's asked me...
...how I feel about it, what I think about it.
I've lost my job, Maria.
That doesn't happen nowadays, Otto.
What have you done?
You know my mother's Jewish.
But they need engineers.
Apparently they can do without me.
And you?
Do you still need me, Maria?
His father goes round the forge tidying up and saying...
..."At last I'll have some help here, now I can't see so well."
Since the letter came, he's almost blind in one eye.
Listen! I asked you something, Maria.
Young Ernst
The man with the hat, that could be him.
Yes, Mother, he just waved at us.
It can't be him, he can't see us from back there.
He doesn't know we're in here.
He won't come at all.
Of course he'll come, we'll wait a bit.
Are you Frau Simon? You must telephone the ship.
There are difficulties. Ask for the purser.
How do you telephone the ship?
I still haven't understood.
Proof of Aryan identity? That's why they won't let you off the ship?
They've objected to my name, Simon. Is Anton there?
Nice to talk to you. Have you grown up?
You really don't know me?
We'll meet soon.
I remember you and Ernst as little boys.
Paul, I've an idea. I'll talk to Wilfried.
No, he's not little anymore. He's in the SS.
And he'll help us?
I can ask Eduard, too.
He's the mayor now, he can do anything.
You don't know he's the mayor of Rhaunen.
A telegram. The boat sails tomorrow at three.
You must read this.
"Please supply proof of Paul's Aryan identity within three days".
Not here in the street!
Fancy writing that in a telegram.
As if we were Jews. Jesus Maria!
Edu, keep out of this.
I have to get it at once, I must, for Paul's sake.
What do I do now?
What if you start checking and they find something? The name.
- What name? - Simon.
But the Gauleiter's called Simon, too.
Right. It can't be so bad then, eh?
But so quickly, within three days.
A race against time.
"Please supply proof of Paul's Aryan identity within three days.
"Otherwise he's not allowed to leave the ship."
Is that him?
It could be.
- Mother, he's waving. - Do you think it's him?
Wilfried, there you are. I was at the cemetery.
I've waited five minutes.
My great-grandfather and his father...
...the cemetery's full of Simons.
Then let's just see.
Simon, Abraham, pedlar.
Died 1867.
Simon, Abraham.
But you needn't worry, he was childless.
Simon, Daniel.
He's possible, he had a son.
Here he is. Alfons.
He was called Alfonso later.
They're in the Mato Grosso now.
Who comes after that?
- How far back must I go? - 1815.
Then I must fetch the other volume.
Why did they pick Biblical names? I'm scared every time.
Thank God they're in the Mato Grosso.
Thank God my name is a genuine German name.
Wiegand...
It means, the weigher-up, the balancer.
People with that name were leaders.
And Simon means "the rock", like Simon Peter.
Or Wieland. Wiegand might also come from Wieland.
- Wieland, the smith. - An L doesn't turn into a G.
I could say Simon comes from Samen. Besides, my father's the smith.
That's immaterial.
Anyway, we're German. That must be proved for your family.
Your name sounds suspiciously French to me.
Europe's a melting pot of Aryan races.
Look at our Führer.
We'll never do it in the time.
We must try. Where there's a will, there's a way.
Have you written everything correctly?
The Hunsrück is full of Simons, we keep getting more.
I'm losing track.
It's suspicious, how they multiply.
The ship calls at Le Havre, perhaps he'll get off there.
It's all too much for me.
It's simple. Le Havre, in France, is as far from home as Hamburg.
Maybe he'll telephone home; we must hurry back.
We can send him proof of Aryan identity by express letter.
I think I've done everything wrong.
I don't know my father at all.
Won't Uncle Otto ever come back now?
I've done everything wrong.
You're mother's done everything wrong.
Air cadets, stand easy!
Your Hitler Youth commander has something to tell you.
Boys, girls, comrades.
The Führer is about to make an historic announcement to us all.
You will now hear, together with the entire German people...
...the Führer's statement on the radio.
Air cadets, attention!
Poland, last night, for the first time on our own territory...
...fired at us, using regular soldiers.
Since 5.45 a.m. we have been returning their fire.
From now on, bombs will be met with bombs.
Poison gas will be met with poison gas.
Whoever departs from the rules of humane warfare...
...cannot expect anything but the same from us.
I shall wage this struggle, no matter against whom...
...until the safety of the Reich and its rights are guaranteed.
I have now, for six years...
...laboured to re-establish the German armed forces.
In this time, more than 90 billion marks...
...have been utilized for this purpose.
The armed forces are best-equipped...
...beyond comparison with those of 1914.
My faith in victory is unassailable.
If I call on these forces...
...if I demand sacrifices from the German people...
...then I have the rights to...
...for I am ready today as I was before...
...to offer every personal sacrifice.
Just as I am ready to pledge my life at any time...
...so each one of you...
Why is it so quiet in the village?
Haven't you heard?
Now we'll show the French.
Since 5.45 a.m. we have been firing back.
Bombs will be met with bombs.
It was different in 1914.
Käthe's had her baby.
It was born the very moment war broke out.
Do you know what its name is? Sieghild.
Because we want to win.
You're to be called Sieghild.
Tick, living on tick. Do you know what now?
Now we must pay the bill.
Kath, how do you mean that?
Robert, I'm afraid.
I think I'll be back this evening.
The document didn't mention that.
I suppose they just want to check the car.
Don't believe it, Robert. They want you.
You're no soldier, with your sensitive fingers.
Say you've got a weak heart.
You must understand, the Führer needs every car now.
But I'm so alone in the shop.
Remember to wind the clocks in the window, and adjust them.
When Frau Gerlach comes, her clock's ready.
That'll be 6.50 marks.
My husband's gone to surrender his car;
the Führer needs them all.
It'll be over in no time.
You'll have your car in a fortnight.
If it's not wrecked.
Maybe a touch of camouflage paint. But you can wash that off.
Can I have 5,000 marks?
Of course.
Is that too much?
- Worried about your money? - No, I just felt I should.
UP AND AWAY AND BACK